The Carriers You've Never Been Quoted

Quick orientation, since this is one of the most important things to understand about HNW personal lines.

There are two completely different distribution models in home insurance.

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Model one: the consumer-facing carriers.

Geico, Progressive, Allstate, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Travelers, Safeco. You can quote them on a website in fifteen minutes. They advertise during football games. They write the majority of homes in this country.

For a $400,000 starter home in Frisco, they are perfectly fine. The coverage is reasonable, the price is competitive, and the claim experience is usually adequate.

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Model two: the broker-only carriers.

Chubb. PURE. Cincinnati Financial. AIG Private Client Group. A few others.

You cannot quote these companies on a website. There is no 1-800 number where you call and get a policy. They write exclusively through independent agents who have been appointed by the carrier — which means the carrier has reviewed the agency, vetted its book of business, and granted access.

This appointment process is restrictive on purpose. Chubb in particular wants its products being placed by agents who understand HNW exposures. PURE is even more selective.

The result: a homeowner who calls fifteen agents in DFW may get fifteen quotes back, and zero of them might be from Chubb or PURE — because most of those agencies don't have access.

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Why this matters for you:

If your home is worth more than $1.5M, or you have multiple residences, or you have significant scheduled articles (art, jewelry, wine), or you have any liability exposure that requires a high umbrella, the standard market is structurally not built for you. The forms are wrong, the limits are inadequate, and the claim experience is different.

The HNW carriers exist because of this gap. The frustrating part is that the gap is largely invisible until something goes wrong.

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A question worth asking your current agent:

"Are you appointed with Chubb, PURE, or Cincinnati?"

If the answer is no, that doesn't mean they're a bad agent. It means they're working with a different toolkit than what your house actually needs.

— Mitchell