Insurance Tips

Learning about insurance is excruciating for some. How many times have you wanted to sit down and read a good book on insurance? Yeah, it doesn't happen often.

Here are some insurance tips that your agent may have forgotten to share with you:

1. One of the best ways to save on your auto, home, or health insurance is to
reduce your deductible. You don't want to make a claim on an amount
you can afford, so raise your deductibles to the top amount you would be
willing to pay out of pocket before your insurance kicks in. Raising your
deductibles can save you a lot of money so it is worth checking into.

2. Get to know your grace period! Just because you forgot to pay your
insurance bill on time does not mean it is canceled. Most policies have at
least a 30 day grace period in which you can make your payment and your
policy will still remain in effect. So before you assume your insurance is
gone, check out your grace period and pay up!

3. Keeping your policies with one agent can pay off. Sometimes you can find
cheaper insurance at different agencies but there are two reasons to stay
with one insurance company or agent: First, you can get a multiple policy
discount and second, your insurance agent is likely to work harder for you
when it comes to claims and service.

4. Ask for discounts! Don't assume your insurance agent will automatically
give you all the discounts available. This is not because they don't want
to but because they don't always know what discounts apply to you.

5. Credit and insurance goes hand and hand. Most insurance companies are
partially basing rates on your credit history. Whether you think it is fair
or not, it is happening. So, if you have some small credit issues get them
cleaned up or if you can't and still want to save, shop around because each
insurance company has a different way to evaluate your credit.

6. Skip the credit card insurance offers and warranties. Those offers by your
mortgage or credit card companies to pay your balances are not worth the
cost. It is always better to make sure you have a good life insurance
policy to cover your debts. Also, extended warranties are just mini-
insurance policies and they are hardly ever worth the amount you pay for
them, especially if you take care of your items.

7. Need cheap health insurance? Choose a high deductible policy and haggle
with your doctor! Yes, you are comfortable doing it with the used car
salesman so why not with medical professionals? People do it, even
insurance companies haggle and get rates reduced! Getting a high deductible
insurance policy, or better known as "emergency insurance," will save you
tons of money in premiums because it only kicks in usually after you have
paid the first 5-10 thousand dollars (hence "emergency policy"). So, if you
have other procedures the doctor would like to do that you will be paying
for out of pocket... haggle with your doctor or the hospital. It sounds
strange but you can reduce your costs and don't worry because others are
doing it too!