Sometimes the best of things come about by luck. I bought a building about 16 years -- a fourflat - in Chicago, owned by a Ukranian woman whose family had had insurance with a by-then elderly man for many, many years. I continued the insurance as that man's agency morphed into Total Insurance in the Northbrook suburbs over the years.
I was lucky that I did. About 14 years ago the City of Chicago's ward superintendent ran his City vehicle into the building, taking out about 30 feet of the foundation and hitting the building so hard light bulbs unscrewed from the second story overhead lights. Total Insurance and the insurance company counseled me on steering through the City's amazingly complicated process of claims (the City refused to settle for what their own independent appraiser firm suggested for political reasons, until the City relented). Total's advice paid off every step of the lengthy process.
As the years went on and I slowly attempted to restore and renovate the building as best I could Total Insurance continued to seek the best and lowest price insurance they could for me, and I finally ended the last few years up obtaining a commercial policy coverage through Total's agent, Brian Koepke. Brian proved himself adept at securing insurance coverage at the cheapest possible rates for a 1900 huge frame four flat that I could not claim had been "gut rehabbed". To do so Brian spent considerable time describing the building and working through the coverages available. Then Brian dealt with the unbelievable confusion of Citimortgage, which kept insisting that there could only be one "Total Insurance" in all the United States. Finally, when Brian made them realize the size and number of policyholders Total Insurance (in Northbrook represents), they relented and created a special coding for "my" Total Insurance so that I could use the escrow account. In obtaining insurance for the right price in the right way, Total Insurance and Brian Koepke proved themselves top-notch.
Then, after several years went by, my declining health meant I had to sell the building. Brian proved himself just as diligent then as he had in securing insurance: he kept in touch with the insurer weekly to make sure that the return of premium money to me due to the cancellation of the policy came to me without a hitch.
Total is a great company, and Brian is a great agent. The Ukranian woman who sold me the building gave me a great entry into the insurance world! read more
