how to know proper insurance coverage?

[lurknomore]

I have not shopped around our home/car insurance in 7 or more years, from when we were dirt poor.  Our HO went up 30% this year, so I'm finally doing it.  I have a feeling we are woefully underinsured.  How do I know what the proper coverage limits are, what is good, better, and too much?  I have an agent doing the shopping for me, and I'm going to check with one of the big insurers that provides a discount to DH's work, but want to make sure I know what I'm looking at.

And along those lines...my grandparents just had this guy redo their insurance.  They ended up with some insurance company out of PA "that has an A+ rating."  Do I need to go with one of the bigger, well known insurance companies to get good coverage/service, etc?  We've been with pro.gressive and just had a HO claim that was very poorly handled. 

[anna7602]

Our mortgage company required a certain level of insurance when we refinanced and our co-op board also has strict minimum requirements. I'm going to assume you don't live in a co-op, but if you have a mortgage, your bank might have some guidelines for you.

I only shopped quotes from the big insurers in my area, so don't have any advice on that front.

[Pom]

Good question. Mr. P and I are working on this right now. We have Met!ife and were also checking out e==surance for a comparison. Our current company seems to be serving us well. If you can find a broker you trust, I'd discuss your options and compare costs. They should be able to provide a worksheet showing costs at varying coverage levels.

[lurknomore]

Pom...M.et is the company that DH has a discount through. When we moved here I know they were way way more $$ than anyone else I called, but I figured I'd check and see.

I just spoke to the agent. He's been doing my grandparent's/aunt's for 30-something years and used to be a neighbor. He's going to shop around, but right off the bat he pointed out that our $300K home is only insured for $100k. Yeah, I'd say that's a problem!! I do know we meet state minimums for cars at least. anna7602...that's a great idea to check with the bank. I know they verified coverage when we refi'd last year, but I wonder if they actually checked the levels.

[gtkim]

Make sure your state auto minimums are really sufficient to cover you in the event of an accident.  Cars these days are SO expensive, and a lot of times state minimums are not enough to replace a totaled vehicle. This has happened to a friend recently.  The insured driver had a limit of $25K and her car is totaled and worth more than that and she is having a difficult time getting properly compensated.

[Pom]

gtkim makes a good point.

Also, you might inquire about an umbrella policy for liability (especially as your assets and incomes increase) as part of a multi-line policy where your home, autos, plus the liability policy can get you a better rate.

[lurknomore]

Jun 30, 2015 15:20:12 GMT -5 gtkim said:

Make sure your state auto minimums are really sufficient to cover you in the event of an accident.  Cars these days are SO expensive, and a lot of times state minimums are not enough to replace a totaled vehicle. This has happened to a friend recently.  The insured driver had a limit of $25K and her car is totaled and worth more than that and she is having a difficult time getting properly compensated.

They're not and I know that.  I'm having the guy quote upping those.  We may have more coverage than state minimum.  I'm not really sure.  Eeekk....  Thanks!!

[lurknomore]

Jun 30, 2015 15:22:56 GMT -5 Pom said:

gtkim makes a good point.

Also, you might inquire about an umbrella policy for liability (especially as your assets and incomes increase) as part of a multi-line policy where your home, autos, plus the liability policy can get you a better rate.

I actually asked about this thanks to a thread about uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage a few days ago.  DH commutes by bike and Susie (and some others) made the point that if he's ever injured in an accident, I'll want a rider to protect bodily injury in that event.  I feel like a real adult trying to figure this out!!!   

[Susie]

I got my coverage advice from my insurance agent. He ran a number of scenarios by me, and illustrated how we were previously under-insured, and where we could make that up relatively inexpensively. There are a lot of insurance terms of art that I didn't appreciate the meaning (read: coverage limitation) of on my own. I couldn't parrot it all back, I just know having a good agent is worth a lot. Mine owns an independent agency and works with numerous carriers. Pro.gressive is one, but not who we insure with. New York Central Mutual is much more selective with who they will insure, but they're also much more reasonable for the coverage that we have. (Knock on wood no claims since we've been with them, so I can't speak to that.) We have a multi-line policy including auto, homeowners, and umbrella with them.

[HitchedIn2006]

To think about your house... Make sure it is insured enough to build the exact same house with square footage and same fixtures. Code may have changed since the house was built, so it might cost more than it's worth to rebuild.