Alicia Nantz

Today we are talking with our featured insurance broker Alicia Nantz located in Eden Prairie, MN. Alicia is a broker at Insurance Associates.

Alicia founded Insurance Associates with her husband Marty because of their mutual passion for the insurance business and their love of working with people.  Alicia has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the insurance industry, especially as it pertains to commercial insurance and the coverages her clients require. She loves what she does and it truly shows when speaking to her.  She is very dedicated to finding the right solutions for each client. She is a great resource to lean on when wanting to simplify the complex nature of commercial insurance.

Alicia earned her Bachelor’s degree from the St. Thomas, majoring in Marketing.  She has completed numerous insurance educational programs and holds a host of designations designed to give her a very sophisticated knowledge base to help her clients. 

Tell us about yourself Alicia

I’m a native Minnesotan, born and raised.  As you mentioned I am married to my business partner, Marty and we have two little girls.  We spend a lot of time shuttling the kids to different activities like dance lessons and gymnastics.

Alicia, where is your office located?

Our new office is located in Eden Prairie. We just opened a second office in Woodbury as well.  So we’re able to help are clients from either side of the Twin Cities.

When and how did you start your own brokerage?

Back in 2013 I was a pretty successful insurance agent and I was ready to start a new chapter in your business.  Getting an independent insurance agency off the ground takes a lot of planning and hard work.  Luckily my husband Marty is also a talented insurance agent at the time too.

I really started with a business plan.  Being in the insurance industry I am always working with a plan with full contingencies built in.  We had a good idea who our clients would be before we started. The harder part to figure out was all of the logistics involved in setting up an office and figuring out when to hire employees versus what we could handle on our own.  We spent a lot of long days doing administrative work after client meetings.

What makes you stand out from your competitors?

We feel our clients are loyal to our company because we provide excellent customer service. Our clients are more likely to recommend our company to family and friends when we are providing them with great service. Good customer service means responding quickly to our customer’s enquiries and making your customers feel like people, not numbers. It also means providing a number of ways for our customers to get in touch with us. Some prefer to make a phone call, others will email and yet more like to get in touch over social media.  We have systems in place to allow our customers to get a hold of us as soon as possible in whatever way they feel most comfortable.

Now a some questions from our readers: 

Do I need flood insurance coverage in Minnesota? 

That’s a good question.  The answer depends on where you live and what your risk tolerance is when it comes to a possible flood loss. Where you live will inevitably influence the type of coverage you buy. If you live in an area that gets lots of extreme, wet weather, it’s probably a good idea to get a separate flood insurance policy and protect against water damage. In fact, your mortgage lender might require you to do so. Flood insurance is rarely included with your home insurance policy. You usually have to buy a separate policy.

Keep in mind flood insurance is different from hazard insurance. Hazard insurance tends to be a more general term that refers to the parts of your policy that protect your home against fire damage, theft, or damage from other natural disasters. The price of your hazard insurance varies based on where you live.

What if I find out after a rainstorm that my roof is leaking?  Is that covered?

Depending on what is causing the leak, you may be covered. Do you have roof damage? if the roof is more than 20 years old, most insurance companies won’t cover your home at all unless it passes inspection first. It’s not unheard of for a homeowners insurance policy not to be renewed because the roof failed inspection. If your roof is 10 years old and suffers extensive damage after a big storm, however, you will be covered.

What price point should I set my homeowners deductible at?

A deductible is the amount of money you pay to handle a claim before the insurance company steps in and covers repair costs. For instance, if your deductible is set at $1,000, that’s the amount you’ll pay to handle claims before your provider gets involved. If you set a higher deductible, your annual insurance premiums will be lower. You might find that you prefer paying lower yearly costs. But if that’s the case, just remember that a higher deductible could mean you have to chip in more on repairs if your home sustains property damage.  So it’s a personal choice that we also present to our clients so that they get to make an informed decision.

Thanks for talking with me today Alicia!

You’re welcome, thanks for inviting me.