BANKING/FINANCE

Newly formed Insurance Audit Services in Orange thinks many companies are paying too much for insurance, so it is offering audits on insurance policies to make sure businesses are getting what their premium pays for.

“The insurance policy buyer gets beat up pretty badly,” said Fred Armstrong, a principal in the firm and its affiliated company, Armstrong/Robataille Insurance Services.

“Coverage is expensive and hard to come by. And coverage often is narrowed, sometimes without the policyholder knowing about it,” he said. “So we see a need to go in and take a look to see if businesses are adequately covered.”

Armstrong said Insurance Audit Services also has found that as insurance carriers cut back on what they cover for commercial, property and casualty risks, more errors crop up in such areas as classifications of various business operations.

Many companies have good control over their insurance costs, but most smaller and mid-size firms do not, he said.