Auto, Home, Life Insurance Reviews &amp; Shopping Tips

Many car & home insurance companies charge a lot more than other companies for the same coverage, but no company has low rates for everyone. You have to shop with all the leading companies, to find the company with the best coverage and best price for you.

Do you have any questions about my 5 steps for your yearly insurance check up? What do you think about the importance of an insurance check up each year? Tell me about your opinions. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.

Insurance Check Up Step 4

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Robert Rankin

This week, I’ve been telling you about the importance of a yearly insurance check up, and how it can save you money on insurance, and improve your coverage.

In Step 3, I told you the secret to getting your insurance agent or insurance company to work hard to find you the best price they can offer: Tell your agent or insurance company, after they have reviewed your insurance policy, you are going to shop with other insurance companies, to see if you can get a better price.

Your insurance agent or company may once again take a look at your policy, and double check to see if there is anything they can do to get you a better price. If the agent or insurance company recommends lowering your coverage, make sure it is because you do not need the coverage.

Your agent or insurance company may think all you care about is price, and reduce something very important, like your auto insurance liability coverage, which protects you from owing people money for injuring people, or damaging their property in an auto accident, to get you a lower price.

Warning: Do not change or reduce coverage at this time. Only eliminate coverage you don’t need, per your insurance policy review. Step 4 involves you getting price quotes from other insurance companies, and you may save a significant amount of money by keeping the same coverage, but insuring with another insurance company.

You can always lower or remove coverage, after you have shopped for the best rate with other insurance companies, if you need to save more money. Reducing or removing coverage you need can be VERY COSTLY if you have a claim, and should be a last resort, when you can’t afford the insurance, and you have shopped around with other insurance companies, and done everything else you can to get a better price.

If your agent or company, can’t find any other way to get you a better price than reducing your coverage, while you are speaking to them during your insurance policy review, allow them to get back to you, in case they later realize a way to save you money.

I have had customers contact me, after finding a lower rate with another insurance company (and sometimes after they have started their coverage with another insurance company!), and tell me they will keep their insurance with me, if I can get them a better price. Sometimes I notice something right away, and sometimes I will think of something after I have had time to consider it.

Don’t put your agent on the spot and expect an instant solution to get you a lower price. If you like your agent or insurance company, give them every opportunity & some time to find a way to keep your business.

Once you are finished with your insurance policy review, and your agent or insurance company will get back to you, to confirm you are getting the best price they can offer, it is time to shop with all the major insurance companies, to see if you can get a lower price for the same or better coverage than you have now. Discounts save you money, but the best way to save A LOT of money, is to get insurance quotes from all the leading insurance companies.

For example, I shop my auto insurance every year, and some insurance companies want to charge me TWICE AS MUCH, OR MORE than the lower-priced quotes I receive. Every year, I find a better price with another insurance company, though I don’t always switch my insurance. If you are still uncertain if it is worth your time to shop for better rates each year, please read my 8 things every auto insurance buyer needs to know.

Here is the next & very important step:

Step Four: Use my list of reviews for leading insurance companies (Bookmark the Web page, or place it in your favorites to use next year, or any time you want to research auto insurance & home insurance companies), to find all the major insurance companies in your area, and get price quotes.
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Beware agents claiming to shop the market for you. These agents are independent agents, representing some insurance companies selling through independent agents, like Safeco, Metlife, & Travelers.

Independent agents can have advantages, and I prefer them if they have a competitive price for me, but they can’t shop the market for you. These independent agents can’t quote you some of the most important insurance companies, selling though their own agents, like State Farm, American Family insurance, or Farmers insurance, or insurance companies selling direct, like Amica, Geico, or USAA.

My Web site is the only place on the Web to find ALL the major insurance companies (If you think I missed one, let me know!) across the USA offering home & auto insurance, and provides you with their AM Best rating, JD Power customer satisfaction score, & complaint record.

Find all the important insurance companies on my Web site, and click on their ads to get price quotes, or use the Google search bar on my Web page to find their insurance company Web sites. Getting insurance quotes by clicking my ads costs you nothing, and helps support my Web site, and allows me to keep giving the public tips on how to save money on insurance, avoid expensive mistakes, and choose the right coverage.

