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Insuring Your Peace of Mind and Bourbon Collection | All Roads LTR Podcast | Ep. 31
24 Plays8 months ago
Join Matt as he welcomes back his special co-host Charlie Rhine and introduces Jeff Bisker, a local owner and operator of an insurance agency part of Goosehead Insurance in Maryland. Jeff sheds light on the critical role of insurance in real estate transactions and everyday life. From understanding coverage basics to navigating rate increases, demystifying umbrella insurance and why would someone insure his legs and bourbon collection. This conversation offers listeners with valuable insights to make informed decisions about protecting their homes and assets.
Get in touch with Jeff at: https://www.goosehead.com/agents/md/hunt-valley/jeffrey-bisker/
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
All right. Hello, everyone. And welcome to the next episode of All Roads Lead to Real Estate. I'm your host, Matt Rine. And I have a couple special guests with me today, one of whom has been on the podcast before. Who here has been on the podcast before? I have. You have. And what's your name, young man? My name is Charles. Charles, what's your last name? Rine. And why are you here? Um.
00:00:40
Speaker
Are you my co-host? You know what that means? No.
00:00:45
Speaker
No. Well, he's well trained, everyone. Sir Charles here is he got out of school early today on his fine day to be my co-host to bring it up. He loves he's been on one episode before and he loved it. Right, Charlie? Yes. And he makes us play occasionally in the car and listens and goes, oh, that's me. And so he's back and he's going to add some wonderful commentary and some levity and the whole thing. Right, son?
00:01:13
Speaker
Yes, so he's gonna do it up so but who do we have do you remember this man's name?
00:01:20
Speaker
Did I even tell you his name? Maybe not. I don't think I did. Well, let me go ahead and tell you that. And I thought
Meet the Guest: Jeff Bisker from Goosehead Insurance
00:01:26
Speaker
I introduced you properly to each other. But his name is Jeff Bisker. And Jeff is a local owner and operator of a big insurance agency here in town, local in Maryland. And that company is part of Goosehead Insurance Agency.
00:01:26
Speaker
Oh
00:01:44
Speaker
And I have not yet had anyone on the podcast that's in this world. And the reason why I thought that was in your Charlie brief. He's already starting. I think he's bored by this already. Oh, my God. So, Charlie, it's not that bad. It's insurance. I'm going to teach you all about it during this podcast. OK, bud? OK. OK. So he's going to be very helpful. And by the way, for those that don't know, Charlie is seven. And what grade are you in, Charlie? I'm in second grade. And what's your favorite classes we just asked you? What's your favorite classes in school?
00:02:15
Speaker
Um, yeah, that's what you said. Um, first grade kindergarten. Um, no, what is your favorite? I guess things to do in school. Oh, uh, PE lunch and snack. Yeah.
00:02:35
Speaker
Those are his favorite subjects earlier when I asked them. So I thought I'd share that with everyone. I thought that was a trip. Well, back to our guests, Jeff.
The Role of Insurance in Real Estate
00:02:43
Speaker
So Jeff runs the Gooset Agency here and he is based out of Hunt Valley. So welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. And so we're going to get through this with good old Charlie. I've yet to try to have it as a co-host situation. It's going to be fun.
00:02:56
Speaker
Oh, it'll be something. It'll definitely be something. That's for sure. And so I want to give a little brag sheet here on you and why people that I, in my opinion, would find this to be fascinating because all of us typically as adults have insurance in one form or the other. And many of us don't know what the heck our coverage is, why it's important, when is it appropriate to shop for new coverage in my line of work as a realtor.
00:03:21
Speaker
this conversation comes up and people, really it's like an afterthought. It's like, oh my goodness, the lender's asking for insurance for the home and they don't know a lot about it. And so I think there's a lot of things that I have questions for that just the average consumer should know. And then if you're entering into a real estate transaction as a buyer or a seller, it'd be interesting.
00:03:42
Speaker
And furthermore, even if you just have it and you haven't shopped it lately, it's something, you know, it's something to consider. So with your experience, so you've been in the business for 16 years now and your first, what, 13 years of that. So the majority of that was in claims. Yeah. And so you got to see firsthand the other side of the store. So you weren't in sales in the agency side forever. You got it. You got it. Yeah. Claims was a was an interesting experience.
