About Us

Insurance Advantage, "Where the advantage is yours!"

Insurance Advantage is a dynamic multiple-line agency comprised of professional independent agents. Our agents represent some of the finest insurance carriers in the nation.

We specialize in personal insurance, commercial insurance and life insurance. Insurance Advantage agents tailor coverage and competitive premiums to fit their customer’s current budget and changing needs.

We provide our customers with peace of mind and the coverage necessary to properly protect them, their families and their businesses.

Some of the insurance coverage available through Insurance Advantage agents:

• AUTO... including Custom and Classic.
• MOTORCYCLE
• HOME... single and multiple family, renters, townhome, condo, replacement cost and modified replacement cost.
• FLOOD INSURANCE
• LIFE... Term Insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance.
• RECREATIONAL... ATVs, boats, Personal Watercraft, snowmobiles, golf carts, motorhomes.
• LANDLORD - RENTAL PROPERTY…single family and multiple family, townhome, condo.
• PERSONAL UMBRELLA
• COMMERCIAL... small, medium and large businesses. Packages for Office, Retail, Manufacturing, Commercial Buildings, Apartment Buildings, Condo & Townhome Associations, Specialty, and Contractors.
• COMMERCIAL AUTO, BONDS, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
• COMMERCIAL UMBRELLA and more.

Thousands of people have purchased their insurance policies through Insurance Advantage agents. You should too!

Our Founders

Steve Joos and Teryl Koonmen are the founders of Insurance Advantage. Both have extensive and diverse experience in the insurance industry.

Teryl Koonmen

Teryl Koonmen, CPCU AU, is a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities. She is a product of local schools and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cardinal Stritch University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Her industry designations of Associate in Underwriting (AU) and Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), which is the equivalent of a Master's Degree, were achieved in 1985 and 1987 respectively.

Teryl was the Minnesota and National Chapter CPCU New Designee Rep in 1987. In 1990 she became the Minnesota Chapter Treasurer. She was recognized as the Minnesota Chapter CPCU President in 1993.

Teryl's entire career has been in the field of insurance. In 1979, her first position was that of a personal and small commercial lines underwriter with a major company.

Six years later she was the Vice President of a National Professional Liability Managing General Agent, where she managed a $250,000,000 book of business, to include underwriting, policy issuance, risk management, claims and overall national legislative compliance. She also worked with Reinsurers and Insurance Company legal departments in drafting policy language for various lines of insurance and worked closely with IT to automate the entire process. In her position she routinely audited agents in all states and worked with Legal Bar Associations to implement Risk Management programs. During her 10th year her employer was acquired by an international insurance company and her position was eliminated.

Shortly thereafter, in 1995, she was recruited to be a Farmers Agent. Over the next 9 years she built a successful agency. Ultimately, realizing the merits of and greater potential of the multi-company independent agent system, the agency was sold to Farmers and Teryl became one of the founders of Insurance Advantage.

Currently, she is involved in building her personal book of insurance clients, coordinating agency operations and assisting the agents affiliated with Insurance Advantage.

Steve Joos

Steve Joos is originally from Central Illinois and is a Vietnam Veteran. After four years active duty in the U.S. Army (1967-71) he established a career in the insurance industry, first as a Life Agent, then as an independent multiple-line agent in Peoria, Illinois.  In 1978 he was recruited to be a Farmers® Agent. Within three years he had a successful Farmers agency with offices in Peoria and Morton, Illinois.  During the same period Steve graduated from Illinois State University with B.S. degree in Business Administration (double major in finance and insurance).

In 1985 Steve was recruited by Farmers® to be an Independent Farmers District Manager in Minnesota. He then proceeded to build one of Farmers® largest and most successful district operations in Minnesota subsequent to 1985. Steve has received most of the Farmers® achievement awards, to include President's Council, which is the highest award for Farmers agents and district managers.

For almost 20 years Steve recruited and trained multi-line agents.  During his early tenure as a district manager he created a successful agent training program that was soon used by district managers in other states until Farmers® introduced their national agent training program in the 1990's. As a result he was selected by Farmers® to participate in agency development focus groups to determine how the company would expand and train their future agency force in the year 2000 and beyond.

As a district manager he was also a Registered Principal with Farmers Financial Solutions, supervising Registered Representatives.

Steve retired and sold his district operation to Farmers® in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he was one of the founders of Insurance Advantage.

At Insurance Advantage you'll find him building his personal book of insurance clients, coordinating agency operations and training newly licensed or inexperienced agents.

Steve's has been active in the insurance industry for 40 years.  During the same time, some of his non-insurance positions have been President of the Morton Cinema Corporation and Owner of The Gold Connection of Illinois and Minnesota.  Currently, he is President of Safe and Sound Security and Fire Systems, Inc., a growing security company, located in Port Charlotte, FL.

He is also an "angel investor" for a Palo Alto, California tech start-up company that hopefully will become a household name in the near future.

On a more personal note, Steve is a scuba diver, big game fisherman, fair golfer and has five fantastic grandchildren.

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