Five Ways To Save On Your Insurance

Bundling

Having all of your insurance policies with one company is more convenient and it usually saves you money. Most insurance companies offer discounts for having multiple policies.

At Allstate, if you have home and auto with us, we offer up to a 25% discount on your home and up to 10% off your auto.

We also offer a discount on your auto insurance if you have a life insurance policy with Allstate.

Lastly, if you have specialty products, such as motorcycles, boats, a personal umbrella, etc, you get a discount on the policy if you have auto or home insurance, and a bigger discount if you have auto and  home insurance.

Payment Options

There are some discounts available for certain payment options.

There is a discount available if you choose to pay your auto premium with automatic withdrawal. Allstate calls it the Easy Pay discount. Not only do you get the discount for this payment option, you also save an additional $2.50 every month because the monthly installment fee is $1.00 instead of $3.50.

Allstate also offers a discount if you pay your auto premium in full every six months. Not only does this give you the discount, it also saves you the $3.50 monthly installment charge. The option is available to pay in full with Easy Pay, and if you choose to go this route, you can take advantage of both payment discounts.

Also, Allstate gives a good payer discount to all of our customers when they start an auto policy. This discount is yours to lose. It will stay on your policy every renewal, as long as you make your payments on time. If, at any time, you get a double bill because you miss a payment, the discount falls off for at least a year. You can earn it back if you make all future payments on time. Electing to take advantage of Easy Pay or Full Pay also helps you make sure you keep this discount.

Adjust Deductibles

When it comes to deductibles, the higher your deductible is, the less you pay for the coverage. This is true on any policy. If you can afford it, sometimes a higher deductible is just what you need to bring your policy premium down. This is especially true on property policies such as homeowners or landlords.

Allstate has a deductible rewards program on the Gold and Platinum plans on the auto policy to reward safe drivers and to help you take advantage of this. You get $100 off of your collision deductible as soon as you sign up for the policy, and then you get $100 off every year that you drive without any incidents. This program will take up to $500 off of your collision deductible, which means that after having this policy for four years of safe driving, you have a $0 deductible, but you are getting the premium credit for having a $500 deductible. Once your deductible hits $0, if you want to lower your premium even more, it is a good time to switch to a $750 or $1000 deductible, since you are getting the $500 in rewards. We are always available to go over your coverages and deductibles to make sure that your policy appropriately fits your needs.

Take Advantage of Discounts

Not only are there optional payment discounts, Allstate occasionally comes out with new or revised discounts. It is a good idea to check in and make sure that you are getting all of the discounts that you are eligible for. An annual policy review is a good way to go over the discounts that you have, and what is still available for you.

For instance, Allstate recently came out with a discount called Drivewise. This discount is meant to reward good drivers above and beyond the good driver discount that is already offered to drivers without claims. Drivewise is a performance discount that can give you up to 30% off of your premium if you drive safely.

Do Policy Reviews

We recommend that our customers do an annual policy review. This is just to make sure that your information and coverages are accurate and adequate. It is also a good way to determine if you are taking advantage of all the discounts that you are eligible for, and that you have the best payment options for you.

If you would like to take advantage of any of these savings ideas or schedule a policy review, please reply to this email or give us a call at 360-452-9200. 

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What Is Full Coverage Car Insurance?

A lot people use the term full coverage when describing the amount of car insurance they desire. I have found that full coverage can mean different things to different people. Let’s review what full coverage car insurance looks like.Quick caveat: Every situation is different and as an insured, you assume some financial risk with the use of deductibles and different policy limits, but with that said, here are the main coverage’s to consider for full coverage:

Car Insurance Claim

Liability

This is what the State of Washington requires you to have. If you cause an accident and people are hurt, you could be held legally responsible for medical costs for everyone involved. The state minimums are 25,000 per person/$50,000 per occurrence with $10,000 property damage.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist

Washington State requires that drivers have insurance, but not everyone obeys the law. If a driver with minimum or no insurance runs into you, you could be left paying the bill. Uninsured motorist fills in that gap.

Medical Payments/PIP

This coverage can help pay for some of your medical costs or funeral expenses if you or anyone in your vehicle is injured in an accident. This coverage also applies if you are a pedestrian struck by a car.

Collision

Collision coverage pays for damage to your car if you collide with another car or something else such as a tree or building. Typically, a deductible paid by the insured applies. The lower your deductible is, the more expensive your premium, and vice versa.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive coverage generally pays for damage to your car cause by something other than a collision, such as theft, storm damage or a rock chip to a windshield. Hitting an animal like a deer is also covered by Comprehensive.

Rental Car

Rental car coverage is triggered by a collision accident. We often are asked if rental car kicks in when someone’s car breaks down, but unfortunately it is not.

Towing

Towing is an important but often over-looked coverage. It is very inexpensive to add to your policy, and it covers not only towing, but refueling, jump-stars, tire changes and lockouts. So to summarize, it is important to review your car insurance policy at least annually to make sure you have all the coverage’s you thought you had. The last thing you want is to hit a deer and find out that it is not covered because you declined comprehensive.