00:04:11
Speaker
You're living in someone's worst time of their life, right? They got in an auto accident, their house caught on fire, right? So it's very scary, but it was very rewarding for me to, this is why we pay for insurance. No one ever gets to see what they're doing, what it's worth, right? And that's where you get the show, like, okay, let's fulfill our promise to help people go back to where they were.
00:04:36
Speaker
There you go. Claims is challenging. I get to hear, even I, who has nothing to do with the insurance business, gets calls when people have horrible claims situations and it's not fun. It's not a good time. It's also the worst time to figure out you don't have the right insurance or enough protection
00:04:54
Speaker
That's not the time to figure that out. No, that, you know, and that's part of the reason we won't go too far into it right now, but that's part of the reason why this is so important to me is to help someone make the right decisions so they can sleep at night knowing that they're not going to remember everything that we talked about, but they're going to know that I talked to Jeff and we really thought about these things and we put a policy in place that makes sense.
00:05:14
Speaker
Right. Because I used to see when the policy didn't make sense and that's not when you want to know.
Understanding Insurance Policies
00:05:21
Speaker
Right. Correct. Yeah. And I mean, quite frankly, the reason why you're involved in my business now is because it's a piece of the puzzle that I think I have an opportunity to bring up. It's an appropriate time for people to reflect on this.
00:05:34
Speaker
And I want to be proactive in helping people. And I will be the first to admit I had previously not been proactive in suggesting that people review their policies when they're buying or selling their home. I had enough other things on my plate. And now that I have help, I have leverage, I have systems, I want to include this more formally. And so that's really one of the reasons why you're here is because as I talk to you, I want to learn too. Yeah.
00:06:00
Speaker
Absolutely. And I enjoy like teaching and helping people understand because insurance is a contract and it's really confusing. But when you break it down on what these things actually like what these coverages mean, how does it help you? People are like, wow, I feel like I could sell insurance now or I can talk about insurance. Right. And it's fun. It's nice to see that at the end of the call that people are like, wow, this is great. Thank you.
00:06:23
Speaker
Well, and I just loved your honesty in the car ride over. You were just describing that. How in the world do I make this palatable, like on social media? It's like it's insurance. Like it's one of the driest subject matters. It's tough. Like what's Aflac do? They put a duck out there. It's like, what can we do to spice it up a little bit? And it is like they that's needed, I think, to make it fun and engaging.
00:06:46
Speaker
When you mix that fun with let's play with our coverages, that's when it starts to get scary, right? It's it's not really a joke, right? Like it's it's important to have them set up right. So the ducks and the different commercials are good. Yeah. You know, lizards, all the things. And I try to make social media fun, too. And.
00:07:03
Speaker
Well, you know, it's insurance, right? It's insurance. But it's something's working, though. And to finish here, the brag sheet, if you will. But you are a top producer within Goosehead. You're in the top 1% throughout the state, top 10% throughout the country. You have three little kids. I thought that was interesting to learn. Our kids are roughly the exact same age. They are. Your oldest is the age of Sir Charles here, right? Seven. So you got a seven-year-old and a four-year-old and a one-year-old. And a one-year. I mean, they're almost parallel. I have a seven, five, and two.
00:07:32
Speaker
We are in the throes of it. It's an interesting time. You're just talking about GI bugs and all the rest of it. So you and I are in the same same hustle at the moment. Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting. That's for sure. Yeah. So all right. Let's get into it. So I had a slew of questions here. So the first thing that I'd like to know is what exactly do you with goosehead? What do you sell? I want to frame basically our conversation around what what it is that you can offer people.
00:07:59
Speaker
Right, so our primary focus is helping the new home buyer, right, place them with the right insurance company. We do help with auto, umbrella, landlord policies for investment properties, renters insurance if you don't own a home yet. You know, we'll do specialty like boat, flood. There's a ton of different insurances out there and having the capability and the reach to have many different carriers is very important.
00:08:27
Speaker
So, but yeah, our primary focus, we don't go to auto dealers or things like that. We want to help that new home buyer. Doesn't mean that we won't. We absolutely will help others, but we find that that's a great spot to educate, to help and help them shop because a lot of people are on their parents policy maybe, right? They're not aware that they're supposed to move their auto in with where they parked their car now. So it's an interesting initial start to that.
