Insurance Agent Question:

The more insurers an agent represents, the more options she can present you with. At the same time, an agent may have a few favorites she prefers to work with. Captive agents, of course, work with only the one firm, but those companies are likely to provide cradle-to-grave coverage options on virtually every type of protection.

Ideally, an agent with a long history in the business has longstanding relationships with the insurer(s) she works with. If not, that raises a concern that she has not been the kind of agent an insurer wants to keep. That said, there are also legitimate reasons why an insurer might drop an agent, not the least of which is state regulations that make a company decide to no longer participate in the market.