Definition
An insurance agency, sometimes called an insurance broker, is a licensed business that sells insurance policies on behalf of one or more insurance carriers. The agency acts as the intermediary between you and the insurance company — taking your information, identifying the right coverage, binding the policy, and handling any required state filings.
In Washington, all insurance agencies must be licensed and all their agents must hold a valid producer license issued by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and complete continuing education to keep it. That licensing requirement exists for a reason.
Buying Direct Means You Become Your Own Unlicensed Agent
When you buy insurance through a national carrier’s website or 800 number, there’s no agent in the transaction. You’re the one choosing coverage limits, selecting or declining options, and deciding what protection you actually need.
The problem is that most drivers don’t know what those options pay for. They don’t know what PIP covers or why it matters. They don’t know what happens when liability limits run out mid-claim. The carrier’s website isn’t going to explain it — it’s going to present a dropdown and let you pick a number.
Unlicensed Coverage Decisions Create Gaps That Only Show Up in Claims
Washington requires insurance agents to be licensed and to complete continuing education precisely because insurance is complicated enough to warrant it. That requirement doesn’t apply to you when you’re buying direct.
So when you select the minimum liability limit because it’s the cheapest option, no one is going to tell you that a single at-fault accident with injuries can exceed that limit quickly — and that everything above it comes out of your pocket. When you decline PIP because you don’t recognize the acronym, no one explains that it covers your medical bills regardless of fault and pays when other coverage doesn’t.
The coverage you didn’t understand and didn’t buy isn’t there when you need it. At that point, the 800 number connects you to a claims department. The website doesn’t take responsibility for what you chose. You do.
Mid-Columbia Insurance Puts a Licensed Agent Between You and That Risk
A licensed agent’s job is to make sure you understand what you’re buying before you buy it — and to be accountable if they get it wrong.
Mid-Columbia Insurance has been doing this in Washington since 1995. We walk through what each coverage pays for, what the real-world consequence of a lower limit looks like in a specific type of claim, and where the gaps are if you decline something. Then you decide — but you decide with the information a licensed agent is required to provide and professionally obligated to explain accurately.
We primarily work with non-standard carriers, file SR-22s with the DOL, and can cover drivers that online platforms routinely decline.
Call (509) 783-5600 or get a quote online.
- Glossary: Insurance Agency
- Wikidata: Insurance Agency
- Wikepedia: Insurance Broker
- KnowledgePanel: Insurance Broker