00:08:52
Speaker
Got it. And so a guy in in your position in agency, I just fundamentally like, how do you make money? So do I pay someone like you if directly if I go and I want to shop my service or do because is that because I just how do I how do you fit into the to the puzzle? Yeah, that's that's a great question. Coming up, before I even started into this industry, I used to think a broker would cost money. Right. It's like a middle man.
00:09:17
Speaker
In Maryland, there is no fee for what I do. I do not charge any fee for what I do. Whatever carry we find seems to be the best one, the best price, the best coverage, they give me a very small commission. A lot of my clients think, okay, Jeff, what do I owe you now? This wasn't free. I was like, yeah, it is. There's something like a very small placement commission that happens. Got it. So basically, it's a volume play. So you're not getting rich with a singular client.
00:09:42
Speaker
No, it's a very long process. I like to refer to it as a snowball, right? It takes time. And we want to build relationships. We do not want to just say, hey, here we are, here's your price, enjoy. And then when the rate goes up, you're not gonna remember, Jeff, you're gonna go and remember the GEICO commercial or the State Farm commercial, but I wanna build a relationship with my clients to help them keep the same great coverage and move different carriers when the time's right.
00:10:12
Speaker
Well that that's good so you know before you can get further in like when i was thinking about what questions do i want to ask you and someone in your role. The first thing top to my maybe it's topical it's i want to know about climate change because all i hear from clients and when i renew my own insurance the rates are going in one direction and it's fast.
00:10:33
Speaker
So rates are going up and everyone's like, oh, climate change claims are out of control. Everything's more expensive. Rates are 20, 30, 40 percent higher.
Challenges in the Insurance Industry
00:10:41
Speaker
And so is this something that's real or is this in the news? Explain that to me. Yeah. So right now we have, you know, we keep hearing about inflation, right? The cost of labor and materials going up. And it's a real thing in the insurance industry because the insurers, the insurance company is paying more to fix a car now than they were two, three, four years ago.
00:11:03
Speaker
Same thing with your homes, right? It's going to cost more to fix that home. The material is going to cost more. So the carriers are paying out a lot more. A great example for me was, you know, I bought a car in 2019, brand new. We'll just call it $20,000. I sold it this year for $26,000.
00:11:20
Speaker
So every insurance company was not banking on cars being more expensive in the used car market, but they are going in the wrong direction. So they're paying more for those claims. So what does that happen? What happens there? Insurance is a shared expense. So even if I don't have a ticket or a claim, if the carrier is paying out more, your rate is going to change. And it can be different for different people depending on where you land on that insurance score continuum.
00:11:50
Speaker
Right. Interesting. So what is typical that should the average person expect? Should I expect five percent, 10 percent? Like what is normal and what is excessive in general? If you had to speak in general. Generally, I'd say it is, you know, five percent, four to five percent is probably the area that I would say is within norm. I've never seen less than 10 percent ever, ever in any of my and I own a lot of properties. And so I have a lot of these policies.
00:12:17
Speaker
It's outrageous. That was the norm. And now we are seeing 10, 20, 30 percent increases depending on the carrier. And, you know, everyone is going up right now. Every insurance company is going up, but different carriers are moving at a different rate of speed. So some carriers are playing some catch up.
00:12:35
Speaker
other carriers are moving up, but just not as much. And you just want to make sure you're not with that carrier that jumped up, you know, astronomically. And so what I hear is I've been with all state or I've been with progressive or I've been with my ex-company State Farm for 30 years. That's my company, you know, and they don't some of my clients won't even want to have a conversation because they're loyal. Sure. And how often do you see that benefit the consumer or how often is that bite them when you hear something like this?
00:13:04
Speaker
So yeah, there is really a break even there. I believe that if you stick with a carrier between three and five years, it's a good thing. It can be a good thing. It's not an every year thing. It could be I shop every two or three years. That's fine because you have an insurance score and the next carrier does look at how long you've been with your last carrier. But there is a breaking point where, OK, you've hit five years. That's as much loyalty as we're going to give you a credit for the difference between me at 15 years or 20 years versus someone else at five.
