Who Is Absolute Insurance, and Why Does the Independent Agency Model Matter?
The lowest insurance quote is not always the best deal. A cheaper policy may come with lower limits, higher deductibles, or missing protections that only become obvious after a claim.
In the first episode of Fully Covered, host Mike Downer speaks with Jeff Eastvold, president and CEO of Absolute Insurance Agency, and Dan Bell, vice president. They explain how the agency grew from its Iowa roots, why policy details matter, and how independent agents help customers compare coverage from multiple carriers.
The main takeaway is that insurance should protect the customer’s real risks rather than simply produce the lowest price. Understanding the difference between independent and captive insurance agency models can also help consumers recognize why some agents can compare several options while others represent only one company.
An Agency Built on Long-Term Relationships
Jeff entered the insurance industry in 1991 after growing up around his father’s agency. His approach has remained simple: take care of clients, and they will continue trusting and referring you.
That focus helped Absolute Insurance expand from a local Iowa agency into a company serving clients in about 25 states. The agency has offices in Clive and Ames, but its reach grew largely because existing clients moved, purchased additional homes, started businesses, or referred people outside Iowa.
Rather than asking those clients to begin again with a new agent, Absolute Insurance obtained licenses in additional states so it could continue serving them.
Why Insurance Details Matter
Insurance companies now use more information than ever to determine pricing and eligibility. A quote may be influenced by driving distance, occupation, household drivers, property details, claims history, education, vehicle type, and other factors.
These details can make two similar-looking quotes very different.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommends comparing policies using the same coverage types, limits, and deductibles. Without that comparison, a lower premium may simply reflect reduced protection.
Jeff emphasizes that small details matter because they affect both the price and the policy. An incomplete or inaccurate quote may not properly reflect the customer’s needs.
Independent Agents Offer More Choices
Absolute Insurance represents more than 15 insurance carriers. That allows its agents to compare different companies based on the customer’s household, vehicles, property, business, and financial risks.
Dan explains that not every insurance company is a good fit for every customer. One carrier may work well for a family with young drivers, while another may offer better options for landlords, homeowners, or business owners.
In some situations, an independent agency may place home insurance with one carrier and auto insurance with another to create a stronger overall plan.
The Insurance Information Institute explains that independent agents can represent several insurers, while captive agents generally represent one company.
This becomes especially useful when rates increase. A captive agent may only be able to adjust deductibles or reduce coverage. An independent agent can also review other carriers and determine whether another company is now a better match.
Cheap Insurance Can Cost More Later
A low premium can be appealing, but minimum coverage may leave the policyholder responsible for major expenses after an accident.
Dan uses Iowa’s minimum auto liability requirements as an example. According to the Iowa Insurance Division, drivers must carry at least $20,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, $40,000 per accident, and $15,000 in property damage coverage.
Those limits satisfy state law, but they may not cover the full cost of a serious accident or a newer vehicle. Any amount beyond the policy limit may become the driver’s personal responsibility.
As Dan says, “After the fact, during a claim, is not the time to find out you don’t have coverage.”
Covering the Whole Customer
Absolute Insurance offers auto, home, umbrella, commercial, life, landlord, flood, motorcycle, ATV, boat, workers’ compensation, and other insurance products.
That broad approach allows the agency to look at a customer’s complete situation instead of treating every policy separately. A homeowner may also own rental property, operate a business, have recreational vehicles, or maintain a second home in another state.
Reviewing the full picture can reveal coverage gaps that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Ultimately, the difference between independent and captive insurance agency service is choice. One model offers products from a single carrier, while the other can compare several companies to build coverage around the customer’s needs.
FAQs
What is an independent insurance agency?
An independent agency represents multiple insurance companies and can compare policies from several carriers.
What is a captive insurance agency?
A captive agency represents one insurance company and generally sells only that company’s products.
Is the cheapest insurance policy always best?
No. A cheaper policy may include lower limits, higher deductibles, or fewer protections.
Can an independent agent change carriers later?
Yes. The agent can review other partner carriers if a customer’s rates, property, household, or coverage needs change.
What types of insurance does Absolute Insurance offer?
The agency offers personal and commercial coverage, including auto, home, umbrella, life, business, landlord, flood, boat, and recreational vehicle insurance.
Why should policies be reviewed regularly?
Life changes, rate increases, property purchases, and new risks can make existing policies outdated or incomplete.
Mike Downer: Hi, everybody. I’m your host, Mike Downer, and thanks for joining us on Fully Covered. Do you want cheap insurance, or do you want to be insured?
I am joined today by Jeff Eastvold, president and CEO, and Dan Bell, vice president of Absolute Insurance. How are we doing today, guys?
Jeff Eastvold: Hey, great. Thanks for having us.
Dan Bell: We’re doing great.
Mike Downer: Today, the big question I have for you guys is this: since this is our first episode, who is Absolute Insurance, and why should Iowans care about your story?
Jeff Eastvold: I started selling insurance in 1991 when I got my license, and I’ve always been local. Full honesty: I worked at my dad’s agency when I was not legally old enough to work. I started out filing papers, signing papers, and mailing them out.
