Life is good in Oklahoma. You may call it the sooner state, or cowboy country, but mostly it’s where you enjoy the things that are most important to you. You have your friends and family, your home, your car, a job, maybe your own business. You keep busy and always look ahead to the future.
Unfortunately, sometimes life takes a detour. Suddenly, one of those important things is at risk. You can’t keep life from happening, but you can make sure you’re protected with the right insurance policies when it happens.
At Thrive, we believe in quality products and personalized insurance solutions that truly work for our customers. That’s why we provide real answers to your questions and work with you every step of the way to find a policy that protects the things you value most in life.
Maybe you already have questions for us. Maybe you just don’t know much about insurance yet, but are ready to learn about required coverages, car insurance rates and dwelling coverage. We can help you understand insurance products and services in the state of Oklahoma, up to an insurance quote, and through the claims process.
Whatever your knowledge base, we have a whole team of insurance advisors who would be happy to speak with you any time. In the meantime, you might find some answers and learn more about the importance of excellent insurance coverage in this guide about everything you need to know about Oklahoma insurance.
Every insurance policy has specific terms and conditions. Are your terms working for you? Will they work for you in the event of a major loss or liability? Insurance shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. Whether a policy is for personal property or a commercial venture, make sure your policy is tailored to your needs.
When it comes to insurance, there are a few things you might consider checking to make sure you avoid potentially expensive “silly” mistakes before they cost you money. It’s easy to assume your insurance company has all of these figured out, but unless they visit with you to discuss a personalized plan that covers your specific situation, you may have costly gaps in your coverage. Here are a few things to review in your current policy.
Commercial insurance is very specific. Every “t” needs to be crossed, every “i” dotted. Unfortunately, many people don’t review their policies frequently and when it comes time to file a claim, they discover that the insurance company won’t pay out because the details in the written policy don't match the details of their business.
At least once a year, you need to make sure that the addresses, contact information, and coverage details all match the current information for your business.
If you’ve moved offices, or for some reason, the original address on your policy was just incorrect, you may be in for an expensive surprise if you need to file a claim.
Similarly, if you’ve added onto your building, purchased new equipment, or have any other items that need to be covered, the first of the year is a good time to review your policy to make sure that it includes everything you expect it to.
Liability insurance can be similarly specific and there’s a good chance your details and coverage needs have changed in the past year. Making sure your policy matches your current contact information and business activities is critical to limit your out-of-pocket expenses in case of a claim.
It might also be good to make sure you’re buying the right level of coverage. If you’ve had a good year financially, you may want to increase your coverage to protect your increased net worth. If you’ve had a bad year, you may want to scale your coverage down.
Many people who never review these details found out later that they were buying too much insurance or weren’t buying enough to protect themselves properly.
If you got your new policy and filed it away, never to be read again, now’s the time to dust it off and review the details.
When a house has so much damage that you're better off starting over, the insurance agency calls that a total loss. Unfortunately, natural disasters in our area have resulted in total losses for some of our Personal Home Insurance clients.
Almost as soon as you file a claim for a disaster, you get some money for what the insurance industry calls Additional Living Expense, or A.L.E. Frequently, that's a few thousand dollars, but every situation is unique.
Once you get that money, you start turning in receipts to get reimbursed. You're never out of pocket any money, but they also never pay out your policy all at once. Most of the time, that money is available for either 12 to 24 months until it's gone or until you're no longer in the situation. Whichever comes first.
The whole point of the A.L.E. is to cover the cost involved in paying for two residences. The bank still wants their mortgage, even though your house is uninhabitable.
So you are paying rent at an apartment on top of your mortgage, and that additional expense is covered by A.L.E. It will also pay for things like utilities, food, and possibly even gas if you're having to drive further to work.
But it's not free money. The primary reason for A.L.E. is to help you with paying on two residences. Therefore, as soon as you pay off your mortgage, the A.L.E. money stops.
Let's say in the event of a total loss, your homeowners policy says you get up to $100,000 for the personal property inside your home. You're not going to get a check for $100,000. You'll have to turn in a written inventory of what you owned and its value. So, if you own a couch and a dishwasher for a less than $100,000, but they were covered for up to $100,000, you're not going to get a check for $100,000.
