Closer Look: Tanner Eldredge

A broker for The Buckner Co. in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been in the business for five years, yet he has become convinced this property/casualty agency is for him.

Tanner Eldredge became interested in insurance as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after talking to his mission leader, who owned an agency specializing in employee benefits. “That got me interested in insurance in general,” he said.

After returning home, he researched careers in the life, benefits and property/casualty industries. “I realized that commercial P/C was the life for me,” he said.

Eldredge intended to follow in his father’s footsteps as a contractor. However, when his father died when Eldredge was 15, he began looking for other career paths. “I definitely would have worked for him had he not passed away,” he said.

He hasn’t given up his passion for construction. He specializes in dealing with contractors. “Construction’s my bread and butter,” he said.

It was a construction company owner who gave him one of his funniest moments in the business. “I was asked, ‘If I punch someone in the face, will I be covered?'” he said. “He was half kidding, but half serious.”

He has experienced extremes in reactions when people find out he is an insurance agent. “The best reaction is people telling me how great the industry is,” he said. “The worst reaction is people telling me I’m a fraud.”

Eldredge understands some people hate insurance because they don’t understand it. “They think that I handle the claims,” he said. “It’s mainly people that have had a bad claims experience.”

The stupidest thing he’s done since becoming an agent? Eldredge said last year, he accidentally bound coverage for a policy on the wrong effective dates. “I didn’t double-check the policy,” he said.

Eldredge split the cost of the settlement with his agency.

“I just did it because it was the right thing to do,” he said.