We’re just a local place. We’re in Des Moines and Clive, and we have an office in Ames, but we write in about 25 states. I first got my license in 1991 in the state of Iowa, and we’ve grown and evolved into something much bigger than it was in the ’80s and ’90s.
Mike Downer: So you started out in ’91. Let me ask you this, Jeff: what simple principle led you to found Absolute Insurance Agency?
Jeff Eastvold: It’s the relationships with the clients. You take care of them. A long time ago, I was at an insurance meeting, and a guy said, “If you take care of clients, they’ll take care of you.”
That makes sense, right? If you just do that, and you do it right every time, that’s how you get referrals, that’s how you keep clients, and that’s what works for us.
Mike Downer: I love it. That sounds great. How has the insurance industry changed since then, and what has stayed important?
Jeff Eastvold: Insurance has changed a lot from back then. You used to rate by hand. Now we use the internet and all that stuff. It has changed dramatically.
Now, it’s about the details. Insurance companies are using so much more data than they used to. Back in the ’80s or ’90s, they used maybe 10 sets of data: where you live, what car you drive, the drivers, and a few other things.
Now it’s much more complex. That’s the biggest thing I see where other companies don’t always do the right thing. They’re not asking all of these little, intricate questions, like exact occupation and education.
For the consumer, I understand why they think that should not matter, but it does matter. That’s what drives the rate. Even five miles to work versus four miles to work matters. It’s much more nuanced. Details matter.
Mike Downer: That’s a great answer. Jeff, I’m going to make Dan earn his paycheck here.
Dan, what does it mean that Absolute Insurance is an independent agency representing 15-plus major carriers?
Dan Bell: At Absolute Insurance, being independent means we have the option to explore different companies and match their nuances against our clients’ needs.
Not every company is going to be best for youthful drivers. Not every company is best suited for families. Our advantage in having these 15-plus carriers is that we can put together a plan. Sometimes we may even put the auto with one company and the home with another if we need to, depending on the scenario, to best suit the client’s needs.
Nothing is cookie-cutter here.
Mike Downer: You’re solving the problem.
Dan Bell: Exactly. That’s what we do. We solve problems, and we use our agency partners, which are the carriers, to do that.
Mike Downer: Perfect. That’s a great lead into my next question. This is for either one of you: how does Absolute Insurance combine regional reach with local roots?
Jeff Eastvold: We’re based in Iowa. Obviously, we have an office in Clive at 7400 University Avenue, and we have an office at 415 Duff Avenue in Ames.
Insurance has changed, and being local is important, but we’re also in about 25 states, probably more. We’ve expanded, but we’re just trying to do things right.
Being local matters, but like we said before, relationships matter. As our clients move, they don’t want to move their agent, too. That’s an entirely new relationship.
We’ve had people insured for over 20 years, and I know them pretty well. They’re good friends. So if they move to Missouri or Texas, I’ll find a way to help them. Or if they buy a second home or third home, we help with that, too.
That’s how we expanded into all those states. We do a great job, and we keep getting referrals from those people. They buy a second home or a third home, move to Texas or Arizona, and keep referring people to us. That’s why we had to get licensed in all these other states: to take care of our clients.
Mike Downer: You were talking about all the referrals, and I’ve noticed that your five-star reviews are kind of off the chart.
Guys, what do Absolute Insurance’s 210-plus five-star Google reviews and 4.95 out of 5 stars say about your agency, in your opinion?
Jeff Eastvold: That’s important. It matters that people take the time to say, “This guy is doing a great job,” or “This girl is doing a great job,” because we have multiple people working here. We have about 15 people. We’re not huge, but we’re a good size.
It matters that people take the time to leave a Google review.
Dan Bell: No one who is just “meh” writes a message or testimonial. It’s usually people who are either really unhappy or people who are incredibly happy with what happened and what we were able to produce for them, whether that was savings, coverage, both, or just finding solutions.
Jeff Eastvold: Also, who gets excited about making a Google review for insurance? It’s not like margaritas.
Mike Downer: That’s for sure. So you’re saying people aren’t going to throw a party centered around the Google review.
Jeff Eastvold: Exactly.
Mike Downer: I love it. Guys, how does the independent insurance agency model help customers find competitive pricing versus the one-off shops?
Jeff Eastvold: I’ll let Dan take this.
Dan Bell: It goes back to having the option to explore 15-plus different carriers and their niches in the market. Knowing what each company is looking for helps us create a tailored plan for our insureds.
It’s different from going online and using your own pricing bucket. You may get a price, but you might not know what coverage you actually have.
Having the ability to explore options between Progressive, Nationwide, Auto-Owners, Liberty Mutual, and others helps us be competitive while also finding the right coverage for the client.
Mike Downer: That’s an excellent answer. I know people can go down their own little rabbit hole when they do it themselves. They think that just because they went online and the quote is lower than what they’re paying now, they’re in great shape. That’s not always the case.
Jeff Eastvold: That’s 100% true. With insurance, a lot of times, you get what you pay for. That’s kind of the title of our podcast here.
