Employment History:

Published Works:

Public Speaking Experience:

Why He is an Expert:
He has been doing property and casualty for 33 years, providing attentive service to his clients.

Best Advice:
“If they want to contact me, I can bestow a lot of knowledge and experience.”

Passionate about:
“Helping other people – that’s why I do this, mainly. When I first started out, I loved it. The bottom line is I enjoy my job.”

Biography Excerpt:
Harold Goodman is the owner and chief executive officer of Goodman Insurance Services, Inc. He’s been in the business for more than 33 years, with a consistent focus on personalized, superior service. For the better part of that time, he has worked solo, if only to deliver the exemplary customer relations people have come to expect from a focused individual. “I’ve had people work for me before, but I found they created more problems than they solved,” he says. Goodman Insurance Services, Inc. provides a number of insurance products, including home and auto policies, business and disability protection and health coverage.

     

Cambridge Who's Who: Being in business for so many years, you are obviously doing something right. What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?  
HAROLD E. GOODMAN :  Being able to help people and being there in a time of need when their house has burned down, or they lose a loved one and need the funding that comes with life insurance.

What is the most significant issue facing your profession today?
Government regulations. I understand there should be protection for the public, but the government is getting too involved with regards to health and life insurance. When Hurricane Katrina happened, a lot of the claims didn’t get paid. There were a couple of congressmen who filed a claim, and they didn’t get taken care of. Now, they’re upset with the P&C companies so they’re trying to get a bill passed where the federal government will take over all the insurance regulations. For now, each state regulates it. The federal government is trying to become the regulatory commission over all the states. That’s not good, because some people in Maine might need some coverage that the people in Southern California don’t need. One regulatory body can’t know what’s going on everywhere in the country – we need to keep it localized. It’s going to affect everybody who has insurance.

Is there anything new you would like to promote about your business?
The latest thing I’ve gotten into is annuities. I am also focusing on buy and sell agreements for different types of life insurance. I’m working with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement policies. Medicare Advantage is a new product they came out with about four years ago. I started working with this new policy in October of 2007. I just changed my mother over from Supplement to Advantage and I was able to save her $4,000. She’s actually got better coverage now. I’ve got three of the major companies that are involved, who I write for.