November 26, 2025 • 14 mins
Is It A Bad Idea to Cancel/Reduce Coverage During the Holidays to Save Money?
Holiday stress hits hard, and the urge to cut insurance for quick savings can feel tempting. We’ve seen how that story ends, and it’s not with a bigger gift budget. Tim Walters, a licensed agent who’s guided clients since 2012, explains why canceling or reducing coverage during peak travel season is a costly gamble: more cars on the road, more distractions, and higher odds of a claim you’ll have to pay out of pocket. One incident can wipe out months of “savings,” and the damage doesn’t stop there—coverage gaps often trigger higher future rates and extra fees as carriers flag the risk of lapses.
We unpack what insurers actually look for, from continuity of coverage to lapse history, and how those signals shape your insurance score and renewal pricing. You’ll hear practical, real-world examples of accidents during holiday months and why short-term thinking compounds into long-term expense. Then we pivot to smarter tools that protect your wallet without sacrificing protection: telematics programs for individualized discounts, bundling opportunities, overlooked credits like good student discounts, and the unexpected long-term benefit of carrying higher liability limits. If you’re considering deductible changes, we offer a clear framework for deciding whether the out-of-pocket risk truly matches the monthly savings.
By the end, you’ll have a clean checklist to lower costs responsibly: keep continuous coverage, review discounts with your agent, assess telematics honestly, right-size liability limits, and choose deductibles you can actually fund. It’s a steady, strategic plan that improves your risk profile and your rates over time. If you want help tailoring these steps to your situation, call or text 423-417-2070 for a free 20 minute consultation. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s eyeing a holiday policy pause, and leave a review to help more listeners stay covered and stay protected.
To learn more about The Walters Agency visit:
https://www.brightway.com/agencies/tn/knoxville/0237/team
The Walters Agency
7009 Asheville Hwy
Knoxville, TN 37924
423-417-2070
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome to the Walters Agency Podcast, where
insurance meets peace of mind.
Hosted by licensed insuranceagent and owner Timothy Walters,
we're here to help families,homeowners, and small business
owners throughout East Tennesseeprotect what matters most.
Our mission?
Creating win-win-win solutionsfor insurance.
(00:24):
Let's dive in.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
Holiday budgets are always tight, but cutting
coverage could cost you morethan you think.
Here's what to consider.
Welcome back, everybody.
Skip Mani, co-host slashproducer, back in the studio
with Timothy Walters, licensedinsurance agent and owner of the
Walters Agency.
Timothy, how's it going?
SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
Doing well, Skip.
How are you doing?
SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
Doing just fine.
Doing just fine.
Getting awfully close to the tothe holidays, which is shocking
to me.
I can't believe it's it's it'suh almost the end of the year.
But with that, you know,something that comes up every
year about this time, I think.
Is it a bad idea to cancel orreduce coverage during the
holidays to try to save money?
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Yes.
We don't have to go any further.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
It is a bad idea.
Very, very bad.
Yes, it's a bad idea.
All right.
Well, thanks, Tim.
We appreciate your time today.
SPEAKER_02 (01:21):
Shortest video, right?
Um, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Does that have have you experienced that before?
Have you experienced thatbefore?
SPEAKER_02 (01:29):
Oh, God, yeah.
Yeah, no, that was that was oneof the first things I learned uh
when I got in this business, um,whenever that was, 2012.
Uh, I think I mentioned thisbefore.
You know, I came in with StateFarm, and our first uh holiday
season came really quicklybecause the office I worked at
(01:49):
started in October.
So we basically had October andNovember, uh, and it started in
the middle of November, and itwas so crazy because people were
calling, uh, and they're saying,hey, I want to cancel my
insurance.
And you know, we just say, Well,uh, okay, great.
You know, did you sell thevehicle?
Did you go to another company?
Say, no, no, I just want tosell, I want to, I want to
(02:10):
cancel it and I want to restartit in January.
What?
And it really was literallybecause people were like, well,
they didn't want to pay theirinsurance because they were, you
know, buying Christmas presentsor or or whatever, mainly for
that.
And uh I get it.
I mean, people, unfortunately,you know, they will go into
financial stress to meet thoseuh supposed obligations um
(02:34):
instead of the reason for theseason, uh, as they used to say.
