BY Tony Wilcox Working at an independent insurance firm gives me a tremendous amount of flexibility when it comes to my client’s needs. This, of course, is beneficial to both the client and the agency. One of the best examples of this was when I was able to help an investor who lives in California. This individual was just starting to put some of his hard-earned money into investment properties here in Indiana. The problem with that is that he lives in California, so it was necessary for him to have strong coverage on his properties and a local agent he can trust since he was not able to be there on a daily basis. After speaking with this individual about his home and what his vision was, we were able to come up with a plan that worked for him. We established a time and date to meet at the home during closing to review. Having the flexibility, due to our many carrier options, to find a company that could work with him being in California was essential. We also needed to make sure that with him residing out of state, if anything happened while people were working on the home and when renters moved in, everything would be covered. We were able to come up with a policy that had great coverage for a reasonable price. Of course, as Mr. X put it, Murphy’s Law happened. While the individual was in California with the home almost renovated and set to have renters move in, the worst happened. The house was robbed down to the toilet seat. That is not an exaggeration! With this individual in California, he was scrambling to figure out what to do and for someone to represent him at his home in Indiana. Because of our original review, everything was covered, and the individual got back everything he deserved that was damaged or stolen. It is never good to see a client go through a claim, but thanks to a review and local attention, the process went smoothly.