Frequently Asked Questions

In order for us to provide you with any kind of insurance quote, we will require some general information from you. This will include you name, age, gender, address, etc. Some carriers will also need to know your occupation or highest level of education. Then of course we want to know what kind of coverage you need.

For a home policy, we would need more information about your home including the square footage, number of bathrooms, basement condition, and more. Insurance companies also want more information to determine your liability risk and may ask, for example, if you have a trampoline, pool, or dogs, including the breed.

If you’re shopping for a quote, it is helpful to have the declarations page for your current home policy as that has much of the information we require.

There are a number of ways you can lower the cost of your homeowners insurance, but you want to make sure your policy is practical, effective, and providing you the right amount of coverage. The best way to lower your premiums would be to get in touch with your agent as they can thoroughly review your policy to see if you’re maximizing your savings.

They may see if you could afford to increase your deductible or check other insurance carriers to see if your same policy might be cheaper elsewhere.

Many insurance companies also offer a number of discounts. You may qualify for discounts if you are set up for paperless billing, have a home security system, or pay for your policy in full.

Every homeowners policy has two parts: property and liability.

Your property coverage insures you against damage to your home as well as other structures on the property like a detached garage or large shed. It also provides a large percentage of your total coverage for contents you own like furniture, jewelry, or computers even while traveling.

A typical policy cover the cost to repair or replace your property. Most policies typically cover perils like fire, wind, hail, lightning, and theft. Your policy might also include common endorsements that would add coverage for perils like water damage, plumbing issues, fences, or mold. Most policies don’t cover losses due to floods, earthquakes, nuclear accidents, wars, intentional damage, and wear and tear.

The liability portion of your policy would cover medical expenses and legal fees if people that aren’t living in your home are injured on your property. This might include things like a child accidentally hitting someone in the eye with a baseball or your postman slipping and falling on the ice that built up on your front steps. Higher risk items like pools, trampolines, or dogs with powerful jaws may require additional liability coverage.

That being said, it’s important to check your policy for specific property or perils that are excluded. Your agent can always review your coverages with you in more detail.

Most homeowners policies don’t cover damage caused by “earth movement,” a term that includes earthquakes, volcanic activity, and landslides. Your insurance carrier may offer earth movement coverage as an endorsement to your homeowners policy with an additional charge, but many don’t. If that’s the case, we can quote a separate insurance policy for you. Premiums largely depend on the replacement cost of the home, how it was constructed, and what area it is in.

Many of our customers have earthquake policies due to more recent earthquake activity in Northern Utah and about 14% of Utahans currently have earthquake coverage. But not everyone feels it’s a must.

Some homes are more at risk than others due to how they are made or what area they are in. For example, homes made of solid brick are at risk for completely crumbling compared to homes framed with wood or steel. Homes more than 50 years will be much harder to insure against earthquakes.

All homeowners policies have coverage for your personal property, but only up to a limit. You can purchase additional coverage through an endorsement to your existing policy or with a separate policy. Speak to your agent who can “schedule” individual items like antiques, guns, collections, or jewelry on your policy so their value is properly covered.

Yes. Filing a claim will most likely increase your yearly premiums regardless of how much your insurance company paid toward the claim. Rate increases would likely happen at the next renewal after filing the claim. Having a history of multiple home claims can also lead to your insurance company choosing not to renew your policy with them and also make it difficult to find another carrier for coverage. This is why we advise our customers to carefully weigh the cost of paying out of pocket for more affordable repairs as opposed to filing a claim.

It may seem unfair to be “punished” for using your insurance, but some claims can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars- more than you will ever pay your insurance company back in premium payments. Raising your individual rates makes it so they can continue to afford to pay claims without having to increase rates for every one of their customers.

In order for us to provide you with any kind of insurance quote, we will require some general information from you. This will include you name, age, gender, address, etc. Some carriers will also need to know your occupation or highest level of education. Then of course we want to know what kind of coverage you need.

For an auto policy, we will need the VIN or make, model, and year for each vehicle. We’ll also need your drivers license number as insurance companies run a motor vehicle report because individuals with a history of traffic violations, accidents, or claims are usually a bigger risk for them to insure.

If you’re shopping for a quote, it is helpful to have the declarations page for your current auto policy as that has much of the information we require.

