BONUS EPISODE! Answering your questions! | Episode 8.5 | No Dumb Questions

Join Sara, Julia, and Riley as they answer your burning insurance questions from Season 1!

- How much coverage do I need?

- How do I find out what gaps I have?

- Do I need to change my insurance if I move?

Season 2 is on its way ... compare quotes in the meantime!

Disclaimer: This podcast is produced by Insurify and is intended for educational purposes only. We are not licensed insurance agents, and we do not constitute personalized financial or legal advice. Personal situations vary, and you should always consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Hey everybody, welcome back to No Dem Questions. We have a very special bonus episode for you today. Julia, Riley, and I recently went through your questions that you submitted, and we are excited to answer them as a special treat before season two comes out. As always, we are not licensed professionals, so please consult an insurance agent if you need help. But here are your frequently asked questions.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Awesome. So we're going to get started from a question from Matt in Virginia. Matt is asking, how can I figure out what gaps my current insurance coverage might have in terms of car, homeowners, et cetera?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Oh, Matt, that's a great question. I think the probably the first thing you got to do, fortunately or unfortunately, is make yourself a cup of tea or coffee or a soft beverage. And just sit down and look at your policy. You got to kind of know what you're working with, where you're starting from. And it can also help kind of whether before or after you review your policy to just think a little bit and take some notes on your needs. You know what I mean? So, like what's important to you, how much does your car cost, et cetera? So when you look at your policy, the declaration page, which is that first page, is going to show you your policy details. That's where you're going to see like how much coverage you have for bodily injury liability, if it's in your state uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, collision or comprehensive if you're carrying that. So that's where you'll see those coverage amounts. And for example, if you only have the state minimum required coverages for liability coverage, you might want to consider more. I myself carry a little bit more just because it stresses me out thinking about like not being able to afford that, just you know, in case I were to cause an accident. So I feel like that just gives me peace of mind, but that's of course up to you and up to anyone. So I think the next step, um, especially if you carry full coverage on your car, um, which is collision, incomprehensive, and that's what's going to cover damage to your vehicle, um, is to think about the value of your car. Um, you can look this up online. Um, Kelly Blue Book is a really great source for this. If you get your vehicle identification number, your VIN, you can get even more detailed information about the value of your car, but you can usually estimate it even without that. Um, but I think think about it like this: your insurance should be able to pay out your loan if you have a loan on your car. Um, so can you afford to pay off your car? If the answer is no, you might need a little bit more coverage. Um, gap insurance exists for that purpose. Um, if your car were to be totaled and you still had money left that you owe on your loan, gap insurance would come in and cover the difference, which can really help if you don't have that in your bank account right now, which not everyone does. Um, and it's also really helpful to consider where you live. Um, if you live in a city in an urban area with higher risk of accidents, maybe there's more traffic, higher risk of theft, you might want to carry more coverage for damage to your vehicle, like collision. Um, or if you live in an area with like climate, severe weather and climate threats, you might want to carry comprehensive coverage, which will cover like flood damage and things like that to your vehicle. So it's, you know, tough to say just one thing, but it's good to assess, you know, all the different factors that could lead to either your liability in an accident or damage to your vehicle and how like whether or not you can afford to pay for that out of pocket. Um, and I won't get into homeowners too too much. Um, season two, we're gonna talk a lot more about homeowners coverage. Um, but I will say it's a relatively similar, if not a little bit more complex process of you know, sitting down and looking at your policy and assessing your needs. Um, and it can be really helpful, especially with home insurance, to talk to a professional because they'll be able to walk you through your policy and answer your questions about like, what is what is this coverage? Do what, why do I need this, or is this really necessary, or could I increase my deductible for that coverage? Because it's probably not likely I'll need it, but I still want to have it. There are all sorts of things like that you can do to customize your coverage. But we'll get into that a lot more in season two. So stay tuned.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Yeah. Great. Building off that question, Lauren from Massachusetts is asking, how much coverage should I have? And what do the different coverage levels mean?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Yeah, kind of similar to what we were just talking about. It's super unique to your personal profile. So pull out your declaration page, look at your personal risks and how much money you're willing to spend and kind of make that choice for yourself, basically what Julie was just talking about. But there's two main types of coverages. There's liability coverage, which only covers other people's cars, not your car. Every state except for New Hampshire requires a base amount of liability coverage. And then full coverage includes comprehensive and collision, which covers your car in collision events, and also like theft vandalism, if you hit a deer, something like that. I personally think that it's always a good idea to carry full coverage if it's within your budget. And if you have a loan or a lease on your car, you're probably going to be required to carry full coverage. But in general, full coverage can save you a lot of money in the long run from replacing or repairing your car.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Nicole from California is asking, are telematics programs actually worth it?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Oh, hi, Nicole. Great question. Um, we get this a lot. So um telematics programs or usage-based insurance are basically insurance that track your driving and then charge your rate based on that data. So it will, if you're a super safe driver, it theoretically will give you lower rates. If you maybe are a little bit more of a risky driver or exhibiting risky driving behaviors, then you could see higher rates. So a bonus with telematics programs often is that there's a great sign-on discount, which means just signing up for the telematics program will come with a discount automatically. Um, and then usually there's a discount above that for that you can earn through safe driving. So that can really help you also if you get into an accident that's not your fault. Um, because um that program, whether it's um tracking you through a device in the vehicle or on your an app on your smartphone, um, it will track the data of what happened. So that can be really helpful for evidence. Um I think some circumstances where it really is worth it, is um it's likely worth it for parents with teen drivers, brand new drivers, on their policies. It can also help encourage them to drive safely, you know, encourage safe driving habits. Um, and you can get a discount, which is really great when you have a teen driver on your policy. Um, it may also be worth it if you don't drive super often. Um, maybe you live in a more kind of chill or rural or suburban area. Um, when it's maybe not worth it is if you live in the city and have to drive more aggressively, quote unquote. Um, and I say that because you know, I live in a city and I'm a very safe driver. And sometimes to drive safe in a city, you need to react quickly, you need to break. There's pe a lot of people around, there's a lot of traffic to deal with. Um so one of the things that telematics programs often track and register as risky driving is hard breaking, um, which is kind of when you got a slam on the brakes, you know what I mean? But sometimes that is the safest move when you're driving. So if that's something that you have to do to be a safe driver, maybe because you live in a city, it might not be worth it to have a telematics program for your insurance. Um, and also if you know yourself, no judgment, and maybe you're not a super confident driver or you don't think you're a super good driver, um, it can negatively affect your rates if you don't drive safely. Um, so maybe that's not a good fit for you, and that's totally okay. Um, and also a good thing to know because many people also wonder this, um, these programs do track your location and your driving data. Um, so if you're someone who's a little less comfortable with having your data tracked, this may also not be a good fit. But it's also worth looking into it and what you can opt in and out of and really like understanding it so you know what will be a good fit.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Daniel from Texas is asking, is it worth it to lower my coverage limits to save money?

