The COVID-19 pandemic has been a big adjustment for us all, including how it’s affected our social lives, work lives, home lives, or rather, work-from-home lives. Yet one change that’s a bit less obvious is that some of those recent adjustments to your life can actually affect your policies too – in a good way!
1. Car mileage
Did you know that your auto premiums are based off the amount of miles you put on your vehicle each year? If working from home has become your new norm, think of all those miles you’re saving on the commute. A significant decrease in annual mileage can equal a lower premium, but only if you tell your agent! Even the best RightQuote agents aren’t psychic! And if you’re not sure what constitutes a “significant decrease”, our agents can give you a quote on your best options, based on how often you’re hopping behind the wheel.
2. Reducing Your Coverage
For those that find themselves in their home 24/7 or find your two-car household is really only using one vehicle these days, you can drop some of your auto coverage! Key word – SOME!
- Liability Coverage – if that car of yours is truly going to sit in the garage and you’re not going to put a mile on it for the foreseeable future, you can drop your liability coverage to take advantage of a lower premium. Liability covers you if you cause an accident and hurt someone else, or if you cause damages to someone’s vehicle or property. Unless you have a lien on your vehicle, liability isn’t required if you’re not on the road. If your car isn’t moving, you’re not liable! However, you cannot forget to add coverage before you begin driving again – that IS illegal and dangerous.
- Comprehensive Coverage – This is the piece of your coverage that has your back when a there’s a natural disaster, fire, or fallen tree or you finally hit that trophy buck… with your car. Whether your vehicle is moving or not, comprehensive coverage is something you should always keep!
- Collision Coverage – Whether your driving routine has changed or not, this coverage is always optional. Collision coverage takes care of damages to your vehicle for accidents caused by you – like backing into that same tree in your yard after you swore you’d cut it down last time! While optional, collision coverage also covers the “I don’t know what happened” type of accidents like a bad door ding, nasty scratch or a hit and run.
- Reducing deductibles – If you’re not comfortable pausing any of your coverage – great! You can still save a couple dollars by temporarily increasing deductibles on your comprehensive and collision coverage instead.
3. Homeowners
While COVID hasn’t had a huge effect on traditional homeowners insurance per se, there are a couple things to consider:
- Business in your home – That new mask sewing business you started is certainly helping your community! However, if you’re earning a profit and bringing customers into your home for purchases, your homeowners liability policy may not cover you if a customer trips and falls or sustains an injury while on your property. Why? Because your homeowners only cover your residence – not businesses, no matter how small! So before those fingers cramp up from all that sewing, do yourself a favor and take few minutes to research small business insurance – or better yet – give our agents a shout and they’ll do the research for you!
- Catalog your personal items! – With more time social distancing at home and less of a social life, this is the perfect opportunity to take an inventory of your personal items at home. In the event you lose your home to fire or natural disaster, you will need to make a list of personal items to be replaced or reimbursed. Your post-natural disaster self will THANK YOU IMMENSELY for planning ahead and organizing that information! This list will also help you understand if your current personal articles policy amount offers enough coverage. You may realize some of your personal items – like jewelry, guns, camera equipment, etc. – should actually have policies of their own.
- Home improvements? You may find yourself with a little extra time on your hands now; why not dedicate that time to those simple – or non-so-simple – home improvements you’ve been neglecting. They could potentially reduce your risk, which in turn can reduce your premiums. But just like that decrease in your car mileage this year, make sure you TELL your agent about the improvements, so they can adjust your policy accordingly.
4. No more “meeting” with your agent!
You’re off the hook! Face-to-face meetings and group gatherings are at an all-time low… but we can still put lunch on the table! Schedule a virtual meeting with our team – we’ll comb through your existing policy or talk about better solutions for your family – and we’ll even provide lunch, delivered TO YOU in time for our virtual lunch date! Best part, you can leave those comfy old sweatpants on… we’ll never know! Just give us a call or hit us up on our Contact Us page, drop a note in the message line that you’d like some free grub and policy review and/or quote and we’ll get a date on the calendar.