Are you double paying?

How surprised were you when you filed your insurance claim to have your auto glass replaced and find out you have a $250.00 or $500.00 deductible? Basically you pay your monthly premium and when you have to file an auto glass claim, the most common automotive damage claim, you have to pay again. Its becoming all too common, even expected, in this day and age. It wasn’t that long ago, when no deductible was the norm and a high deductible was $50.00 or $100.00. So what was behind this turn around? When states enacted laws that stated everyone in a household with a drivers license (your teen daughter or son) had to be insured on at least one vehicle or that to get a drivers license an individual had to have insurance and consumers tried to figure out a way to lower their premiums.

One thing you can do to help mitigate this and still get out as inexpensively as possible is to separate your comprehensive policy and make sure you are paying for the coverage’s you need. Most if not all insurance companies will allow you to separate your glass coverage from your body damage coverage and to set your deductibles for those specific coverage’s. For example, you have been driving for 20 years and have never had an accident, yet due to highway commutes and road construction you seem to have a windshield broken every other year. Would it not then be in your best interest to carry a $500.00 or $1000.00 deductible for your body damage which you do not use and carry a $0.00 deductible on glass damage? In most instances the difference in your monthly premium for this coverage and carrying a $500.00 deductible for both is between $5.00 and $10.00 a month. If you have a windshield replaced during a two year period, at the $10.00 premium increase, you have basically covered the cost of the increase. For those of you who do not mind a small $50.00 or $100.00 deductible you may not see any change at all in your premium when you carry a $500.00 deductible on body damage and $100.00 for glass coverage.  Make sure your insurance agent is looking out for your best interests and not just selling you a policy that fits the template that keeps you paying for the damages that you are “supposedly” insured. In effect, double paying to have the damages repaired, once when you pay your premium and again when you pay your deductible, or instead paying for the repairs “out of pocket”.

When it comes time to renew your policy, remember that insurance is like a buffet, you can choose the coverage’s you want to carry. If your agent is not explaining this to you, who’s interests are they serving when they except your monthly payment? Where is the customer service, the feeling that you matter to them and are not just another policy sold or just another payment. I am not bashing individual insurance agents, please do not think that, most try to look out for their clients as best they can. It is our responsibility to be informed and to have done our own due diligence as well. So make sure you ask about separating your coverage’s when it comes time to renew your policy and save yourself the double pay the next time you have to have your auto glass replaced.