FAQs: How Can I Save Money?
Questions about Homeowners Policy Answered
In an interview with Claude Singleton, manager of Bray & Oakley in Lexington and Richmond, Kentucky, many questions about Homeowners policy were covered. One of the most frequently asked questions is undoubtedly about saving money. Claude has a work background in the church insurance industry for many years. He has been an agent, a manager, and a trainer as well. In the first section of the interview, Claude goes through sections of the policy explaining them.
What is Personal Liability?
Listed as Section E, personal liability is on the declarations page of your policy paperwork. What is that? Simply, these are the things that can happen to your home. In general, this is a liability circumstance that you’re not expecting, did not intend to happen, but you are responsible for the damages or injuries.
Limited personal protection on homeowners policy
But what if the judgment goes against you? Are you prepared to pay for that judgment out of your pocket? Well, most of the time, we would say no, not prepared to handle a large amount of financial responsibility. And that’s really where your homeowner’s policy can help you. Look at your policy and see what that limit is. Is that a good limit for you to protect yourself? Because whatever the limit is on your policy, that’s the maximum amount that the insurance company is going to pay. If there is anything beyond that limit, it is likely that you will have to pay out out of your pocket, either as a debt, or to liquidate something, or draw out of your savings or your retirement.
Claude 00:12
We’re talking about the homeowners policy. And if you get your deck pages handy here, we’re not going to be talking about personal liability. And you may have it listed as Section E, personal liability on your declarations page. What is that? Things can happen on your home? A slips trips and falls is a common phrasing for that people visiting with you in and or cutting across your property and, fouling can create a liability problem for you. I’m not an attorney, don’t pretend to be one. I’m just an insurance agent. I’m only speaking in terms of insurance things. And that is a good disclaimer out there. But in general, in insurance, we’re speaking up, sometimes there will be a liability circumstance that you’re surprised that are you not at all expecting and of course, did not intend, but someone fell, and now they’re holding you responsible for that. And if the judgment goes against you, are you prepared to pay for that judgment out of your pocket? Well, most of the time, we would say no, not prepared to handle a large amount of money. And that’s really where your homeowner’s policy can help you. And if it is this type of personal liability, and if it’s the kind of thing that that the company is, is providing protection for? Well, then look at your policy and see what that limit is, is that a good limit for you to protect yourself? Consider your your assets that you have, are you protecting yourself? Are you protecting your assets, because whatever the limit is on your policy, and that’s the maximum amount that the that the insurance company is going to pay? Is it likely that you will have to pay out more than that out of your pocket, either as a dead or right to liquidate something or draw out of your savings, or your retirement to be an inconvenience. So consider the amount of liability that can be very important. I’m gonna throw another term in here and we’re going to cover this on another video another time I called umbrella liability. An umbrella liability as a concept of it goes above like an umbrella goes above your other coverage. In fact, can also be added to your homeowner’s policy, who would also go over your auto policy and we’ll speak about that another time as well. But whatever limit you have here, if that’s all the liability protection you have, the net can be a problem if there’s a major injury that you’re responsible for. Give us a call. We can discuss this with you more thoroughly. These videos are general in nature, but we can get very specific with you if you’d like to let us know we’re glad to help
How can we save money on Homeowners Policy?
As Claude talks about how you might be able to save money on your premium, he discusses two ways this can be done: raising the deductible and bundling or having your auto and home together in the same insurance company.
Raising the deductible
The deductible is the amount of money that you pay out for a covered claim before the insurance company will pay the claim. We could have a deductible that might be increased. Chances are, you’ve got $1,000 deductible on your policy, let’s just say that you’re able to have a $2,000 deductible or even higher, maybe $5000. Your premium will be lower when your deductible is higher.
Getting Homeowners and Auto Insurance policies with same company
Money can also be saved on your policy if you decide to get your homeowners and auto insurance policies with one company. Claude says, “You want to get homeowners insurance and your auto insurance with the same company. Many times that can be an advantage but not every time! We like doing that wherever possible. It gives a lower premium for both policies with those discounts. If there’s a claim that involves both the auto and home, let’s just say that one of you backed into your garage door, messed it up terribly, we’ve got one deductible, in many cases with companies who have their home and their auto together. So that’s just something else to look at. And we’ll be glad to discuss that with you as well!”
