Voiceover: [00:00:00] Welcome to Metcalf Money Moment. The podcast unlock financial clarity and confidence with expert insights to achieve your goals. Hosted by Jeb Graham, Ethan [00:00:15] Hutchinson and Eric Wymore. Each episode offers decades of combined expertise in wealth management, retirement planning, and more. Join us for practical strategies to inspire your financial journey.

Now, your host.[00:00:30]

Jeb Graham: Welcome back to Metcalf Money Moment podcast. My name's Jeb Graham, uh, here with Ethan Hutchinson and Eric Wymore, who are partners and, uh, co-hosts on the show. And we have [00:00:45] a guest today named Alan Smith. Alan Smith's an insurance agent or independent insurance agent with Blue Valley Insurance, and has been my insurance agent for what, Allen, probably 15 years or so now quite, quite some time.

Mm-hmm. So. How's everybody doing today?

Allen Smith: Doing great, thank you.

Jeb Graham: [00:01:00] Doing good? Doing well,

Allen Smith: yeah.

Jeb Graham: Yep, we're done. So we're actually recording this on, uh, April 16th, which is the day after tax day. So our world's kind of calmed down a little bit. And, um, you know, one of the things, and, and Alan, one of the reasons we wanted to have you on [00:01:15] here is we have obviously a lot of clients that, uh, that come to us and ask us about property casualty insurance at times.

Uh, when I think, when I say property casualty, I mean personal lines like their homeowner's insurance. Car insurance if they're insuring a boat and things like that. And I think the common [00:01:30] theme, and we all know it, everybody that pays any sort of insurance premiums is that the cost has gone up significantly over the last few years.

And not only has the cost gone up, there's, there's certain companies that you used to get insurance from that you can't get insurance from in certain areas and stuff like that. [00:01:45] And, um, I thought this would be just a great opportunity or, and, and Ethan and Eric and I were thinking it was a great opportunity to have you on, uh, and maybe just talk about some of the reasons.

Uh, that that insurance has gone up and kind of just what's going on with personal lines, insurance and, and the industry as a [00:02:00] whole.

Allen Smith: Yeah. And

Jeb Graham: thanks

Allen Smith: for having me, Jeb. Um, yeah, we're, we're in officially a kind of an insurance slump, right. Um, the insurance markets have definitely hardened up. Um. I guess what I would say is that what, like you, I'm sure before tax day you guys get a lot of calls and [00:02:15] questions on everything from whatever, but right now we we're, we're seeing more calls and, uh, questions and concern over their rate than we've ever seen in the past.

Um, and what I would say I. To kind of provide a little bit of a backstory of what's happened in the last decade, and I've been doing this for 18 [00:02:30] years now, and, um, I've never seen rate increases like I've seen in the last two years. Um, some of the things that, and, and we can account, we can, we know we can point to a few things.

Inflation's probably the number one thing. Um, as cost of building materials, as [00:02:45] labor rates have increased dramatically, um, it's increased claim expenses dramatically. The second thing that we're seeing is just claim frequency is up. Um, roofing claims are, are way up. I mean, I, I remember, I've been doing this for a long time and I remember the last hailstorm that [00:03:00] we had that was a major one was in 2011.

And I woke up the next day and there was like a hundred phone calls that I had to reach out to because they had roofs. Those are easy ones to adjust though, because they were softballs. They, they broke windows. Um, we had a similar event in Shawnee, I think late last year, um, [00:03:15] where again, big stuff, uh, what we're noticing.

Specifically, like if I were to talk about each one, like home being the first one. Um, property rates have in the last, again, the last two years have nearly gone up 200%. And you know, when I wrote, started writing policies back in [00:03:30] 2008, right before the financial crisis or whatever, average home rates are around 700 bucks a year.

Um, and that was on a $250,000 house, you know, um, that same $250,000 house now costs around 600,000 to build right. [00:03:45] Um, so just thinking about those numbers there, I think people are starting to realize like, wait a second. You know, everything does cost a lot more, number one, but number two, um, you know. In the last two or three years, because when roofs start to age out, we've got a lot of roofing companies, I'm almost wanna [00:04:00] say that insurance companies have started to subsidize roof replacement.

