Television advertising offering a free quote for hurricane coverage resulted in an overload of business for First Heritage Insurance Services of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Independent insurance agent Chris Wandembergh told the St. Petersburg Times she merely wanted to “drum up business” for First Heritage, her fledgling company. But her TV ads offering a free quote for hurricane coverage tapped a bigger vein than she expected.
Wandembergh had to temporarily discontinue the TV spot at the beginning of August after she was swamped with more requests than she could handle–and from many people she couldn’t help.
“It was a way for me to get my name out there,” Wandembergh told the Times.
She acknowledged the pitch was also a way to bring in potential customers for auto insurance and other lines.
“It doesn’t mean I can write everything” in homeowners, she added.
Indeed, for owners of homes more than 20 years old, the news was the same as they heard from other brokers: That only the state-run Citizens Property Insurance will write coverage for them.
Citizens has swelled by the thousands in the bay area in the past several years. By state law, the insurer’s rates are set higher than the marketplace to assure that it’s used only by homeowners who cannot find private companies to write their policies.
The situation is only getting tenser as big players such as Allstate and Nationwide recently decided to cut back on their policy count or not write any new policies. Some insurers have pulled out of Florida.
After their brief hiatus, First Heritage’s ads are supposed to reappear on the air soon.
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