To learn more about full coverage car insurance or to get a quote please call Matt Elwood at 360-452-9200 or visit his Allstate Agency Website at www.allstate.com/mattelwood

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security. 

Your Choice Auto – Affordable Car Insurance by Allstate

Your Choice Auto Car Insurance

Looking for a great car insurance policy that can be tailored to fit your needs in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere in Washington State? Give the Elwood Benefits Allstate Agency a call. We offer Allstate’s Your Choice Auto with great features such as Safe Driving Bonus, Accident Forgiveness and Deductible Rewards.

Safe Driving Bonus

How would you like to get a check back from Allstate for being a safe driver? With our Platinum Protection Package, this gives you the opportunity to earn up to a 5% credit that can be applied to your next renewal premium. This is in addition to any other discounts you may already qualify for.

Accident Forgiveness

Accidents happen, but with Accident Forgiveness by Allstate, your car insurance rates won’t go up just because of it. Some policies make you earn this feature over time, but with Your Choice Auto, this feature is available on day one. In our Gold program, this feature can be applied to one accident every three years. In our Platinum program, multiple accidents are forgiven.

Deductible Rewards

The longer you are with an insurance company, the better your rates should be. With Allstate’s Deductible Rewards, you receive an immediate $100 off your collision deductible. Each year you go without a collision accident, another $100 will be subtracted with a maximum $500 reward off your collision deductible. It pays to be with Allstate.

Allstate Value Plan

Are you on a budget, but still want quality car insurance at an affordable rate? The Allstate Value Plan is just that with strait forward coverage and the convenience of Allstate’s Easy Pay Plan. Bundle the Allstate Value Plan with your homeowners insurance and save even more.

Ready to get a quote or learn more? Contact us at 360-452-9200 or visit www.allstate.com/mattelwood for more information.

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security.

Drivewise By Allstate Insurance

Are you a safe driver? Would you like to save more money on your car insurance? Sign up for Allstate Drivewise and get 10% off your premium just for enrolling, save up to 30% at renewal and view your driving performance online.

Drivewise

How Does Drivewise Work?

1. Sign up. Get an immediate 10% off your premium just for enrolling. 2. Plug in. Allstate will send you a small device that easily plus into your car’s OBD-II port under your dashboard. 3. Drive Safely. 4. Save. Drivewise collects your car’s driving data. You can track your data and savings online.

Safety Pays

The Drivewise device collects data on four driving behaviors to determine your performance discount at renewal of up to 30%.

1. Low Mileage – Drivers who average around 35-40 miles per day or les are more likely to save. 2. Safe Speed – Performance is improved by avoiding high speeds. 3. Safe Hours – Avoid driving on weekdays between 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. and weekends 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. 4. Safe Stops – Save even more by maintaining a safe distance from the car in front of you and avoiding hard stops.

More Details

Existing customers can enroll at renewal. You have to have an active email address and be in Allstate’s AFCIC auto policy, which is our most current policy as of this writing. Not all cars are eligible. If your vehicle is a hybrid, electric, diesel, or if you use the On-Star monthly performance review, you would not be able to install this device. Your performance rating and discount, if any, will apply per vehicle, rather than by driver. Even if your driving performance doesn’t help you earn a discount, the data we collect will not increase your premium.

Want to learn more? Watch our Drivewise installation video.

If you have questions or would like to enroll, please contact us at 360-452-9200.

Want more information? Please visit Matt Elwood - Allstate Insurance to get more information on the Allstate products and services I can offer in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere Washington State. 

 

Free Long Term Care Insurance?

You may already have coverage and not know it or you may be able to get it for free. ©2013 by Paul Stevick

Long Term Care Insurance

As a Certified Financial Planner®, I regularly come across situations where people have protection against the costs of long term care and aren’t aware of it. Many do not realize they can get protection simply by asking for it.

We can either die too soon or live too long. There is a change in our protection needs as we age. When young, our family needs to be protected against the financial impact of loss of income or a caregiver. At this time in our lives, our children are small and our mortgage is big. As time passes, our children get bigger and, hopefully, so does our income. If all goes reasonably well, we reach a point where we have less to worry about as children go off to their own adult lives. Our mortgage slims down and may even disappear. What we may not notice, or want to admit, is that as this protection need recedes, another threat advances and grows.

As we age, our ability to care for ourselves may diminish to the point that we need assistance. Since we don’t die from good health, we all face the prospect of becoming debilitated or incapacitated by whatever is pushing us to the end of our life. Some of us will become victims of diminished mental capacity, and may live with this condition for years. The cost of care can be devastating. What many do not know is that help can often be found in their life insurance policy, and it is usually free.

