For the last ten years large insurance companies with mammoth advertising budgets have lured customers in with the bundle. And it has worked tremendously well with existing customer getting new customers and keeping them both.

What I going to talk about today is why that bundle is costing you more money and what you can do about it.

Bundling having your home and auto with one company and getting a discount on one or the other for it. On top of that you get funny animal personalities, your favorite professional athlete or that quirky spokesperson showing up on your TV representing your insurance company and it gives your that since of pride and trust and even brand loyalty where anything insurance you go to them. Brilliant! Well for the insurance company, but not necessarily for you.

I have seen it time and time again working for a captive agency where we sell only coverages for that company and now as a independent agent where I offer coverages for several different companies. Customers will be laser focused on getting that bundle.

I get it insurance is boring it is mandatory and you have jobs, kids, and more pertinent things to deal with in your life. You just want to get it and be done with it.

As a captive agent I worked with one of those large insurance companies with the mammoth advertising budgets and clients would call to home insurance to get the bundle discount and after getting the details and give them their quote with the bundle discount I brace myself for the why is this still so expensive or I have been a loyal customer for such and such years and you can’t give me a lower price than that? But no nothing 98% of the time they would just accept the price pay it and move on.

As an independent agent it has worked a little bit different and more mind boggling to me. Potential client calls I have my auto with such and such and I want my home with them also to get the bundle. Ok sure I can help with that but after getting the detail on the home I already know in my mind that I have three or four good A+ rated carriers that could obliterate the price they are going to pay even with the bundle.

So, I let them know you know I could save you a bunch of money on your home insurance with a different company should I send you those quote too? Side note which works against my financial interest in the short term. But my goal is to do what’s best for my client to keep that relationship for life.

So again, I let them know you could be saving more money with a different company that’s just as good or better but don’t have the advertising that your company has, and 80% percent of the time the answer Nope I want my large company with my favorite funny animal or favorite athlete in the commercial and I want my bundle discount. Mind blowing.

What I liken this is when the big clothing department stores have a sale. The clothes are already marked up by 50% and then they have a 20% sale and people rush in to take advantage of the sale and it makes them feel good that they were able to get brand name shirt at a discount. Not realizing that this same shirt is across the street at the discount clothing store minus the 50% mark up and now you have just paid 30% more than you should have if you had just looked in the right place.

I call this phenomenon being bundletized. Don’t look it up it’s not a real word. It is something I made up but it’s a real thing.

So, what can you do about it?

My advice is to be open minded when shopping for insurance, there are a lot of good quality insurance companies out there that you have never heard of.

You hate all of the spam that comes with shopping for insurance, don’t use your primary email address start a Gmail or yahoo or any email provider just to use when shopping for insurance and unless you want someone in particular to call you don’t give out your phone number.

I realize Most people want everything in one place. But in my case with my business whether your home is with one company, or your auto is with another, and your boat is with another etc. the service for all of your policies will be handled by my service team with one service number one email address one team to chat with and one team to text.

So, my point is unless overpaying for stuff is just your thing. Don’t fall victim to the bundle. Don’t be bundeltized.