Why You Should Love Insurance

You should LOVE insurance.

Now that’s a bold statement, right?!

I mean, most people either hate insurance because they’ve had a bad experience OR they’ve simply accepted that it’s a necessary evil in life and the less they have to interact with it, the better.

Well, if you’ll hear me out, I’d like to share why you should love insurance.

Let’s break this down…

Financial Security

Few people have enough savings to rebuild their home if it burns down in a fire. Unfortunate life events can financially devastate individuals and families. This potential is scary and can weigh heavily. But when you have insurance, you can rest assured that if something goes wrong, you are protected and will be made financially whole.  

Health, Safety and Protection

One major benefit of insurance is risk reduction! As an example, covering preventative care encourages individuals to check-in with a medical professional on a regular basis. Through these examinations, we can learn about ways to adjust our diet, medication or lifestyle to remain healthy and thriving.

Freedom from Worry

Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 adults will experience an anxiety disorder in their life?! Worry and fear can lead to crippling anxiety which deeply affects quality of life. Many individuals pass up opportunities due to fear of what might happen. Insurance provides peace of mind so that we can pursue our dreams without worry.

But let’s be real…

We live in a broken world where all things are not as they should be. Insurance is no exception.

Here are just a few reasons why insurance has gotten a bad reputation:

1. It’s unfair.
2. It’s complicated.
3. It’s expensive.

If you’ve grown to hate insurance, I get it. I deal with these challenges on a daily basis. But guess what? There’s hope!

A LOT is happening to make insurance better. Technology is revolutionizing how things are done and I’m excited to share about some changes on the horizon:

Fairness

Did you know that your credit score impacts how much you pay for auto insurance?

Since your credit score has nothing to do with how you drive, this practice has long been viewed as unfair and discriminatory. But that’s about to change! I’m proud and excited to be working for a company committed to leading this charge.

Root Insurance announced it will remove credit score from its pricing by 2025. How someone drives is far more predictive and fair to use than demographic variables, such as credit score. We are leading the way and hoping to influence other companies to do the same.

Simplicity

If you’ve ever filed a claim, it may have felt like you had to jump through a million hoops to get your money. Often this process can be slow, complicated and confusing. But that’s all changing!

Thanks to technology, you can now submit a claim via an app or the internet, rather than calling a Customer Service representative. By providing the details of an accident on your phone, you avoid time consuming conversations and paperwork. Using powerful machine learning algorithms, the cost to repair your vehicle can be assessed quickly with a picture of the damage.

All of these changes are making claim handling more accurate and efficient. In fact, Lemonade set a world record in 2017 by paying a Renters claim in just 3 seconds! It really doesn’t get easier and more convenient than that.

Lower Prices

The premium we pay for insurance is determined by two main elements – expected future claims and expenses incurred by the insurance company. Technology has the potential to reduce both of these.

Claim Costs

The more often bad things happen, the more we all pay for insurance. Technology can provide real time coaching to reduce the likelihood of accidents or misfortunes.

For auto insurance, an app on your phone can detect how you drive and then provide insights on how to reduce your risk of an accident. It may recommend giving more space between cars in front of you or taking a less congested route to arrive at your destination.

For homeowners, smart devices can monitor home data such as electrical currents. When irregular levels are detected which can lead to house fires, the owner can be notified to investigate before anything bad happens.

Expenses

Did you know that drones are being used to review hail damage after a storm?

This means that an adjuster no longer needs to show up in person and climb on a roof to assess hail damage. As technology continues to streamline the claim handling process, expenses incurred by insurance companies to settle claims will decline, which ultimately means greater savings for you and me.

Further, as the predictive accuracy of telematics increases, it may not be necessary to order some reports to rate a policy. For example, Motor Vehicle Reports (MVR’s) are traditionally ordered to provide insight into a driver’s history with accidents and violations. If these can be eliminated, then this translates to even lower premiums for everyone.

So in summary…

At its core, insurance exists “to help life go right” as State Farm would say. It was created to provide peace of mind, protection and financial security. While it isn’t perfect yet, I’m optimistic that technology can revolutionize the industry to the point where you might just start to love insurance.

Want to know more?

If you need help understanding how insurance works, stay tuned for future “Insurance Made Easy” posts. I’ll dive into what types of insurance exist, things to be mindful of when purchasing insurance, how it works and much more!

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I want to hear from you!

Do you have questions about insurance? Send them my way and I’ll do my best to provide helpful resources for you. Feel free to leave your questions in the comment box below or email me at [email protected].