When you get price quotes, make sure you match the insurance coverage as close as possible to the coverage you have now.

I recommend working through my list from the first company, to the last insurance company. Skip over insurance companies if you are not eligible (New Jersey Manufacturers, or USAA if you have no connection to the military) or insurance companies not offering coverage in your state. Some insurance companies will not insure you if you have a major moving violation, license suspension, less than 3 years driving experience, no insurance, or more than 1 ticket or accident. If you don’t qualify, just move on to the next insurance company.

Get prices, request quotes in writing, or e-mail, for the lower-priced insurance companies quoting you, then compare the price & coverage to the coverage you have now.

Tomorrow, I will show you the last step of the insurance check up, which will help you make the very important decision to stay with the insurance company you have now, or switch to another insurance company.

The Other Steps:

Many people make the mistake of never shopping with other auto & home insurance companies. If you shop with enough companies, you’ll find many insurance companies charge a lot more than other companies for the same coverage. But no company has low rates for everyone. You have to shop with all the leading companies, to find the company with the best coverage and best price for you.

Do you shop each year for better insurance rates? Why not? Tell me about it. Comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch. Read auto & home insurance company reviews for over 40 different companies, rating each company’s pricing, claims handling and customer service, at smartshopyourcarinsurance.com.

Insurance Check Up Step 3

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Robert Rankin

Each day this week, I am walking you through my steps to a successful insurance check up, which may save you $100s on insurance. Step one is go to my Web site and learn what you need to know about insurance coverage to save you money, & avoid headaches when you have a claim. Step Two is knowing what to expect during your insurance policy review.

Now, you are ready for step three.

Step 3: Saving money on the insurance coverage you need during your insurance policy review.

In Step 2, I told you to expect your insurance agent or company to recommend additional coverage or policies you need.

In addition, a good insurance policy review should cover reviewing each coverage, not only to see if you need more coverage, but to see if you still need the coverage at all.

For example, if you are paying $200 every 6 months for Collision coverage, with a $500 deductible, on an old car worth only $1,500, your agent should discuss with you whether you still need the coverage.

Also, a good insurance policy review should cover all the policy exclusions and limitations. You should be informed of all additional coverage available, and your agent should ask you questions to determine your insurance needs.

Finally, a good insurance policy review will focus on getting you the best price possible for the coverage you need, by making sure you get all the discounts for which you qualify, what you can do to get additional discounts, and inform you of any new products available which can replace your policy with a lower price.

Unfortunately, some agents & insurance companies sole focus is to sell you additional products & coverage during policy reviews.

Agents may talk about insurance policy discounts you can get by buying an additional policy, like a multi-policy discount, but if you seem like a content customer, not willing to shop for lower rates with other insurance companies, your agent is not likely to ask you questions to find out about all the discounts offered. This happens, not because agents (at least not ALL agents) intentionally want you to miss out on a discount and pay a higher premium. The agent’s main role is to get you the coverage you need, determine your eligibility, and quote you the correct price. This takes time, and it’s easy for an agent to miss discussing a discount for you.

For example, I had a customer paying a lot for car insurance, because he had several new cars and 2 teen drivers in his household. I enjoy doing insurance policy reviews for customers, and I have always prided myself on being thorough, and getting my customers all the discounts I could get for them.

I never needed to schedule a policy review for this customer, because every 6 months, when the customer received their auto insurance renewal, he would come into my office and complain about his auto insurance rates going up. I would review his auto insurance policy, and I always seemed to find a way to get him a lower rate, without reducing his coverage.

The first time he came into my office, I was able to get him a better price on his policy, but I was new to the agency, and no one had reviewed his policy in a while. 6 months later, he came in when he received his auto insurance renewal, because the auto insurance company had a rate increase. I reviewed his policy, and once again, I was able to find a way to lower his rates. I also noticed in 2 months, I could re-rate one of his teen drivers as being a year older. I followed up and did it, 2 months later, which lowered his rates. When his auto insurance renewed again, his rate went down — but he still pays a lot because auto insurance is expensive for his cars & teen drivers.

