(music).
You can't wear it, drive it, or even eat it, but
it's just as important as clothes, a car, and food.
I'm talking about insurance.
While most of us don't necessarily
want to spend money on it, it's an investment we all need to
make.
So what's right for you, your car, and your family?
It takes some knowhow.
Here to help better understand insurance is
the Senior Vice President of personal lines from Selective
Insurance, Mr. Allen Anderson.
Good morning.
Thanks for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So let's talk about insurance, again, you say
it and people go (sigh).
Bottom line, all policies are not
created equal, why?
Well so often the consumer thinks that
the main thing they want to focus on is price, because they
assume all the policies are the same, but the fact is they
aren't all created the same, and quite often with low prices
policies come less coverage, lower options, and higher
deductibles, and those are things you don't want to find
out about at the time that you submit a claim.
You want to know about them in advance.
So auto insurance, let's talk about that
specifically the car.
What should I consider when I need
that?
Well you do need to start out with your budget, you need
to understand what is it that you really can expect to pay,
what is it you can afford to pay, but then you need to sit
down and talk to an independent agent about what your options
are and what your choices are and what your needs are.
Let's face it, the average consumer
doesn't want to or need to understand the difference
between liability insurance, personal injury protection,
comprehensive coverage- It just gets so convoluted.
Absolutely.
So you want to have a trusted advisor that you can talk to to
answer those questions.
Discounts, when it comes to auto insurance that I can consider
and do?
There are some standard ones, driver safety courses,
good student discount for those of you that have good students
in your household, that can save you a lot of money.
At Selective we have some discounts also if
you choose to pay your premium in one payment or two as opposed
to monthly installments, that can save you some money.
We also have a discount if you get your
quote in advance of your effective date, that can save
you some money.
Those are things that you can do to save money
without reducing coverage.
Home owners insurance, let's talk
about that now, that's a big one.
Yes it is.
And here in Florida it's huge and expensive.
What should I consider there?
So let's look at an example, lets'
say you have a pool or an aluminum fence around your yard
or a patio for example.
Okay.
And a tree falls on that.
You need to think about is your
insurance company going to pay to fully replace and repair
those items, or are they gonna give you some depreciated
amount?
So a company like ours, we have options for you to
choose from if you have those items that will pay the full
replacement cost.
Again those are things you want to talk
about up front, but sit down with your agent because on
homeowners there's so many options to choose from.
Water back up, large lost deductible
waivers, those are all things you need to try to consider in
your coverage choices.
What about discounts when I'm looking
into a homeowners policy?
Many of the discounts that you get on
auto also apply to your homeowners policy.
You can save a fair amount of money on your
homeowners policy by choosing a higher deductible, but you want
to make sure that that's something that you're ready to
handle at the time that the claim comes.
Okay.
But one of the big discounts that people
miss out on is putting those policies together with one
company.
So we offer a discount of up to 20% on both the auto
and the home if you put the policies together with one
company.
We also have discounts for medical professionals,
education professionals, so again, talk to your agent about
everything that goes on in your life so they can help you.
What about if you have a smoke alarm
which I have or a burglar alarm?
Absolutely.
Those kind of things.
Absolutely, if you have something that reports,
certainly, to a central station that where somebody's going to
call the police automatically, that'll have significant savings
as well.
So it's little things- It all adds up.
That's exactly right.
All right, and if you rent, because a lot of people
rent today, sometimes I think it's not worth it to have
insurance, but I have a feeling it is.
It absolutely is.
Really?
Why?
I tell my friends who rent, 'go home and take a look around
your apartment.'
And look at everything that you love, that's
yours.
And imagine replacing it all tomorrow.
Your TV, your furniture, your clothes, your
shoes, area rugs, everything.
That's all gonna add up.
And renters insurance is actually
pretty affordable.
And it's not maybe your home- in other words
you don't own it, but everything inside of it- Right, you're
covering all your personal belongings.
Okay, flood insurance.
That's a big one, here in Florida it's necessary.
We have hurricanes as well, you know what we went through after
Andrew, but I think flood insurance applies to everyone
now in the country.
It is the #1 disaster in America today.
Really?
In all 50 states.
Look at the news after the last few
years.
It's flooded all across the country and not just coastal
areas.
It's inland- Did you see the house that was floating in
the water that was on fire?
That was horrible.
Imagine watching your home on television float
down the river.
That's exactly right.
And people don't often think that they need flood
insurance until it's too late.
But it's affordable, it can help you rebuild your home and your
life after a devastating event.
The other thing that people often don't understand is that
it often doesn't go into effect until 30 days after you purchase
it.
So you need to make sure you get it now.
So Allen, for someone, let's say myself,
looking into car insurance, home insurance, do I go to a company
directly, or do you recommend I go to an independent agent?
I would recommend that you talk to
an independent agent.
Why so?
Because they can sit down with you, talk to you about what's
going in your life, the coverage needs that you have, the options
you have to choose from, and have a conversation with you
about your needs.
And the best thing about an independent agent
is that they represent multiple companies.
They can provide you information for multiple
companies- So you don't feel like they're out for just one.
Absolutely, there's not just one choice.
Little bit more trust there, one on one.
Personal time and they can help me understand
it.
That's exactly right.
The options for that balance between
price and coverage.
And what's good for you.
I love that.
For more information on this where can
our viewers go?
They can find out more about auto, home,
renters, and flood insurance at Selective.com.
Selective.com.
That's right.
Thank you so much for your time, appreciate it.
And of course you can always check out our website, and it's
thebalancingact.com to learn more about insurance.