Home buyers should know that when shopping for homeowner's insurance, you get what you pay for. The cheapest rate may seem to fit the bill when keeping your monthly payments low. But if you have a loss, it could really cost you if you aren't properly covered. I've seen this too many times. Happened to a friend recently and I never, ever want it to happen to one of my clients. So full disclosure here: My mate sells insurance and I'm featuring him as my guest blogger. Here's what Jason Sardi of Liberty Mutual Insurance has to say on the matter:
"I would never have thought about it back in the day. I wouldn’t have given it a second glance, actually. If I was shopping car insurance, just give me something cheap and legit. Same with home insurance. End of story. Then I'd move on to more important stuff, like how my team was doing in fantasy football.
Homeowner's insurance is boring, until it’s not. Then the unlikely day comes to pass when you actually need it, and then, well, it becomes a hindsight issue. A conversation piece over a glass of wine, fermented cheese, and your new budget consisting of ramen noodles.
Before I get to my ultimate point, all insurance isn’t the same. Different companies look for different things. They have their sweet spots. If you're a 25 year-old single male who rents, has one vehicle and busted up credit, there's probably a company that's a better fit for you than another. If you're married, own multiple vehicles, own your home and have stellar credit, same applies. Different strokes for different folks. It’s like dating. They look for you and you look for them. It’s magic when you find the match, but rarely easy.
Okay, now onto my point. Insured vs. Protected. It’s crazy easy to find insurance. It’s everywhere. Your ballpark scoreboard, local underwear ads, and various outlets onSocial Media. Insurance though, is supposed to mean protected. And that’s the rub. I don’t care if you ARE insured. Are you protected?
For example, that diamond ring or piece of jewelry you have that was reason #54 that you fell in love with your current mate... is that protected properly? Did you have a discussion with your Agent about that? How about that Andy Warhol artwork, the original poetry that you scored from Lady Gaga, or the frames of diluted oil paintings courtesy of Kim Kardashian? Did you get a special binder for those items? Because more than likely, they are NOT covered under your standard homeowner's policy.
Insurance serves one purpose (other than making the insurer a very profitable entity): To put you back to where you were before that crappy thing happened to you. Use it accordingly. Beware of shopping price alone. Shop on value, knowledge, insight, while NEVER forgetting about the price. But don’t forget about those other things either. At the end of the proverbial day, if what you're paying for gives you nothing when SOMETHING happens… what are you paying for, exactly?
If you have high value items, include them in the conversation you have with your agent regarding home insurance. And if they don’t ask from the start, that’s reason enough to shop in the first place."
Jason Sardi, Liberty Mutual Insurance Representative
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Jennifer Monroe, Realtor®/Broker
704.307.3369
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© Jennifer Monroe, Realtor®/Broker 2014
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