When I use to be with Markel and wanted to shop around, I would call other agents who were soliciting Cat business, and the result was always the same. I can't give you a quote because you are already a customer of Markel. Is the price the same from agent to agent, or does the company give the agent a price and they can mark it up whatever they feel they can get? It always rubbed me the wrong way, I felt like it was eliminating the chance for competition in the market place. I am no longer with Markel, but this still makes me question insurance quotes.
P.S. I am very happy with my current agent, and the price seems fair for the market I'm in.

With out going into a long drawn out post.

Yes and no, yes to most of your post, no to the agent putting their own mark up on the qoute.


Andy

Could you elaborate a little more? Thanks for you reply

What Andy is saying, is that we don't make up a price & most of us do not charge broker fee's on our marine quotes.

Your price can vary from broker to broker because of info given / received. Also, some agents / brokers will ask questions about possible credits etc. The rate with a specific carrier should be the same no matter who you call.

Thanks Shawn. It just seemed odd that people would not give you a quote if the same company but a diffrent agent had already done so. Thanks again for the info.

I made the mistake some years ago of contacting multiple agents on coverage. One asked me to fill in a form under the guise of it being his company's "applcation". I come to find out I signed an agency agreement. When the next guy called me back, he asked why I had done that. Told him I didn't know I did. Basically, the quote from the second guy went up as the insurer figured they'd have to pay two commissions on the one policy. The guy who pulled this is mentioned occasionally on this site- not Sy or Porter.

When I insured the ''mayflower" I didn't have this problem.