| FEATURED AGENT
Joshua Butts
Joshua Butts, Owner and Founder of Cornerstone Insurance, in Odessa, FL, has been working with Tower Hill for over 16 years.
How do Tower Hill’s values of providing excellent service with compassion and empathy align with yours?
The first and foremost responsibility of an agent is to discuss the needs of the client and then tailor the policy to what those needs are. Tower Hill offers a wide variety of options based on their long-term feedback from agents.
They’ve put together proper coverages, packages, and market-necessary protections that clients in Florida look for to make sure everything they need is covered.
When we do that up front, we’re able to deliver on the promise that Tower Hill brings to the table, having the right coverage and being there in a time of need.
Why did your agency choose to carry Tower Hill?
“Communication is one of the most important things in our industry. Tower Hill helps by offering text messaging and alerts so customers feel at ease and know they’re in the right hands.”
Reputation. It’s one of the most important things in our industry. Getting feedback and discovering who the right partners are is one of the most important things for an agency.
When I started this agency 16 years ago, the common name was Tower Hill. That’s who I wanted to partner with as a platform for my agency to move forward. Tower Hill is someone my clients and I can count on and rely on over the years.
Describe a time when you brought peace of mind to one of your customers.
Bringing peace on mind starts with the first conversation. If you’re waiting until you have a claim or until something bad happens, then you’ve waited too long.
It’s so important to know who your company is and what your coverages are from the very first interaction with your agent and carrier. If you do that right, you won’t be worried about who your insurance company is or be frantically looking through your policy to make sure you have the proper coverages.
Doing the right things first, doing them transparently, and working with an agency that sells Tower Hill ensures that you’ll be fulfilling the promise of protection and will be covered in your time of need.
What are your customers’ most common needs after a hurricane, and how do you address them?
The first thing customers want from their agency and their carrier is someone to simply pick up the phone and talk to them. Communication is one of the most important things in our industry.
Tower Hill helps with this by offering text messaging and alerts for people in the path of a storm, which reassures customers before they can even call. When that call does come in, we can be the first line of communication, take the claim, and let them know they’re with a phenomenal carrier in the state of Florida that will take care of them. That’s how we help them feel at ease and let them know they’re in the right hands.
What topics do you find customers need the most education on?
The most important thing is helping clients understand the limitations in Florida policies. Because of all the prior disasters that have hit our state, there are gaps in all policies, like hurricane deductibles, screen enclosures, or water damage.
Customers should know about these limitations and ask their agent up front. By choosing a good agency and asking about endorsements included in their policy, they’ll know their portion of the risk and can take preventative measures.
Whether it’s installing a water monitoring device or knowing that if a hurricane damages your screen enclosure and you didn’t buy that coverage, it will be your responsibility. Calculating coverage versus cost is the most important part of protecting yourself.
How do you explain the benefits of CastleCare to your clients?
If you have a claim and you call it in, at that point you’re on your own unless you have CastleCare. Without it, you’re left calling people from Google to come into your home and repair your most important possession.
With CastleCare, Tower Hill becomes your partner in that process. They have an incentive to make you whole because they are legally obligated by the policy. They vet their partners and ensure the work is done by properly licensed professionals.
If something doesn’t meet your standard, you’re not just one customer. Tower Hill can lean on their service providers to make sure you’re satisfied. That economy of scale carries a lot of weight and is a real advantage during the claims process.
Is Tower Hill your home insurance provider?
Yes. I did have a prior carrier that wasn’t Tower Hill, but as my wife and I made upgrades and invested more into our home, we decided to make the switch.
Tower Hill is not usually the cheapest option on the market, but we realized that we were willing to pay more for the right coverage and reliability. After reviewing our insurance portfolio, especially after the recent storms, we decided Tower Hill was the right carrier for us.
Although we had no damages, we wanted the peace of mind of knowing Tower Hill would be there. We did end up paying a little more for our policy, but now we feel confident heading into the next hurricane season.
Is there anything Tower Hill could do better?
It’s a great question, and I love it because Tower Hill has been asking that since day one of our partnership 16 years ago. Every year you ask, “What can we do better?” and every year that list gets shorter because you actually listen.
From your systems, to keeping us educated, to building strong relationships, Tower Hill continues to prove they’ll be there for us agents so that we can be there for our clients. After 16 years, it’s hard to find areas for improvement.
I do want to thank Tower Hill for always asking the question and following through on the feedback. That’s something very rare in this industry.