Tackle it Tuesday

Reviewing my home owners and auto insurance was the big tackle today.

Home owners...
insurance is often neglected.
The breakdown is
dwelling
contents
liability
deductible
and if you have any additional riders
like :
electronics
musical instruments
jewelery

In reviewing our today I discovered that our dwelling was far too under insured at $115 a square ft. Method of discovery....divide the square footage by the dwelling coverage= how much you have your dwelling covered for ...
Few homes now could be rebuilt for that price. I raised that coverage.

Contents are on a percentage basis. Now I have been married a many a year and own all that is within the estate. No debt on these items. However to replace them would certainly cost far more. Now remember to replace them would not mean that you get couch for couch...it is more like you get couch valued at the declined value of the one you owned. tricky stuff...
The contents is valued and then your covered a percentage of the dwelling value on top of that...By increasing the dwelling the 75% of dwelling plus the contents value = what is the total of the coverage you will have on your contents.
?BUT remember that if a fire ever took your property it is insured at a rate for = that means depreciated value of all items.

Liability coverage is a real concern for homeowners.
If you own your home this should be no less than the value of your home...
With our sue happy society it is important that you not loose your home.
It is a good idea if you have a great deal of assets that it be increased substantially that is if you qualify. We keep or liability maxed out to keep our home life safe.

A deductible should be based on what cash you could come up with in case of an emergency.
It pays here to be debt free and to have an emergency savings fund not only in case of loss of employment but also for the applied to cover your home if a tragedy or plumbing failer and the like should occur.

By increasing our deductible from $250. (set when times were much different for us and that was a huge amount to come up with) to $2000. (this now accomplished by beginning an emergency savings fund) we can now cover or deductible with our own savings instead of the risk ratio that caused us to pay a much higher rate at a low deductible.. That and now a greater understanding that much of anything under that amount we would fix for ourselves anyway...

A review of the value of anything on a rider is a good idea...

For example if you have musical instrument insured and it is worth less or equal to a deductible why insure it. It is a mute point.
Now if you have a rider on say a computer or something and it is worth more than the increased deductible then you may choose to keep coverage or not.

Today we raised our coverage as well as our deductible...
Total savings for us was $80 a year for more Insurance.
We then take on the risk of a higher deductible by having an emergency savings.

WE Become our own insurer in part.

Auto Insurance.


Same thing but the coverages are called by different titles.

First things first
Is there a Lien holder (debt) on the vehicle
This is where it really pays to own what you can afford.
By owning your auto your life is a much more economic journey.
We have owned all of our cars.

Age of vehicle
We started out with a 1964 Chevy and then a 1972 vw buss, cars all around 10 years old or older. The newest vehicle was 5 years old that is the Honda...it is a 2001.
I was married 22 years before I ever had a "newer" car.
I chose instead in my case to adopt the children.
Best choice :)
This a choice we made to drive cars we owned outright.
No judgment just our choice.

An older vehicle at least 3 years old is much cheaper to insure.
It is also much cheaper to register.

Coverage
Automobile Liability (you messed up) Ins. this usually has no deductible. It is two part.
*Bodily injury/each person/each accident
*Property Damage each accident
This is the consideration...Do you own your own home?
If so at the highest affordable benefit enough to cover your assets

Uninsured Motorists Ins (they mess up and they are not insured)
*For bodily injury each person/each accident

Under insured Motorist Ins
(they do not insure them self up to the full damage they caused)
*Bodily Injury each person/each accident

In Arizona we are # 1,3 and 4 in red light runners! Yep few of them are insured and often they are from over the boarder as well there is no way to get milk from a turnip!

Automobile Medical Payments
*each person
This is a good gesture for your passengers.
It will often cover their medical deductible and help them to regain a norm.

Auto Collision Insurance
This has limits often it is at Actual Cash Value It has it's own deductible
(same principle as above)

Auto Comprehensive Insurance now this a variable .
Can you afford to replace this car?
Do you care if it gets a ding in it or a bad fender?
If You do not own this vehicle this is a higher cost to you by far.
Banks make loans for cars based on proof of this ins.

Full Safety Glass Coverage may apply to the Comprehensive ins.


Now there are Discounts offered.
*Multiple Car
Multiple Policy
Utility Car
Alarms were once a consideration but they found that most people just ignore them.
Passive Restraint***This is big in the industry***buy a car with them!
Anti lock Brakes ****this is big in the industry***buy a car with them!
Premier Plus type things where you might insure your home and your autos with the same insurer.

Some autos are high theft like trucks especially older ones :)
Here in AZ this is an issue they steal them and take them to Mexico.
So ask when you are looking at a purchase of a car whether it is considered one of these high theft cars.

Now credit scores mater here. Not the same one that is the base for a loan but the ability to pay...It is imperative that you always make your bill payments on time.
This is where the benefits come of your reputation.

There is also a Rating on the vehicle.
If it is just for pleasure with no unmarried driver under 25 well this a discount then that may apply.
Never
let an unmarried driver under 25 borrow your car!!!!!!!!
Unless of course you have them on the coverage.
FYI some insurers will give discount for taking defensive drivers class voluntarily.

Watch out for AI auto indemnity...they offer cheap rates to get you in then they will hike them high! If you try to go back to standard insurance you will have a penalty for 5 years because you were insured as a high risk driver.
Snake in the grass!
I saw so many people fall for this that geco is one of them if you get my drift.

FYI
I was once a insurance agent for a time before we adopted our first child.
I never desired to be a career woman but in order to not go insane wanting a child I let go and earned a 98 % on the test and worked part time at the same time.
It was only a month or two after I gained the licence and the employment that Steve came to me and asked about going the international adoptin route.
Sometimes in life compleatly letting go is what appears to have been needed to have a dream come true.
Those times of gaining that licence has so helped my family.
I was fortunate to gain a greater understanding of the system and the "Snake in the grass" of the industry tricks.

On the auto we are at the best we can be.
Some policies offer an accident forgiveness but be aware that your going to pay a lot more to cover the risk that they take in offering the coverage so look at that delta too.

Our recent accident that we had in California cost us a loss of a discount for three years, yet even so the coverage we have is still by far the lesser of the cost than to change to the newer coverage.