Frequently Asked Questions

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In short, if you have a business or assets to protect, we work with just about any line of coverage.

Commercial/Business Insurance  

• Workers’ Compensation Insurance
• General Liability Insurance
  • Professional Liability
    • Errors & Omissions (E&O)
    • Medical & Legal Malpractice  
    • Educators Legal Liability
    • Law Enforcement Liability
    • Abuse & Molestation
  • Management Liability 
    • Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
    • Directors & Officers (D&O)
    • Fiduciary Liability
    • Employee Benefits Liability (EBL)
  • Pollution Liability
  • Cyber Liability 
  • Liquor Liability
• Commercial Property
  • Fire & Hazard
  • Business Personal Property 
  • Inland Marine Insurance
  • Contractors Tools & Equipment
  • Builders Risk 
• Business Owner's Policy (BOP - combined small commercial package)
• Commercial/Fleet Auto
  • Cargo Insurance 
• Surety Bonds
  • License & Permit Bonds
  • Construction Bonds
  • Court Bonds
  • Fidelity Bonds
• Crime/Employee Dishonesty
• Specialty Programs (Education, Municipalities & Other Governmental Agencies, Nonprofits)

Private Client Personal Lines Insurance

• Homeowners Insurance 
• Landlord Insurance
• Vacation Home Coverage
• Vacation Rental Coverage
• Auto Insurance 
• Toys (RV, Boat, ATV, Motorcycle) Insurance 
• Custom/Collectors Autos 
• Golf Carts
• Specialty Collection Items
• Scheduled Personal Valuables 
• Umbrella Insurance 

Just like your current agent (or 800#) we are paid directly by the insurance carriers.  Whether your coverage is placed directly with the insurance company or through an agent/broker, there is commission built into the total premium.  This amount varies depending on the line of coverage and carrier. 

Unless there are mutually agreed upon circumstances requiring a fee arrangement for services  that are beyond what is funded by the carrier commission,  you will not see a separate bill by having us as your advocate.  

If you like your current carrier(s), but want a local & personalized advocate in your corner, we have access to an array of insurance companies and may be able to take over your current policy by a simple Broker of Record (BOR) letter. Many clients find this route to be more convenient & streamlined, as we can then get right to work for our clients. When the time comes, we advocate on our clients behalf to negotiate optimum renewal terms - ask to see some samples of our wins!

Going into the renewal process, we perform an appetite check with the markets to ensure our clients are getting the best package and premium offerings. When there are competing offers, we can point out some of the differences between the carriers so you can have confidence in placement.  We also help guide in coverage selection, as the lowest price isn't always the best coverage - though we LOVE when that's the case! 

Risk Management support - we work with our commercial clients to implement services that impact the Total Cost of Risk (TCOR).  We have developed strategic partnerships in Human Resources, Safety, Compliance, Analytics, and so much more to develop an overall program to help boost your culture and safety, while controlling costs.  

If you're new to this part of the business or to any line of coverage, we can help educate you while simultaneously getting protection in place. We have markets and insurance programs for most industries and sizes, whether it's a package with one carrier or pieced together through multiple carriers. 

Our goal is to make sure you're properly covered at the most competitive cost, but most importantly we value our client relationships. If you already have coverage, we can start with a review of your current policies and a little information about you/your organization to provide feedback and marketability. 

We value your time and ours and will let you know quickly if we are unable to help for any reason or if it's not a good fit. We're not a commoditized broker built for everyone, and that's okay. We'll also let you know if we feel you're in a good spot and there's no reason to move - or move quite yet. We believe in forming a relationship with our client base above simply "closing business" and many of our clients come from referrals, which wouldn't happen if we didn't do our absolute best by clients.

We can talk about it at any time in your cycle. Markets for commercial quoting typically open 90-120 days from renewal for the coverages that need to keep their renewal dates. 

You can of course be rewritten at any time in most lines, though this practice isn't as frequent in commercial insurance and underwriters will want to know the purpose of a mid-term move.  Once you become a client of Ascent, we will check the markets as soon as your renewal window opens and annually thereafter to help ensure you're getting the best offering.

Depends on the company size. Smaller simple enterprises and personal lines can often be quickly quoted and bound online the same day or within just a few days, depending on demand, type of business, and market appetite.   

Larger, more complex, organizations or those in specialty or higher risk industries generally take longer to get a quote due to the need for detailed underwriter review. Information is power and the more we have, the better prepared we are to present you to the markets. 

For starters, we can review your current insurance policies, which may give us a good idea of marketability and coverage gaps, if any. If applicable, we'll need 3-5 years loss runs (claims reports) from your current carrier(s). 

We'd also like to get to know you so that we can best work with the underwriters on your behalf.  For example, are you safety oriented, or willing to accept safety support?  What kinds of claims have you had?  What steps have you taken to protect your assets and employees? 

There is no harm in benchmarking your program, providers, or premium. If we do mutually choose to work together, your current agent would be replaced but let's first see if we're a good fit!

We're not a high turnover shop just looking to close deals and carry on, so we also want to ensure doing business together is a wise use of resources, while also striving to protect our client base as a whole.

Contact us and we're happy to help!

Phone: (720) 672-9774 

E-mail:  info@ascent-insurance.com

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