Insurance Discussion

As millions of Americans look for ways to stretch their budgets to survive these tough economic times, too many are not utilizing all of the discounts that may be available to them in their homeowner and auto insurance, according to a new national survey conducted for Trusted Choice and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”).

The survey asked home and auto owners if they believed they are taking full advantage of all the discounts they qualified for on their homeowners and auto insurance policies. More than 34 percent of respondents, representing 53 million households, admitted they are probably not taking advantage of all homeowners’ insurance discounts or said that they simply didn’t know. Regarding auto coverage, more than 20 percent of car owners either didn’t know or said they were not maximizing all the car insurance discounts available to them.

“The latest survey shows what we suspected: many Americans could be foolishly throwing money away because they fail to ask about insurance discounts for which they may qualify,” says Madelyn Flannagan, Big “I” vice president of agent development, education and research. “Companies often offer some unique, regional, very specific and, at times, quirky discounts. In these economic times, every dollar counts — some consumers may be able to nickel and dime their way to big savings.”

And those who stand to benefit most from the discounts are often those who aren’t taking advantage of them: nearly 38 percent of respondents with a household income of less than $25,000 said they weren’t taking advantage of all possible homeowners’ discounts or said they didn’t know.

The survey also found that the largest percentage of respondents, about 26 percent estimated they save 6-10 percent on their insurance premiums by using discounts. In reality, many consumers could be saving significantly more — as much as 30 percent.

Tags: insurance discounts, vice president

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 11:44 pm and is filed under Insurance, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.