Full Coverage Doesn't Mean Good Coverage!

I have heard countless times from potential clients the following words: "I have full coverage." But when I ask them what that means, many are are unable to provide an answer.

They are under the false pretense that they are protected when the sh*t hits the fan. But after closer examination of their current policy, most times I discover that they aren't protected well at all. But it's not their fault. It's the fault of the agent who wrote the policy and did not explain the client's coverage correctly and cut coverage limits to decrease the premium to save themselves from losing the policy. (One of the reasons for not working with a captive agent by the way. I'll write an article about that in the future).

Many times, I see that prospective clients do indeed have "full coverage" but they are at state minimums, i.e. $15,000/$30,000 bodily injury in the state of NJ. Not only is this poor coverage, but this is detrimental to the client if he or she owns a home, owns other properties or assets and/or has a family. The low limits exposes their assets and wages and are up for grabs if they cause an an at-fault accident and those limits aren't enough to cover the damages to the other injured parties.

I (nor my team) never skimp on offering good bodily injury and property damage coverage to my clients. I usually offer the maximum a carrier has available, such as $250,000/$500,000/$100,000 and on occasion offer $100,000/$300,000/$100,000 if the client requests it and/or it helps out with managing the premium cost, BUT only after I explain why getting the higher limits are better. I don't offer anything less and turn away all business requesting state minimums and recommend that they go elsewhere. I don't want to feel bad or have it weighing on my conscious if something were to happen and their coverage doesn't suffice.

So please, don't cheap out on getting the best coverage that you can. Saving a little bit now isn't worth it if you need great coverage later. If you have any questions, my team and I are here to help.

Cheers!