New office location: 15 S. Fairview, suite 201 (above Daniel’s Charcuterie)

Contact info: (847) 384-9050. To*********@******te.com

Details: Todd, who has a financial planning background, has been a licensed insurance agent for 30 years and with Allstate for 15 years. In addition to his Park Ridge office, he also owns one in Chicago’s West Lakeview neighborhood.

Q: What types of insurance do you provide, and do you have any area in particular that you specialize in?

Predominantly, at Allstate we focus on personal lines of insurance — home, auto, renter’s, condo. In addition, my practice, with my financial planning background, focuses a lot on life and retirement planning strategies.

Q: Are there any current trends in the insurance industry that people should know about?

A: In the auto market, it’s all connected with car technology, safety options and ratings plans based on usage (analyzing how far you’re driving as a rate-per-mile plan). It’s a more holistic way of rating someone when you look at both how you drive and how far you drive.

On the life insurance side, trending now is an income strategy using permanent life insurance. And with long-term care insurance, an asset-based hybrid insurance plan is all the rage right now. There are still traditional long-term care insurance plans available, but those plans are not as flexible as the asset-based plans and don’t have additional contingent benefits. Thus, the hybrid, asset-based plan will provide permanent protection with rates that will not increase. You also own the insurance protection with hybrid plans. They provide three primary benefits: in-care benefits, death benefits and return-of-premium benefits. Traditional long-term care insurance can increase premiums over time and may never be used. Those shortcomings have led to the hybrid plan becoming a reasonable alternative.

We take a consultative approach with every prospect to make sure they fully understand what they’re purchasing. A lot of people are mostly focused on rates, but there’s so much more to it than price.”

Q: How important is the communication process when it comes to providing insurance opportunities?

A: All my staff are fully licensed, and communication is the cornerstone of what makes us different than a lot of other insurance agencies. Our years of experience, educating the client on the situation, and then guiding them through the process toward making an informed decision. We take a consultative approach with every prospect to make sure they fully understand what they’re purchasing. A lot of prospects will call and be mostly focused on rates, but in reality there’s so much more to it than price.

Q: What’s a common misstep that a lot of people make when it comes to protecting — or not properly protecting — their home?

A: When it comes to the home, one mistake that we see from prospects is not clearly understanding the limitations in home contracts, such as water backups or protecting jewelry or other collectables. Another one is when people don’t properly protect themselves from a liability perspective, specifically to protect their net worth. Most don’t understand what liability limits they should be carrying for their home, cars, motorcycles or rental properties. A personal umbrella policy will help provide excess liability protection for them. It also broadens out some additional protection, such as libel, slander and defamation of character.

Too many households we speak to will delay the discussion or do not make the time to review the life insurance needs for their family. This is a sacrifice that needs to be made.”

Q: Tell us about the financial security that the proper life insurance policy can provide.

Any individual that has a family most likely needs life insurance. Debt obligation and/or income replacement are the two primary needs a surviving spouse will want to have in the untimely death of a loved one. A proper life policy should afford an individual family the funds to maintain their standard of living. Too many households we speak to will delay the discussion or do not make the time to review the life insurance needs for their family. This is a sacrifice that needs to be made. Think about it: It’s a life claim. It’s the most important type of review and policy we write.

Q: How has the insurance industry as a whole changed over the last five years?

Most companies today are distributing insurance through: 1. direct online or 800 numbers, 2. independent agents or 3. exclusive agents. The barriers of distribution no longer exist, and most companies can’t afford to just distribute product with one. As a result, a lot of smaller agencies are closing or merging. On the product side, I would say the connected car technology and telematics are impacting the way insurance companies rate auto insurance. They’re always wanting more information on where you drive and how far you drive as opposed to just what you drive.