00:13:31
Speaker
There really isn't much. There really isn't much. Now, you don't want to be the person that's moving every six months or one year. You don't want to be that person that's moving around a lot because that's easily seen by the carriers as, hey, they're loyal. So you're telling me there's a score. So Matt Ryan has an insurance score. If I went to you and just shopped with you, you could look me up and see all the details, all the dirty details. Yep, absolutely. So everyone has an insurance score. And depending on where you fall, even with your existing carrier,
00:14:00
Speaker
your rates could be if their carrier says it's gonna be between five and 30%. If you're on the higher end of the insurance score, you might be 30%. If you're on the lower, like the better, you might be 5%. You mean the increase per year. Exactly, exactly. And shopping it around, same thing. You get a score based on, you know, how old are you, right? Your tickets, your accidents, how long have you been with your prior carrier? What are your prior rates? They are your coverages. So your limits, like- They can check that. They look at that, yes. You know what I have if I- Correct. Interesting.
00:14:30
Speaker
the insurance company wants to know what rates you had previously. And right now, sometimes the carriers, if you have state minimal limits, they won't let me place the business there right now. They just, they can pick and choose right now. They're being very picky. So interesting. Yeah. And, and a thing that was, blew my mind when we were talking briefly was that my, my credit score
00:14:51
Speaker
Where and when can that impact my insurability or my rate? Yeah. So in Maryland, there is no credit-based rating for home insurance. For home insurance. For home insurance. Now on auto insurance, that's a different story. And it is a soft pull. So I work with a lot of people that are buying new homes. We don't want to affect any kind of credit or anything like that. So that's the first thing I'll say is it does not hurt that. Okay.
00:15:12
Speaker
But they do look at where the credit is. Where is your credit? And it is just looking back at like ability to pay. So credit can actually absolutely impact that and the other factors that we mentioned a bit ago. Now, why does credit impact my auto score?
00:15:28
Speaker
I think it's the ability to pay, right? And the, how much can we, how, what is our ability to pay and that it's going to be coming in on time and not necessarily maybe not or late, right? It may happen later or, so they're just looking for that person that's there every time paying it and that there isn't any credit issues or, you know, things like that.
00:15:52
Speaker
And what would you recommend to a family member in terms of coverages? What is the correct amount or minimal amount that you see appropriate? Is the state minimum acceptable to you? It's just not. It really isn't. You know, state minimal limits are 30,000, 60,000, 15,000. And just in plain English, what that means is 30,000 for any one person's injuries, treatment, lost wages, 60,000 for the entire car, right? So however many people are in that car, and 15,000 for the actual car.
00:16:21
Speaker
Now, if you own a home, those limits should be up there, right? The higher we set those limits, the more protection to our house that we own is there, right? So 250,000, 500,000, 100,000 is my common limit that I put at. And then if their house is worth more than 250,000, I recommend an umbrella policy, which would be 1,250,000.
Exploring Umbrella Insurance
00:16:43
Speaker
And I'm going to get into umbrella because I can't believe how many people have no idea what that is. It's I bring it up and they go, what is that? They hear about it, but they don't know really what it is. And they think it's for only the extremely uber rich people. Right. And that's not not the case. So an umbrella policy typically costs about 20. I'm going to ask you what this is after he gives the definition. I want you to chime in and repeat exactly what it is in your own words. OK, but what?
00:17:07
Speaker
This next thing? The umbrella insurance, okay? You ready? All right. Okay, so you can explain it to Charlie, a seven-year-old, you passed this test. Now I'm really thinking about this. All right, so picture an umbrella that goes over top of your car and your home. That umbrella is shielding those items from a lawsuit from someone coming after you. All right, so if you hit someone and you hurt someone in an auto accident, or someone slips down your steps because the railing's loose,
00:17:35
Speaker
That is providing an extra one million dollars of lawsuit protection. So if an attorney comes after me, I have a million dollars in excess of whatever the base policy has, which typically is 250,000 for auto, 500,000 for their home. What do you think? Go ahead, Charlie. Explain that to us.