Now, if you're part of some major disaster, some insurance companies will just write checks for everyone for the policy limits. That makes sense for them from a business standpoint in those cases. But if it's something that just happened to you, or was a very limited scale of damage, they're going to look to your inventory to gauge level damage.
As far as payment goes, Personal Property works roughly the same way that A.L.E. does. You get some initial money, then you buy, turn in receipts, and get reimbursed. You're not using your own money necessarily. You're using the money they give you, but like A.L.E., don't expect them to give it to you all at once.
When it comes to interest rates, it may be advantageous for you to not pay off your mortgage. Maybe the rates have gone up, so you wouldn't want to pay it off and get a new mortgage at a higher rate.
The process of paying off your mortgage, however, depends completely on your mortgage company. If they let you keep the lower rate mortgage, you can. In that case, you just take your money from the insurance company and start using that to fund your new home. It's more complicated than that, but that's essentially how the mortgage process can work.
For most people, your car and your home are the most expensive and necessary things you own. That’s why it’s so important to have adequate coverage for both. Furthermore, both are constantly at risk of damage.
Every day there are over 17,000 car accidents in the United States. In Oklahoma, your house faces an onslaught of weather and the elements all year long. We can’t stress enough how important it is to have proper insurance coverage of your precious home and vehicle.
Home sweet home. Until disaster strikes. Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not always kind to the Oklahoma plains. If you haven’t already, it’s time to make sure your homeowners insurance policy covers a wide variety of weather events and natural disasters our beautiful state endures.
Even if you rent, renter’s insurance is a must-have. Your landlord is only liable for what they own, not your personal property. In the event of an act of nature or a case of burglary, they won’t be able to help you.
Read on for a few points to consider when picking or reviewing your home insurance coverage.
Did you know one of the most important things to consider when buying a home is the age and lifetime value of the roof? If you don't know, you could be in for a rude awakening if you need to replace it. And finding out can sometimes delay the buying process.
Let's look at why knowing is important, how to find out, and how we may be able to help you.
Consequences Of Not Knowing the Age
Many insurance companies are only offering Replacement Cost on roofs up to a certain age, anywhere from seven years to twenty years. So it's important to know exactly how old your roof is, make sure it doesn't need to be replaced, and make sure it wasn't supposed to be replaced but the previous owner didn't take care of it.
So if your roof is too old, or if your insurance company doesn't offer replacement coverage at all, you won't get the total cost of the roof replacement reimbursed from insurance.
Instead, most insurance companies now base what they pay on the Actual Cash Value. They look at two factors to determine that:
Let's say someone has a roof that costs $12,000. If they do have replacement coverage, then they pay their deductible, say $2,000, and the insurance company puts on the new roof.
But let's say they don't have replacement coverage. Then it's based on the Actual Cash Value. Here's how that would work. Most roofs are 20 or 30-year roofs. So let's assume a 30-year roof that was put on 10 years ago. In the insurance company's view, that's now an $8,000 roof, not a $12,000 roof. So they pay that same deductible of $2,000, but the insurance company will only pay for $6,000. Guess who has to make up the difference of $4,000?
And if the roof's older, it becomes even more out of pocket. We'll spare you the actual math, but here are the numbers using that same roof:
That's why it's important to know the age of your roof and the lifetime value.
Finding Out The Age
We receive calls all the time from clients looking to insure a home they're buying, but they don't know the age or lifetime value. Fortunately, there are three places you can get this information:
You don't want to proceed in closing until you have that information. Unfortunately, often sellers aren't completely forthcoming because they don't want to pay out of pocket to replace the roof. That can cause delays and headaches for you during the closing process.
Can Thrive Help?
Because we value our clients and want them to have the best information possible, we can assist with determining the roof's age and lifetime value during the home buying process. We can pull reports to see if a claim was filed and paid out within the last five years; if that’s the case, we inform the client that they should ensure that the seller actually replaced the roof and didn’t just keep the money. Sometimes, even if you've just moved into a new home and discovered the roof is in shambles, it's still not too late.
