I think by now if you’ve paid attention to any insurance marketing you probably have heard the term “bundling” more often than you would like to hear. Between Flo’s bundle price gun, and other large name carriers claiming to “bundle your way to savings” it’s time to cut through the fluff and clarify exactly why you should combine your homeowners and auto insurance policies.
By the way,
Bundling or Combining in the insurance space means to bring together two or more insurance products with the same company to achieve multiple purposes of saving money, convenience, and oh – so much more.
What we did here at Icon Insurance Solutions is a full audit of our policies holders and we found some interesting data. Check this out:
After our audit we found that our average 2 car household premium with homeowners insurance combined, is $1860.
The average multiple policy discount across all of our carriers is 18%, so $1860 is the average rate after an after discount of 18%, meaning the difference without the discount is $410 annually.
Whoaaaa….
If you are a millennial or young mother or father reading this, that is serious cash that could be put towards a number other expenses.
If you’re a baby boomer reading this, those are valuable assets that could be invested to pad a retirement savings that is constantly being chipped away at by inflation and taxes.
As with most things having to do with insurance I tend to get a little more excited than the normal consumer, I mean…, it’s kind of my job.
I am excited about insurance so you don’t have to be! True story!
So let’s chat about some other great reasons why you would want to combine your insurance policies in addition to the discount you get on your rates.
The Combined Deductible
With some insurance carriers, there is something offered calling a combined deductible. This is where you have your auto and home insurance policy (or renters, condo, etc) combined with the same carrier, and in the event of a loss that affects both of your polices (or more) the company allows a shared, singular deductible.
Example: You have a garage fire and it has caused damage to both your home and your vehicle. In a normal circumstance you would pay one deductible for your home *ie. 1000.00* and another deductible for the loss on your auto *ie. 500.00*.
By having a company like Travelers Insurance (who we represent) they would allow you to pay just one deductible — normally the larger of the two.
This is simply not possible when you have your policies with different carriers, and could literally save you hundreds of dollars which is especially important in the event that it’s an at-fault claim.
It’s also saving you money simply by putting your auto and home in the same place — all while giving you the ease of only working with one company instead of two for your claim.
Trust me when I tell you this is a much bigger deal than it sounds. If you were an agent you would know first hand how complex claims situations can get when there are multiple companies involved, playing hot-potato with a claim. It happens all the time.
The Ultimate Time Saver
The blessing to having an independent insurance agent like myself, is that we are a one-stop-shop no matter what companies carry your insurance policies. An even further bonus is that we can work together to place all of your insurance with the same carrier to make the best use of your time as a consumer.
The last thing anyone wants to do is call around to a bunch of different companies, for multiple policies. This is a aggravating process for even the most patient insurance shoppers, and something that is completely removed from the equation when working with an agency like Integrity.
In the most recent example, one of the major carriers I represent came out with a new innovative mobile app to better serve our customers.
It allows you to input your policy numbers with their company and it will populate all of your policy information so you can pull auto ID cards for your vehicles, make payments, and even file a claim.
*Safeco for the win will also show me as your agent on the bottom of the mobile app to make sure you are best served all hours of the day*.
Do Away With The Unknown
I’m going to be slightly bold here and say the following, have you ever heard the quote “too many cooks in the kitchen, spoil the broth?”. Well I am going to take it one step further and spin it towards insurance:
Too many insurance agents in your household is the #1 way to set yourself up for a gap in coverage and a claim declination.”
Gaps in your insurance coverage is a real issue that happens to a lot of people. Not just because of an outright decline on a claim, but also because it could be causing you to spend more money than you need to when it comes to certain insurance policies.
For example- As an independent insurance agent I know that if I have your auto insurance with one company but don’t have your homeowners insurance policy with the same that I need to write a specific kind of Liability Umbrella Policy in order to accommodate that circumstance.
If I don’t and you have a claim that exceeds your liability limits you can be set up for a claim that wouldn’t be covered.
Only an insurance agent who is paying attention will catch this.
Also, if you have your auto insurance policy with my agency and your renters insurance policy with another agency there is a genuine concern for liability limits not matching, one agent knowing more about your household than the other, and quite frankly communication will be little to none between agencies.
This will allow for inconsistencies in simple items such as address updates, vehicle changes, and even ease of communication between agency and you.
Don’t Forget about the Fun Stuff
Combining your auto insurance and homeowners insurance is just the start of the excitement (what are you still not as excited as I am?).
By combing your watercraft, ATV insurance, trailer, motorhome, etc you are also allowing yourself to take advantage of the most fun of all the things – saving money.
When you bring all of your household insurance items under one roof, like our agency, it is giving you the best option for savings and convenience.
Why do Companies Love when you Combine your Policies?
Time for the truth (darn you knew it was coming).
Companies, and insurance agencies, love when you combine your insurance needs. In 2012 JD Power and Associates did a study on customer service satisfaction rankings skyrocketing due to policy bundling.
The study showed a clear message in that customers felt happier, safer, and more protected when they combined their policies with the same company and/or agency.
I don’t think I need to state the obvious in that insurance companies want their customers to stay around for a long time, so to hear they would be 78% more likely to renew vs their 28 % single line policy customers… well- I think it’s obvious why companies want to take care of their combined household customers.
Multi Policy Discounts Galore!
I have mentioned it a few times above and as mentioned in the introduction, you are equipped by the marketing world to know that bundling your insurance policies will save you money.
#truth
Some companies offer as much as 25% off the policy premium if you combine another line of insurance with your primary. Using your independent insurance agent to navigate with you to find that you are getting the best rate along with coverage is what we do.
So, What do you do Now?
Let me guess I’ve knocked your socks off with insurance knowledge?
No?
Well maybe instead of knocking your socks off – I can give you a guide on what to do next.
- Check out where you currently have your home and auto insurance. If they are with different companies and/or agencies then it would be best to look for an independent insurance agent to combine them for you.
- If you have an independent insurance agent you like to work with have them re-quote your policies utilizing multi policy discounts and coverage consistences. If you don’t have one currently, we would always be happy to help and you can contact us here to do so.
- Evaluate what is best for your family with moving forward. If it is best for you to combine your policies than your agent can help you with that process and help make it a seamless transition for you. If it is not best at this time, there is never anything to lose.
There are only a few variable expenses in your monthly budget, and done correctly insurance can help lower your monthly budget when you have an agent who can help you navigate through the discounts and missed opportunities.
If you found this article helpful or you would like us to review your current insurance needs, enter some basic details below and we can help get the process started in no time!
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