Um, and it's getting outta control to a point where insurance companies, frankly, are just losing money and they're passing that, those losses onto every consumer. For those of us that haven't filed losses. And so what's what's been painful is [00:04:15] that, so those customers that maybe haven't had the roof replaced and they've got a 15-year-old roof, um, Jeb, you talked about it earlier, about carriers removing, getting outta the marketplace.

I. There's a misconception in the Midwest that we're a profitable territory. In fact, we haven't been over the last three to [00:04:30] four years, simply because the amount of money they're paying out in claims are more than the, uh, the revenue they're

Jeb Graham: getting in premium. So they've had to make Is, is that from hailstorms?

So is that like a, is that mostly from hailstorms? It's,

Allen Smith: it's hail, but I mean, we always get hail. I think what's been unique is, is that [00:04:45] I get, I mean, every time we get a small hailstorm, I get a hundred calls. I think there's a lot that we've created. Uh, you know, we've created a lot of jobs for roofing. I think, uh, and I can get to, in a moment, I'll tell you kind of what the differences that'll be coming out, which are not so great for the [00:05:00] consumer, but from a pricing standpoint, we'll stabilize.

But it's the same thing kind of anecdotally on the auto, um, auto premiums have gone up dramatically. I mean, we used to talk to customers like, if you don't have any speeding tickets or accidents, your rates would trend downward. Because your car value would [00:05:15] theoretically go down and all that good stuff.

Well, cost to fix things is dramatically more expensive. I mean, um, you know, COVID was a big year for us where we saw a big disruption in the industry simply because supply chains change, you know, supply chains [00:05:30] for parts. You know, and again, with, with the economic world we're living in now with tariffs potentially changing things, I mean, that could make things worse potentially.

And again, I'm. Here to debate that. But what insurance companies are doing is they're building in rate for factoring in those, those possibilities, right? [00:05:45] So, you know, when you get parts that are coming from examples, uh, in 2000, like 21, a common claim that we saw on, on electric vehicles like Teslas, for instance, you know, to fix, if you had a bump on a bumper, like you got a, you hit somebody's bumper that cost around five grand to replace.

[00:06:00] Now keep that in mind. 10 years ago, that same bumper without all the cameras cost a couple hundred bucks, right? These cars were getting laid up for six months to a year. And if you, let's say you wrecked into one of those cars, we may have to buy that car. We would [00:06:15] total that Tesla because it was laid up for a year.

We owed a, we owed a rental car for that person for six months to a year, and that cost of the rental car was more than the value of the car. So we were totaling those cars. So, you know, and that's another thing too, you know, just. Looking at what types of [00:06:30] cars, maybe call your agent before you buy the car.

Say, Hey, what's this gonna gonna cost me? 'cause yeah, there's definitely some savings and benefits to buying EVs, don't get me wrong. But from insurance, I can tell you there's sometimes two or three or four times more expensive to insure than a standard, you know, just a gas [00:06:45] vehicle right now. So, I mean, again, this is just, it's, it's, it's uh, it's alarming.

What I would say right now is that things are changing and I see on the property side what I think they're gonna do, and we're already seeing the [00:07:00] changes kind of going forward, is that, you know, they're gonna change the way they cover roofs. So for those people that have gotten new roofs in the last few years because of hail events, you know, congratulations, you know, because those days are starting to come down to a point where.

You know, the old deductible of a thousand dollars or [00:07:15] $500 in your property,

Jeb Graham: that's

Allen Smith: gone.

Jeb Graham: Um, I do remember back that, that hailstorm that you're talking about, maybe this was five or six years ago, 'cause we got a new roof at our old house mm-hmm. Because of it. And I, I remember almost everybody in our neighborhood got a new roof [00:07:30] and I felt like, it wasn't like the roofs were completely totaled out, but it was almost like the insurance companies or, or you tell me, were they kind of just loosey goosey back in the day and they were.

