Trask
ALBANY — How easy it was to save more than $2,000 per year with a CSEA members-only benefit is what impressed Gwyn Trask the most.
Trask, a civil enforcement supervisor at the state Department of Taxation and Finance in Albany, picked up a flyer for Pearl Insurance at a member information day three years ago, but took no action to change to Pearl at that point.
A year later, when Trask got a new car, she contacted her insurance company to add the vehicle onto her policy. The insurer came back with a quote “that was going to push us over to a ridiculous amount [to pay].”
Trask remembered the Pearl Insurance flyer and called Pearl to see if she could get a better rate.
“[Pearl] came back with a much lower quote,” Trask said. “I thought, ‘there must be a mistake.’”
To verify the lower quote, Trask went through the coverage, line by line, with the Pearl representative.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Trask said. “[The Pearl representative] said that Pearl Insurance can even take the premiums out of my paycheck.”
“I thought, ‘this is crazy — we will be saving $2,200 a year,’” she said. “We had the same company for 10 years and [the premiums]kept going up.”
Trask noted another feature of Pearl Insurance that she values — an annual review of the policy that includes shopping it around for potential savings.
“After the first year, Pearl Insurance called me to review the policy,” Trask said. “We decided to stay put; we were happy with the coverage.”
Trask was so happy with her insurance that she now bundles her car and home insurance through Pearl, helping keep rates down. She no longer worries about rates sneaking up.
“The [Pearl Insurance] benefit is convenient, super-efficient and it feels like they are looking out for me,” she said.
— Therese Assalian
