This is news to me. Maybe on what kind of insurance? I’ve always used the typical insurance websites for my car, and used selectquote.com for my life insurance. I never had to pay more then what I was quoted.

Most good local agent’s will do their homework when offering quotes and before binding insurance for auto and homeowners policies to prevent premium adjustments. Because homeowners insurance is the least amount of premium for a broader policy, there are some insurance companies that have private home surveyors inspect the property even after the agent has inspected the property.

I personally observed many careless agents who will quote and bind insurance without running history reports or inspecting property to get commissions, then let the company underwriters run history reports only to find issues that will change the rate of premium and the agent gives a B.S. reason to the insured, when this could have been prevented. Some companies let it happen, I personally wouldn’t like the reputation of misleading my insureds. I always did my homework and explained why it was important to them.

In many cases your insurance is only as good as your agent and in my opinion the service you get from a local agent is money well spent. Next time ask the agent if all clue reports have been ran and property inspections completed before the policy is issued.

Good Luck To You

Here are some web options:

Health
http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/

Dental
http://www.dentalplans.com/

Life
http://www.metlife.com/FileAssets/LIS2/index.html?wt.ac=MLHP1_LIS_Ads_v2

Id get some advice from a local broker if you don’t recognize some terms

Never heard of this happening. First I pay, then I get policy. Might even pay and get policy at same time but if they increase premium I just don’t pay and they can keep their policy.
Not sure what you did. I pay about $ 130 yearly for a 170.000 excess. If the house gets flattened or burned that’s what they pay. Can’t get cheaper than that I think.