<P> An independent insurance consultant advises insureds on a fee - for - service retainer, similar to an attorney, and thus offers completely independent advice, free of the financial conflict of interest of brokers or agents . However, such a consultant must still work through brokers or agents in order to secure coverage for their clients . </P> <P> In the United States, economists and consumer advocates generally consider insurance to be worthwhile for low - probability, catastrophic losses, but not for high - probability, small losses . Because of this, consumers are advised to select high deductibles and to not insure losses which would not cause a disruption in their life . However, consumers have shown a tendency to prefer low deductibles and to prefer to insure relatively high - probability, small losses over low - probability, perhaps due to not understanding or ignoring the low - probability risk . This is associated with reduced purchasing of insurance against low - probability losses, and may result in increased inefficiencies from moral hazard . </P> <P> Redlining is the practice of denying insurance coverage in specific geographic areas, supposedly because of a high likelihood of loss, while the alleged motivation is unlawful discrimination . Racial profiling or redlining has a long history in the property insurance industry in the United States . From a review of industry underwriting and marketing materials, court documents, and research by government agencies, industry and community groups, and academics, it is clear that race has long affected and continues to affect the policies and practices of the insurance industry . </P> <P> In July 2007, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report presenting the results of a study concerning credit - based insurance scores in automobile insurance . The study found that these scores are effective predictors of risk . It also showed that African - Americans and Hispanics are substantially overrepresented in the lowest credit scores, and substantially underrepresented in the highest, while Caucasians and Asians are more evenly spread across the scores . The credit scores were also found to predict risk within each of the ethnic groups, leading the FTC to conclude that the scoring models are not solely proxies for redlining . The FTC indicated little data was available to evaluate benefit of insurance scores to consumers . The report was disputed by representatives of the Consumer Federation of America, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Consumer Law Center, and the Center for Economic Justice, for relying on data provided by the insurance industry . </P>

Which best describes the benefits of having insurance