You need to tighten this thing up. Yeah. They were, I mean, I think the thing that's, that's the challenge

Allen Smith: and that I, this is, again, this is my [00:07:45] opinion, is that you, if you have a 10, 15-year-old roof, you live in Kansas, you're probably gonna have some hail hits over a 15 year period, you know? And so when the industry gets hot, like it's been in the last decade, um, roofers are knocking on doors and all they have to do to get the roof [00:08:00] approved is like, say 10 or more hits on a slope.

Um, your roof could be probably fine. You know, it's just kind of, you've got some normal wear and tear. You've got no leaks. But if your neighbors are getting roofs, what are you gonna do? You're gonna call the insurance company and get a roof claim. Um, again, I, [00:08:15] you know, and that's where it's been hard, is that asphalt shingles is the, you know, they, the cost of those roofs.

And again, there's a lot of fraud and waste going on too. And that's why we always tell our insureds, you know, when they're calling us to, to report damage, make sure you get a local roofer. Not some, I mean, be, be weary of the people that are knocking on [00:08:30] your doors. Right. Um. They drag down the claim experience.

'cause here, like when people call, I mean we've had roofers that are actually calling on behalf of the insured. If you start getting that, that's, that's don't do that guy or that person rather. Um, the amount they're charging [00:08:45] roof, four roofs for the same roof that I know that are getting roofs for new construction or whatever is nearly three times as much.

And insurance companies are paying it, you know, um, and it's just kind of a dredge on the, on for everything. Right. Um, at the end of the day, the insurance companies are gonna look at the bottom line. [00:09:00] And like, Hey guys, we just paid out $50,000 for that roof and we've been collecting $2,000 a year in premium.

It all adds up.

Jeb Graham: Numbers don't add up. Right? Yeah.

Allen Smith: Yeah. And that's what they're doing is that, I think, in the future. So I guess what I would say, what the, what I've seen and what's what's been going on [00:09:15] in the marketplace from insurance standpoint is that, so we are in a hard market, um, because insurance companies have been losing so much money.

Um, half of my companies are frankly not writing new business right now. They've just stopped altogether. Um, we've actually lost three markets in the [00:09:30] last three years. That's, and again, my last, prior 17 or 16 years before that, we'd never seen a carrier exit the market. Um, I mean, you know this 'cause you were with one of our carriers with Nationwide private client.

They, they just non-renewed every customer in town and they said we're pulling out. [00:09:45] So, um, we're not immune to what's happening in the coast because the Midwest is getting hit. Maybe not as dramatic like fire, but that's the things too, is like there's some misnomers, like the fires that were going on over there in California, a lot of the insurance companies [00:10:00] they got rid of, they, they stopped offering fire coverage a long time ago.

So there's a lot of uninsured people out there. So I guess where I see go, yeah, what's going forward I see in the Midwest is, is that they will start going to a payment schedule if they already haven't already. Um, so what that [00:10:15] looks like for you is that if you've got a 15-year-old roof, they may depreciate the roof by 30 or 40%.

So on a $20,000 roof, you might get 50, 60% of that value before they apply the deductible. And so all of a sudden, instead of being out two to [00:10:30] $3,000 on a roof claim, you could be out 10 to 12,000 on a 20,000 roof claim. And so it's just gonna mitigate their exposure. Maybe help reduce the frequency of claims when people know they have to come out of pocket so much.

Um, but I mean, I don't want people to think that you [00:10:45] shouldn't file a claim, but I guess what I'm getting at is, is that now more than ever, don't waste your time filing a claim unless you know Absolutely you have damage. 'cause insurance companies have kind of put a kibosh on, like, like you said earlier, like the six or seven years ago, where they just cut checks.[00:11:00]

Those days are starting to become to an end.

Ethan Hutchenson: I got a good example on that. We have a 2-year-old roof. Mm-hmm. Last summer, we had probably a good half dozen roofing companies knocking on our door saying, Hey, you got neighbors that are filing [00:11:15] claims for hail. And I went out and looked at my roof. I go, it's two years old.

