Don't overshop your policies

A common practice among many small business owners is to put their insurance policies out for bid annually among as many agents as they can identify in the local yellow pages. Unfortunately they are oftentimes shooting themselves in the foot by approaching their insurance program pricing in this manner. This common perception, having as many agents as possible quote for the best possible price, often leads to a steadily decreasing market from which to draw from when they are in the market to solicit bids on their insurance. It's important to be aware of the fact that while there may be many agent listings in the phone book, most, if not all of them, represent many of the same companies. While one agent may place an application for coverage with a company, a competing agent, most of the time, will find themselves blocked from also approaching the same company. While this is good, since the insurance company could end up getting two very different applications on the same business, it also sends up a red flag among the companies in your area that you are shopping your account heavily, thereby reducing their willingness to even provide a quote. Your best strategy is to request from your current agent or another agent if you desire, quotes from at least 3 to 4 different companies, in writing, by a specified date. By approaching it in this manner you save yourself the possible enmity of your insurance markets and also make the process far more efficient with less time spent fielding calls and visits from various agents.