Things that may provide a discount on Homeowners Policy
Claude goes on to say “So we’ve talked about two things. One is raising the deductible and the other thing is having your auto and home insurance together in the same company. But there’s something more. Some other savings can occur from having a quality security system, locks and doors and windows that are highly secure, and having fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. These are basic things that can make a big difference.. Some companies offer discounts for seniors and military. Also life insurance. If you have your life insurance with that same company, often they will provide an additional discount for you for another policy like an umbrella liability policy.
Allow Bray and Oakley to take a look at your policy. Give us a call. We have several companies to work with and we shop the best solution for you. We’ll try to save you some money and have better coverage too!
Hello, this is Claude again, and we’re talking about your homeowners policy. Right now I’d like to talk about how you might save money on your premium, you’d have a deductible that might be able to be increased. The deductible is the amount of money that you pay out for a claim for a covered claim, that would be your part of it, really, before the company wouldn’t be paying anything. Chances are, you’ve got $1,000 deductible on your policy, let’s just say that you’re able to have a $2,000 deductible or even higher 5000. Your premium will be lower, we can analyze and see would that be? Would that be low enough for you? Would that be worthwhile to take conserve 1000? We’ll make it a $2,000 deductible or a $5,000 deductible? So let us know we’ll be glad to analyze that for you. Before you make that change, though. Also, we’ll need to check with your mortgage company if you have a loan in your home and the mortgage company will be interested in that knowing and would they would they be accepting a $2,000? Back on set 1000? Or would they accept a $5,000? Deductible so 1000 bucks? That’s an important thing to be aware of. As we’re talking about deductibles, you might look and see on your homeowners policy? Does it say anything about a percentage deductible, because often on policies we will see, perhaps wind and hail 1% deductible. Or it might say, wind and hail 2% deductible. What does that mean? Well, that means for the deductibles for that type of claim a wind and hail type of claim would be 1%, or 2%. Not the $1,000 deductible that you perhaps have in your policy 1% of one or 2% of what? Well, it’s 1% of your dwelling amount. So you’ve got 1% of your $200,000 house, let’s just say 1%, that’s $2,000. So you thought you had a deductible of 1000. But in this case, because it’s a wind and hail claim, you got a $2,000 deductible. And that’s a surprise for you. Or if it’s a 2% deductible, you got a $4,000 deductible on that $200,000 house. And that may be a surprise to you. We review that when we’re looking at declarations pages for people to make sure they understand we actually prepare for a claim assuming that that you will have a claim, I think it’s a very good business plan to do, we’re gonna personal plan for you to do as well to consider what will happen if and when I have that to occur. Let’s talk about other ways of saving, saving money on your homeowners policy. You’ve heard this term a lot over the last several years bundling. And you know that is that’s getting your homeowners insurance and your autos and your auto insurance with the same company. Many times that can be an advantage not every time, but many times it can be an advantage. And we liked doing that wherever possible. It gives a lower premium for both policies with those discounts. Something else which often is a benefit, a side benefit, I hope this doesn’t happen to you, but it has with a bundled policy with an auto policy and a home policy with the same company. If there’s a claim that involves both the auto and home, let’s just say that one of you backed into your garage door, messed it up terribly. We’ve got one deductible, in many cases with with companies who have their home and their auto together. So that’s just something else to look at. And we’ll be glad to discuss that with you as well. So we’ve talked about two things. One is raising the deductible. And the other thing is having your auto and home together in the same in the same company which been like you might look at security system that uses not a large amount of discount. But there’s something there make sure your company is considering the security system that you have. Or it may just be the deadbolt locks, and the fire extinguisher and the smoke detector. It just basic things like that that you should have in your home. That may provide a discount. Make sure that your current company is aware that you have those items. That’s that’s a big deal. Some companies talk about discounts for seniors and military. Also life insurance. If you have your life insurance with that same company, often they will provide an additional discount for you for another policy like an umbrella liability policy. All of those things just have that much more potential for giving discounts for you depending on which company it is. Allow us to take a look at your policy. Give Call.
