How to Shop Your Insurance

If you’re using multiple agents to shop your condo association’s insurance, it might feel like you’re increasing competition, but in reality it can actually increase both your risk and your cost.

Most boards think: More agents = more options = better pricing

Sounds logical… But that’s not how the insurance marketplace actually works.

Think about how you chose your legal representation. When your association needed an attorney, did you hire the cheapest one by the hour? Or did you choose the one you trusted to protect the association when it mattered most?

If every qualified attorney charged the same rate, your decision wouldn’t be about price; it would be about who you trust to represent you.

That's exactly how you should approach your insurance representation!

Carriers don’t give multiple quotes to multiple agents. The first agent to approach a carrier, locks that market. 

So now, instead of strategy, you’ve created a race. Agents rushing to markets, trying to claim as many as they can as fast as they can.

You wouldn’t hire two attorneys to race to the courthouse, so why do it with your insurance? It’s not a competitive process— it’s a footrace.

And in a market like we’re in right now, where carriers are actively competing for business, even if another agent finds a lower quote, your current carrier will often match or beat it to keep you. 

So all that racing? It usually just creates noise—not better outcomes.

And here’s where it really breaks down... You’re not actually shopping the market, you’re dividing it. One agent gets a few carriers. Another agent gets the rest. No one sees the full picture. Now add multiple lines of coverage—property, liability, umbrella… One agent might land the best property quote. Another gets a better umbrella. Another finds a cheaper liability option. 

So what do you end up with? A pieced-together insurance program based on timing, not strategy.

And it gets worse! If one of those agents submits incorrect or incomplete information, their quotes may look better, but they’re not accurate. And that doesn’t show up until claim time.

Here’s the reality: 

The best pricing… the best coverage… the best terms… are all available to the best agent. 

Just like legal representation, you’re not buying hours. You’re choosing who represents you.

So when you bring in multiple agents, you’re not improving your outcome, you’re fragmenting it. 

Dividing the market. Creating a footrace. And increasing your risk.

Don’t shop your insurance. Shop your agent. Because the right agent doesn’t just find quotes— 

they build the right program for YOU!