00:18:02
Speaker
We'll start with it's an umbrella. What do you think the umbrella is for? I see the wheels wheels going in that brand of yours.
00:18:18
Speaker
I'll do my best. My best is it's just an extra policy. It's an extra way to protect yourself above your normal policy. So if you have a really bad accident or booboo, someone else is going to cover you so you don't get, you don't basically spend all your money defending yourself for getting in trouble.
00:18:39
Speaker
I don't know if that helps. So it turns out insurance might be above second grade. So maybe I'll bring it back in two years.
00:18:49
Speaker
But the way it was described to me years ago was that if you're out on a golf course and you swing and hit a golf ball and you hit somebody in the head because I'm horrible at golf and there are three holes over and I still hit them in the head, that it could protect me even then. It carries me beyond the home in which I have insurance. Is that accurate? It's the excess. So your home would already cover that. Like your home liability coverage already is gonna protect you for that.
00:19:17
Speaker
But I don't think people even understand that yet. And that is like, wait a second. How does that happen? It's liability insurance. Yeah. And that's just lawsuit protection is what I call it. It's the easiest form to understand is like, why would home insurance protect me in the event I'm on the golf course and I hit somebody?
00:19:35
Speaker
Well, it does travel with you. We've seen it in schools with kids. We've seen it on the golf course. We've seen it with dead trees in people's homes coming through the neighbor's house. But why would it travel with you? Well, I think the biggest thing is that
00:19:52
Speaker
The definition of what it is is, you know, injury to others, harm to others. And I've actually settled some claims for, and I wouldn't say that it was hitting someone with a golf ball, but it would be hitting someone's house with a golf ball. Interesting. And the big thing is that, and I'll back up here, is you have to be responsible. You have to be negligent in order for them to actually pay out that claim.
00:20:18
Speaker
Best example, if you have a healthy tree on your property in a flattened neighbor's house due to a windstorm, it's not liability coverage. There's no negligence there. But if that tree's dead and the neighbor came over and gave you a letter that said that tree is dead and you didn't do anything,
00:20:34
Speaker
That's negligence. So, so I guess in a golf scenario, I've also I've seen people flip golf carts. And so that's an interesting one as well. Yeah. So I guess one way to think about it the way you described it is it protects you. And and I guess the reason many lenders required is because they do not want the person owning their asset to get in a liability lawsuit where it then could take their assets at the home. Correct.
00:21:00
Speaker
And so they most likely require it for that reason because I don't need you doing something foolish in your car or anywhere else. And then they take my asset that is leveraged in this mortgage. And people ask me a lot, why does my auto insurance have anything to do with my home? Well, now that you're buying this house, you have this asset before you didn't have that asset. So you probably ran minimal limits.
00:21:21
Speaker
We can bump these up and it's not expensive. It's not super expensive. People don't realize that they say, Jeff, why did I do that before? I said, I don't know. We can we can make an adjustment here. And again, that limit is going to help them when they go to move, you know, and just to have you ever heard of Hulk Hogan? Charlie, remember Hulk Hogan?
00:21:39
Speaker
He's a wrestler. He's really famous. He used to be very popular back in the day. And this is a story about umbrella insurance related to him. Supposedly, he got in a bitter lawsuit. Something happened recently, a couple of years ago, and they sued him for several million dollars and cleaned this guy out. And for someone in his income bracket, he should have had the correct umbrella in policy that would have covered him.
00:22:01
Speaker
He did not have any of it, and he ended up paying millions of dollars additional out of pocket. That's what I was told by someone else. Lord knows it's all wrong, but that's what I was told. And so there's other coverages for like libel, slander, defamation of character, wrongful eviction. Like those things are a thing, too. You write a bad Yelp review. Oh, really? And a company loses money from your Yelp review that was maybe incorrectly stated. That's an issue. That's that is a claim. Wow. And that's crazy. Really?
00:22:29
Speaker
So what does this cost? So if I don't have umbrella insurance, I don't even know, didn't know what it was until we tried to explain it to a seven year old here. Sure. How much is it and what are the minimum requirements I have to have to be eligible to get it? Twenty five bucks a month for umbrella insurance was in most of the time. Twenty five thirty thirty five to get around a million dollars. A million dollars of coverage.