A lot of the online models are meant to pinch down coverage and raise deductibles so you pay the least amount, but then you don’t really have the coverage you need. When you have a claim, what does it matter if you’re not covered?
Mike Downer: Right. If you’re not covered, it doesn’t matter.
Jeff Eastvold: Exactly. When somebody calls me and says, “I had a claim,” I want to make sure it’s covered. That’s why we do what we do.
Dan Bell: After the fact, during a claim, is not the time to find out you don’t have coverage.
Mike Downer: Oh, gosh, no. I’ve been down that road, too.
As far as claims, coverage, and everything else, what types of insurance coverage can customers get through Absolute Insurance?
Dan Bell: We specialize in auto, home, and umbrella insurance. Clients have toys, motorcycles, ATVs, and boats, and we love that. We also do commercial insurance, life insurance, rentals, and landlord policies.
Mike Downer: Very good. So if it needs to be insured, you guys are most likely going to be able to help.
Jeff Eastvold: We’re a full-lines agency. A lot of places specialize in just auto and home. Other places are just for boats and toys. Then you have commercial agencies.
We’re a full-service agency. We do auto, home, commercial, umbrella, business, workers’ comp, and more. We want to meet our clients’ needs.
Dan Bell: Flood insurance, too. A lot of agencies go into niches, but you can’t insure half a body, if that makes sense. You have to insure the whole person.
If that person has a flood risk, a second-home risk, a boat down in Arizona, or something else, we do that.
Mike Downer: Sounds like you have everybody covered.
Over the series of this podcast, and I’m not asking for every single thing, what topics do you guys want to cover for our listeners?
Jeff Eastvold: Pretty much all those things. I’d like to get into auto insurance and what the coverages mean, home insurance, what’s getting pinched down, what isn’t getting pinched down, where you can find savings, and how we create a plan for you.
Dan Bell: Going back to online insurance purchases, they’re systematically set up to the minimums.
For example, the state of Iowa only requires that you have $20,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $40,000 combined bodily injury coverage, and $15,000 of property damage coverage.
So if you hit a $20,000 car and you bought the minimum policy, you only have $15,000 of property damage insurance. The average car on the road is probably around $36,000 to $38,000.
Mike Downer: Right around there.
Dan Bell: So what are they going to do? Their insurance is only going to pay $15,000. They’re going to have to pay the rest out of pocket. That’s where buying cheap doesn’t work out.
Mike Downer: I completely agree.
We’ll kind of wind this up. We just wanted to get to know you guys on this very first episode, and you’ve done a great job.
The last thing I think our listeners need to know about you guys and what you do is this: how does an independent agency work for the customer rather than for a corporation?
Go ahead and start it off, Jeff, and we’ll let Dan finish it out.
Jeff Eastvold: Let’s let Dan go first so I can make it better.
Mike Downer: So he can make it better. Yeah.
Dan Bell: Being independent helps us provide options for our clients. I like being able to solve problems. I like being able to help people.
Sometimes I think of it like we’re wizards. People come to us with problems, and we’re magicians who have to figure out how to put everything together and make them whole.
We find the gaps they don’t even realize are there and fill those gaps with one of our carrier partners.
Having the freedom to shop clients year over year is important, too. If people see rate increases and we didn’t have other agency partners, we’d have to say, “It is what it is. You’re where you’re at.” We could explore deductible options, but that would be about it.
With our model, maybe you’ve hit a different milestone in your life, and now another carrier is better suited for your current situation and has better loss experience for someone with your life experience. We can move your policies over there seamlessly, make sure we don’t create any gaps, and even eliminate gaps that could already be there.
Mike Downer: Perfect. Jeff?
Jeff Eastvold: The difference between the independent model and the captive model, like State Farm, American Family, Shelter, or Farm Bureau, is that when you call them, they have one option. That’s what it is.
What Dan was saying is that we write for 15 to 20 carriers, so we can move things around and find the best way to solve the puzzle.
The option to save coverage does not just mean changing a car from full coverage to liability, or raising deductibles. We can actually shop your insurance and figure it out. That’s a huge advantage.
That’s why the captive insurance market is losing market share and the independent agent market share is going up. People want choices, and that’s what we have.
Mike Downer: Very good. I think we’ve answered a lot of questions today. Over the next several weeks, we have lots and lots of information to cover.
Insurance is one of those things that, as consumers, we all think we know about, but we really don’t know enough. It’s nice to talk about insurance. Again, it’s not usually one of my party conversations, guys. I’m sure it is at your parties.
Dan Bell: That’s not on the bingo card, huh?
Mike Downer: It’s not on the bingo card, but the more podcasts I do, the more I find myself learning and talking about these things with my friends.
I hope that over the next few weeks, everybody gets to know us and sees that we like to joke around a little bit, and that’s a good thing.
I want to thank everybody for joining us on Fully Covered. I’m here with Jeff Eastvold and Dan Bell.
Keep this in mind, like Dan says: do you want cheap insurance, or do you want to be insured?
Until next time, guys, we’ll talk soon. Bye.
Jeff Eastvold: Bye.
Dan Bell: Thank you.