But uh, you know, it really kindof surprised me that so many
people would do that.
Uh and I learned uh reallyquickly why it was a bad idea,
because we uh over the course ofmy career I've had several
people do that.
And we can't stop folks from,you know, canceling their
(02:55):
policies, it's it's theirpolicy.
Um so we can advise against it,which I always do.
Um, but uh, you know, peoplewould have accidents.
Like if their automobileinsurance uh was canceled and
they would have accidentsbecause this time of year,
there's more accidents becausepeople are more people are
traveling, more people on theroads, people are stressed,
people are reckless, people areangry, and you know, accidents
(03:18):
happen.
And if you have an accident andyou've canceled your insurance,
you don't have coverage.
So if you send somebody to thehospital, you're on the hook for
those medical bills.
God forbid you kill somebody,you're gonna be on the hook for
medical bills, funeral costs,lost wages, bereavement, a lot
of stuff.
If you damage somebody'sproperty, yeah, you're on the
(03:38):
hook for that.
And it conversely, if you're ifyour property is damaged uh and
you've canceled that policy,that's all out of your pocket.
So you are self-insuring whenyou cancel your policy.
And I've seen that reallynegatively affect people.
Uh, and to do that to save maybea few hundred bucks over the
course of a couple of months,I'm just gonna say it's not
(04:01):
smart, it's not responsible, andbuying cheap plastic stuff from
China to my mind is notjustified.
Yeah, I'm I'm very I'm very kindof hard line on it these days
because I've seen the negativeconsequences.
So yeah, when I say no,emphatically, that means exactly
what it says.
Do not do it.
Uh just don't.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
There you go.
There you go.
I'm with you, brother.
Well, are there hidden risks orpenalties that come with
canceling a policy temporarily?
SPEAKER_02 (04:28):
Yeah.
Uh it can definitely affect yourinsurance score.
Uh insurance companies look atuh, you know, uh gaps of
insurance.
Uh I know in in Tennessee, uh,most companies, if you have had
a gap of insurance of 30 days ormore, there's going to be a
penalty for that when you get anew policy, either with the same
company if they'll take youback, or uh with uh with a new
(04:51):
company, because they're saying,well, this person has an
insurance lapse.
Uh if they have multipleinsurance lapses over a period
of time, you know, companieslook at that because, you know,
frankly, that's not a great riskfor them to wrap coverage for
somebody who's going to be soflaky about it.
You know, they they make moneywith long-term clients.
(05:11):
Okay.
Most insurance companies, peopledon't know this, they usually
don't make money on anindividual policy for one or two
terms, uh, which could beanywhere from one to two years,
depending on the type of policy.
Um, so when they see thatsomebody is constantly canceling
their insurance and coming back,and that's not a great risk for
(05:32):
them.
So what they do is to try tokeep people from doing that or
to avoid taking on that kind ofrisk, they'll put in, you know,
additional fees, uh like forpeople who are doing that.
If you've had a lapse, you know,your rate may be higher, all of
which is completely legal.
People get mad about it, but youknow, it's just a way for the
(05:52):
market to uh adjust to that kindof behavior.
Um, so yeah, there's absolutelyyou know, long-term negative
consequences outside of you knowpotential accidents or whatever.
Um, it's it's gonna make you paymore for your insurance over
time.
And I think that's the the bigthing is people need to be more
long-term uh focused rather thanshort term.
(06:15):
I'm saving saving, quote quote,air quotes.
Saving, you know, however muchyour insurance premium is for a
few months, you know, versus, ohwell, your overall rates are
gonna be, you know, maybe 10%higher, you know, for the next
couple of years.
Um I mean, there's there's a lotthat goes into it.
I think it's unfortunate thatyou know our education system
(06:38):
does not educate people aboutthis in high school.
They shouldn't be, but they'renot.
They have to learn uh either bygoing into the business or like
I did.
Uh, or unfortunately, they theythey end up learning because
they're wondering why theirrates are so high.
And then when I look at people'slapse histories, I'm like, well,
you've canceled your insurancethree times in the past three
years, you know, why?
(07:00):
Well, I just didn't want to payfor it.