There's, I haven't even seen hail down here. What's going on? And he goes, well, the insurance company will pay for a new roof for just your deductible. And I'm like, I'm not gonna pay a, you know, $2,000 deductible for a 2-year-old roof or whatever. [00:11:30] And he goes, well, let me get on there and I'll, I'll find some, some damage.

And I, I opted out of it, but we got. Probably six or seven people knocking on our door. 'cause we had one neighbor got a new roof and they'd been there for three years and we're like, this just doesn't, doesn't add up to, that's, that's the thing

Allen Smith: is like, um, [00:11:45] you can get, and this is what's been crazy for me, is that I often tell my customers is I don't think it's a bad idea to get a good roofer for like, to actually review.

'cause if you got damage, you should file a claim, right? Yeah. I think at the end of the day. But, um, we are seeing a lot of claims that are frankly unnecessary. [00:12:00] You know, um, like soft metal damage is a good example. Um. Your downspouts guys, if you don't see any dents on your downspouts, it's a good chance you don't need a new roof.

Okay. Um, 'cause those are always gonna be damaged before your, your shingles are. The other thing is too, is that even if [00:12:15] you have a couple, maybe have a local roofer, and again, we, I'm not gonna refer any per se here, but it's good to know people that are doing, that are, that have been around a long time that don't, I guess.

Their money's not derived off of just roof insurance claims. In [00:12:30] fact, if it were up to them, they would do no insurance claims. 'cause if anybody's been through an insurance claim, it's not always the most pleasant experience. Right. There's delays you're dealing with. Some adjusters are better than others.

Um, there could be nickel and dimming depending on the company and who the adjuster is. And it's just, again, it's just a [00:12:45] fight. And the infighting really begins when you're using, like these storm chasers I was telling you about. The problem I've been noticing is, is that they come in. You should see the bids we're seeing for some of these roofs.

And so the adjusters have to just go, are you kidding me? And then it just slows, it just, it slows the wheel and it slows everybody else [00:13:00] down because all of a sudden you get 15 of those in one day and every one of 'em, you're fighting about the amount it actually costs. And at the end of the day, the insurance companies oftentimes just give in, you know, and, and it's, uh, and it's, and it's at a point now where, I guess the long term is that we need to be careful on those.

And I, [00:13:15] and, and, and I'll get to strategies too as far as how to kind of maybe get your premiums lower. You want me to segue into that a little bit? That Jeb, and just kind of, do

Jeb Graham: you wanna ask the question, Eric?

Allen Smith: Yeah. Or maybe ask the

Eric Wymore: question and then Absolutely. Yeah. So Alan, I mean, you know, you've been, [00:13:30] you've been talking about how the different costs come around and how they, how they've gotten there.

You know, one of the things we always talk about in our world is things that we can control. How would a consumer go about controlling their, their insurance costs, or what are some of the things that they need to do or can do [00:13:45] to help? You know, lower that, that premium amount.

Allen Smith: Well, I, let me start with two things too, is like, what, why are rates higher and lower for certain people than other people?

Right. We know on property the, like your roof age is gonna have a bearing on that. Okay? So the older your roof goes, believe it or not, the [00:14:00] rate's gonna be. And so again, for those people that put your new roofs on, make sure you tell your insurance company because that does improve the rate with most companies.

But the biggest factor right now that I've noticed that is hurting or helping rates is credit. Um, carriers [00:14:15] are really, you know, I guess actuarily, they're finding that people that have better credit file less claims, and it would make sense from, from just a common sense approach, right? If you are, if you've got good credit, you could be potentially taking care of your property better.

But that's the thing is, is that, so [00:14:30] underwriting has ne has never been so strict and so credit score, keep your credit good, you know, pay your bills on time, those kind of things. I know that seems. Common sense again, but that's gonna have a bearing on your rate. Um, because the old adage is like, well, my neighbor pays [00:14:45] X, so why am I paying y Well, well his credit might be perfect and he is never filed a claim, you know, but I've seen, I mean, it's such a difference.

