EP9 - How to Protect Your Assets with the Right Insurance

Most people don’t realize they’re underinsured, until it’s too late.

In this episode, Rich sits down with insurance expert Ed Gajdosik to talk about the real cost of being underinsured, why flood insurance isn’t just for flood zones, and how umbrella policies protect your wealth when disaster strikes. They unpack what most people get wrong about auto and homeowners insurance, how inflation affects your coverage, and why a quick review of your policy might be the smartest financial move you make this year.

In this episode:

• Why your home’s appreciation might leave you underinsured
• What inflation guard is and what it really covers
• How flood insurance works, even outside flood zones
• The truth about liability limits and personal risk
• Umbrella policies: what they cover and why they matter
• Whether you should add your teen driver to your policy, or not

Chapter Markers
02:07 Importance of Regular Insurance Reviews
03:33 Understanding Home Insurance Coverage
06:25 Flood Insurance: Not Just for Flood Zones
08:36 Navigating Auto Insurance for New Drivers
11:09 The Role of Liability and Uninsured Motorist Coverage
15:31 Understanding Umbrella Policies
16:17 Real-Life Example: The Importance of Umbrella Policies
17:49 Litigious Society and Rising Costs
19:16 The Importance of Regular Insurance Reviews
23:38 Telematics and Future Trends in Auto Insurance
27:26 Factors Affecting Insurance Rates

Want To Know More About Our Guest?

Ed Gajdosik has 30+ years of financial services experience, 10 years as insurance agency owner of GC Insurance Group, providing auto, home, condo, co-op, and life insurance, and four time Honor Ring Award Recipient.

• Insurance Licenses in both New York and Connecticut

Contact:
Ed Gajdosik
Phone: (914) 834-6262
gajdosik1@allstate.com
website: https://agents.allstate.com/edward-gajdosik-larchmont-ny.html
Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn 

Filmed and recorded at Studio on the Avenue/LMC Media
Mamaroneck, NY
https://lmcmedia.org/
Produced and Edited by Vekterly
https://www.vekterly.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice, a recommendation for any specific investment, strategy, or financial decision, or legal advice. By engaging with this material, you acknowledge and agree with its intended purpose. Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Neither Rich Leimgruber, the EnRich Your Life Podcast, nor its representatives are advising or suggesting any specific action or decision. Before making any financial, legal, or tax decisions, individuals should consult their own financial advisor, accountant, legal professional, or other qualified professional before making financial decisions. All opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any affiliated financial institutions. The views shared may not be suitable for every individual or situation. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk. Please note that any strategies discussed may not be suitable for all investors, and the appropriateness of any specific investment or strategy will depend on individual circumstances.

Chapters

• 2:07 Importance of Regular Insurance Reviews
• 3:33 Understanding Home Insurance Coverage
• 6:25 Flood Insurance: Not Just for Flood Zones
• 8:36 Navigating Auto Insurance for New Drivers
• 11:09 The Role of Liability and Uninsured Motorist Coverage
• 15:31 Understanding Umbrella Policies
• 16:17 Real-Life Example: The Importance of Umbrella Policies
• 17:49 Litigious Society and Rising Costs
• 19:16 The Importance of Regular Insurance Reviews
• 23:38 Telematics and Future Trends in Auto Insurance
• 27:26 Factors Affecting Insurance Rates

Transcript

Ep9 - How to Protect Your Assets with the Right Insurance

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to Enrich Your Life, where Financial Wisdom meets everyday life. Hosted by Richard Leimgruber, a financial advisor with over 25 years of experience. This podcast brings you powerful insights to make smart choices and build your financial future. Get ready to dive into practical strategies to grow, protect, and shape your financial story.

[00:00:23] One podcast at a time. 

[00:00:25] Rich L: Hello and welcome to Enrich Your Life podcast. I'm your host, Rich Leimgruber, and today we're gonna be talking about a very, important topic, for someone who may have already enriched their life or is in the process of enriching their lives, and that's protecting what you've been able to save, been able to buy, your assets.

[00:00:46] So today we're gonna be talking with Ed Gajdosik, who is the president of GC. Insurance Agency in, Larchmont. And, we're gonna be talking to him about several different topics, that revolve around [00:01:00] why is it important to have, not only the proper amount of insurance, but making sure that you're actually reviewing the insurance on a timely basis to make sure that if your property value has gone up, that you're not underinsured.

