When purchasing insurance, for the most part, it is a safe bet to secure your policy from a reputable insurance agent. But there are some people out there that want very cheap rates, and will seek this cheap insurance in other than obvious places.

Here are some tips on how to avoid getting scammed from an unscrupulous agent.

1. Be aware of companies or individual agents that say they can insure you no matter what your past driving record or past claims history has been. Under normal circumstances, even if you were to be insured with that profile, you would be given a fairly long waiting period and an extremely high premium quote.
2. Make sure that the company name is correctly spelled. Quite often scammers will make up a company name that sounds very similar to a well known and reputable company.
3. Be very suspicious if the agent (scammer) will take money by wire or direct deposit into an account right away.  You should take your time to investigate the legitimacy of the company by checking in with the department of insurance in your state and do some simple research on the internnet. Being “rushed” is certainly a “red flag.”
4. Be suspicious of getting mailers soliciting “great insurance” deals. This also applies to insurance sales pitches that you receive via fax. A lot of scammers don’t advertise in the Yellow Pages or “legitimate” publications because they know it is against the law to publish in them.
5. Also, check with references, friends, family and business acquaintences about a particular insurance company you are interested in. Talking to someone who already has a policy with the company being reviewed is the best way to go. That way, you can find out how the company performance is, claims service, and most importantly, how legitimate the company is.

Of course, there are many more ways to “filter” out a scammer from a legitimate company. Just make sure you investigate as thorough as you can.

If you would like a quote on your auto, homeowners or specialty equipment, call Doug Seide at 480-443-1952.