Like on the same home, let's put things just for a $500,000 house on a new construction, someone with a seven 50 or higher credit score is [00:15:00] probably looking at around on a new construction thing, around 1500 bucks a year. That same person with like a six 40 credit score, which used to be okay. Or somebody that's maybe a first time home buyer that doesn't have a lot of credit or never had built up credit.

That same rate that was 1500, could [00:15:15] be 3,500 to 4,000 a year. Gotcha. That's credit. The risk has not changed. So keeping

Jeb Graham: that credit score, that's, that's really interesting of how, you know, keeping your credit score up is really important in a lot of regards. But I, you know, a lot of people I don't think realize that [00:15:30] how much it impacts your, well, some of our carriers didn't even rate for credit.

Um,

Allen Smith: one of my last ones was Lititz Mutual, a good company that we've had access to for years, and they finally switched it, and they've made it to a point because they've got, they feel a little bit oversaturated in the Midwest. You have to have an 800 credit score to even quote [00:15:45] them.

Jeb Graham: Yeah.

Allen Smith: So.

Jeb Graham: Well, hey, real quick, back there, just so you're talking about Lititz Mutual, and, uh, I know since I've been with you, maybe it's been like we were talking about 15 years or so.

I've probably had three or four different carriers Yeah. That we've used, maybe two or three.

Allen Smith: Mm-hmm.

Jeb Graham: Okay. [00:16:00] So, so I think that's important. You know, we're independent financial advisors, right? So what that means is we don't work for a company, we work for our clients. And I know with you as an independent insurance agent, you don't work for a company, you work for your clients.

So you're basically going out to different companies, you're [00:16:15] pricing out insurance, and you're trying to find. And, and maybe just talk a little bit about the difference between a captive agent, you as an, as an independent agent, and maybe some of the costs that are saved in that regard as well.

Allen Smith: Yeah, great question and thank you for bringing that up.

I think the, um, [00:16:30] you know, your captive markets are gonna be the ones you probably hear about on tv. They do advertising the most, okay? Mm-hmm. Captive markets are gonna be, or exclusive agents, state Farm, Allstate, farm Bureau, farmers. Those are gonna be captive markets. And as a captive agent, you [00:16:45] work for the company as a W2, right?

Um, and you sell their products and their products can be good. Um, the one thing as an independent broker, we don't have access to exclusive markets. So oftentimes I'll get calls like, Hey, can you shop me State Farm? I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't. You'll need to call the local State Farm [00:17:00] agency. Um, we have national markets as a broker though.

We shop the carriers that we're appointed with. Um, we have national carriers, like you've heard of Net Travelers nationwide, progressive Liberty Mutual. Um, those carriers also sell direct. They have a direct [00:17:15] channel, right. Where you can just go online and pick your coverages. And we also have mutual companies that you may not have heard of.

Like Cincinnati Chubb is a, is a good example of a, of a independent agent exclusive. Right, right. But, um, we've got a lot of mutual markets that you might not have heard of. And I guess the [00:17:30] benefit or the benefit of captive and if you're an agent for per se, is that it's, it's a nice, safe home. And if like.

They train you, they bring you in and a lot of the referrals come in through their advertising. Right. And so when you work as at a captive agency, you just have a [00:17:45] few products. But the, and like a State Farm's a good example 'cause they're still one of the biggest, right? Um, sometimes just like my big companies, they dip and dip out, right?

They'll come in with low rates and then next year they have poor loss ratios and so they raise their rates. Okay. [00:18:00] Um, we've seen it over the last 17 years and I've had you, and I'm specifically Jeb, I think I've had you with three different companies. Right. It's just, there's times where the rates go up with a company and then we just wanna remarket and just make sure that, hey, are the rates better anywhere else?

And so that's the benefit of a broker is that we, [00:18:15] I guess from my, uh, you know, selfishly is that we have the ability to shop. Now, not always are we gonna be better than exclusive market, I guess the, the benefit. But again, by having 13 markets like we do. I mean, the odds are 99% of the time, one of our [00:18:30] markets is gonna be pretty close or slower than, than one of the captives.

