Michigan Insurance Agent Discusses Homeowner’s Insurance
Hi, I’m Bryant Goodreau from Michigan Insurance Source. You can find my information at MichiganInsuranceSource.com. Today I’d like to talk to you about homeowner’s insurance and shopping around being an independent agent. Today you know, you hear people complain about, my cost of insurance is too high, and I’m concerned about where my insurance is going. And you know, I’m really disappointed in the service I’m getting from my insurance agent.
And that all relates back to their homeowners’ insurance. Well the fact of it is, you’ve probably dealt with the same company from years and you’ve never truly shopped. A lot of times, the companies that you might go to, or you’ve gone to, or been with, are the companies that your parents used. They might have 3 letters in their name, or a farm somewhere in their name, but you know what? Dad used them. Grandpa used them. Mom used them. Grandma used them. They covered me when I was a teenager. But they’ve never shopped your homeowners for you. Why? They’re one company. They have one plan.
At Michigan Insurance Source we’re an independent agent we work for you we don’t work for the companies. We’re not set on one spot. We’re able to look at more companies than just that one we have. We try to find the niche that fits you because let’s face it; you’re not your mom. You’re not your dad. You’re not your grandfather, and you’re not your grandmother. What you’re looking at today was different than what they’re looking back then, but the company you’ve been with for many years, they’ve really not changed. And what they’ve do to change the cost to save you money is to lower your liability or to raise your deductible. I am in agreement of raising your deductibles on your homeowners insurance is a good thing. My recommendation would be a thousand dollars. Some still carry $500. Other agents are pushing $2500. $2500 at times seems to be too much to put on your house. Especially if your income is tight because a lot of times the cost is under that amount you call to fill a claim.
If it’s under $2500, the claim still shows up on your policy, which hurts your rate the next year, but you’re paying all the cost, where $1000 is nice and even. It’s a good spot. The liability? That’s your biggest thing that you cannot short change yourself on. Liability is the one thing that you need, because somebody gets hurt on your property and they want to sue you. You have a dog. Person says your dog bit them. Well, you know what? That’s going to be a cost to you. Your liability is covering you for that damage and that liability is also covering for your lawyer’s fees. Believe it or not, the insurance company’s there to represent you. Why? Because you’re paying them to and it’s their interest to make sure you win on that legal case if that person is accusing you that your dog bit them. Or that person said, you know what? I tripped on your sidewalk, and I want $100,000. Well, the insurance company doesn’t want to pay that $100,000, so they will pay for your lawyer and those are areas you don’t want to short change yourself on.
People come out and they say, I can save you some money. But your liability goes down at $20,000 or $40,000 or $50,000. In today’s day and age do you really think $20 or $40 or $50,000 is a lot? No, that can be gone in a heartbeat, and then you’re responsible for whatever is left. So let’s keep this down to simple terms. Somebody comes across your property. They slip. They fall. They want to sue you. They go into court your insurance company is paying for your lawyer but at the end of the day there was an accident that occurred in the court feels that you need to pay. They want to sue you for a $150,000, they settle out of court for a $100,000, but your liability is only covering you for $50,000.
Guess who’s on the tab for the other $50,000? You are. Not the insurance company, because they paid their $50,000. Now you have to pay your $50,000, and what they can do is they can go after your paycheck to pay that $50,000. They can make you sell off assets to pay that $50,000, and that’s a debt that’s going to affect your credit for the rest of your life, because you’d be paying it off.
In today’s day and age your house might be $150,000/$200,000 but then you got a $50,000 debt that takes you 30-40 years to pay off the house. How long do you think it’s going to take you to pay off that $50,000? And, oh yeah, by the way, they can charge you interest on that money while you’re slowly paying them off.
Those are things you really need to look for, and agent. They’re not going to be the person that can shop that for you, where at Michigan Insurance Source, we can do that for you. We can shop multiple carriers to get the best price, and sometimes you’ll be paying the same price but you’re getting more coverage. So where your current agent might give you $50,000 we might be able to give that $100,000 that we recommend or $250,000 or even $500,000. Those are things that you need to make sure that you’ve properly covered. Your home is your biggest asset that you buy in your lifetime and that is the one thing you want to make sure is properly covered and you want to make sure that you’re covered, because while you’re enjoying your home, if somebody gets hurt or injured, you’re the person on the hook to make sure they’re taken care of if it’s your fault. So it’s our recommendation, always keep the higher liability, and make sure you shop your insurance, and as an independent insurance agent, we can do that for you.
Michigan Insurance Agent Discusses Homeowner’s Insurance
Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. Bryant Goodreau, Michigan Insurance Source. You want to know more about homeowner’s insurance? Please go to our website and check our one of our blogs. That’s www.michiganinsurancesource.com. Once again, www.michiganinsurancesource.com, or give us a call here at the agency at 586-846-3133. Thank you again.