00:22:48
Speaker
And it goes up, you can go million, two million, three million. Yeah, you can go up there. And you have to have a set base limit in order to qualify. Because otherwise, people would just go with the state minimal limits and slap a cheap umbrella on there and just call it a day. And so the minimal limits really is 250,000 per person, 500,000 for the entire accident, and then I do 100,000 for their car. So that's auto. Home, it's typically 300,000 in liability protection.
00:23:13
Speaker
The interesting thing between 300 and 500,000 in liability on your home is typically about 10 bucks a year. So when I go over that with people, they're like, why not? Let's do it, yeah. Why not? $1.5 million total in coverage. Sure. Makes sense. Sure. Well, I even did the two million on Umbrella because the difference was like $10 a month or $8 a month. I just said, I don't know. I hope I never use it. Sure. But in the event I really need it, it's peace of mind. Yeah. You know, it's peace of mind. And the other thing is people ask me, well, how much do I need?
00:23:41
Speaker
Well, we need to learn about what your assets are. Right. So like what makes sense to you won't make sense to the next person. What your parents have on their policy may not make sense to what you need on your policies. And that's why it's important to go with someone to talk to someone about these coverages and let them explain to them like what they are. So how often should someone be shopping for insurance?
00:24:01
Speaker
I would say every two to three years is what I tell. So at the end of my phone calls with people, I say, remember, we have 30 carriers. This is the best carrier right now. If the rates go up, give me a call and we'll check the other 29 carriers with the same coverage and make sure we've got you in the right spot. If you're at the best spot, awesome. We'll keep you there. Maybe we'll dial some things around in your current carrier. If not, we'll move you around.
00:24:24
Speaker
But we should be with them at least, you know, two to three years. Typically, that doesn't mean we can't move every year. We just want to be thoughtful about because going back to that insurance score, it could hurt you moving around more than just staying an extra year paying, you know, paying that extra ten, twenty dollars a month and then shopping the next year and getting a much better savings. So the risk I have if I'm in a state farm, I'm with Erie. If I'm with one of these companies, it's more challenging to shop because they have one option to sell me. Sure. So you've got your captives.
00:24:52
Speaker
like an all-state or a state farm. And those, well, I won't say all-state anymore, we have all-state now, so they're not a captive anymore. But state farm is a good example of a captive and guide code. They only sell that one brand. As an independent agent, I have 30 different carriers, like progressive and all-state and nationwide travelers, so we can shop it around. So it's important to look elsewhere and to make sure you're with the best spot. And look, if I look at your things and we go over everything and I don't have anything better, I'll let you know that, but I'll give you some suggestions on your existing policy that won't break the bank.
00:25:21
Speaker
And that way, next time we talk, we will find a better option. And a question I have some of my parents out there who have teenage age drivers, should they be allowed to be or not allowed, but should is it a best practice to have them added to the parents policy or do they pay extra right and have their own policy? They should be added to the parents policy because if you think about 16, 17 right away. Absolutely. And here's the reason why they're benefiting from all of the discounts that the parents have.
00:25:50
Speaker
They own a house. They're married. They've been insured for X amount of years. So they're benefiting with that as long as possible. So but the important thing is make sure you're with the right carrier. I have a carrier right now that if you have five cars on your policy, you can just symbolize which one the person the teenage driver drives and then the rest are not there or there's a discount for that. So it's a higher deductible if they get an accident with those other cars.
00:26:12
Speaker
And it helps them save. And then it also has an app for them so you can see how they're doing, you know, that type of thing. And they get rewards like five dollars in Amazon for doing a good job. Right. This is all around teen driving. And that's one particular carrier that we have out of the 30 that does want something like that. Right.
00:26:27
Speaker
So it's very important. Interesting. And I'll be I did not know a broker in your line of work existed because my family has always had an agency like a state foreign. We've always had Erie. We've always had someone that was a singular entity.
00:26:43
Speaker
Yeah, and so I really wasn't aware of what you could offer folks and I think that is something I can't be the only one that didn't know this and I think it's something that we should get out there that you should be shopping that many people like what percentage of people that you speak to after you do your homework you go I could offer you better or equivalent coverages for less.
