» personal liability

What insurance deductible should I have on my home?

Administrator — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:54:07 +0000

The deductible is the part of a covered claim that is the responsibility of the insured. In other words, lets assume you have a $500 deductible on your home. In general, if you would have a fire that costs $10,000 to repair, you would be responsible for the first $500. The question today is, what is the right deductible for me? A few things to keep in mind when deciding are…

1. If I have a claim, will I be able to pay for the deductible?

2. What is the savings on a higher deductible and how long will it take to recoup the cost if I have a claim. For example, if going from a $500 deductible to a $1000 deductible saves $100 per year on your insurance, then it would take 5 claim free years to recoup the cost of having to pay a higher deductible. However, there are other costs to consider when filing a claim…

3. If you file a claim with your insurance company will they raise your rates (surcharge)? Or worse, cancel your policy for claim activity?

4. Excessively filing claims may (and probably will) cause your rates to go up and eventually get your insurance policy cancelled.

You will probably make the best decision on deductibles when you consider that you are buying insurance not a warranty. Insurance is designed to help you recover/pay for unexpected events/damage and not maintenance issues. A warranty is more designed for maintenance issues. It may seem like symantics, but its important to the insurance company and therefore important to you because your policy is a contract between you and your insurance company. A home requires regular maintenance like fixing leaky faucets, replacing the screen on the screen door, and replacing a worn out roof. These are not insurance claim items, but maintenance items. However, if a tree is blown over by the wind and damages the roof, then that is an insurance item.

Finally, considering the above insurance claim situation, should you file the claim. If a tree falls on your roof and causes $1200 worth of damage. Assuming you have a $1000 deductible, should you file a claim? If its a covered loss, the insurance company is obligated by contract (policy) to pay the $200 over the deductible… so should you turn in the claim? You may want to review items 3 and 4 above. Yes, the insurance company will pay you the $200, but it may cost you more in the long run if the insurance company surcharges your policy. Even five “small” claims are still claims and looked at closely by insurance companies.

How I saved hundreds of dollars on car insurance.

Administrator — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:48:53 +0000

“Get Rich Slowly“, a great personal finance web site, offers regular readers a chance to share their money saving successes and tips. I could help smiling when a reader relayed how he saved hundred per year on his auto and rental dwelling insurance.

In the end, I switched to an insurance provider that quoted me $1,345, saving me $2,305 on my rental property each year! While I was at it, I asked this same insurance provider to give me an auto quote. With my previous insurer, I had been paying $1,811 for two cars in northern California. With the new insurer, it came to $1,277. That’s another savings of $534 on annual auto insurance premiums. If you’re keeping track, that’s $2,839 in annual savings on my insurance needs

Can’t promise you $2,839 in savings but it is worth a few minutes to find out.

Lake County auto insurance quotes

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Auto Insurance part A: Liability coverage

Administrator — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:20:18 +0000

When an agent quoting an auto policy starts explaining the coverage how often does the customer understand the numbers? What does 100/300/100 mean? Part A of standard auto policy is liability coverage often expressed by 3 numbers. In 100/300/100 the first number represents the bodily injury coverage, in the case $100,000 per person. 300 represents the coverage per occurrence, $300,000 per incident. The last number is the coverage for property damage again in this case $100,000. This section also provides for the cost of defending the insured in any suit in addition to the stated coverages. Part A does not provide coverage for the insureds auto.

How much coverage you need is a factor of your financial situation. State minimum is 25/50/10. If that’s your coverage the insurance provider protects you up to $50,000 in bodily injury and $10,000 for personal property. After that a victim would have to come after you personally for any other damages. It’s not hard to see one accident exceeding $10,000 in repairs on most cars. After coverage of 250/500/250 most companies offer a personal liability umbrella of one or two million that follows the individual. Understanding your exposure allows you to choose the right amount of protection. If you are still unsure you might consult with your attorney or financial planner.