[00:01:14] So I'm gonna introduce our guest today, Ed Gajdosik, who's the president of GC Insurance Group. Ed has over 10 years of experience helping his clients with the overwhelming task of providing insurance coverage for his clients' biggest and most expensive assets, their homes, their automobiles, and even their lives.

[00:01:31] His experience and depth of knowledge is evident by his success of his business and his returning clients. With the help of his wife, Gina, the goal of their agency is to help their clients protect the people and things that matter most to them. They strive to provide insurance and financial products that best suit their customer's needs.

[00:01:50] Ed's background includes experience in diverse financial institutions with a successful track record of productivity, quality, and integrity. [00:02:00] Everything that we want in our wonderful guests. So welcome Ed. Thank you so much for joining us. 

[00:02:04] Ed G: Thank you for having me, Rich. 

[00:02:05] Rich L: Absolutely. It's always a pleasure. Insurance is something that we all don't really want.

[00:02:11] But we all have to pay for, right? And we always find out that, when it's the worst time to find out if we're underinsured or underinsured. Let's talk about having the proper amount of insurance coverage.

[00:02:22] As an example, if your home was insured for $400k, it might now have gone to $500k. And if there is ever an accident or something, you have a huge financial gap that you're gonna have to cover. It's a great way to emphasize why regular reviews and, proper coverage really matter. So first and foremost, Ed, tell us a little bit about why you got into this business.

[00:02:42] Ed G: Sure, Rich, basically, I've been in financial services 

[00:02:46] for about 40 years, but the last 10 years I've spent in the insurance business because it gives me the opportunity to help the most people. Because if you live, let's say in the state of New York as an example, if you own a car,

[00:02:59] you need [00:03:00] insurance. And if you own a home and you have a mortgage on that home, you are required to have homeowner's insurance. So it allows me to, to be able to protect more people than I was able to do in my previous fields. 

[00:03:12] Rich L: Great. Yeah. So that's really nice. And isn't it great to be able to help somebody in their time of need?

[00:03:18] There, there's nothing better than having somebody who knows you on the other end of that phone when, when a tragedy strikes, right? Whether that's a small auto accident or some kind of a situation that happens where the house where a tree might've fallen on it or there was a fire, and then all of a sudden we have.

[00:03:33] Good old Ed on the other line that's right there to help us through a crazy situation how can someone determine if they have enough coverage for their home and property coverage? What, somebody comes to you and says, Hey, I just bought a house. Or I'm about to buy a house, what kind of coverage do I need?

[00:03:47] Ed G: The best way that, an insurance, someone can, help themselves when it comes to insurance and make sure that they are properly insured is to review that with a professional. And I'm not saying. An 800 number where you just call in and [00:04:00] you get a quote. I'm saying, an insurance professional.

[00:04:02] Because what that person is gonna do is they're going to make sure that you're properly covered. They're gonna try to give you, as good a price as possible. But the most important thing is have adequate coverage because nobody was ever in the middle of the street. When they had an accident and said, oh, I have, I hope I have the lowest price.

[00:04:19] The reality is when it comes to homes, you're right about that. There, there a lot of homes are underinsured, and that's because of the price of inflation. And if a home were to, let's say, burn to the ground, God forbid, then what would happen is, you need to know what it would cost to replace that.

[00:04:35] Now, if you had a policy from 20 years ago and that you have not increased your coverage, you may not be adequately covered. And that's why I always advise people to speak with their insurance professional to make sure that they are reviewing that. Periodically every year or every two years at the worst.

[00:04:52] That's the way to stay on top of that. 

[00:04:54] Rich L: And especially if all of a sudden, the last couple of years we've had. The price [00:05:00] of wood and materials go up. Correct. Tremendously. Yes. So if that were the case, and you might have had coverage to replace your ho house five years ago for $400,000, but now it takes you $500,000 to rebuild it 'cause the cost of lumber went up

[00:05:14] That's something that you're gonna be able to help somebody determine, are you adequately insured? 

[00:05:18] Yes. 'cause you don't want to have a disastrous event that, makes you have to start over with your house and find out that it's gonna cost you $600,000 to rebuild, but you only have $400,000 in coverage.

[00:05:29] Right. So that is, that's the worst case scenario that you want to try to avoid. 

[00:05:33] Rich L: And is there any kind of coverage that would actually automatically go up as inflation goes up? 