00:27:04
Speaker
And be honest, this isn't a sales pitch item. What do you think the real number is, percentage-wise? It's at least 80% of the people that I talk to, at least 80% of the people. And sometimes, here's what I normally do, I set it up like I'd recommend for myself or my friends or family in similar situation, and sometimes,
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, I say, look, this is where we're at, but that doesn't mean we can't adjust these down. So as we go, here's our price and right. We'll set the price and it's right. It might be right where they are. I'm so we can get down a thousand fifteen hundred dollars better than where you are. But let's go through these things first and I'll make sure you're comfortable with where that is. All right.
00:27:36
Speaker
A lot of times they'll say, I'd rather have the coverage. I feel more protected now, which means a lot. So it's really a balance. Finding out what coverage moves the needle and which other ones don't and making sure you're adjusting those and understanding what that actually means.
00:27:52
Speaker
You know, and so a question I have for my first time home buyers, because, you know, you're going to be added into this. I'm going to try to send some of these people to you to talk to directly. But how do I help explain to someone who's never owned a home before the basics about why? Because I can tell you when they've never had to get insurance for their home. They're getting questions. They go, what is this? How much is it? So what is they don't even know what a rough estimate could be for, let's say, your starter home.
00:28:22
Speaker
Let's say you're three to four or five hundred thousand dollar home in that range. What's a typical in Baltimore County, let's say, in the middle of the state of Maryland? Like, what's a give a give or take amount? I would say, but I'll give a little range between twelve and sixteen hundred dollars a year. OK, that's probably around one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars a month. Sure. Yeah, I think that's that's the best. Another thing to think about is we are well below the national average for home insurance.
00:28:47
Speaker
Even though they're going up, we are still well below. And you've got to think about places like Florida and Texas and how expensive. I just had a Florida claim or Florida home $18,000 for their home insurance in Florida. Is it true that some of these private companies are getting out of the business? So if it's near water, if it's in certain states, they're just packing up and rolling, right? Because the losses are too great. The losses are great and they can't adjust the rate at the speed that they need to because of the regulations within those states.
00:29:16
Speaker
So it's not a profitable business for them. This past year or two, not a profitable business. They're paying more for claims than what they're... Because think about it. And that's why a lot of companies ask, how old is your roof? Well, wind is covered and a roof is very expensive. So if you have a windstorm and you just charge someone $1,200 and now you're replacing a roof for 30 grand,
00:29:38
Speaker
Does that make sense from a business perspective? No. That's why they want to know how old the roofs are. Well, I mean, let me tell you, that's the next question I had because I have seen a huge change in the last couple of years from what you darn insurance companies are asking of me. And they're demanding. I mean, it's like a full physical. It's just they want to know all these details. I'm telling you, 10 years ago, they didn't ask a single question. If they did, it was like a casual. Do you happen to know if not? I don't know.
00:30:07
Speaker
And now they want to know details. I'm talking how old the hot water heater, you know, just a little teeny details. They want to know what's the make and model of the dishwasher. I've got that the other day. So is this typical? Is this what I should expect? Are some worse than others? It's it's the involvement of underwriting and making sure that they are accepting a good risk, as they call it. OK, so they're just what they just want to know.
00:30:32
Speaker
they just want to know, you know, what are the main things that can cause a loss, right? A claim. And they want to make sure that it's all a game of statistics, right? How old's the roof? How old's the plumbing? How old's the electrical? The HVAC. All of these things cause claims, right? Wind on the roof, pipe break, resulting water damage, right? That's covered from insurance, electric, fire. And so like, those are the things, that's why they're just trying to calculate what that, do you have a pellet stove?
00:31:01
Speaker
Right. If someone touches that, that's a burn. But so a fire. But that still doesn't to me answer like why do some of them ask all of the questions and others don't ask anything or do they ask it and either not ask that my clients aren't asking me. It may be the agent. So it's a good agent is going to go through these things and make sure that it makes sense because if if you don't.
00:31:22
Speaker
And there's a claim and something is not what it like. If we're saying there's no knob and tube electrical in the home and there is and they know it, that's a problem. Right. Or if there's plumbing that leaks. Do you run the risk of your license if you start issuing claims and saying everything's perfect and you have a high percentage of claim history? Yeah. Could it affect you as I could lose my appointments with the with the broker or with the with the carrier?