Even though his rates went down, he came into my office and complained about his rates going up! I thought to myself: I reviewed his policy twice recently, there is no way I can find him a lower rate. But sure enough, I found something applying now, which did not apply before, which gave him a better rate.

Even though this was a very unusual situation, the moral of the story is the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If you are not having annual reviews focused on getting the coverage you need at the best price, you are likely to be paying too much for insurance.

If you are not shopping for better rates with all the leading insurance companies each year, you are very likely to be paying too much for insurance. Don’t believe me? See why and find out at 8 things every auto insurance buyer needs to know.

Agents are busy people, focusing on finding new customers to stay in business. There are good agents wanting to get you the coverage you need & all the appropriate discounts. But agents are compensated by getting a percentage of the premium the insurance company charges you. The higher your premium, the more money your agent makes.

So, how do you make sure you are finding out everything you need to know about your insurance, and your agent or company is getting you the best price?

Do these 2 things:

A) Have your agent or insurance company give you a copy of your insurance policy contract and all endorsements.

Endorsements are amendments to the wording of your policy contract to change coverage. For example, if earthquake damage is excluded from your homeowners insurance policy contract, paying more for an earthquake endorsement gives you coverage for earthquake, subject to the wording in the endorsement.

Review the policy contract & endorsements, and pay special attention to any exclusions & limitations. Contact your agent if you have any questions or concerns.

B) Here is the key to getting the best price on insurance: After your insurance company reviews your coverage with you, tell them you are happy with their service, but you are shopping around for a better rate with other insurance companies, which you do each year, to make sure you are getting a good price.

Even evil, greedy insurance agents will work hard to get you all the discounts and best price possible, if they think they are going to lose your business.

Some people may be reluctant, particularly if they have been insured with the same agent for years, to tell the agent they are going to shop their insurance.

Politely telling your agent you are going to shop around for better rates is actually a great check of the professionalism of your agent.

Most agents understand customers shop their insurance, and they will respond by trying to make sure they are getting you the best price they can offer you. A good agent will also tell you about benefits to staying with your current policy. For example, some insurance companies provide accident forgiveness at no additional cost, if you have been insured with them for many years.

If your agent says their customer service is worth you having them as your agent, ask for a specific example when the agent’s expertise & customer service benefited one of their customers.

Every insurance company will tell you they have the best customer service. Anyone can tell you they are best at their jobs. People who are really great at their job can prove it to you.

If your agent gets upset about you shopping for better insurance rates, and tries to manipulate your emotions, by trying to make you feel guilty, because the agent questions your loyalty, or your agent claims his family will have to eat dog food if the agent loses your business, you are not dealing with a professional insurance agent.

Allow your agent to get the best price possible for you, and explain to you why you should keep your insurance with the agent.

However, it doesn’t make sense for you to be loyal to an insurance company or agent, because the insurance company will NOT be loyal to you, and they will cancel you, even if you have been a customer with no claims for 30 years, if the insurance company thinks you now have a greater-than-average risk of having a claim. Your agent won’t be much help to you.

Once you have had an insurance policy review, you will be ready for the very important Step 4, and shop for better rates & coverage options.

Don’t wait to save money, or take a chance on not having the insurance coverage you need if you have a claim. Contact your agent and have them review your insurance policy as soon as you can. There is no need to go to the agent’s office, you can get your insurance policies reviewed over the phone.

If you have an agent, you want to have your agent, or someone on your agent’s staff, conduct your policy review. But if you don’t have an agent, because your auto insurance company sells directly, like Amica, USAA, Geico, Esurance, or Progressive, you can call the insurance company, and request the policy review.

The Other Steps:

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Insurance Check Up Step 2

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Robert Rankin

Yesterday, I explained the importance or an annual insurance check up, and showed you the first step: use my Web site to understand & decide on the auto insurance & home insurance coverage you need.

Each day this week, I will walk you through my steps to a successful insurance check up, which may save you $100s on insurance. Now you know the coverage you need, here is step 2.

The second step: Know what to expect when you have your policy review with your insurance agent or company.

Before you contact your agent or insurance company for a policy review, it is important to know what to expect.