In those situations, we have roofers we trust to go out and inspect the roof. As our client, this gives you another set of eyes and more information, so you can make the best decision possible.
We can also pull the loss history on a house to determine if there was a payout for a new roof in the recent past. However, it is common to see a payout for a roof, but the roof on the house was never actually replaced.
Again, the big issue for home buyers is that all this can cause delays. But as long as we can get in writing that the roof is going to be replaced, you'll be able to move forward.
Storms and tornadoes are generally covered under a standard homeowners insurance policy, but always double check that your policy includes that. If you rent, check your renter’s insurance policy to see if it addresses tornado damage to your personal belongings.
Because tornadoes and storms are typically included in home insurance, that inclusion shouldn’t cost you extra in premium cost. However, you should check if your insurance covers only your home or if it also includes coverage for your belongings.
Additionally, other causes of damage that are related to major storms might not be included in your policy. For instance, if a storm produces flooding which causes property damage to your home and your policy does not include floods, you will likely not be covered. Alternately, if a tornado blows out your windows, causing flooding inside, your homeowner’s policy would cover it. You may want to consider adding additional coverage to your policy to close this kind of gap even though it may mean a hike in your premium.
Luckily, if your home has been built to tornado-resilient standards, you could see a discount on your insurance premiums. Recent state laws have required insurance companies to take the construction of a home into consideration when assessing tornado damage risks.
Renter's insurance isn't always top-of-mind for everyone. Either they assume their landlord will take care of them if there's a loss, or they think the chance of a disaster happening to them is unlikely.
Why Do I Need Renter's Insurance?
Unfortunately, neither of those assumptions hold true; your landlord is only responsible for the structure of the building, not your personal property. It's easy to think it won't happen to you, but simply turn on the news and you will see that home damage happens more often than you'd think.
Not all places require renter's insurance but it's very important to have, whether you rent an apartment, condo, or house. Renter's insurance provides coverage for your personal property in the event of a loss, and the monthly fee is relatively inexpensive for the amount of stress and money it will save you in the event of an emergency.
When Is Renter's Insurance Helpful?
Renter's insurance is used to cover your personal property in the event of a loss. What's your personal property? Think of it this way: if you took your home, cut the top off, and turned it upside down, anything that would fall out is your personal property.
This includes everything from your toothbrush to your TV. Your kitchenware, clothes, bedding, shoes, electronics, and even your children's toys are your personal property. If your home experiences covered damage, renter's insurance helps to ensure you won't have to pay for everything directly out of your own pocket.
If you live in an apartment and someone below you leaves a candle unattended, resulting in a fire, and your belongings become damaged by smoke and fire, renter's insurance can help you replace those items.
Or, if a plumbing issue creates water damage in the unit above you, causing a leak that damages your belongings, you'll need renter's insurance to replace those items. Your landlord is only responsible for fixing the structural damage, not replacing your personal property.
How Much Coverage Do I Need?
That will depend on the value of your belongings, your budget, and how comfortable you would feel replacing any damaged items out of your own funds. The average adult in a one-bedroom apartment will have at least $30,000 worth of personal property within their home.
Your coverage and your monthly investment will be unique to you, so it's important to have a conversation with your insurance agent about your needs and allow them to help you decide what carrier is right for you. Many people are able to invest in coverage they are comfortable with for $15-75 per month, which typically includes coverage amounts from $10,000 on up.
Additionally, you may want to consider opting for Replacement Cost on your personal property. If you have a wardrobe full of professional workwear, you'll probably want to replace damaged items with items of comparable value—not the cheapest option you can find, which is where Replacement Cost comes in handy.
At the end of the day, nobody expects a disaster to happen in or near their home. However, it could be relatively expensive to buy a new set of everything that you've collected over the years all at once, if that does happen. Renter's insurance can help you guard against that possibility without overhauling the rest of your budget.
You probably feel like you couldn’t live without your car. It’s how you get from point A to point B and everywhere in between. That’s why the type of auto coverage you have matters so much. The right car insurance keeps you legal and covers expenses in the event of an accident.