There are a number of ways you can lower the cost of your auto insurance, but you want to make sure your policy is practical, effective, and providing you the right amount of coverage. The best way to lower your premiums would be to get in touch with your agent as they can thoroughly review your policy to see if you’re maximizing your savings.

They may see if you could afford to increase your deductible or if your old, cheap car might not need comprehensive and collision coverage. You may also find savings if you’ve started working from home and no longer drive to work every day. Plus, your agent can check other insurance carriers to see if your same policy might be cheaper elsewhere.

Many insurance companies also offer a number of discounts. You may qualify for discounts if you are set up for paperless billing, use safe driver tracking in your car, or pay for your policy in full.

Though we insurance agents don’t use the term “full coverage,” we know our customers usually mean liability, comprehensive, collision coverage and personal injury protection. This covers any damage you might cause to others while you’re driving, damage your own vehicle might sustain (whether your fault or not), and medical coverage for injuries a covered driver sustains from a driving incident (whether your fault or not).

One reason we don’t say “full coverage” ourselves is because we know there are many other coverages you can add to your policy outside of those standard coverages. Some common ones include towing, full glass, business use, or rental coverage in cases where a covered claim puts your car out of commission.

We always recommend that if you are involved in any kind of accident, you should call the police so they can make an official report. Take photos and get witness statements if you can. We always hope people will be honest and the claim process will be smooth, but records like that are helpful if that is not the case. Feel free to call us at any time.

If you were not at fault in the accident, you will make a third-party claim to the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Their contact information should be on the other party’s ID card. Because you are the claimant, the insurance company typically will issue the check directly to you. It is your responsibility to pay the repair shop and the lender if you have a car loan. As your agents, we are happy to help you navigate that process.

If the other driver doesn’t have insurance, your uninsured motorist coverage will take effect. You can call the claim in directly to the insurance company, file the claim online, or call us to file the claim for you. Use our carrier directory in the resources tab above.

If your car was stolen, be prepared to wait. Most insurance companies will impose a waiting period to see if the police recover your car. If your car is still missing after the waiting period, usually 21 days, you should receive a settlement soon after. If your car is recovered during the waiting period, the insurance company will want to see a repair estimate before deciding how to proceed.

You can file the claim as soon as the car goes missing and an adjuster can review your options with you.

After an accident or theft recovery, if the insurance company decides you car is “totaled” it means the estimate of repairs exceeds the car’s value. At this point, the insurance company will likely send you a check for your car’s value. They will keep your car unless you make arrangements to buy it back “as-is.”

If you are a business owner and you or your employees use a vehicle for business use you may need a commercial auto insurance policy that’s tailored to more closely suit the needs and risks of a business vehicle operator. If you cause an accident with your vehicle while conducting business, your insurance may deny your claim and you would be personally liable.

You will want a commercial auto policy if:
- You need more liability coverage than your personal auto policy provides.
- You need special coverage for situations associated with conducting business such as hired and non-owned auto coverage or towing a trailer for business use.
- You need to list employees as drivers.
- Your vehicle is used for business purposes including delivering, catering, door-to-door sales, landscaping, snowplowing, day care, farm-to-market, and more.

There’s a myth many salesmen still tell that you have 30 days to add a new vehicle to your policy. That’s not true!

Each carrier and situation is different. Many policies have a small window of 2-4 days to have insurance placed on a new purchase. If you wait longer to add the vehicle and in the meantime you get in an accident, you won’t have coverage.

If you have a loan on the vehicle, many banks require the vehicle is insured the day of purchase. If not, they may add forced placed insurance to your loan for that initial time period which costs much more than just adding it to your policy.

Pro tip: Add your new vehicle the day you buy it or as soon as you can. Don’t take the risk!

If you have comprehensive coverage for your vehicle, yes! Some insurance companies offer full glass coverage where all costs, including rock chip repair, are covered. Others may have a low deductible specific to glass claims. Check your policy to see if you have full glass coverage or a specific glass claim deductible.

On all other policies, a glass claim would be considered a comprehensive claim and your deductible would be required. If you aren’t sure how much the repair will cost, call around for an estimate and weigh that cost against your deductible to see if it would be worth a claim to your insurance. Most comprehensive/glass claims won’t increase your premium rates.