[00:05:38] Ed G: Yes, actually that's a great question. There's something called inflation guard and most, newer. Apol a homeowner policies have that.

[00:05:45] Okay. Automatically. However, I do advise anyone that has, not, purchased a homeowner policy in 10 years or 15 years or 20 years to, review that again, because they don't always have that. So it's not automatic, especially with or. [00:06:00] Older policies. Yeah. Yeah. And I see that 

[00:06:01] Rich L: would probably be a little bit more cost on, on the original, but it would also maintain the coverage that you need.

[00:06:07] Correct. So you don't have to continually increase it

[00:06:09] Ed G: that's correct. 

[00:06:09] Rich L: Great. And what should some homeowners be thinking about when it comes to coverage for natural disasters? We hear about the floods in Florida, we hear about the floods here in local maac. We hear about hurricanes, we hear about trees falling on houses, and we hear, oh, that's a natural disaster.

[00:06:23] Ed G: That's right. Yeah. It's very important. Io we, at our agency, what we try to do is make sure that people understand that flood insurance is not only for people that live in a flood zone. In fact, I, I live in Yorktown Heights and I, do not live in a flood zone, but I have the coverage because

[00:06:40] as an example, Hurricane Ida, was a great example of that. So many people, local people in Mamaroneck were, under underwater and they were not necessarily in flood zones. So the people that had purchased the policies on our advice were very happy that they had done so. 

[00:06:57] Rich L: Wonderful. So in the event that [00:07:00] somebody is looking to buy a house and they say, oh, this is in a flood zone, they're required to have flood insurance. Correct? 

[00:07:06] Ed G: Correct. If they're getting a mortgage, the mortgage company is going to require them to have that. 

[00:07:10] Rich L: Okay. And as an example, I'm not asking you to quote it off the top of your head, but.

[00:07:15] Would that be an additional 10% on top of everything? Like where, what? 

[00:07:18] Ed G: So a good rule of thumb is, a flood policy can be anywhere from $50 to $75 a month. Some, somewhere in that range. Okay. And so when you think about the grand scheme of thinking, what you're protecting with that, it's not that big a deal.

[00:07:32] Some people pay $8 a day on, on coffee. You know what I'm saying? Yes. I, so I know that. Yes. When you think about what you're protecting with that and what you're getting with that. Sure. Then it's definitely worthwhile coverage to have. 

[00:07:44] Rich L: Great. And is that administered by FEMA from the yes.

[00:07:47] Well, 

[00:07:47] Ed G: you can get, that. You could get through private companies as well. Oh, okay. And FEMA. 

[00:07:51] Rich L: And FEMA. 

[00:07:51] Ed G: Yep. 

[00:07:51] Rich L: Why would somebody choose one or the other? 

[00:07:53] Ed G: The private company, it's a little bit more broad and what happens is in when FEMA, there's a natural disaster, like a [00:08:00] hurricane.

[00:08:00] It could be difficult to get your payout. It could take a long time. Yeah. To get that, even though you may have the coverage. And then I think there's a lot of people that mistake that. If I don't have it, then it's going to be covered anyway, because the government's gonna step in and FEMA's gonna help out, and they may.

[00:08:17] But it could take you months so you could be living with a home that is completely flooded for a very long time before you get a check. Sure. And that's why the existence of, private companies is there. 

[00:08:27] Rich L: And I think we've witnessed that down in North Carolina when those Absolutely.

[00:08:31] When those horrible tornadoes rip through there. Absolutely. Yes. And floods. So let's flip the switch a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about auto insurance, right? Sure. Can you walk us through some of the, for the average person, and lemme take a step back, there's gonna be some people that are just starting to drive right?

[00:08:47] And they need insurance. Everybody needs insurance , so obviously that's assigned risk. 

[00:08:52] Ed G: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:54] Rich L: From a perspective of assigned risk, it's gonna be more expensive. Do you [00:09:00] necessarily tell your parents that you should be putting your children under your own auto insurance, or do you want a separate policy when it comes to that kind of stuff?

[00:09:08] Ed G: It really depends on the individual situation. 

[00:09:11] my preference, it has always been with my children to have them on my policy. Okay. Just because I have everything under one bucket. Okay. But there, but again, a cost is a factor.

[00:09:20] So if the company that you are with, let's say a husband and wife are with a company for a long time and they have a really good rate. Then the, that company sees, oh, you've got two 18-year-old drivers, or, an 18 and a 20-year-old driver, it could shoot it through the roof. Got it. So they may want to spin those off separately.

