Commercial Insurance Help!

[Franky Davis]

Hello everyone....this is a desperation post. I have been with state farm for a few years now for commercial and for personal use. I hold all of our real estate rental portfolio with state farm. Our business insurance premiums were $34k+ last year. I am wondering if anyone has any advice as to how to go about this differently. That seems astronomical to me and I would love to find out what other people are doing.

[John Mocker]

Franky,

My advise is to seek out multiple Independent Agents (they represent many Insurance companies - not just one).  Look for ones that have experience in Commercial Real Estate, Construction, Contractors, etc.  Seek at least one that has office(s) in the state where the properties are located.  The type of info these agents will need are:

1. copies of the existing policies

2. loss history for the past 5 years for each property and your personal coverage.  

3. Year of update of the systems (roof, plumbing, electric, heat)

4. any pets, pools, tranpolines, or business use at any location

They will usually need more specifics but this is a good start.  Let them know your are open to using different Insurance companies on the properties (often one company will be best on one location but not others due to age, fire protection, etc.)