Ridesharing is a common way to earn extra money in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. There are several different companies that do ridesharing, such as Uber or Lyft. The general idea of ridesharing is that someone needing a ride will be connected through a mobile app with someone who has been vetted by the rideshare company and is available to drive them for a fee.
Many of us have heard both favorable and unfavorable stories from individuals who have used a rideshare service. However, right now we will only focus on what drivers need to know. If you drive for a ridesharing company or are entertaining the idea of becoming one of their drivers, here is what you will need to know from an insurance perspective.
There's Probably A Gap In Your Coverage
Ridesharing companies like Uber or Lyft offer insurance coverage while you are driving with a passenger. For more specifics on what they cover, and when, it is a good idea to check out the website of the particular company you're interested in driving for.
However, most personal auto policies will not cover you while you are driving for a rideshare. In fact, your auto policy coverage stops the moment you turn the app on to indicate you are available to pick someone up.
Many auto insurance policies have a clause that prevents you from using your car as a carrier or delivery service, ridesharing included. That means you could drive to your day job and be covered as you would expect, but if you decide to pick up ridesharing clients after work, your coverage ends as soon as you indicate you are available for pickup on the app.
A Couple Of Options Are Available
There are a couple of insurance carriers that offer a solution for drivers providing rideshare services. The current solution for this gap in coverage is to get a rideshare endorsement added to your policy.
This will help if you get into an accident while you are waiting to pick someone up for a rideshare. Otherwise, it is something you could be solely responsible for. Many people are considering ridesharing services as a way to supplement their income, and insurance may not be the first thing on your mind if you do.
The most basic of auto insurance policies will cover medical expenses for the innocent party, but what if you’re found at fault and injured or injured as a passenger in the at-fault party’s car? What if you’re struck by a vehicle while crossing the street? What if the at-fault party isn’t insured? Not all auto insurance policies cover every possible injury scenario. Do you know what your policy covers?
It’s an unfortunate fact that not every driver on the road is insured. It’s an even bigger issue in Oklahoma than it is in other states— a full quarter of our drivers are on the roads without having even the required minimum coverage.
Being in a traffic accident is bad enough, but finding out the driver who hit you didn’t have insurance adds a whole new level of stress and worry. In those situations, it may leave you thinking “What happens now?”
What Is Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
When you purchased your auto policy you may have been asked about uninsured motorist coverage - assuming you elected it as part of your policy, this is the coverage that will come into play in the event you are in an auto accident with an uninsured or underinsured individual and the accident was their fault.
Uninsured motorist coverage covers your medical expenses and loss of income related to accidents with uninsured motorists. It does not cover damage to your automobile - that’s taken care of by the rest of your policy. However, it will cover your deductible.
This is an important safety net to have in place to keep you from being on the hook for expensive medical bills that should have been covered by the other driver’s insurance.
Even if they had minimum coverage, it’s possible that the payout won’t be enough and you’d be left with a gap. Uninsured motorist coverage helps in that situation as well.
Some Tips
Living in a state with so many uninsured drivers, having uninsured motorist coverage is always an idea. Depending on your budget, it may also be a good idea to boost your uninsured motorist coverage past the minimum offered.
When you’re buying a policy a good rule of thumb to follow is to match your auto liability coverage with your uninsured motorist coverage. Usually, this means upping the liability coverage. This will help protect you in both situations - if you are at fault for the accident, or it was the other driver’s fault.
There are outlier situations where uninsured motorist coverage doesn’t help. If you’re a pedestrian and are hit by an uninsured driver, the only coverage that will help you is an existing health insurance policy and potentially the personal liability coverage of the driver (assuming they have a policy).
You’ve got your car insured, your house insured, but what about your business? Here are a few things for Oklahoma business owners to consider about business coverage.
Every so often, especially in Oklahoma, the weather will wreak havoc on businesses and homes. Whether it's a tornado or an ice storm, Oklahomans know to be prepared for unpredictable weather.
What is Business Interruption Insurance?
For businesses, one of the most important preparations for inclement weather is having insurance that will cover expenses and losses. This can be called a variety of things. Commonly it's known as business interruption coverage, or business income and expenses insurance.
