Insurance Agent in Denver - An Interview with Steve Olson
Q. Tell us about yourself and your firm.
A. I am the General Field Agent(GFR) for the Geico office in Denver. I have been with Geico for almost 27 years and in the industry for over 32 years. Geico is now the 3rd largest insurer of auto&rsquo s in the US and we also write Homes cycle&rsquo s and many other lines of insurance.
Q. What are the various types of insurance your offer?
A. Geico does auto cycle home boat RV and we are just entering the commercial insurance field.
Q. How long do you take to process a claim?
A. Without going into detail our claims process is the envy of the industry. We have what are known as ARX shops located in many locations in the metro area these are shops where we have staff adjusters on hand as well as a car rental outlet. In the event of an accident if the vehicle is drivable you can drive to one of our shops the adjuster will write the estimate on the spot and schedule your appt. for repairs and line you up with a rented vehicle. In the event the car is not drivable our claims people have a goal of getting a visual look at the damage within 48 hours. They meet that goal over 90% of the time. Most claims are settled in under a week!
Q. If a person wants to have home insurance coverage what personal belongings should be insured?
A. Most Homeowners policies are a package which means that ALL of your personal property is insured. If you have articles of special interest art jewelry etc. those items can be placed on a separate schedule of coverage.
Q. How can a person tell if the amount of insurance carried on his/her house is adequate?
A. Most companies require that the insured carry enough coverage on the home to rebuild it in a loss regardless of what the market value is on the home. With the falling real estate markets these days we&rsquo re seeing a lot of homes that people think should be insured for less but we counsel them that they still need to insure them for replacement value not market value.
Q. If a person&rsquo s house burns down how will he/she be compensated?
A. In a Homeowners claim if the home burns down they will be compensated for the dwelling personal property the loss of use of the property while it&rsquo s being rebuilt(motels meals etc) and any adjacent structures that may have been damaged.
Q. Will one have to keep a complete list of contents in case of fire?
A. No most adjusters will use several means to determine what was lost. We do recommend that if you have high value or unusual items to videotape them and we also recommend that they shoot some video of each room and keep that video in a safe place. It&rsquo s pretty hard to remember how many towels you had in the linen closet after a major event like a fire!
Q. A Teenager has been driving under his parent&rsquo s policy for a few years now he wants to get insurance in his own name would you be able to help him with insurance?
A. Of course we treat that young driver like any other customer because we have some history with them from the parent&rsquo s policy.
Q. How does car insurance work for a teen with a learner&rsquo s permit?
A. In most cases we do not charge for the young driver with a permit on their parent&rsquo s policy. When the driver is licensed then we&rsquo ll add them to the parents policy.