Well, okay, well, that's that'shaving a negative effect on your
current rate.
Don't do it.
The good thing, okay, I'll be alittle bit positive here.
The good thing is, okay, it'slike everything else.
Like you've you've you've hadthat that behavior in the past,
but if you if you don't do that,if you stop doing that and go
(07:20):
forward, you pay your insurance,you keep it going, then
companies also see that.
They'll say, Oh, well, thisperson, they had a lot of lapses
over the last few years, but thelast two years, they've had
continuous insurance.
They pay attention to that too.
That does affect that doespositively affect your rates
over time if you improve thatbehavior.
(07:41):
Just like if you had a lot ofaccidents and you stop having
accidents or speeding tickets orwhatever, eventually, you know,
if you improve that behavior, itwill reflect positively on your
insurance rates.
SPEAKER_01 (07:53):
So are there any other alternatives to save money
that you recommend for clientsthat are trying to cut cost
without sacrificing coverage?
Is there something you can dowith insurance?
SPEAKER_02 (08:04):
Yeah, I mean, you can always talk, like I said,
what I always say, talk to youragent.
Um, you know, they're gonnathey're gonna be able to look at
your policy, they're gonna beable to advise you about any
potential discounts that mightbe available.
I do know one thing that mostauto insurance companies uh have
really rolled out hard in thelast uh 10 years is the
telemetric programs, uh, whichis uh their telemetric programs,
(08:28):
they all call them somethingdifferent.
So uh basically it's like an appthat you can download onto your
phone or maybe a physical devicethat you install in your vehicle
and it transmits data about youknow how often you're driving,
like how many miles you'redriving, speed.
They can get pretty granular,actually.
They they can uh if people don'tlike that, they think, you know,
well, I don't like beingtracked.
(08:50):
I get that, but you're lookingto ways ways to save money, and
insurance companies are tryingto give you a more
individualized rate.
So if you're a good driver, andI always tell people, be honest
with yourself.
You don't even have to be honestwith me about it, but be honest
with yourself.
Being honest with myself andeverybody watching this, I drive
fast.
I I am a fast driver.
(09:11):
I am I think I'm a good driver.
I used to drive a deliverytruck.
Um, but I do like to get whereI'm going.
So I would not be a greatcandidate for those telemetric
programs.
But uh, you know, there's a lotof factors that go into it, but
they can save money.
That's one.
Uh the other thing uh peopledon't think about, I believe.
(09:33):
Again, this is long term.
This isn't necessarily, hey, Iwant to save some money for this
Christmas, but if you look at itlong term, a lot of companies
will give you better rates overtime if you have higher
liability limits.
So a lot of people carry minimumliability limits.
Again, that goes back to uh thecompanies thinking, well, I
mean, what kind of client isthis going to be long term?
(09:55):
So people statistically whocarry higher liability limits on
their auto insurance tend tohave fewer accidents, they tend
to stay with companies longer,they tend to pay on time uh more
often.
So they're considered to bebetter risk.
Companies give better rates forthat because it's it's a more
attractive client.
Uh so you know, if you've beenrunning with minimum insurance
(10:15):
for your whole life, talk toyour agents.
See what would it cost to saybump it up to the next level of
protection.
And I think if you do that, ifyou you know, you're gonna pay a
little bit more over time, likeimmediately, right?
But over time, over the courseof several years, you're
probably gonna see better ratesuh for future renewals.
So that's something peopleconsider.
(10:37):
It's not a short-term uh, youknow, cost saver.
Um, but yeah, talk to youragent.
You know, different companieshave different discounts.
Uh maybe talk to them uh aboutyour household.
Like maybe if you have kids andyour kids are listed as drivers
and they're good students, askthem, hey, has the good student
discount been uh applied to mypolicy?
(10:59):
Okay, no.
Well, typically all they'regonna need is your kids' uh you
know, most recent set of gradesshowing that they they're
hitting like a basically a Baverage in high school, is what
most of them have.
So yeah, talk to your agent.
Uh, you know, just ask them,hey, you know, are there any
discounts that I'm missing outon?
You know, can you advise me onthat?
SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
And they'll they'll do it.
Good student.
Didn't know that.
Good student discount.