This insurance covers the cost of expenses and lost income from unforeseen disasters. It includes overhead such as rent and paying employees.
Those disasters could be weather-related, but they could also include things like a fire, or a drunk driver crashing into your office.
How does this play out?
Take Top Golf, for example. We don't insure them, but we think they're a welcome addition to the local economy.
Recently, a large storm with ice, freezing rain, and snow caused an accumulation of ice on the nets at Top Golf. This made the netting very heavy. When wind speeds picked up, the poles holding up the netting couldn't handle the force and started snapping.
Not only did Top Golf have structural damage as a result of this storm, but they also lost about two months' worth of revenue, since they were closed for repairs.
The cost of replacing the netting and poles might be covered under standard insurance, as part of a policy discussing snow and ice. While those visible costs are significant, the greater cost in this example would come from what you can't see.
Top Golf lost millions of dollars in potential revenue while they were closed, and they still needed to pay their employees so they could retain them. Those are the kinds of costs covered by business interruption insurance.
Conversation about business interruption insurance brings up a few questions, typically. Here are two of the most common.
What if you can't generate income?
So, why not just stop paying your employees, or let them go, if your business can't generate income?
If, as a business owner, you know that you would be able to hire and re-train employees within a month, then it might make more sense to let employees go when your business is closed due to a disaster. Certainly, if you stop paying them, you may as well consider them gone since they will be looking for other employment.
But for most businesses, it would take about 3-6 months to hire all-new staff, and another 3 months to train them. Many owners find that it is more practical to pay employees in order to retain them while the business is closed than it is to hire and train a new team. My personal belief is that as a leader of a company you have the duty and responsibility to protect your team.
Who needs Business Interruption Insurance?
Businesses in the restaurant, retail, or entertainment industries would benefit from this insurance. If your work can easily be done remotely, or if you have only one or two employees, this insurance is probably not necessary for you. But if you have a staff of about 20-30 employees this could be a good fit for you.
For many businesses, having physical damage to their location would mean a significant loss of income and it would make sense for those businesses to have this kind of policy.
Not every insurance agency offers business interruption insurance, but many do. It's not the most expensive part of a business's policy, but it could save a lot of money in the long run.
If you’re planning a holiday event, it may be worth it to take a moment to make sure you have the right insurance to protect you in the event of a party-related disaster—especially if you plan on serving alcohol at your event.
Damage To Your Home
If you host a party and a guest accidentally knocks over a candle that starts a fire or otherwise damages your home, it’s likely that your homeowners insurance policy will cover the damage.
However, if you are planning on serving alcohol at your holiday party, you may want to review your policy. Many homeowners policies specifically exclude coverage for damages related to drugs and alcohol. If that’s the case for your policy, you may wind up footing the bill for home repairs.
Drinking And Driving
If one of your guests has had too much to drink at your party and gets in a car accident, they’re unlikely to sue you, especially if they are a family member or friend. Even if they chose to, in most states, the suit would be rejected by the court.
The real problem for you, as the party host, comes in if a third party is involved—if the driver who got drunk at your party injured another person or damaged their property. In some cases, the third party may be able to hold you liable for over-serving the driver.
Your personal liability insurance (if you have it) would come into play in this situation, but you’ll be better off avoiding the problem entirely by encouraging responsible drinking, coordinating safe travel for your guests, or not serving alcohol at all.
Workplace Parties
Planning a holiday party for your office? Your general liability insurance will cover most issues. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you are going to be serving alcohol at the party, you may need additional coverage, either as an add-on to your general liability insurance or in the form of special event insurance that specifically covers alcohol-related issues. This may also include coverage for the cost of the party if it has to be canceled due to weather or other circumstances out of your control.
You’ll also want to remind your employees that even if the event is taking place at an offsite location, company policies and decorum still apply. Insurance may cover alcohol, bodily injury, and sexual harassment claims from an out-of-control company party, but it would be better to avoid those issues in the first place by establishing acceptable behavior.
At Thrive Insurance it’s always been about building something bigger than myself and creating it with great people. From the beginning, I wanted my employees to find fulfillment in their work so when they went home, it would pour into their personal lives and influence their family and friends.
