Why should I buy insurance from an agent rather than directly from the insurance company? 
When you buy from a company you 'll get acceptable advice , I have little doubt . What you wo n't likely get is advice from someone who knows where you live on a personal basis . You 'll also probably never get to speak to the same person twice because service by the company is n't assigned to one person but a phone boiler room full of inbound call clerks . You 're not likely to get advice that is based upon actual experience but is learned from the sterile depictions in a text book . In a nutshell , it is hard to make a call center accountable when something goes wrong with your coverage . On the other hand , I learn to help you avoid problems when I also get to experience the problems our customers encounter . In effect you get the collective experience of 1000 's of my customers . Plus , no phone clerk has the incentive I have to help you get insurance right ! We 're certainly not perfect but an agent might be the best thing that comes with a policy . By the way , the Ohio Dept of Insurance has just come out publicly with a recommendation to buy insurance from an agent . I happen to agree . 