The questions business owners ask us most often, answered the way we'd answer across a table.
Nothing on top of your premium. Like every agent and broker, we're paid a commission by the carrier you bind with, typically 10–15% of premium, which is built into the price whether you use a broker or buy direct. The difference: a captive agent's commission comes from one company. Ours comes from whichever of 30+ carriers wins your business, so the incentive points at finding you the best fit. We disclose our commission on any account, just ask.
Maybe don't! If your agent shops your renewal every year, reads your contracts, and fights your claims, keep them. But if your renewal arrives as a single number with no alternatives, that's not brokering, that's billing. Send us your current policy and we'll give you an honest read: either "this is fair, stay put" or a proposal that beats it. About a third of the policies we review, we tell people to keep.
No. Most commercial policies can be cancelled mid-term with a pro-rated (sometimes short-rated) refund, and a new policy bound the same day, with no coverage gap. We handle the cancellation paperwork with your old carrier. The main exceptions are some workers' comp programs and policies with minimum earned premiums. We'll flag those before you decide.
Same day for new policies; minutes for existing clients. Certificates are the bloodstream of contracting work and we treat them that way. Email your account manager the requirements (or forward the contract) and the COI goes out, correctly worded, usually within the hour during business hours.
An agent represents an insurance company; a broker represents you. Captive agents (State Farm, Farmers, Allstate) can only sell their company's products. Independent brokers hold appointments with many carriers and owe their duty to the client. In practice the titles blur. What matters is how many markets they can access and whose interest they're legally bound to serve. We're independent, and we work for you.
That's exactly the account this firm was founded for. Small and mid-size businesses get the least attention from national brokerages and the worst fit from captive carriers. Our average client has 5–50 employees. You get the same named broker and the same claims advocacy as our largest account. The model doesn't change with your size.
Send us the contract before you sign it. Usually the fix is an umbrella layer or an endorsement, often cheaper than you'd expect and sometimes negotiable on the contract side. We read insurance requirements in client contracts every week and we'll tell you what's standard, what's excessive, and what it'll cost to comply.
You call us at (628) 227-5427, any hour, instead of the carrier's 800 number. We take first notice of loss, tell you what to document, file with the carrier framed in your favor, and then push the file weekly until it settles. See our claims page for the full process.
30+ markets rated "A-" or better by AM Best: national carriers, regional specialists and surplus-lines markets for harder risks. We don't publish the list because it changes with appetite, but every proposal names the carrier, its AM Best rating, and whether it's admitted in California.
We're licensed throughout California and most of our book is in the Bay Area, but we serve businesses statewide and can write in most other states for clients who expand. If your operations cross state lines, that's a routine conversation, not a problem.