The Bensman Group

I have been a client of Bensman Associates for well over 10 years. They write my insurance on my Home and Auto. Fortunately I have not had a lot of claims but I am pleased with the assistance I got with the few I had. (a couple car accidents and a lost ring). Their personal lines administrators over the years have always been helpful and take care of all the minor issues I have had. Right now the woman that takes care of me is Amy and as all my past experiences with Bensman, I am pleased with her level of service. I have also bought a life insurance policy from Robert Friedman and he was helpful. It was a cheap term policy that’s in place, and has not needed any servicing so I have no complaints in that area.
I think it may be a little cheaper if I bought insurance over the internet but the few times I have needed service its nice to know I have one designated person that I can go to and they get things done.

As a small business owner, I value the relationships I build not only with my clients, but my business associates as well. Tim Maurer, managing director of commercial property & casualty, obviously doesn’t feel the same way.
We had arranged a phone call to discuss my insurance needs and unfortunately, something came up unexpectedly on my schedule & I was not able to call him when we had arranged. I called & emailed him early in the day letting him know something had come up and asked when we could reschedule for. After a few days of not hearing back from him, I again called and left him a VM & emailed him — still nothing. After a week of no response to multiple attempts to reach him, I reached out to a friend of mine that works in his office (different department) — explaining that Tim was MIA and asked if there was anyone else that could help me as I simply wasn’t comfortable working with Tim any longer. Within minutes of my email to my pal, Tim was calling me. I was not in my office to take his call however. By the time I got his VM, it was WAY after business hours. His VM to me apologized and he said (and I quote) that he «dropped the ball» in getting back to me. I awoke to an email from him this morning saying he had left me a VM yesterday (which he did) but would be out of the office all day today. I emailed him back explaining that I simply wasn’t comfortable working with him at this point and asked if anyone else was available. He responded saying he had made several attempts to contact me… a LIE! In fact, his VM clearly states that he dropped the ball and never got back to me. He «cc’d» my pal on this email and I think was trying to save face.
My pal is a gem… if I were able to work directly with him on my needs, I would give Bensman Associates another try, but because he is unable, I am taking my business elsewhere. In a time when we have choices and when the economy is in such a state, I am shocked & disappointed in Bensman and especially in Tim Maurer. Maybe my business wasn’t big enough for him… maybe he has so much business rolling in that he doesn’t need new clients/accounts…maybe he has a bridge to sell me too.
I would suggest to anyone that they NOT take their business insurance needs to Bensman Associates or Tim Maurer — not when there are so many other companies out there showing that they value the small business owner.