To understand the long term care protection embedded in many life insurance policies, we need to review a little history. In the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic was a new and little understood cause of death. Many people were destitute as they awaited their end. Some did have life insurance, but that would only pay out after they died. Enterprising individuals offered to purchase these life insurance policies from the terminally ill patients at a price far below the death benefit that would be paid out. This, the purchasers claimed, provided the terminally ill patient with much needed cash. In return, the investor became the owner and beneficiary of the death benefit to be paid out in the near future. The business of “viatical settlements,” long a tiny niche, grew and flourished.

Life insurers became concerned about individuals purchasing policies purely for speculative purposes. Today, many states regulate viatical and life settlements and many more are developing legislation and regulations. The insurance companies also took action by developing the “Accelerated Death Benefit Rider.”

This rider was attached to most new life insurance policies at issue and many companies allow it to be attached to existing policies no matter when they were issued. The owner of the policy may withdraw a portion of the death benefit if the insured is terminally ill. The benefit may vary among insurers and states. Since insurance companies are regulated by the state in which they do business, there is some difference in how and when this benefit may be accessed. In Washington State, there is a very generous definition of “terminally ill.” In fact, this definition, which is written into law (WAC284-23-620 Definitions), turns many life insurance policies into a form of protection against the costs of care near the end of life. Best of all, this rider is usually put on existing or newly issued policies at no cost! Why would an insurance company do this? They simply don’t want their life insurance policies, which were designed to protect the purchasers, from being used as a speculative tool.

Washington State defines terminally ill as having the “reasonable expectation” of less than 24 months to live. The law goes on to name several specific medical conditions that would trigger this benefit, no matter how long the life expectancy. It even requires the benefit to be available when the insured has “any condition which requires either community-based or institutional care.” It also allows the benefit to be available when “any condition which usually requires continuous care in any eligible institution …if the insured is expected to remain there for the rest of his or her life.” This seems to include coverage, for example, for an institutionalized dementia patient. There are many other specific designations in this law, all of which provide access to a life insurance death benefit for the insured. The money accessed from the policy does not have to be used specifically for long term care costs. It can be used for anything.

The big advantage of long term care protection inside a life insurance policy is that a benefit is guaranteed to be drawn from a life policy. Long term care insurance is a form of term insurance. If you own a policy and pay premium for years, or even decades, and you die without drawing any benefits, you paid for something that has no value after your death. With a life insurance policy, you can draw the money out if you need it for end of life care. If you die without drawing anything out, the full death benefit is paid to your beneficiaries. Someone always benefits from the life policy strategy.

Do you have an old life insurance policy? Would you like to find out if it contains this potential protection against end of life costs? Would you like to compare the cost of long term care insurance against the coverage by a life insurance policy? Have you been declined for long term care insurance? In many case, you may still qualify for life insurance. Give us a call for a no cost or obligation opinion on what your options are. For a free copy of the law and it’s definitions, just give us a call.

Questions or comments? paulstevick@allstate.com

Knowledge is power

Sign up for Matt's monthly insurance newsletter and he will share with you how to better protect your family, save more money and achieve financial security.

Financial Procrastination

Financial Procrastination

It is human nature to procrastinate. I even procrastinated writing this month’s newsletter! It is so much easier to put off for tomorrow that which needs to be done today. After all, does it really make a difference if I clean my room now or tomorrow? Probably not, but when it comes to financial procrastination putting things off until tomorrow can have a dramatic impact. The problem is that tomorrow never comes. Days turn in to weeks, weeks into months and months into years. Financial speaking, you may miss out on years of compounding interest, pay higher insurance premiums or miss out on years of savings as a result of procrastinating. Whatever your situation may be, here is a list of common items I see clients delaying action on:

Bundling Your Insurance

By bundling your auto, home and life insurance with Allstate, you save more on each policy. Depending on your situation, you could be save 30-40% with multiple policy discounts.

Rolling Over An Old 401K

Have you changed employers in the past 5 years or longer? If so, you may have a 401K sitting at an old employer that is not actively being managed for your benefit. You have the option to roll that 401K into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), often with lower fees and more investment options.

Buying Life Insurance

A lot of people consider life insurance a luxury. I consider it a necessity, especially if you have people that depend on you financially. Allstate just came out with a new term life insurance policy that requires no exam, ages 18-45. With the convenience of doing the application over the phone and signing via email, now is a great time to get that policy your family needs.

Exploring LTC Insurance

There are over 10,000 people turning age 65 everyday is this country. The cost of health care is constantly increasing. If you have ever had an experience with a loved one that needed Long Term Care, you know that it can cost on average $6,000/mo. For a fraction of that cost you can get an LTC policy that will provide care if needed and protect your retirement nest egg at the same time.

There Is No Time Like The Present

These are just a few of the many financial topics that people tend to put off. Did any of them resonate with you? Did you think of something not mentioned here? If there is something on your financial to-do list that you would like me to help you check off, please reply to this email or give me a call at the agency 360-452-9200.

Want more information? Please visit Matt Elwood - Allstate Insurance to get more information on the Allstate products and services I can offer in Port Angeles, Sequim or anywhere Washington State.