Agents & insurance companies often recommend additional coverage or policies during insurance policy reviews. From my own experience, customers often pass on additional coverage they need, or do not give it the proper consideration. However, customers should not blindly buy whatever an insurance agent recommends.

Agents & insurance companies love to have policy reviews with customers, because it gives them a chance to show their value to the customer, and sell you additional products.

Discussing additional insurance needs is a very important part of the policy review, and it is not about selling you something you don’t need.

If you could get a 20% discount on your auto insurance, if you insure your home with your auto insurance company, isn’t it in your interest to at least get a homeowners insurance price quote from your auto insurance agent?

If your agent knows you have kids, or other people financially dependent on your income, the agent is not doing their job if they don’t discuss life insurance with you. How would you feel, if you had regular insurance reviews with your agent, then one day you found out you have a terminal illness, and your agent never brought up term life insurance, which you could have had for $30 a month?

Given the reputation of insurance agents, I understand why customers may consider agents, recommending you purchase additional coverage or policies, the same as a car sales person trying to get you to buy the extended warranty, undercoating, & rust-proofing.

It is normal for people to be wary of sales people trying to sell them something. Particularly with insurance, it is human nature to think you will never need it, then regret not having it, if it turns out you needed the coverage.

However, when I conducted insurance policy reviews, I was often astounded at customers declining to make prudent decisions to buy the additional coverage they need, when they could afford it.

Do you want to make smart insurance decisions and avoid expensive mistakes?

LISTEN to what your agent or insurance company has to say.

Don’t tune out your agent because you think you are getting a sales pitch. If your agent recommends buying additional coverage or another insurance policy, listen to(or ask) the reason the agent recommends it. Don’t be quick to dismiss it.

For example, if your agent recommends an individual life insurance policy for you, don’t ignore your agent because you have life insurance through work. It is easy to think, if you have some life insurance coverage, you have enough life insurance. There are drawbacks to group life insurance through your work, and depending on life insurance through work can be a huge mistake. Your agent can explain why this is so.

Take advantage of your insurance agent’s knowledge & expertise, and listen to your agent. If you have questions, ask them. Make sure you are understanding what your agent is saying to you. Remember, you are in control. Your agent can’t force you to buy anything. The advice you get from your agent is free, so take advantage of it.

A good insurance agent will ask you questions to discover your insurance needs, and then discuss the pros & cons of any option. Good agents will discuss with you the consequences of not buying the additional coverage, actions you can take other than buying insurance, and the likelihood of you needing the coverage.

Generally, insurance coverage at a reasonable price, which protects you from a large financial loss, is a good purchase, unless the event is extremely unlikely to occur.

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Not too long ago, I increased my Bodily Injury Liability (covers you if you are legally liable for injuring someone due to the use of your vehicle)from $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, to $250,000 per person, $500,000 per accident. The increase in premium was less than $20 more every 6 months.

In this example, the pros to making the decision is more coverage, in case I am responsible for injuring someone in an auto accident. Also, higher liability limits are a sign of a responsible driver, so you can actually save money, when you shop your auto insurance with other companies, by having higher liability on the auto insurance policy you have now. Don’t expect your agent to tell you about this benefit (but my Web site does, along with other money-saving tips).

The con is the higher premium, but since it is less than $20 more every 6 months, it makes sense to increase the coverage.

Even though I am not wealthy, and don’t drive much, I don’t know if I will be in an accident where my coverage may not be enough. If it happens to me, and I don’t have enough coverage, my assets are at risk, and I might have to file bankruptcy. Even though I think it is very unlikely I will be liable for auto accident injuries that severe, the additional cost is low enough, and the financial impact of not having enough coverage is so severe, increasing my Bodily Injury Liability coverage was an easy decision for me.

However, say I was an 18 year old, just licensed, having only $15,000 per person, $30,000 per accident for Bodily Injury Liability. It may cost several hundred dollars more every 6 months to take $250,000 per person, $500,000 per accident, for Bodily Injury liability. An 18 year old may not be able to afford it. The cost of the higher liability coverage is an indication the 18 year old is much more likely at risk of needing that much coverage, but the cost may be too much to pay.

