Interview with Damion Del Corsano, Brightway Insurance Agency Owner

The Magnusson Group is pleased to introduce a new blog series initiative, in which we interview local experts from affiliated industries. Though we always strive to provide our clients with the fairest value for our services, we also aim to educate and inform them. In an ongoing commitment to this effort, this blog series will provide insight, guidance, and educational material provided through conversations with leading experts from local industries, including but not limited to; law, insurance, real estate, wealth management, finance, appraisal, fine arts, and secondary-market dealers.

For our first part in this series, we caught up with Damion Del Corsano, Agency Owner at the Del Corsano Brightway Insurance of Chatham. Mr. Del Corsano and his team bring years of experience to the area, and their agency offers home, condo, renters, auto, flood, RV, motorcycle, boat, ATV, life and umbrella insurance policies from numerous insurance brands including Bankers, Dixon Wells, Foremost, Mercury, Progressive and Pure. Brightway also offers their  insurance expertise for all personal valuables, tangible assets, and collections.

KH: Damion, thank you so much for joining me for this interview. I really appreciate you taking to the time to put this on your schedule, and I’m very excited to start this new series with you. As an agency owner, I’m sure you have a million-and-one tasks on your plate…

DDC: Of course, Kollin. I’m very happy to be a part of this, and I’m thankful that you reached out to me. I know the Magnusson Group has a commitment to engaging their clients with educational materials about the specialized industries involved with tangible personal property…insurance purposes are obviously one of the main sources of business for your appraisers, I'm sure.

KH: So, how did you break into the insurance industry?

DDC: I got my start in the industry with Liberty Mutual in NYC over 12 years ago. I identified well with their philosophy of paying it forward, and my strengths in providing value, protection, support and long term relationships to our policy holders while simultaneously helping develop a division of highly competent well-rounded employees for Liberty Mutual.  My goals were to leave a legacy which would extend beyond myself.

KH: What are some of the benefits and challenges to being an agency owner?

DDC: There are obvious challenges in being an agency owner which applies to any new business owner.  That will come with the territory for most.  I always work to keep perspective on the opportunity for personal growth by building trust with my policyholders.

KH: Can you walk our readers through a typical day, if ever, at your agency?

DDC: We are new in the community, Brightway as well as the Del Corsano agency.  I spend a big portion of my day networking, learning about and understanding the needs of the local community.   I’m also happy that a percentage of my day in our young agency is spent working with clients and policyholders.  

KH: In your view, what is unique about your agency and the services you provide clients?

DDC: We have the unique ability to do a comprehensive needs analysis and work with dozens of insurance carriers. This means we can customize an insurance portfolio that meets the unique needs of our clients.

KH: In line with that, how does your company’s “personal articles” insurance work? What is the general process for insuring items under those policy plans?

DDC: Here at Brightway, we work with a large variety of insurance carriers.  This give us unlimited resources via seasoned underwriters to find the perfect fit to protect our customers assets. The process varies case-by-case because we have such resources, and are also trying to find the right fit.

KH: I’d say “unlimited” is a pretty wide spread! I think I see a small parallel between our drive to provide project management to clients, at least in the sense that we both try and work with them to find the best fit….Fairly often we get calls from clients who would like an estate sale, but any number of variables…time, for example, only allow us to assist the client by engaging in a brokerage or buy-out, so the parallel to that is service; this aim to provide your service and expertise in whatever way you can meet the client's need….

DDC: That’s correct….

KH: Follow up question; Is there anything that your agency won’t provide coverage for?

DDC: As long as it serves the needs of our clients we are happy to provide coverage. 

KH: If someone reading this was unsatisfied with their current insurer, and you could give them one piece of advice, what would you say?

DDC: At first disclosure, a client usually is unsatisfied because of price. Through further assessment we find there are gaps in coverages which could potentially have a negative financial impact.   My advice would be to work with a trusted advisor, ask questions and schedule annual policy reviews.  

KH: What do you think is the most common mistake or oversight people make when looking for insurance, or a new insurer? 

DDC: I find that the most common mistake is not having a good working relationship with your agent.

KH: Sounds very important. How and when does your agency use appraisers or appraisal software services?

DDC: We recommend that our clients have an updated appraisal of their valuable articles every 2-3 years. So, we use appraisers whenever we can provide services to our clients that require them, or a new appraisal rather…

KH: Good to hear, we recommend the same. Personal property insurance has always been about replacement value, at least on paper...so it's important that both parties are on level terms when attributing value for insurance purposes. I know you've been in New Jersey your whole life, so naturally I've got to ask you the question that's been tearing our state apart for the better part of the last century....Pork Roll or Taylor Ham?

DDC: (Laughing)…Taylor Ham!

KH: Good answer! Other than Taylor Ham….What’s your favorite part about living in New Jersey? 

DDC: I feel fortunate to live in one of the most diverse states in the U.S.  New Jersey is the melting pot of cultures, community and outdoor experience.  As a father of two young boys I like that I can raise them in this environment.  

KH: Undoubtedly; it seems nearly every town is a micro chasm of some culture, or bric-a-brac of culture. Traveling across the state as we do, it’s certainly something that our team sees day in-day out. Are you looking forward to any events this summer; any travels or vacations?

DDC: We plan to take day trips to NYC, the NJ shore, and Hershey Park as a family.

KH: All of that sounds great; make sure to visit some of the city's great art museums. While I hope you won't be spending too much time on social media, which, if any, is your preferred social media platform?

DDC: So far I am involved with LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

KH: All three; thats good. Like you said earlier, it's always important to have a good relationship with your agent, so I'm sure that those platforms can help you stay connected to your clients. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to kick-start this blog series with us, Damion.