[00:09:38] Okay. And the other thing too is also letting the children pay their own. You know, you see that a lot, like where they, the parents can afford it, but they want them to understand the responsibility of what comes with Yes. Driving a, an auto automobile. 

[00:09:50] Rich L: You're a big boy now you gotta pay for your own insurance.

[00:09:52] Right. That's exactly, I get that job. Exactly. 

[00:09:54] Ed G: That's right. 

[00:09:55] Rich L: That's what we all hope to ha have done. Exactly. So for the average person needing to know more [00:10:00] about auto insurance, I just briefly mentioned before, I had a similar experience recently where, somebody had shopped around.

[00:10:06] They, I got into somebody had hit my car. And it turns out they went to one of those 800 numbers . And they got the cheapest quote. And it turns out that they had the most minimal insurance and that affected our relationship. It affected a lot of different things. Sure. 'cause all of a sudden they were, they admitted to the fault, but then, there wasn't enough coverage to pay for my damage when they hit my car.

[00:10:28] Ed G: That's right. 

[00:10:28] Rich L: So let's walk a little through what's the proper amount of coverage to have. how do you help them decide what they should be taking? I know it's affordability, but it's also let's be responsible and have the right amount of insurance. 

[00:10:39] Ed G: That's right. And unfortunately in, in this society, when you see all the commercials, about 15 minutes, they'll save you x amount of percentage and this and that.

[00:10:47] It does a disservice to the industry in general because it makes it a commodity and it's really not, 

[00:10:53] if you're gonna, you could save things on, getting a cheaper haircut and things like that. But one thing I don't advise [00:11:00] is to try to save, not you. I was gonna say I should get an automatic discount automatically, but, but, that insurance is not the place to cut corners.

[00:11:07] Sure. Because in the long run it can cost you a lot of money. To answer your second question, without using too much insurance jargon, you'll hear things like, 50/100, which is your, let's say, $50,000 of coverage if you were to injure somebody in an accident.

[00:11:23] Rich L: Liability coverage. 

[00:11:24] Ed G: Liability coverage. If you were injure somebody in an accident and it would be, that's per person and then the hundred would stand for the entire incident. 

[00:11:32] Rich L: So if you got into an accident, you injured somebody and you were. Deemed liable for the accident, and the person who got injured, it would be $50,000 per person.

[00:11:41] Up to a hundred thousand for the entire accident. The incident, right? So if there were four people in the car and you hurt four people and they all decided to sue you. That's correct. Your coverage ends at a hundred thousand bucks. 

[00:11:51] Ed G: That's the kicker. And that's what most people don't understand, right?

[00:11:55] And they think, okay, so, so what? Who cares? They, I don't have $200,000 in my bank [00:12:00] account. They can't come after me. But what people don't have to realize. Is that if you are found at fault and you don't have adequate coverage, you can be held personally liable. Yes. And they can garnish your paycheck, which does anybody want to hear that you're gonna, your paycheck is gonna be garnished for the next 30 years?

[00:12:15] No. Nobody wants to hear that. No. 

[00:12:16] Rich L: Or they'll come after their assets. If they, if they've been able to maintain a. Have a nice, put a lien, your home, nice liquid net worth and all of a sudden, or put a lien on your home. Right. So they'll attorneys know how to come after you, that's for sure.

[00:12:28] Right? 

[00:12:28] Ed G: They sure do. And they know what kind of insurance you have. That's the first thing an attorney is gonna ask. How much insurance do they have? 'cause that is typically what they'll go after. But if it's not adequate, they're gonna go after other things. 

[00:12:37] Rich L: And I'm gonna jump up to that next, 

[00:12:40] but the follow up question was you hear that, certain states have certain requirements.

[00:12:45] So can you just, touch upon a little bit about why are there differences between states? What should you drivers be aware of if they move? And Yes, and the difference of coverages that they're gonna have to get. 

[00:12:55] Ed G: That's a great question. Yeah. The, in New York, it's 25 50. So is the [00:13:00] minimum. Is the minimum, but I never advise.

[00:13:02] In fact, I tell my my licensed agents don't sell anything less than a hundred, 300, because you're really putting that person at risk right now. Sometimes it is, in extreme cases, it is an affordability. Issue, but the difference between, 25, 50 and a hundred, 300 is only a few dollars a month, right?