Wow, my kids are all out ofschool.
Dang yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:25):
Well, you you missed the boat, buddy.
Did they make good grades?
SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
They well, some did, some didn't.
SPEAKER_02 (11:31):
I'm not gonna call anybody out, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Right, right.
Well, what about adjustingdeductibles?
Could that save you money aswell?
SPEAKER_02 (11:40):
Yeah, I mean, it can.
Of course, you know, going witha higher deductible is going to
reduce your uh premium.
People are surprised though.
Uh you kind of have these days,especially, you have to go
really high uh to save what Iwould consider to be a
significant amount of money onyour premium.
(12:00):
Um, and honestly, I don'tnecessarily think the additional
risk that you're taking on withthat higher deductible is worth
it.
Um, so I'll like I'll give youone example.
One of my my one of my autoinsurance companies will allow
us to go up to$2,000 for uhdeductible on comprehensive
incollision.
And pushing it up that high,$2,000, which is a lot of money
(12:25):
out of pocket, that is literallylike the only way I can really
save people a whole lot of moneyon their monthly premiums when
it comes to adjusting theirdeductibles.
There's not a big differencebetween, say,$500 and$750 or
$1,000 pushing it up.
Uh it's like I said, there'stypically not that much of
(12:47):
savings in it.
Uh, and then when you push it upto$2,000, then typically there's
a little bit more.
But again, you're taking on thatrisk.
You're talking, you're goingfrom like$500 out of pocket to
$2,000 out of pocket.
I mean, heck, I just I justreplaced the C V joints in my in
my car, and that was$300.
And, you know, and that thatkind of tapped into my cash
(13:08):
reserves.
Most people just don't have, youknow,$1,500 extra dollars laying
in their laying in their deskdrawer or whatever to pay out of
pocket.
So, you know, again, when peopleare asking me about that, yeah,
I'll I'll quote the higherdeductibles just to see what it
looks like.
Most people, when I when I givethem the side by side, you know,
(13:29):
hey, what's your cost going tobe with and without the higher
deductible?
Most people end up sticking withtheir current deductibles after
I do that for them.
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
Well, Timothy, that was incredibly helpful.
I learned a lot about discountsI didn't know existed, so I can
use some again, but that's okay.
And as always, you know, if uhif you got a question, guys, uh
for to our listeners andviewers, if you if you got a
question, talk to your agent.
If you don't have an agent, talkto Timothy Walters.
SPEAKER_02 (13:56):
Yeah.
I'll talk to you.
I like to talk.
SPEAKER_01 (13:58):
Right.
All right.
Well, incredibly helpful.
Tim, thank once again.
Thanks for breaking down therisks and the smarter options.
And uh we'll we'll catch you inthe next episode.
SPEAKER_02 (14:07):
Awesome, Skip.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (14:12):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Walters
Agency Podcast.
Ready to find the right coveragefor your home, business, or
family?
Call or text 423-417-2070 for afree 20 minute consultation.
Until next time, stay covered,stay protected, and keep winning
(14:33):
with the Walters Agency.
Welcome to the Walters Agency Podcast, where
insurance meets peace of mind.
Hosted by licensed insuranceagent and owner Timothy Walters,
we're here to help families,homeowners, and small business
owners throughout East Tennesseeprotect what matters most.
Our mission?
Creating win-win-win solutionsfor insurance.
(00:24):
Let's dive in.
SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
Holiday budgets are always tight, but cutting
coverage could cost you morethan you think.
Here's what to consider.
Welcome back, everybody.
Skip Mani, co-host slashproducer, back in the studio
with Timothy Walters, licensedinsurance agent and owner of the
Walters Agency.
Timothy, how's it going?
SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
Doing well, Skip.
How are you doing?
SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
Doing just fine.
Doing just fine.
Getting awfully close to the tothe holidays, which is shocking
to me.
I can't believe it's it's it'suh almost the end of the year.
But with that, you know,something that comes up every
year about this time, I think.
Is it a bad idea to cancel orreduce coverage during the
holidays to try to save money?
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Yes.
We don't have to go any further.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
It is a bad idea.
Very, very bad.
Yes, it's a bad idea.
All right.
Well, thanks, Tim.
