Locals will have an opportunity to deal face-to-face with an Allstate Insurance agent without driving to the western county, now that Melissa Campbell’s opened shop east of Dagsboro.
Coastal Point • SAM HARVEY:
Melissa Campbell has opened her Lighthouse Insurance Agency at Vine’s Creek Professional Center.
Campbell has established an office at the Vine’s Creek Professional Center – the Lighthouse Insurance Agency – and offers Allstate’s full range of insurance brands and policies at that location.
In insurance for eight years now, Campbell said she’d settled on the company in January. “I went with Allstate because of the products they offer, and because there’s support for all of the divisions,” she said.
The company sent Campbell through two months of training, but she said there are plenty of specialists if she ever needs backing from a specific area of expertise.
“And there’s a 24-hour helpline for customers,” she added. “I think that really matters to a lot of people. They’re a larger company, so they have more people who can help. For instance, Allstate has claims people all over the country, and I think that’s important for customers from this area who might be snowbirds.”
Some people prefer to shop for the lowest possible cost, Campbell pointed out — but she advised prospective customers to consider quality, too.
Whatever people decide to do, she said she always tries to highlight insurance as a good investment.
“I think a lot of people really don’t understand their insurance,” she said. “They don’t understand the benefits — but accidents happen. Your policies protect you, and your future.
“Your earnings, your house — when I’m talking to someone and I see that light bulb go off, when I see that some really understands what their insurance is for, that’s what I enjoy most about the job,” Campbell said.
She admitted she is a bit of a worrier, more likely to err on the side of caution. “No one’s more over-insured than an insurance agent,” Campbell joked — but only because of what she’s seen in the course of her work, she added.
For instance, the Delaware auto insurance minimum of $15,000/$30,000 for bodily injury. With the rising cost of medical care, that level of coverage might not be enough, she pointed out, and that could mean significant out-of-pocket expense.
The same thing with a little extra un- or underinsured motorist coverage. “Your policy is covering the other person, yes, but you’re also covering yourself,” Campbell pointed out. And Delaware’s minimum for property damage is just $10,000, she added — probably sufficient for most accidents, but not for a run-in with a BMW or Mercedes.
She promoted a new Allstate product, “Your Choice Auto,” which incorporates features like accident forgiveness, safe-driving bonuses and deductible rewards (another $100 off, every year customers go without an accident, up to $500).
Campbell also touched on homeowner’s insurance, which she figures is her second most popular offering, and other Allstate products in business and commercial coverage, supplemental health and life.
She said she’d been surprised by the number of people she’s seen since the Lighthouse Insurance Agency opened. “It’s been a really good couple of months,” Campbell pointed out. “I think there’s been a need for someone to offer these quality products and services.”
Originally from Baltimore, Campbell moved to Delaware in 1993. She has a daughter with her husband, Richard, and leads local Brownie Troop 628 (of which her daughter is a member).
She opens earlier in the day than most of her neighbors at the Vines Creek Professional Center — “I just come here after I drop my daughter off at Lord Baltimore, so I might as well open up,” Campbell noted.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., but she said she schedules other hours as well, by appointment.
For more information about the Allstate products Campbell offers, call the Lighthouse Insurance Agency at (302) 732-0926, or visit her Web site at www.allstate.com/71267.