[00:13:22] It's not like thousands of dollars a month. So really make sure you have that adequate coverage because if in the event that there is an accident and you're at fault and you've caused injuries, think about. Hospital stay. If you have $25,000 or $50,000 in, an incident in coverage, that's maybe two days in a hospital.

[00:13:41] Yeah. So if somebody had, if they were hurt and they had to go into the hospital for a month, imagine what those numbers are gonna be. 

[00:13:47] Rich L: And there's one other question about auto insurance that I'd like to clarify, and I look at this when I have new clients come in and something that was always taught to me as when I was younger was.

[00:13:57] There's an, liability [00:14:00] insurance, which is that, 50, a hundred or, like you said, 100, 300. But there's also personal protection, right? Yes. For uninsured motorists, which is if somebody runs into you and they have no insurance. 

[00:14:11] Ed G: Yes. 

[00:14:11] Rich L: So can we talk a little bit about, because I've always seen that the uninsured motorist on protection that most people choose is actually.

[00:14:19] Half of what they're gonna choose for their own liability, so so if they get into an accident and they're at fault, they have a hundred, 300. But if somebody hits them and they don't have insurance, they only have 50 in 100. And I always say, why are you protecting yourself less than what you're protecting other people in case you get it.

[00:14:34] Ed G: That's right. Yes. So that's also another very inexpensive insurance that can be very important. Yeah. Because if you get into an accident and that person has those minimum liabilities, your insurance can kick in. after their liabilities. And we have seen things like that happen. I actually had an incident where, one of our clients was run over, as a pedestrian.

[00:14:56] Wow. And the gentleman, did not have adequate coverage, [00:15:00] insurance coverage and, her. But her policy covered a lot of her medical bills, her own auto policy. Those are the kinds of things that people don't think about. 'cause what they tell you on TV is just go for the lowest price, but you need to have the most, the best coverage as well.

[00:15:16] Rich L: And flipping back to what you had started saying before, um, tell us a little bit about what Umbrella Insurance is. Yeah. And why could it be a valuable tool for those who are. Needing that coverage? 

[00:15:29] Ed G: Most people I will tell you don't know much about umbrella policies.

[00:15:33] I was fortunate at a young age, I was, I had a very good, insurance, professional that I was working with. And they told me about the value of an umbrella policy. And what that is we talked about the, the, auto limits of 100/300, for example, right? Liability. And so the umbrella, if you think about what an umbrella is, it covers you beyond that.

[00:15:53] So what happens is, in order to get an umbrella policy, you actually have to have $250,000 a [00:16:00] minimum liability coverage on your auto. But then beyond that, you can get up to a million dollars of coverage in liability, which I recommend for most especially people that have assets to protect, right?

[00:16:12] Whereas. After that first $250,000, then there, the million dollars would kick in. And it would protect you. And I have a great story. Sometimes stories help, visualize

[00:16:22] Rich L: we love telling stories here, 

[00:16:22] Ed G: There was a doctor who had finished food shopping and.

[00:16:27] Loaded his, groceries into the car, and there was a woman walking with her, 4-year-old daughter behind, and he pulled out, the daughter pulled away from the mother, ran and ran behind the car, and he hit her. And she had several, she needed several surgeries. She's okay now. Thank God. Thank God.

[00:16:44] But, she, the it, the surgeries and all of the doctor's bills came to about $800,000 and. His underlying, liability limits on his order were $250,000. So there's a difference there of $550k. I'm not a [00:17:00] mathematician, but Right. And so what happens there? They could go after his house, they could go, they could, they could take, his assets, whatever it is.

[00:17:07] But thank God for him, he had a million dollar umbrella policy and so he, so the insurance company wrote a check. And it's done right? And so if you think about it, the question is, would you ra in a situation like that? Would you rather, pay that out of your own money or your own assets? 

[00:17:24] Or would you rather have your insurance company pay that? Yeah. And it's a pretty simple question. And so I like that example because it's something that can happen. Anybody, A lot of people think, oh. Crazy things like that. It's never gonna happen, but those kind, think about it. And you could, everybody goes grocery shopping, everybody goes into a parking lot and pulls back.

[00:17:41] If you, a little kid runs behind your car, it's not your fault, but you're liable. It's your responsibility, right? Yeah. So there's a big difference and that's why umbrella policies are so important. One other thing I'd like to add about umbrella policies is everybody sues everybody right now.