We appreciate your time today.
SPEAKER_02 (01:21):
Shortest video, right?
Um, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Does that have have you experienced that before?
Have you experienced thatbefore?
SPEAKER_02 (01:29):
Oh, God, yeah.
Yeah, no, that was that was oneof the first things I learned uh
when I got in this business, um,whenever that was, 2012.
Uh, I think I mentioned thisbefore.
You know, I came in with StateFarm, and our first uh holiday
season came really quicklybecause the office I worked at
(01:49):
started in October.
So we basically had October andNovember, uh, and it started in
the middle of November, and itwas so crazy because people were
calling, uh, and they're saying,hey, I want to cancel my
insurance.
And you know, we just say, Well,uh, okay, great.
You know, did you sell thevehicle?
Did you go to another company?
Say, no, no, I just want tosell, I want to, I want to
(02:10):
cancel it and I want to restartit in January.
What?
And it really was literallybecause people were like, well,
they didn't want to pay theirinsurance because they were, you
know, buying Christmas presentsor or or whatever, mainly for
that.
And uh I get it.
I mean, people, unfortunately,you know, they will go into
financial stress to meet thoseuh supposed obligations um
(02:34):
instead of the reason for theseason, uh, as they used to say.
But uh, you know, it really kindof surprised me that so many
people would do that.
Uh and I learned uh reallyquickly why it was a bad idea,
because we uh over the course ofmy career I've had several
people do that.
And we can't stop folks from,you know, canceling their
(02:55):
policies, it's it's theirpolicy.
Um so we can advise against it,which I always do.
Um, but uh, you know, peoplewould have accidents.
Like if their automobileinsurance uh was canceled and
they would have accidentsbecause this time of year,
there's more accidents becausepeople are more people are
traveling, more people on theroads, people are stressed,
people are reckless, people areangry, and you know, accidents
(03:18):
happen.
And if you have an accident andyou've canceled your insurance,
you don't have coverage.
So if you send somebody to thehospital, you're on the hook for
those medical bills.
God forbid you kill somebody,you're gonna be on the hook for
medical bills, funeral costs,lost wages, bereavement, a lot
of stuff.
If you damage somebody'sproperty, yeah, you're on the
(03:38):
hook for that.
And it conversely, if you're ifyour property is damaged uh and
you've canceled that policy,that's all out of your pocket.
So you are self-insuring whenyou cancel your policy.
And I've seen that reallynegatively affect people.
Uh, and to do that to save maybea few hundred bucks over the
course of a couple of months,I'm just gonna say it's not
(04:01):
smart, it's not responsible, andbuying cheap plastic stuff from
China to my mind is notjustified.
Yeah, I'm I'm very I'm very kindof hard line on it these days
because I've seen the negativeconsequences.
So yeah, when I say no,emphatically, that means exactly
what it says.
Do not do it.
Uh just don't.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
There you go.
There you go.
I'm with you, brother.
Well, are there hidden risks orpenalties that come with
canceling a policy temporarily?
SPEAKER_02 (04:28):
Yeah.
Uh it can definitely affect yourinsurance score.
Uh insurance companies look atuh, you know, uh gaps of
insurance.
Uh I know in in Tennessee, uh,most companies, if you have had
a gap of insurance of 30 days ormore, there's going to be a
penalty for that when you get anew policy, either with the same
company if they'll take youback, or uh with uh with a new
(04:51):
company, because they're saying,well, this person has an
insurance lapse.
Uh if they have multipleinsurance lapses over a period
of time, you know, companieslook at that because, you know,
frankly, that's not a great riskfor them to wrap coverage for
somebody who's going to be soflaky about it.
You know, they they make moneywith long-term clients.
(05:11):
Okay.
Most insurance companies, peopledon't know this, they usually
don't make money on anindividual policy for one or two
terms, uh, which could beanywhere from one to two years,
depending on the type of policy.
Um, so when they see thatsomebody is constantly canceling
their insurance and coming back,and that's not a great risk for
(05:32):
them.
So what they do is to try tokeep people from doing that or
to avoid taking on that kind ofrisk, they'll put in, you know,
additional fees, uh like forpeople who are doing that.
If you've had a lapse, you know,your rate may be higher, all of
which is completely legal.
