By David Peel
We all know that insurance costs tend to go up and seem never to decline. Sometimes savings can be found by shopping around and going with a different company. However I just don’t recall too many people having their current policy and having the cost reduced. However we’re all familiar with how insurance tends to go up. Whether it is for a claim or just the yearly increase that seems to roll out. There are a few things you can do that could lower your insurance however. In auto insurance, it would be a good idea to make sure that your insurance is being priced according to actual activity in any accidents that you’ve had. There have been situations where an accident was reported to be at fault against you as a liability claim, but ultimately was truly the other person’s fault. In that way it’s a little like a credit report that can get incorrect information and just keep passing it on. Another thing that you can do is to raise your deductible. While I understand that we’re all trying to save money, I have seen folks paying through the nose for insurance and realized that they had a $100 deductible. If they raised that deductible to $500 they will probably make that money back in the premium savings within a year or year and a half. After all most people are not going to file a claim under $375 anyway. So a $500 deductible is really not going to move the needle much. One other thing is to look at how your primary driver is listed on each vehicle. Sometimes insurance companies will automatically assign the highest risk driver in your household to the newest or most expensive car. I know that makes absolutely no sense but it does increase your premiums the most. You can also consider whether or not you want full coverage on motor vehicles. If you want to pay for collision and comprehensive on a very old vehicle, over a few years you may pay more than that vehicle is even worth. However if you carry the minimum liability coverage, let me urge you to be sure to add uninsured motorist to that. You always want to carry uninsured motorist on every vehicle for a good amount with no exceptions to that rule. I recommend 100,000 if you can afford it. Sometimes savings can be found within the policy elsewhere that allows you to do this. For instance dropping collision and comprehensive on an old pickup truck that you only drive at the farm may give you enough savings to increase uninsured motorist on everything else that you drive consistently across the board because uninsured motorist is so inexpensive. For homeowners insurance make sure that they know if you have a fire hydrant located close to your house. You can look at your fire rating and determine if it’s correct. The higher the fire rating, the higher the insurance will be. If you have a good agent, go and sit down and do a review on your policies. Make sure everything is updated and make sure everything is accurate. You can ask for one printout with all your coverages on it to make sure it’s all right. After all, we pay a lot for it so it ought to be right.
Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.