[00:17:55] Unfortunately, we're in a litigious society, and, so what we have found [00:18:00] is, years ago, it was very rare when there was a liability case in a claim where the person involved an attorney, it would just it would just settle and things. Now 50% of all liability, claims, the, doctors are not advising on their care.

[00:18:15] It's the attorneys. So people are getting their attorneys and they're advising them on their medical care. Wow. And that's. That is one of the things that's helping drive costs up because 

[00:18:25] Rich L: Yeah, get all the tests. Make sure just to be certain. Exactly. You have a right to get those tests done. Even let's look at your broken foot.

[00:18:31] I don't have a broken foot. Well, we might as well check 

[00:18:33] Ed G: We. You might. 

[00:18:34] Rich L: You might, because you just don't know. Right. So now it's gonna ring up the cost of the medical care. And that's even more money they're gonna go after you for, right? 

[00:18:40] Yes. 

[00:18:41] Rich L: Yeah. That's really important and. I would like to just, for the, for our listeners and I, I always recommend umbrella policy and some my clients, I say, you have enough assets, you should have $2 million of umbrella, right?

[00:18:51] Yes. But it's not that costly, right? It 

[00:18:54] Ed G: compare, people say, oh, it's a million dollars of coverage, I can't afford that. But you're talking about maybe, you know, [00:19:00] anywhere from, $60 to $80 a month again, cost of a cup of coffee a day. If not even correct. That kind of thing is really important, to, to remember that it's, it might be a million dollars of coverage, but it's not gonna cost you millions of dollars to get it right.

[00:19:15] There's a very good, balance there. 

[00:19:17] Rich L: So the next thing I wanted to talk out, and we kind of mentioned it earlier, was why is it important for somebody who hasn't spoken to their insurance agent agent in years? They're just paying their bills, praying that they don't have any accidents.

[00:19:33] Why is it important to reach out to you and have you look over the policy every once in a while? 

[00:19:36] Ed G: I've actually talked to some of my friends when, they say, oh geez, I'd love to switch to you. But, I've been with my guy for 30 years and I say, when's the last time you spoke to him 30 years ago?

[00:19:45] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. there's a hesitancy, I think people don't wanna stir the pot. They don't want, they don't want to, draw attention to it. But here's the danger in that you, you can actually be underinsured or over-insured and not know it because you're, everybody's life changes.

[00:19:58] Sometimes yearly, [00:20:00] right? But 30 years everybody changes, right? Because you might, you, your kids might have been younger, then you might have needed more life insurance, whatever the case may be. And now you might be paying for insurance that you don't need anymore. Maybe your kids are grown and they're making a million dollars a year and you don't need necessarily that $3 million life policy.

[00:20:17] But you're paying for it. Sure. It's all about, staying up to date with that and making sure that you're reviewing your coverages because it's. What's appropriate for now, not what was 30 years ago or even five years ago, it may not be appropriate any longer. 

[00:20:30] Rich L: Somebody advised me a long time ago that it's okay to call the insurance company and ask 'em to rerate you.

[00:20:36] Is that what the term is? 

[00:20:37] Ed G: Yes. Yes. Um, you haven't had an accident. 

[00:20:39] Rich L: You, you've been paying insurance for 10 years. 

[00:20:41] Ed G: Right. 

[00:20:42] Rich L: Everything has been great. You call up your... 

[00:20:45] Ed G: Absolutely. In fact, sometimes. So credit, itself is one of the drivers of rates in a lot, in most companies, right? Credit? Yes. Okay.

[00:20:53] Credit. okay. So when you, maybe when you were younger, you had bad credit and you got a certain rate, but now you've fixed your credit, [00:21:00] everything's fine. You're an adult and you're paying your bills and everything is going really well. You could get Rerated and actually lower your rate that way. In fact, we, that happens quite a bit with us.

[00:21:09] Rich L: So one of the common themes I hear and I've experienced myself personally is what insurance is always going up. Yeah. 

[00:21:16] And I think some of that has to do with technology. Yes. And the be able to, your car, that has so many sensors on it. Yes. You get into a little fender bender anymore.

[00:21:25] That's right. And it's a $30,000 or whatever it might be. Yes. And is it really worth shopping for a better rate one or every two years if all of a sudden your insurance shoots up or, what do you typically recommend for somebody who's like, Hey, Ed, my insurance just went up a 20% and, what do you think I should do?