People get mad about it, but youknow, it's just a way for the
(05:52):
market to uh adjust to that kindof behavior.
Um, so yeah, there's absolutelyyou know, long-term negative
consequences outside of you knowpotential accidents or whatever.
Um, it's it's gonna make you paymore for your insurance over
time.
And I think that's the the bigthing is people need to be more
long-term uh focused rather thanshort term.
(06:15):
I'm saving saving, quote quote,air quotes.
Saving, you know, however muchyour insurance premium is for a
few months, you know, versus, ohwell, your overall rates are
gonna be, you know, maybe 10%higher, you know, for the next
couple of years.
Um I mean, there's there's a lotthat goes into it.
I think it's unfortunate thatyou know our education system
(06:38):
does not educate people aboutthis in high school.
They shouldn't be, but they'renot.
They have to learn uh either bygoing into the business or like
I did.
Uh, or unfortunately, they theythey end up learning because
they're wondering why theirrates are so high.
And then when I look at people'slapse histories, I'm like, well,
you've canceled your insurancethree times in the past three
years, you know, why?
(07:00):
Well, I just didn't want to payfor it.
Well, okay, well, that's that'shaving a negative effect on your
current rate.
Don't do it.
The good thing, okay, I'll be alittle bit positive here.
The good thing is, okay, it'slike everything else.
Like you've you've you've hadthat that behavior in the past,
but if you if you don't do that,if you stop doing that and go
(07:20):
forward, you pay your insurance,you keep it going, then
companies also see that.
They'll say, Oh, well, thisperson, they had a lot of lapses
over the last few years, but thelast two years, they've had
continuous insurance.
They pay attention to that too.
That does affect that doespositively affect your rates
over time if you improve thatbehavior.
(07:41):
Just like if you had a lot ofaccidents and you stop having
accidents or speeding tickets orwhatever, eventually, you know,
if you improve that behavior, itwill reflect positively on your
insurance rates.
SPEAKER_01 (07:53):
So are there any other alternatives to save money
that you recommend for clientsthat are trying to cut cost
without sacrificing coverage?
Is there something you can dowith insurance?
SPEAKER_02 (08:04):
Yeah, I mean, you can always talk, like I said,
what I always say, talk to youragent.
Um, you know, they're gonnathey're gonna be able to look at
your policy, they're gonna beable to advise you about any
potential discounts that mightbe available.
I do know one thing that mostauto insurance companies uh have
really rolled out hard in thelast uh 10 years is the
telemetric programs, uh, whichis uh their telemetric programs,
(08:28):
they all call them somethingdifferent.
So uh basically it's like an appthat you can download onto your
phone or maybe a physical devicethat you install in your vehicle
and it transmits data about youknow how often you're driving,
like how many miles you'redriving, speed.
They can get pretty granular,actually.
They they can uh if people don'tlike that, they think, you know,
well, I don't like beingtracked.
(08:50):
I get that, but you're lookingto ways ways to save money, and
insurance companies are tryingto give you a more
individualized rate.
So if you're a good driver, andI always tell people, be honest
with yourself.
You don't even have to be honestwith me about it, but be honest
with yourself.
Being honest with myself andeverybody watching this, I drive
fast.
I I am a fast driver.
(09:11):
I am I think I'm a good driver.
I used to drive a deliverytruck.
Um, but I do like to get whereI'm going.
So I would not be a greatcandidate for those telemetric
programs.
But uh, you know, there's a lotof factors that go into it, but
they can save money.
That's one.
Uh the other thing uh peopledon't think about, I believe.
(09:33):
Again, this is long term.
This isn't necessarily, hey, Iwant to save some money for this
Christmas, but if you look at itlong term, a lot of companies
will give you better rates overtime if you have higher
liability limits.
So a lot of people carry minimumliability limits.
Again, that goes back to uh thecompanies thinking, well, I
mean, what kind of client isthis going to be long term?
(09:55):
So people statistically whocarry higher liability limits on
their auto insurance tend tohave fewer accidents, they tend
to stay with companies longer,they tend to pay on time uh more
often.
So they're considered to bebetter risk.
Companies give better rates forthat because it's it's a more
attractive client.
