I am. I’m the Bundle Bee. A number of years ago, a customer referred to me as the “Bundle Bee” when introducing me to a friend of theirs.
I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something like “Hey Karen, meet the Bundle Bee, a.k.a. John the insurance guy. He bundled my home and auto insurance and saved Frank and I a bundle.”
Whoa, wait a minute… Not only am I the “Bundle Bee”, but I also save bundles too? This was about the same time that all the insurance companies started talking about bundling on TV. Remember all the annoying ads? “Bundle and save”… “Bundle home and auto”… “Save when you bundle”… “Bundle, bundle, bundle”…
Bundle has got to be the preeminent buzz word in the insurance business. I decided to look it up and Merriam-Webster defines bundle as “a group of things fastened together for convenient handling.” So, I suppose you can hold your insurance policies easier when you bundle them. Makes sense.
In reality, bundling is just a fancy way of saying that you’re trusting the same insurance company with multiple policies and in return, they give you a cheaper price. I wish I was the marketing intern at some insurance company who first coined the phrase “bundle and save”. That would be something I’d brag about forever.
IS BUNDLING A GOOD IDEA?
Most people bundle their auto and home insurance because they want the lower premium associated with the bundle and I agree that it’s probably a good idea to do so. Surprisingly though, I usually talk with someone every month or two who is vehemently against bundling. They tell me that they don’t want all their eggs in one basket or something to that effect. I usually respond by saying, “if you’re willing to trust the most valuable thing you own, your home, to an insurance company, why wouldn’t you trust them with other things too?” Also, what’s the likelihood that you’re going to have a home and auto claim at the same time? It happens, but not very often. If you have a claim with an insurance company and you don’t like how they handled it, switch insurance companies, but you’re probably safe to insure all of your stuff with the same company.
For more information on bundling your insurance policies or any other insurance topic, please reach out to me at www.lofrumentoagency.com/connect.
John “Bundle Bee” Lofrumento, CFP®, FSCP®, RICP®
President, The Lofrumento Agency