[00:21:45] Ed G: I try to approach that in a a little bit different way. I try to tell people if you're working with a trusted professional that you know is gonna do the right thing by you, yeah. That's more important than them quoting you the lowest rate. Because what can happen, and we've seen this happen [00:22:00] with some of our clients over the years, is people, they shop around, they see their rates going up.

[00:22:04] They know intuitively that it's not. The insurance company that you're with, that's not the problem. It's an industry-wide thing. It's a New York state thing. However, it still makes them want to shop because they still want to, they wanna get a lower rate. They want to pay what they were paying eight years ago.

[00:22:18] Sure. So they do, and then what happens is they go to another, another carrier, and what they don't realize is that if you go to a new carrier and you have an accident. Or an incident within, like shortly thereafter, they can drop you. And we see that a lot now because remember it's the, that company has no allegiance to you.

[00:22:39] Yeah. And because you were with somebody else for 10 years and they're like, well, we don't want to take on this problem. So we've had actually people leave and say, listen. We tell people, I understand everybody needs to pay their rate. Make sure you're getting the proper coverage.

[00:22:53] We'll actually help you with that. But, we are here if you need us. And I can't tell you how many people, six months later say, not only could we not reach [00:23:00] anybody on the phone, we did, we had nobody to talk to. They don't give us the service that you guys did. But then our rate went up and it's actually higher than what I was paying when I was with you.

[00:23:08] So people don't realize. Those kinds of things. You can shop it, it's not bad to shop, but I wouldn't say to, I would say it's more important to look for the right person, the right professional agent to help you. 

[00:23:19] Rich L: And for our listeners, are there any tricks or, I know for auto.

[00:23:25] If you go and you get a New York State certified driver class, you could save some money. Correct. I know for your homeowners, if you have a monitored, security system, yes. You could save some money. So yes. Do you have any other tips that we could? 

[00:23:39] Ed G: Yeah, there's a new thing called telematics now with auto insurance, which is where, you can actually, companies have these devices that you can put in your car and it monitors your driving and.

[00:23:50] You, your speed and your hard braking and things like that. And a lot of people are surprised at it can lower your rate, up to 30% in some cases. If you're a really [00:24:00] good driver. so I know people are fearful of that and they say, well, I don't want anybody spying on me, but I always tell people that, you know what you are, do you have a smartphone?

[00:24:08] They're like, yeah. And then. That thing knows a lot more about you than anything that you'll ever get in a, in your vehicle.

[00:24:13] Rich L: It's just an easier way for the insurance to monitor how you're driving. 

[00:24:16] Ed G: Exactly. And it is the wave of the future. It's one eventually down the road that's going to be, it's going to be automatic.

[00:24:21] Wow. now it's a, now it's a choice. you can choose to get it, but eventually it's gonna be, everyone's gonna have that. 

[00:24:27] Rich L: That's really, that's really important. Thank you for that. Mm-hmm. Thanks for sharing. Mm-hmm. Sure. What, uh, as, as far as something that you wish every homeowner an automobile.

[00:24:36] Owner knows about insurance. Is there anything that, that you can point out? 

[00:24:42] Ed G: Like I said, the most important thing is to get that review, whether it's every year or every couple of years, and do it with a, an insurance professional, because if you don't, it's gonna cost you more in the long run and you're putting you, you and your assets at risk. 

[00:24:56] Rich L: There's something that somebody who's on the 800 line. [00:25:00] Isn't gonna be able to tell if they don't know who you are. That's, they don't know what your habits are. And when you walk into your office or any other general agent's office, hopefully they know you, they remember you have kids' names and Yes.

[00:25:10] And there's a nice relationship there. And that leads me to my next question, which is always, accident happened. Mm-hmm. Now we gotta call our insurance carrier. Can you help explain to our listeners why. It's better to be working with a financial professional 800 number when those claims have to go through.

[00:25:27] Ed G: Yeah, that, that's actually a great point right now, especially because, more and more carriers are, especially in New York, where, if you have a lot of claims in a short period of time, or even two claims in a two year period, in some cases. Companies are gonna drop you because they don't want high risk drivers.

[00:25:45] And what happens is sometimes people have, they get into a fender bender and maybe it really is only, a thousand dollars to fix it. And they're so anxious to file a claim. They do. And they don't realize that they have a thousand dollars deductible, which means that they have to pay the first [00:26:00] thousand dollars of it.