Uh so you know, if you've beenrunning with minimum insurance
(10:15):
for your whole life, talk toyour agents.
See what would it cost to saybump it up to the next level of
protection.
And I think if you do that, ifyou you know, you're gonna pay a
little bit more over time, likeimmediately, right?
But over time, over the courseof several years, you're
probably gonna see better ratesuh for future renewals.
So that's something peopleconsider.
(10:37):
It's not a short-term uh, youknow, cost saver.
Um, but yeah, talk to youragent.
You know, different companieshave different discounts.
Uh maybe talk to them uh aboutyour household.
Like maybe if you have kids andyour kids are listed as drivers
and they're good students, askthem, hey, has the good student
discount been uh applied to mypolicy?
(10:59):
Okay, no.
Well, typically all they'regonna need is your kids' uh you
know, most recent set of gradesshowing that they they're
hitting like a basically a Baverage in high school, is what
most of them have.
So yeah, talk to your agent.
Uh, you know, just ask them,hey, you know, are there any
discounts that I'm missing outon?
You know, can you advise me onthat?
SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
And they'll they'll do it.
Good student.
Didn't know that.
Good student discount.
Wow, my kids are all out ofschool.
Dang yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:25):
Well, you you missed the boat, buddy.
Did they make good grades?
SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
They well, some did, some didn't.
SPEAKER_02 (11:31):
I'm not gonna call anybody out, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Right, right.
Well, what about adjustingdeductibles?
Could that save you money aswell?
SPEAKER_02 (11:40):
Yeah, I mean, it can.
Of course, you know, going witha higher deductible is going to
reduce your uh premium.
People are surprised though.
Uh you kind of have these days,especially, you have to go
really high uh to save what Iwould consider to be a
significant amount of money onyour premium.
(12:00):
Um, and honestly, I don'tnecessarily think the additional
risk that you're taking on withthat higher deductible is worth
it.
Um, so I'll like I'll give youone example.
One of my my one of my autoinsurance companies will allow
us to go up to$2,000 for uhdeductible on comprehensive
incollision.
And pushing it up that high,$2,000, which is a lot of money
(12:25):
out of pocket, that is literallylike the only way I can really
save people a whole lot of moneyon their monthly premiums when
it comes to adjusting theirdeductibles.
There's not a big differencebetween, say,$500 and$750 or
$1,000 pushing it up.
Uh it's like I said, there'stypically not that much of
(12:47):
savings in it.
Uh, and then when you push it upto$2,000, then typically there's
a little bit more.
But again, you're taking on thatrisk.
You're talking, you're goingfrom like$500 out of pocket to
$2,000 out of pocket.
I mean, heck, I just I justreplaced the C V joints in my in
my car, and that was$300.
And, you know, and that thatkind of tapped into my cash
(13:08):
reserves.
Most people just don't have, youknow,$1,500 extra dollars laying
in their laying in their deskdrawer or whatever to pay out of
pocket.
So, you know, again, when peopleare asking me about that, yeah,
I'll I'll quote the higherdeductibles just to see what it
looks like.
Most people, when I when I givethem the side by side, you know,
(13:29):
hey, what's your cost going tobe with and without the higher
deductible?
Most people end up sticking withtheir current deductibles after
I do that for them.
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
Well, Timothy, that was incredibly helpful.
I learned a lot about discountsI didn't know existed, so I can
use some again, but that's okay.
And as always, you know, if uhif you got a question, guys, uh
for to our listeners andviewers, if you if you got a
question, talk to your agent.
If you don't have an agent, talkto Timothy Walters.
SPEAKER_02 (13:56):
Yeah.
I'll talk to you.
I like to talk.
SPEAKER_01 (13:58):
Right.
All right.
Well, incredibly helpful.
Tim, thank once again.
Thanks for breaking down therisks and the smarter options.
And uh we'll we'll catch you inthe next episode.
SPEAKER_02 (14:07):
Awesome, Skip.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (14:12):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Walters
Agency Podcast.
Ready to find the right coveragefor your home, business, or
family?
Call or text 423-417-2070 for afree 20 minute consultation.
Until next time, stay covered,stay protected, and keep winning
(14:33):
with the Walters Agency.
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