Amazing things started to happen when I began making hiring decisions based upon culture first, and everything else second. I found really talented people in uncommon industries that wanted to work hard, do a great job, be recognized for their efforts, and help as many people as they could along the way.
Our previous name was just a name. I wanted a company that made people feel connected. This starts with purpose and vision, but truly evolves with culture. Our goal is not to do business with everyone, but rather to do business with the people who believe what we believe. It’s only fitting that the company name support what our culture believes.
I hope you’ll humor me in reading through the many reasons below that Thrive excels as an insurance company, and if our goals and beliefs speak to you, I hope you’ll connect with us and learn more about what we can do for you.
It's become increasingly complicated to find trustworthy and competent independent insurance agents. So many just want to sell insurance to you, collect their commission, and go home. In reality, a great agent works hard for you before and after you buy the policy.
Dave Ramsey, a trusted personal money management expert, wants to help his fans find trusted, accomplished professionals who will give the same helpful advice that they're used to hearing from him. The ELP program is a network of endorsed professionals who are held accountable by members of Dave's team and customers.
Being an ELP isn't easy. Dave has a 45-person team that interviews potential ELPs several times and provides support to make sure they're providing the same advice Dave would give.Dave's team also makes sure ELPs are people you'd feel comfortable talking to and are trustworthy.
On top of that, Dave's team evaluates ELPs performance every month. Also, every person who uses an ELP has a chance to grade them based on their personal experience through surveys.
One of the main requirements of an ELP is to carry the heart of a teacher. No one likes to be talked down to or made to feel as if they don't matter. ELPs must be trusted to provide top-notch customer service. Other ELP requirements include:
We take great pride in this endorsement from Dave Ramsey. Being an ELP means we're held to a higher standard of excellence. It's an endorsement that's earned and one we don't take lightly. While we don't work for Dave, we have the same basic financial philosophies and we share the same goal: to help you achieve your financial goals.
Thrive Insurance understands challenges you're going through to pay off debt, invest in your future and accumulate wealth.
It's always been a part of our culture at Thrive to help our clients during the claims process. Customer assistance is at the heart of our organization. In fact, even when I was with another agency before I started with our independent agency, we helped our clients with the claims process. I was recently shocked to find out that most other insurance agents aren't involved in the claims process at all!
Honestly, I didn't realize this until I started talking to other agents. I was chatting with an agent about an issue that had come up in one of his claims, and was confused about why he didn't get it resolved.
Finally, something he said started to shed light on the subject. He mentioned casually, "Well, I don't get involved in the claims process."
I responded, confused, "What do you mean?"
He replied, "They just turn in a claim, and that's it. Turning it in is all I really do."
Really? You've got to be kidding me!
Apparently, this is common. Knowing this has really shed some light on issues I've seen.
I once had a client that I found out had been dealing with a claims issue for months. She happened to mention it after it had dragged on for months, and we were able to take care of it in three days. Our client told us, "I didn't even know you could do anything."
Thankfully, that was followed by, "You're awesome, thanks so much!"
The same thing happened with another client. We added some extra coverage to a client who bought a condo. I've been advising clients to do that for a long time, just because I knew something weird could happen one day. And although it increased the investment for our client, I knew it was worth it.
When their condo association wouldn't cover some hailstorm damage, I turned in the claim for them so they could still get paid for it. The adjuster told them they didn't have coverage for that.
The problem was that the adjuster is used to standard condo policies. People basically never get the type of coverage I advise my clients to get. So he either didn't look at their policy or didn't look at it closely. So I called him and told him exactly where in the policy it said they were covered.
His response was, "Oh, wow! I didn't see that. Sorry about that. We'll pay."
Adjusters talk in insurance language. Normal people don't. We understand both insurance language and real-world words, so that's the role we play.
Knowing that even our clients may not realize we can help, it's up to us to take that into account. So the process we currently use helps our clients understand what to expect during a claim.
If you have to turn in an insurance claim with us, that's when our claims process kicks in. While your claim is open (being worked on), we'll call you each Friday to check in. It's simple but it's something we're surprised most agents don't do. We want to know how things are going and if you have any questions along the way. It's a great safety valve for us in case there's ever an issue we'll have a chance to help out without the claim dragging on longer than necessary.
