Bump up your insurance coverage
Clark wants to talk to people who own homes out there. What are the odds that you do not have enough insurance to cover your home? According to recent reports, two out of three people are significantly underinsured. You may have bought a house years ago for $100,000, and you haven’t adjusted the value since. Say you’ve been lucky during that time and now the house is worth $20,000 more. If there is a fire and you must rebuild your home, you will only get the original $100,000 in coverage if you haven’t upgraded the coverage. So, if the damage is $140,000, you will have to pay $40,000 for something that wasn’t even your fault. Most insurers will allow you to increase the coverage. So, if you’ve been in a home for a while, check out your coverage. If you don’t think it’s enough, bump it up. At the same time you do this, raise your deductibles as high as they will go. Unless your mortgage company prohibits it, Clark would like you to boost your deductible to $2,500. Most people have a $500 deductible, but that is not a good idea. Why? First of all, you pay a lot more in insurance costs. Secondly, if you make a claim against your homeowner’s insurance for a small amount of money, the insurer may treat your horribly. Sure, they’ll pay the claim. But they may fire you after. So, you only want to use homeowner’s insurance for catastrophes. If you’re thinking of switching insurance companies, Clark has great news. The September issue of Consumer Reports magazine recently rated insurers from best to worst. The No. 1 company this year is Amica Mutual, and that company is head and shoulders above the rest. The first year with the company is more expensive, but year two and beyond are less. No. 2 is a newcomer - Auto Owners Insurers, Inc. - which writes coverage in about 20 states. Coming in third is Cincinnati Insurance. For the first time since 1990, USAA is not in the top three. This year, USAA is No. 5. But the company is still very good.
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