Um, and that's where it's, it's changed a little bit recently simply because we are living it even on the, on the, uh, independent channel of riding new business because of the hard market we're in.

Eric Wymore: Mm-hmm. But

Allen Smith: the nice thing is, is that [00:18:45] we have the ability to shop and move people around. Right. That is, that's the benefit of a broker.

Nice.

Eric Wymore: So anything with teenage drivers, right? Teenage drivers coming around, talked about this story. Yeah. How do you get that rate?

Allen Smith: Well, I mean, [00:19:00] yeah, and, and I'm credit score back into like, yeah, you know what, what is a challenge right now? And I almost feel bad for my, and I've got kids that are about to start driving.

I know, Eric, you do too. Jeb, you've got a youthful operator right now. I think the, the, the sad part right now is that they are [00:19:15] charging a lot more for kids than they ever have before. Um, I, for all those people that are about to have kids drive, I would say, you know, estimate $200 a month before you even had a car.

That's, that's the additional expense you're gonna look at for just adding a kid. [00:19:30] Um, and it's so important, I guess, with kids. The, the biggest re the biggest thing I'll tell you with youthful operators, number one, grades do help. That's the most important discount. So 3.0 or above, that's a huge one. The, um, driver's education courses that you can take.

There's a slight discount there, but [00:19:45] the biggest thing I can tell families, um, is to really review your policies at that point. Going forward when you're adding a kid, I know what we do for our customers is that before adding a young driver. Um, we shop it because there's such a variance between companies whenever we're [00:20:00] adding a car, uh, adding a young driver.

Um, not all of my markets are good with kids and they don't want 'em, you know, and so I might have you with them because you've got a good bundled rate with them now. But once you add that kid, it could be $400 more a month. We gotta move you. All right. Um, but the biggest thing [00:20:15] I can tell you is that, um, you know, with adding kids is that, you know, again, maybe increase your deductibles at that point when you've got a fleet of vehicles and all of a sudden you're spending 8,000 to $10,000 a year for auto insurance, which is insane, right?

But that's what people, that's what average families with three cars are [00:20:30] paying with your full operators right now. Look at your deductibles, and that's the same thing on your home, and we're gonna talk about things to review with your agent, but look at your deductibles. Maybe consider self-insuring some of those smaller things that you used to, maybe not because you didn't care, right?[00:20:45]

Um, carriers are, because you're already gonna pay a higher premium. And so what carriers are doing is, is that, so when a, when a, with anyone, anybody gets in an accident, right? It's usually about a 20% surcharge for three years. All right, so the [00:21:00] more premium you're gonna be paying, you're gonna pay a higher increase just because of the fact you're already paying a higher rate.

And so it's really important to talk to your kids. You know about this stuff, about safe driving, um, but distracted driving is the real cause of why insurance rates are going up so [00:21:15] much with, with auto and especially with youthful operators. Um, I don't know about you guys. Every time I stop at a stoplight, if I look to the right or left, there's somebody on their phone.

Um, and kids grow up with devices a lot earlier than we did. Um, they're always on them. And I think the problem [00:21:30] is, is that, that that's why you can have the safest cars that tell you when to stop and stuff like that. But what we're seeing because, so it's like a trifold effect. Cars cost a ton more to, to fix.

Kids are getting in more accidents. So are adults by the way, you know, because of distracted [00:21:45] driving, right? And the severity of accidents have actually increased. Um, when you got people going 70 miles an hour not paying attention, they're hurting people, right? Mm-hmm. So we're also seeing that. So it's just kind of like a weird, as cars get smarter, it'll be not, I mean, [00:22:00] again, I joke because there's cars that drive themselves.

That'll be kind of interesting, but, well, I was actually,

Jeb Graham: oddly enough, I was hanging out on, uh. A neighbor's driveway last night and another neighbor drove up that has one of those, just got one of the self-driving Teslas like. Just outta curiosity, we don't need to spend a lot [00:22:15] of time on it. Is that, is that more expensive or, or cheaper from a, from insurance company?