A good agent discussing this with the 18 year old, would ask about any assets owned & the type of work the 18 year old does. If the 18 year old has no assets, like a healthy bank account or owning a home, and is working part time to get through school, risking the need to file bankruptcy, because of not having enough Liability coverage in an auto accident, might be the only option, due to the high cost of the insurance.

Furthermore, a good agent will offer higher liability in an amount of coverage, the 18 year old may be able to afford, such as $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident, for Bodily Injury Liability.

A good agent gets information from you, recommends insurance coverage you need, shows you different options, and lets you make the decision to buy it.

But what if you DON”T have a good agent?

You can protect yourself, by getting unbiased information on auto insurance & home insurance coverage, at my Web site, www.smartshopyourcarinsurance.com, as recommended in Step 1. Bookmark, or place my site in your favorites, and you can access it when you need it, to find out if you are getting a good recommendation from your agent. If you have a question not addressed, or not clear on my Web site, e-mail me, and I will give you my opinion.

How do you know if your agent does not have your best interest at heart? Almost all agents are likable people. They couldn’t make it in this business if they weren’t nice. Every agent will tell you they put their clients ahead of their own interests. Not all of them do, so you have to watch out for warning signs.

Not-so-good agents ask few questions, don’t explain your options, and are most concerned with trying to close a sale.

Don’t buy anything you don’t understand, and if you feel pressured by your agent to buy, tell your agent how you feel. Your agent may strongly believe in the importance of the coverage, and may not realize you feel uncomfortable. If the agent persists & pushes you to buy, it is time to change agents.

Insurance agents have the reputation for being aggressive sales people, but few really are. Don’t put up with a pushy agent, when there are many good agents out there wanting your business.

The Other Steps:

Some insurance companies charge a lot more than other companies for the same coverage, but no company has low rates for everyone. You have to shop with all the leading companies, to find the company with the best coverage and best price for you.

How good is your insurance agent? When did your agent last contact you for your insurance policy review? If you haven’t spoken to your agent in over a year, your agent is not doing their job. Tell me about your experiences. Comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.

An annual insurance check up may save you $100s!

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Robert Rankin

Insurance sucks. It’s expensive. It’s boring. You pay for it, but you hope you never have to use it. Using your insurance premium to light your cigar, seems more fun & useful than giving it to your insurance company, when you never have a claim.

As wasteful as spending money on insurance seems to be, many people voluntarily WASTE EVEN MORE of their money, by over-paying for coverage, or not getting the coverage they need. How does this happen? It happens because lots of people do not review their insurance coverage and shop for lower rates with other insurance companies each year.

An annual insurance check up may be as fun as dental cleanings every 6 months, but most people know it is important to get your teeth cleaned. An annual insurance check up is as important to your wallet, as regular cleaning is to your teeth. And should you have a claim, and not have the coverage you need, the results can be as painful as having all your teeth pulled, and 100 times more costly.

Your life changes every year. People change jobs, get married, get divorced, have kids, and your financial situation changes. An insurance coverage you did not need when you purchased your policy, you may need now. You may need more coverage. You are older. You may have different financial obligations. You may have more or less assets.

Also, insurance company discounts, rates, and policies change over time. Your auto insurance company may now offer a different auto insurance policy, with much better rates. There may be a new discount you can get to lower your rates. There now may be other insurance companies with much lower rates for you.

I will show you how to do your annual insurance check up by using my Web site, and show you how to find lower insurance rates, get discounts, and decide on coverage.

Each day this week, I will blog about one step.

The First Step: Go to www.smartshopyourcarinsurance.com, or click these links for auto insurance and homeowners insurance (If you own a home) and review your coverage.

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These two links on my Web site review auto & home insurance coverage, so you can compare it with what you have, if you are insured now, and decide on the coverage you need.

There are plenty of Web sites describing auto & home insurance coverage. My explanation of coverage is different, because it describes coverage with tips for you to decide if you need it, how much you need, & helps you avoid the mistakes many people make when choosing coverage.

The information is lengthy, but I don’t waste words on anything you don’t need to know. If you are pressed for time, at least read everything written in bold — it can save you a lot of money and heartache when you need your insurance.

Once you have used my Web site to decide on the coverage you need, you are ready for Step 2, which I will blog about tomorrow.

The Other Steps: