I have two examples from today that show exactly why I have a job — and why you should have an insurance agent.

The first was a guy who bought a shed and planned to move it to his new home in Arkansas.

Before he could get a state permit to move it, he had to show that he had $750,000 worth of liability coverage.

He called Geico (where he had his auto insurance) three times and got hung up on three times before he called me.

Simple solution: Auto insurance with a $1 million umbrella and he’s good to go.

My second example doesn’t have a simple or happy ending.

Al and I had originally started talking about moving his home and auto insurance to me last April. He just couldn’t quite bring himself to pull the trigger and switch just yet.

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to help him nearly as well now as I could have then.

Why? Because he’s tried to collect from his current insurance company twice in the past year.

Neither of the claims he filed are covered by his current insurance, but it doesn’t matter.

Most insurance companies don’t want you if you’ve had two claims within a three-year period.

So how would have an agent been able to help him? Because his claims were both caused by flooding. Floods aren’t covered by home insurance. An agent could have told him that before it reached the claims stage so it didn’t count against him.

I’m still in the middle of this one, so I’m not sure how it’s going to end. But as I said, it’s not going to be an easy one.