Allen Smith: I think oftentimes insurance is lagging on this stuff. That's part of the reason why we see such as a huge increases after they started putting all these EVs in, right? Mm-hmm. All I can tell you is, is that all Teslas are gonna cost a little [00:22:30] bit more money than your standard just gas vehicle. Um, I haven't seen any data on it, whether or not the self-driving is gonna improve the rates or not, because they're pretty new.

What I. Insurance are kind of these behemoths that whenever they try to change rates, it takes time. 'cause they gotta notify the state [00:22:45] of increases and when they gotta file rates on cars. I mean, part of the reason why we're getting so many calls on auto renewals right now is 'cause so many people have Teslas and all of a sudden their rate and they're like, I didn't do anything.

My rate went up a thousand bucks. Because you gotta Tesla, you know, or you've gotta a rivian. Um, [00:23:00] mm-hmm. You know, my neighbor right across the street, he's got a lucid, have you ever heard of those cars?

Jeb Graham: Mm-hmm.

Allen Smith: Yeah. Those are, those are pretty good, easy cars. He's got a cool car. Yeah. Uh, yeah. He, um, and again, I don't wanna speak ill of lucid or anything like that, but he had a, a chip in the windshield that needs to do so.

The windshield needs to be [00:23:15] replaced. He's got full glass coverage. Um, I, you know, they, all the companies use safe flight glass on average. And again, back in the day, a windshield less than 10 years ago was around 200 bucks, uh, to replace. But now you've got forward collision avoidance. You've got all this, these sensors that [00:23:30] are in your windshield that they're making thinner, right?

To make 'em lighter. They crack all the time now. So we're seeing mm-hmm. All these glass claims. But the point I'm trying to make with this, this car specifically, and this literally was two days ago, he, it took him, uh, number one, not safe flight, [00:23:45] wouldn't do it. They couldn't do it. Okay. No body shop in town could do it.

The closest one that would mess with it was a body shop out of Nebraska, and the cost to replace the windshield was over five grand. Wow. Oh wow. It's like, what? Yeah.

Jeb Graham: Yeah. You used to be able, you could get a used car for [00:24:00] five grand. I was kidding.

Allen Smith: Yeah. Yeah. And that, and that's, yeah. And that's, that's what's crazy is that the industry from a premium standpoint has changed so dramatically.

Right. Just from, just because of the costs of all these repairs.

Jeb Graham: Yeah. So, Ethan, did you have one or do [00:24:15] we have one more question? Yeah, so we'll that last one and then we'll wrap up. How's that?

Ethan Hutchenson: Yeah. Last one we got for you. Uh, here, Alan, talking about, you know, being proactive from the consumer's perspective, what can we do?

I'm, we, you hear a lot about bundling. Increasing deductibles, looking at discounts, [00:24:30] reviewing your home appraisal every year, all that. Is there anything, do you guys take care of that or is that on the, the consumer kind of be proactive?

Allen Smith: Yeah, I think that, um, so we've been a bit more reactive lately simply because everybody's rates went up over 20% for the most [00:24:45] part.

Um, I know as a broker, um, not every broker's gonna be the same. We try to, we're more triaging the bigger increases right now. But what I would say is that you should review and call your agent once a year. Okay. Even if it's a simple email, just check in. Say, Hey, is everything all about the same? Because even me [00:25:00] with a clientele, um, if it's under the, the amount, I don't automatically shop.

And I don't think it's, I think it's important to tell, to tell everybody, you shouldn't move your insurance every year. And that means if you're with a captive or with any agency, because carriers are now rating two [00:25:15] like. You got two customers, right? One customer that's been with the same, same carrier for 10, 10 plus years, and you got the other customer that's been with six different companies in six years.

Who do you think is gonna get the better rate when they go to quote,

Eric Wymore: right?

Allen Smith: Um, I guess what I'm saying is unless you're [00:25:30] winning, if you're not gonna save like 5% or, or more, you probably shouldn't move your insurance anyways. But ways to, to really look at your coverages and talk to your agencies about like as far deductible is gonna be the number one lever we have to, to reduce your premium.