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Oh, Daniel, this may be tempting. Um, but often, often the answer is no, it's not worth lowering your coverage levels to save money. Um, but this is another situation where it's so unique. Um, and you really have to think about your own car and your own financial situation. Um one way you can kind of assess this is that if the if the annual cost of collision of like carrying collision and comprehensive insurance is higher than your car's value, what you would get if you sold your car, then it might not be worth it to carry that because if your car is damaged, um you're paying more to insure it than it would cost to like sell. Um, but there's more to think about here. Um, I drive an old car, um, but I also can't really afford to buy a new vehicle right now, um, nor do I really need to. Um, I have other you know, public transit options available to me. So right now, for me, it's worth it to carry full coverage on my car. But for me, I increase my deductible a little bit so that I can save money because it's unlikely I'll need it, but it's I'm happy to have it. You know what I mean? So it's a really individual situation. Um, but things to think about, you know, can you afford to buy a new car? Um, can you afford to pay for possible damages and fixes out of pocket if that were to happen? Um, and is the money that you would save month to month kind of more or less than the cost of a major repair? Um this is probably a situation in which it's really smart to compare, like shop around, compare a bunch of quotes. Um, try to remember to compare apples to apples when you're doing that. Like you're comparing policies with the same coverage limits. Um, but that can help you do the math on like how much you would save. Um that can be really helpful. So I think one other thing that, you know, if you're able to to build a savings fund for car repairs or payouts, if you know the worst were to happen. Um, but yeah, definitely think about your options before just dropping your coverage automatically to save a buck. But sometimes it may be worth it to adjust deductibles or slightly adjust coverage limits to help you save a little bit of money there if it's the right fit for you.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

And our last question today comes from Stephanie from Louisiana. And she's asking, I just moved from Mississippi to Louisiana. Do I need to get new car insurance?

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yes. Um, every state has different minimum insurance laws. They have different insurance laws. Uh, you may need a new carrier if you had like a local Mississippi insurer that doesn't operate in Louisiana. Um, but basically, when you go to register your car and register as a resident of Louisiana, it's a pretty easy process. Just go through and find a couple different quotes, compare, find the cheapest one for you, the one that fits your situation the best. And then when you go to register, you have that insurance already in hand and it should be a pretty easy switch. Um, but it's most important, like if you're not considering becoming a permanent resident, like if you're considering on moving back to Mississippi within maybe a shorter time frame, you don't really need to switch it quite yet. Um, but if you are changing your permanent residency to Louisiana, you do need to switch your car insurance. All right. Thank you so much to all of our amazing listeners who sent in questions. We hope that these answers helped you and help you save money. And we will see you very, very soon for season two.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

You are listening to No Dumb Questions, an Insure Fi podcast. This content does not constitute personalized financial or legal advice. This podcast is written, edited, produced, and recorded by Sarah Getman, Julia Taliessin, Riley Hines, and Sidney Harrell. Compare insurance quotes by clicking the link below.