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New opinion pieces, ranking updates, analyst audits, and industry news from the last 14 days. Rebuilt on every deploy.
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Opinion (9)
- 2026-06-01Florida home insurance is broken. Here's what you can actually buy in 2026.
Florida's home insurance market has been severely disrupted since 2018. The big national insurers won't write your coastal home anymore. Most coastal Floridians end up on Citizens — the state-backed last-resort. Here's how to figure out what's available for your specific home.
- 2026-05-31What is an MGA in insurance: the company that underwrites but does not hold the risk.
When you buy a specialty insurance policy — say, coverage for a small drone business, or a niche professional liability line — there is a good chance a company called an MGA put that policy together. The carrier whose name is on the paper did not set the rates or choose whether to take the risk. A managing general agent did that work on the carrier's behalf. This piece explains what an MGA is, how it fits between the carrier and the customer, and why it exists at all.
- 2026-05-31Malpractice insurance for therapists, psychologists, and mental health counselors — license-defense coverage is the underrated thing to get right.
Malpractice insurance for psychologists, therapists, LCSWs and mental health counselors is more about defending you against state licensing-board complaints than civil lawsuits. License-defense coverage is the part most undervalue. Here's what to buy — by licensure type. (If you're a psychiatrist — an MD who prescribes — your market is medical malpractice, not this one. See the psychiatrist note below.)
- 2026-05-29How insurance comparison sites make money: lead aggregators vs. licensed agencies.
You fill in one form on a comparison site and see quotes from dozens of carriers. It feels like a neutral service. It is useful — but it is not free, and somebody is paying for it. That somebody is usually the carrier or agent who ends up selling you a policy. How they pay is what separates two very different kinds of comparison site. One is a lead aggregator: it sells your contact details. The other is a licensed agency: it earns a commission when you buy. This piece explains both in plain terms, names the companies that run each model, and tells you what the difference means when you are buying.
- 2026-05-28Captive agent, independent agent, broker: what each one is and how to choose.
When you call about insurance, the person you speak to is one of three things: an agent tied to a single company, an agent who can shop several companies, or a broker whose job is to find the best deal for you. They all look the same at first. They all call themselves 'your insurance person'. But the type decides what they can sell you, how they get paid, and whether their loyalty is to you or to a carrier. This piece explains the difference in plain terms.
- 2026-05-26Bancassurance, explained: how your bank sells you insurance.
You go to your bank to get a mortgage. At the same meeting, the adviser offers you home insurance. You do not need to visit a separate insurer or fill in a separate form. The bank already knows your address, your loan amount, and roughly what your finances look like. The insurance offer is built on top of that. This is bancassurance: insurance sold through a bank, using the bank's existing relationship with the customer. It is one of the five ways insurance reaches people, and it is the channel most US customers will never think to name — even if they have used it.
- 2026-05-25The best insurance comparison sites in the US, and what they actually are.
You type your address and car model into a website and get back a table of prices. It looks like a neutral comparison. But behind that table is a business, and that business has a way of making money. Sometimes it sells your details to several insurers. Sometimes it is itself a licensed insurance agency collecting a commission. Sometimes it is both. This piece explains which US comparison sites do what, and what that means for the price you see.
- 2026-05-21Embedded insurance, explained: the cover you buy without shopping for it.
You have probably bought embedded insurance and never called it that. It is the "protect this order" box at an airline checkout. It is the screen-damage cover offered the moment you buy a phone. It is the protection ticked on by default when you book a concert seat. The insurance is not something you went looking for — it is shown to you inside another purchase, at the exact moment it feels relevant. That is the whole idea, and it is the fastest-growing way insurance reaches people. This piece explains how it works and what you trade away by buying this way.
- 2026-05-21How insurance reaches you in the US: the five channels, in plain terms.
When you buy car or home insurance, the policy is written by a carrier — a company that takes on the risk and pays the claims. But the carrier almost never hands you the policy itself. Something sits in between: a website, an agent, a checkout button, sometimes a bank. That in-between layer is called distribution. It decides which products you see, what they cost, and whether anyone gives you advice. This piece walks through the five channels one at a time, with the companies that run each.
This page rebuilds on every deploy. For the longer view, the Opinion archive and the News archive have everything. For the methodology behind the rankings, see /methodology.