Are You Properly Insured?

Affordable Premium Insurance Agency is located a stone’s throw from Bloomfield High School on Broad Street in a home built by an architect in which he himself lived in back in 1895. Depending on how you look at it, the blue-green with red trim, two-story structure either sticks out like a sore thumb or is the beauty of the boulevard.

Aesthetics aside, it’s what happens inside the walls that matters most.

Robert Issa is the broker at and owner of Affordable Premium Insurance Agency, which handles all kinds of insurance: auto, home, health, life and commercial insurances. In business on Lackawana Plaza after opening in 1991, Affordable moved to its current location back in 2002.

“I started out as a broker in 1988 in Orange,” says Issa, a Montclair State University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Computer Science. “I ventured out on my own in 1991. I always wanted to own my own business.”

And he made it work. If you want anything bad enough, you do. “It was hard in the beginning,” he says as he sits back in his office, reflecting. “As time progressed, I was able to make it work. When I first started, I was working here during the day and driving a cab in Jersey City at night.”

“I was willing to succeed. I’m still very dedicated to my work.”

And that work is finding you the best kind of insurance that’s affordable. However, when it comes to affordable versus cheap, that’s where Issa draws a concerned line. “Most people want cheap insurance, but they don’t know what it means. It usually means not adequate coverage, and people don’t realize it until later when an accident happens.”

Issa, an auto insurance specialist, is quick to say that rates for Bloomfielders is lower than for those living in urban areas, and he also makes sure that, as a broker, he will shop for you with more than one company when it comes to auto, homeowner and commercial policies.

“The difference between an agent and a broker is that an agent works for the company. A broker works for the people. Our obligation is to our clients, to save them money, and to get then the best coverage we can.”

The Affordable Premium Insurance Agency is small and comfortable, the staff personable. In addition to Issa, Secretary Nora Carrelo has been with Affordable since 1995, and recent part-time hire Stephanie Perez currently handles administrative duties.

Robert Issa reflects on his years in Bloomfield. “Bloomfield has been good to me. I started here, and I’ve been here for 20-something years.”

Affordable Premium Insurance Agency, 187 Broad Street, (973) 743-8115, www.affordableinsurancenj.com