I'm a little late to the game on this whole thread but as a former insurance agent (and I stress former)... Here is my take on insurance.
First off, figure out what coverages you actually need. And this goes for those of you who have insurance now.. pull out your policy and see what you are covered for... Then figure out if this is too high too low whatever. Do you want the state min, is there a min you can have for your umbrella policy, what do you feel comfortable with ect.. and ask for limits that fit your needs.
Then go to every insurance company and ask for an apples to apples quote for what you want in your policy. ie you want the same coverages...
I mean really you have to look at what you need. You can screw around and go slightly lower in coverages and save a ton of money... However you also have to understand with saving money comes a cost on the other end if you were to get into an accident you likely don't have the same coverages.
I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone (I hate insurance sales but I'm good at screwing the insurance companies).. frankly I screw around with my policies to have lower premiums, but I also know the risks if I were to get into an accident...
Another idea (that i like better) is to go with a higher deductible. I mean a lot of people stray away from this but... you can really save some money.. and it's stupid how many people don't end up taking insurance money when it is lower amounts (the reason for having the low deductibles) because they are worried their insurance rates will go up...
(this is a really hard concept for many people to understand... but if you get in a crash, and have 1k in damage are you really going to claim the insurance if you have a 500 dollar deductible??? And remember the insurance agent will tell you that your insurance might go up which it might (but normally wont unless you have 2-3 claims but taking money gets you one step away pretty much from it going up)... So if you aren't gonna claim that and you are willing to take the 1k hit... why not have a 1k deductible? get quotes on all kinds of deductibles and do the math, ask yourself ok how much am I willing to eat if something happens honestly... and how much savings am I having and how long does it take to pay for itself... )
(I had a former client who demanded he have a low deductible... and had 3 or 4 accidents he could have used his insurance... 1-5k each time... but didn't for fear out of his premiums going up.. and his savings from having the higher deductible would have paid for those accidents and then some... ha but even this didn't change his mind...)
Let me know if you have any questions about terms or what different numbers mean... I'm no longer an agent but i have a pretty good understanding of the industry's shady games...
Good luck on your insurance...
Edit** one more thing... if you have your insurance now, and are like crap I just got and paid for this... I gotta wait a whole year now to change it... Don't... Insurance is based off what you use... If you only used 1 day out of 365 then you will be returned 364\365 of your policy (so if it was a 365 dollar policy you will get a check back for 364 bucks)... Always shop around... your agent will hate you... but you'll get a better deal... OH ya... your agent or broker and their company is likely making 15% about of what you pay... so don't feel bad for them having to get you a bunch of quotes or whatever... (which is even more of an incentive for your current agent to not get you the best deal where as another agent doesn't care they'd rather save you money and get you as a client but they too can become complacent)... Insurance rates are always changing based off of how much they have paid out... if you live in fl and the hurricane season goes by without too many huge storms get a new quote, same thing with wild fire season for out in CA, you would be shocked to see how much the prices change based off of these things.
First off, figure out what coverages you actually need. And this goes for those of you who have insurance now.. pull out your policy and see what you are covered for... Then figure out if this is too high too low whatever. Do you want the state min, is there a min you can have for your umbrella policy, what do you feel comfortable with ect.. and ask for limits that fit your needs.
Then go to every insurance company and ask for an apples to apples quote for what you want in your policy. ie you want the same coverages...
I mean really you have to look at what you need. You can screw around and go slightly lower in coverages and save a ton of money... However you also have to understand with saving money comes a cost on the other end if you were to get into an accident you likely don't have the same coverages.
I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone (I hate insurance sales but I'm good at screwing the insurance companies).. frankly I screw around with my policies to have lower premiums, but I also know the risks if I were to get into an accident...
Another idea (that i like better) is to go with a higher deductible. I mean a lot of people stray away from this but... you can really save some money.. and it's stupid how many people don't end up taking insurance money when it is lower amounts (the reason for having the low deductibles) because they are worried their insurance rates will go up...
(this is a really hard concept for many people to understand... but if you get in a crash, and have 1k in damage are you really going to claim the insurance if you have a 500 dollar deductible??? And remember the insurance agent will tell you that your insurance might go up which it might (but normally wont unless you have 2-3 claims but taking money gets you one step away pretty much from it going up)... So if you aren't gonna claim that and you are willing to take the 1k hit... why not have a 1k deductible? get quotes on all kinds of deductibles and do the math, ask yourself ok how much am I willing to eat if something happens honestly... and how much savings am I having and how long does it take to pay for itself... )
(I had a former client who demanded he have a low deductible... and had 3 or 4 accidents he could have used his insurance... 1-5k each time... but didn't for fear out of his premiums going up.. and his savings from having the higher deductible would have paid for those accidents and then some... ha but even this didn't change his mind...)
Let me know if you have any questions about terms or what different numbers mean... I'm no longer an agent but i have a pretty good understanding of the industry's shady games...
Good luck on your insurance...
Edit** one more thing... if you have your insurance now, and are like crap I just got and paid for this... I gotta wait a whole year now to change it... Don't... Insurance is based off what you use... If you only used 1 day out of 365 then you will be returned 364\365 of your policy (so if it was a 365 dollar policy you will get a check back for 364 bucks)... Always shop around... your agent will hate you... but you'll get a better deal... OH ya... your agent or broker and their company is likely making 15% about of what you pay... so don't feel bad for them having to get you a bunch of quotes or whatever... (which is even more of an incentive for your current agent to not get you the best deal where as another agent doesn't care they'd rather save you money and get you as a client but they too can become complacent)... Insurance rates are always changing based off of how much they have paid out... if you live in fl and the hurricane season goes by without too many huge storms get a new quote, same thing with wild fire season for out in CA, you would be shocked to see how much the prices change based off of these things.
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