All right. [00:25:45] Okay. Rebuilds, uh, the cost to insure your home. That's kind of taken out of the, out of the ballpark nowadays because the carriers are pretty much saying, Hey, this is what we're gonna insure it for, whether you like it or not. All right. Um, so my customers, the ones that I see the most need, and probably [00:26:00] you guys see on your book, if they've been with a company for five plus years, A, they probably should be remarketed.

Okay? But B, they absolutely at minimum look at their deductibles because I cannot tell you how many times I've seen customers call me to quote. And they've got [00:26:15] a $700,000 house with a thousand dollars flat deductible, and they've got a ton of money. They got money that's savings. They, they never file claims.

I ask him, do you ever file claims for, he goes, no, I self-insured anything. I'm like, well, then make your deductible. 5,000. Yeah. The premium differential you get from just [00:26:30] going from 1000 to 5,000 could be 50%. Because then the way the carriers are going, remember I told this like where they're going to is a 1% wind and hail or, or 2% in some cases, right?

So if you've got a $500,000 house, they're ensuring one [00:26:45] percent's gonna be 5,000, 2%, could be 10,000. Now again, the direct rider, that's what they're offering the consumers 2%. All right. Mm-hmm. And people are selecting it and they don't even know what they're getting. Um, so we try to advocate like, look, that might be outta your ballpark.

You [00:27:00] realize you're self-insuring the roof at that point, right? Mm-hmm. So, um, I would say deductibles, um, review your discounts because there are discounts now that they're offering they hadn't before, like backup generators. Um, some of our companies are doing that. Another common one is this, like, um, you heard of the [00:27:15] automatic water shutoff devices.

Um, those are pretty common now. There's some pretty good credits so you can get there. So if you install one, make sure you tell your agent. Those are the things that basically, uh, they, they, if there's a leak in the, if there's a pipe, you know, that leaks or whatever, it shuts off the water automatically.[00:27:30]

And then obviously your alarm discounts. Um, and on the auto side, same thing. Look at your deductibles. Um, make sure they're rating for the proper use. If you work from home and maybe you don't put a lot of mileage on your car, they could have been just assuming you were commuter 10 miles commute, right?

If you're [00:27:45] putting less than 8,000 miles in your car, make sure you let your agent know that could help your rate out.

Jeb Graham: Those are all good, great pieces of, uh, of advice. And I, I think like, look, the kinda what you're saying there is, is it seems like to me it's a really good time. Like, 'cause you know, the, the [00:28:00] biggest listeners of this podcast are gonna be our clients.

I think this is a really good time to just review policies, right? So if you've got whoever your insurance is with, you know, I think. I'm, I'm always an advocate of, of an independent, you know, just in general, right? Because I think it, it creates a lot [00:28:15] more options, uh, and you know that it's at least getting shopped around and I think.

So, so I think that's, that's a good thing. And I think, uh, you know, I know you've done a great job for me and, and for a lot of clients that we've sent you over the years, so we certainly appreciate that. And also wanna [00:28:30] wish you good luck in your golf game tonight. Uh, I hope you go out there and do well.

So, thanks Colin. You know, Alan and I are getting ready to play in a member guest. Tournament here in a, in a couple months. So, and we're planning on winning it. Is that right?

Allen Smith: Well thanks for having me guys. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks

Jeb Graham: for coming on and, uh, this is [00:28:45] Metcalf Money Moment podcast signing off.

Yeah.

Voiceover: Thanks for tuning in to Metcalf Money Moment, the podcast. We hope today's episode provided valuable insights to help you [00:29:00] unlock financial clarity, confidence. And peace of mind. For more expert advice and resources, visit medcalf partners.com. Until next time, make every money moment count.[00:29:15]

Disclaimer: Jeb Graham, Ethan Hutchinson and Eric Wymore are registered representatives with and securities offered through LPL Financial Member FINRA SI PC Investment advice offered through W CG Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisor, W CG Wealth Advisors and Metcalf Partners Wealth Management is AR separate entity entities from LPL [00:29:30] Financial.

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