After all, the entire purpose of purchasing insurance is to protect what you own and to seek professional advice or get help along the way.
Everyone has their customer service horror stories. We all know what it’s like to not have our expectations met by customer service professionals. A bad experience is never forgotten. But, good service isn’t rocket science. At the end of the day, it’s about doing what you say you’re going to do. There are a few things Thrive Insurance does to provide our customers with excellent service.
It’s our goal to get back with our customers on the same day. On my personal voicemail, I say that “I’ll call you back today.” And, I do just that. This surprises most customers, but it’s a simple task that really sets us apart from our competition.
We know how important it is to be there in our clients time of need. There are certain times in someone’s life when they need their insurance agency to respond quickly. For example, when a client is at the tag agency and they need an insurance ID card, we’ll send that to them immediately. They don’t want to be waiting around in the tag agency. We know they’re probably there on their lunch break or trying to head home to see their family. That request immediately moves to the top of our list when we get the call. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, if someone is available, we’ll take care of the request right away.
Another same-day request we respond to is insurance verification for mortgages. We know mortgage brokers need to get through a long list of checkboxes before approving a loan. We don’t want to be the reason a client has to wait to move into their dream home, so we provide evidence of insurance the same day the request is made.
There’s no excuse for not communicating a claim status to a client on a regular basis. Most people are used to submitting a claim, not hearing anything for months and then maybe a check will come in the mail. It’s unacceptable. The majority of claims delays are due to communication issues between the claims adjuster, client, insurance agency or anyone else involved in that process. So our job is to make sure everything is communicated to all parties involved.
While we can’t speed up the claims process, we can at least respond and communicate with our clients about the status of their claim. We make our claims calls every Friday until the claim is closed. Clients can always call anytime they want to check-in, but we’re committed to making those calls every Friday.
We can’t control the process or the outcome, but we can eliminate the issue of slow communication. We’re the only company that I know of that follows up on a weekly basis.
It’s true that customers won’t always remember what you do, but they always remember what you didn’t do. It’s our goal to be there when our customers need us most, communicate clearly and to respond quickly. That’s what really sets us apart.
It's no secret that when people think of insurance, great customer service isn't the first thing that springs to mind. At Thrive Insurance, we often hear from people searching for new insurance. When they contact us, they are frequently surprised by the level of service they receive.
We created our business as a value-driven organization. We operate differently because we are different. And we believe it's possible to change the perception of the insurance industry.
Why do we believe that? Because we utilize the following strategies.
What is the top complaint about a customer's former insurance agent? Lack of communication. This can be everything from not getting timely return calls to not getting a call back at all.
We know your time is valuable. So, we make every effort to return calls the same day. We will also call you with regular updates when working through a claims process.
Insurance information, such as rate increases, adequate coverage amounts, and types of insurance available can be complex.
We believe it's our responsibility to educate our customers on these topics, as well as answer any questions they may have.
We work for our customers, plain and simple. In an era of automation, our business stands out simply because of our personal touch. When people contact us, we want to know more than just their demographics. We want to know their story. This helps us determine coverage that best meets their needs.
In some cases, we may not be able to provide a person insurance coverage. In those instances, we work hard to refer those people to businesses who will be able to meet their needs.
For us, business is about people, not about the sale.
The insurance industry is aging, and there is a significant lack of representation by agents in their 20's and early 30's. Part of this is due to perceptions that exist regarding working within the insurance industry.
In order to combat this, we are committed to attracting young talent. We know there are plenty of people out there who want to do work that matters. They can certainly find that type of work with us.
Providing insurance is about so much more than escrow and auto finance requirements. It's about peace of mind and protecting people's future--your future. We hire people committed to that vision.
At Thrive insurance, we believe that with a strategy of clear communication, customer care, and planning for the future, the image of the insurance industry can change. We are committed to serving our customers by exceeding their expectations with quality, innovation, and authenticity. We invite you to see our commitment first hand. Start a conversation with Thrive today and learn how insurance can be done a better way.
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811 N. Broadway Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73102