[00:26:00] So now they're not getting any money back. And they, that now they got hit with a claim. Yeah. So we tell them, call our agency and let us walk you through this and let us make sure that it makes sense to file a claim. And then the other thing is people are emotional at the time of a claim and they send, they tend to say too much.

[00:26:19] We like to help them. Through the verbiage of how they're going to explain their claim and, and what happened. So if you do that in advance, it's a value that you add to the clients because they don't have that if they call an 800 number. 

[00:26:33] Rich L: So one of the, the other questions I have is oftentimes we hear about full glass coverage.

[00:26:39] Mm-hmm. Or you get, you going to buy a new car and they have insurance on your rims and your tires. What are your opinions about that? What are your thoughts about those two types of coverage? 

[00:26:48] Ed G: Most auto policies have full glass coverage, uh, within it. Okay. And that's important. And what I like about that is it's such a common claim.

[00:26:56] It's probably our most common claim. It's happened to me twice. Yeah. [00:27:00] And, there's, in most cases, there's no cost and there's no out of pocket. There's no deductible for that or anything like that. It just happens. Yeah. Those things are, extra coverages, like, rims and things like that.

[00:27:10] It really depends. It'd have to be really, specialized type of thing that was really expensive. Of course, you can ensure anything, but you don't always have to have, full coverage like that. 

[00:27:20] Rich L: I really appreciate you coming on.

[00:27:22] Is there any, is there anything that we haven't talked about that you think would be important to mention? 

[00:27:27] Ed G: The rates have gone up at, insurance rates, especially in New York, right? Yeah.

[00:27:31] And that's due to three, three different things. One is, more, micro storms if you will, where these little quick flashes of thunder and lightning and, flooding, happen. So everybody thinks it's the big hurricanes, but, and that. Those do cause a lot of damage, but a lot of those little storms can also add up to a lot of damage.

[00:27:49] Mm-hmm. And then, as I said, the litigation fees have gone up. Everybody's suing everybody, so that's gonna lead to higher insurance, and then of course there's the economic, impact of the [00:28:00] cost of labor, like you said, parts and labor. You years ago, you have a fender bender, you bang it out, it might cost you $50.

[00:28:06] Right. It was a piece of metal. Exactly. I need get where. The camera, you have to fix the sensor. And it could be $3,000, something that was $50, 20 years ago is now costing you $3,000. Mm-hmm. And it unfortunate, it's not the insurance company's fault of that. It, those things are great as far as safety goes, but it's also makes it much more expensive to repair these things.

[00:28:26] Rich L: Last question. Sure. Is there anything. That has to do with a red car versus a blue car. The insurance companies really charge you more for the kind of car that you're, the color that you drive, maybe for the type of car. Yes. Right. 

[00:28:38] Ed G: Yeah. it's more along the lines of the, the sports cars, especially for young drivers, right?

[00:28:42] They don't want young drivers driving around with. souped up cars that are gonna go, 180 miles in four seconds. Sure. The reality is, the red thing is a little bit overblown. It's the type of car, it's the, those sports cars, the cars that are made for speed, that will generally, cost more.

[00:28:58] Rich L: Yeah. Makes total sense. 

[00:28:59] Thank you very [00:29:00] much, Ed. Thank you. This was really good. Can you tell our listeners how they can, get in touch with you if they're interested in speaking with you? 

[00:29:05] Ed G: Absolutely. So you can call my agency (914) 834-6262 anytime, and ask for Ed and my staff will be happy to, to help and, refer you over to me and I'll be happy to help as well.

[00:29:17] And even if you end up staying with your own insurance company, that's okay. I, I. Just feel better knowing that people are having a professional review done. 

[00:29:25] Rich L: Sure. And I, I agree a hundred percent. It's the same thing I talk to my clients about when they come to me for financial planning. And I think obviously insurance is extremely important thank you very much everybody for joining us. Please remember to like and subscribe. We are on all the major. Podcast platforms as well as YouTube and enrichlifepodcast.com. If you go into enrichlifepodcast.com, you can actually put in a request, for our future, show, experience.

[00:29:54] If you have a certain topic that you'd like for us to talk about, feel free to let us know and we will try and [00:30:00] get somebody on to talk to in a more professional manner about it. Thanks very much, and we'll see you next time.