I’ve talked with two clients in the past week. Both are parents of teens who are about to start driving. One client has a teen son that’s about to get their learner’s permit while the other has a son who’s about to get their license. Both had two questions related to their car insurance.
I reviewed Sheri’s and my home insurance in March. It had gone up again and we’d been with the same company for several years, so it was time. I was very pleased with the rates I found with a couple of my other carriers and decided to call the underwriter to discuss our home since it was built in the mid 1950’s. She told me it would require an interior inspection, in addition to the exterior inspection. I was curious what they’d review and the criteria they’d use to determine whether to write my home insurance or cancel it. What I found out caused me to go to the next option on my list!
A client called me last week to discuss a question about her car insurance. She’s taking a vacation with two friends in May and will head for Europe for a couple of weeks. They’ll travel through Italy, France, head up to Switzerland, and then back to Italy before returning home. They will rent a car for part of the trip and she wanted to know if her car insurance covers a rental car in Europe.
I sat in a meeting with one of our carriers last week and heard an interesting statistic. On average, insurance companies who wrote Texas home policies in 2016 paid $1.30 out in storm related claims last year for every $1.00 of premium they received. That doesn’t include non-storm related claims such as fire, theft, water damage, etc. The issue facing all home insurance companies is how to remain profitable without raising rates astronomically. One method carriers are examining is roof depreciation schedules.
I am working with a prospective client on their car insurance. I realized he’d never had a good explanation on car insurance once we began to review the quote together. I suggested we start over so I could explain each coverage and answer his questions. Unfortunately, I’ve found most people have never received a good explanation on car insurance, what it covers, and options worth considering, so I thought I’d write about that in this post.
A client called me Monday morning after receiving the estimate to replace his roof from the March hail storm which struck north Texas. Before calling, he’d emailed me a copy of the claim estimate to help guide our conversation. He had a couple of questions about the estimate and payment structure, however, his biggest concern centered on one issue. If his home insurance policy is a replacement cost policy, why does the repair estimate refer to the depreciated value of his roof.
Subscribe to my newsletter by filling the form below.
A confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox: please read the instructions to complete the subscription.
