Insurance agents REPRESENT their insurance companies and DO NOT have ANY interest other than to MINAMIZE their payout and raise their billables.
I respectfully disagree with this statement. Insurance agents represent the insurance company but also represent their insured. As an agent I have many times gone to bat for my client if the insurance company is not acting fairly with one of my insureds and living up to the policy provisions, even going far enough to have had a part in getting people fired for their lack of service to my insureds when they fail to do so. I have fought with adjusters who deny claims because they are not reading the policy correctly, and had denials overturned. But when a a claim is denied based on the actual policy wording I will explain to my client why the claim was denied, and show there where it was denied in the policy. I don't do it to minimize the insurance companies payout nor do I do it to raise their liabilities. I do it because that is what my insured's paid for when they bought the policy in the first place, and because it is the right, and ethical, thing to do. Which is why I have had clients leave for carriers who charge less premium, but have them come back for service.
Have I had some "hypothetical" discussions with some of my insured's where I would think a situation would be best handled outside of insurance? Yes I have, but it is a very fine line. If we are contacted about a claim we have to report it. Failure to do so goes against the insured's policy provision of timely reporting and could result in the claim being denied if the claim is later formally presented.
I have personally seen agents who did not report claims when they were presented with an occurrence that later became an ugly claim. This resulted in claims that were denied for lack of timely reporting. The agents were later sued by their insured and then had to pay the claim from their own errors and omissions policy, even thought the insured initially told them to not report the claim. Insurance companies will also sometime pay the claim that turned ugly and then turn around and sue the agent based on the claim not be handled in a way that would have prevened the claim becoming larger than it would have if it had been handled by the insurance carrier from the beginning.
Does the industry have some bad agents who don't act ethically? Yes, as do all industires. But there are many of us out there who work long hours, without overtime (and who are salaried not commissioned) to be sure our clients are treated fairly. Sometimes that includes doing what protects the insured's best interest, even though it may not seem like it at the time.