We can also recommend local auto glass repair companies that waive the first $100 of your deductible so you can save some money. They would also file the claim directly with your insurance. Check out our trusted referral directory for more information.

We always recommend towing coverage for auto policies, an added coverage that costs very little but can save you a lot of stress. If your car breaks down, even due to normal wear and tear, you can use your tow coverage to have the vehicle towed to your home or a repair shop.

The specific coverage amounts can vary per policy or company, but most insurance policies will cover $100 worth of towing, which is usually sufficient to get your car to the closest repair shop.

Your insurance ID card should have information on filing tow claims and a number to call to get one started. Most insurance companies allow you to use the tow company of your choice and you can see if the tow company can bill to your insurance or you can submit the receipt to your insurance for reimbursement.

If you are a current customer, yes! If you have the VIN or know the make, model, and year of car you plan to buy, we can run the numbers of adding that car to your policy with the coverages you would like. We cannot guarantee a rate until we have the exact VIN number and know what date it will be added to the policy, but the more information you can provide, the more accurate your estimate will be.

Just give us a call and any of our agents would be happy to go through that with you, even if you never end up buying the car. We understand that you want to see the full picture before making a big financial commitment like that.

For those that aren’t customers, see the top auto policy question about applying for an auto policy.

Yes, but we don’t recommend it if it can be avoided. If your vehicle is insured, anyone you trust to borrow your car (temporarily and not for any financial gain) will be covered under your insurance as “permissive use.” Car insurance follows the car, not the driver, so if you let someone borrow your vehicle, you are on the hook for anything they do.

Regardless of how much you trust this friend or family member, if you let them borrow your car and they are at fault in an accident, your insurance will pay the price and you’ll deal with the consequences of having a claims history with your insurance. Most insurances also weigh “permissive use” claims more heavily than claims with named drivers on the policy and your rates could significantly increase or you may be non-renewed if you have multiple.

Renting out your car: Your personal auto policy will not cover you at all. Do not rent out your personal vehicle with a third party car rental company like Turo, without first speaking to your insurance agent.

The short answer is YES! We can never put a price on a loved one’s life, but no one wants to worry about financial security after a death. If you or your spouse have others that depend on your financially, you should definitely look into getting a policy.

The younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your policy will be so we always recommend starting young! You’ll thank yourself later.

Umbrella policies provide protection over and above your existing limits and coverages on your home and auto policies. When would it be used? A few examples:

• You cause a car accident while driving carpool. 3 of the neighbor kids in your car are critically injured. Your auto policy likely won’t be enough to pay for their medical bills and if their parents sued you because their child is permanently disabled.

• Your teenager makes disparaging and false remarks about a teacher online. The teacher sues you for $1,000,000 in personal injury. Your home policy likely won’t cover this so your umbrella policy would cover the difference.

• You babysit for a friend and their infant somehow falls to the floor, hitting their head. If the infant has severe brain damage, the parents may have to sue you to cover the cost of her healthcare.

• As a church volunteer, you plan a paintball activity and one of the players gets hit in the eye. Even though you planned the activity on behalf of your church, the injured party could sue you, individually, for damages and your home policy may not cover that cost.

We don’t often see claims against umbrella policies, but when we do, the cost would’ve been financially devastating otherwise. Most umbrella policies provide 1 to 2 million dollars of additional coverage.

Due to the high cost of healthcare, homes, and much more, families often have to take legal action to cover costs, even if it it means suing a neighbor or friend. Thankfully your insurance can make that process less personally painful and your umbrella policy keeps you protected from financial ruin.

Many people believe that their homeowners policy provides coverage for their boat. That is true, but that coverage is usually limited to $1,500 (the price of a good canoe). Your policy may also have limits on the size and horsepower of boat coverage on the home policy. We always recommend purchasing a standalone boat insurance policy for your boat or watercraft.

Boat policies can include coverage for:

• Liability coverage for your boat hitting another boat, dock, swimmer, or skier

• Uninsured/underinsured boater coverage for injury to you or passengers cause by another boater who didn’t have proper coverage

• Medical expenses for injuries to you or passengers as a result of a boating accident

• Property damage coverage for your boat due to an accident, theft, fire, or more

Plus, its the law! The state requires boats with over 50 horsepower operating in Utah waters to carry state minimum insurance of $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury, $15,000 property damage, or $65,000 combined minimum per accident.