00:31:46
Speaker
So, you know, we ask the questions and we get the information and we can tip, but we're only as good as the information that's coming in. Right. So we want to be as within the guidelines as possible and and making sure we're putting homes where they should be. And there's certain carriers that just they have certain things that they don't love, like log cabins.
00:32:06
Speaker
Right. That's a tough one. A home close to the to the shore. Certain carriers. That's why it's so important to have a mix of 30 so you can make sure you're at the right carrier, the right price. Well, I can tell you my house here in Lutherville, it's built in 1950 or I'm sorry, 1850.
00:32:22
Speaker
And no one wanted to touch my house. They said, oh, it's built before nineteen hundred. That's a strong pass. And I had some that had insurance. I think my highest insurance offer was eight thousand dollars a year. And my lowest was like four thousand. I mean, it's it was expensive coming from a smaller, standard house. Yeah.
00:32:42
Speaker
to what I have now is like, oh, my Lord, like it can be wild because, you know, older homes have older material. You could have a slate roof. You could have cast iron piping in there. They didn't like that we were all we were just a totally wooden home inside and out. OK. And they said that thing burns. Maybe it's going to burn. Yeah. Yes. Yes, it can be. But a lot of our homes in the city are around 1900. And we're we're pretty good with those. And most of our carriers will take take risks that old. But there are some that are like it can't be older than 100 years.
00:33:11
Speaker
And you just have to know which because let's just think about why do we do this to is I don't want to play someone with a with a company that in 60 days there's an inspection and then they say, sorry, you can't go here. And then we have to start all over again. I don't want to do that. And I tell people that I was like, that doesn't make sense. We don't want to do that because it's right. It's going to happen. How many people are going to experience a reinspection? Because I can tell you I didn't. That was so rare previously where we we buy the home. I helped someone buy it.
00:33:39
Speaker
And a month later, I get a call that says, do you know someone from the insurance company showed up today knocking on my door, knocking on my door, wanting to look around, want to see my roof? And then potentially they either change the coverage type or they'll say, we're not going to insure you at all. And now they have to shop.
00:33:55
Speaker
Exactly. Is that common or is that something people should be aware of? It didn't used to be as common as it is now because they're being so focused on these things to make sure that it's priced appropriately. If you've added a sunroom, but it wasn't permitted, right, it doesn't have a permit, it's not on the square footage. So we're making a home smaller, smaller than it actually is. So the rebuild has to be corrected. If you have a dead tree leaning over your house, that that can impact it as well. So it is going to be more common. I would say that it used to be one in every 10.
00:34:25
Speaker
Would have an inspection and now it's more 50 you know 50-50 five out of ten and just yesterday I said I got a text from someone Jeff There's someone outside of my tenants home with a with a pole and a camera looking at the roof Is this they said they're from you know, whatever insurance company was and I said, yeah, that's that's an inspection. I do tell them 60 days is typically how long they have to inspect the home after 60 days. It's typically you're good the risk, you know, everything's written
00:34:50
Speaker
But worst case scenario, let's say they're a little screwy. You can still find another carrier. Absolutely. It's not the end of the world. Now, we can we can always move it to a different carrier if it doesn't if it doesn't make you know, if we have to move. Sure. It may be that the carrier says, hey, you have a brick that's missing or I had one recently, the shingle was starting to curl and like they just wanted a roofer to come out, inspect, fix anything that was there and we're good. Right. Roofer went out, did the report.
00:35:16
Speaker
fixed a few things, estimated life expectancy, 10 more years. That's all they wanted. That's all they wanted. They just wanted to make sure that everything was good. So you just want to be on the up and up. So let's go on to, as a landlord, explain to me what coverage I need as a landlord and how is that different than the traditional homeowner.
Landlord Insurance Essentials
00:35:33
Speaker
I get this a lot. So a lot of people that I talk to, I say, hey, you're a first time homeowner. I say, no. So what are you doing with your current home? Are you selling it? Oh, we're going to rent it.
00:35:42
Speaker
OK, you make sure you're setting up a landlord policy. What's that? We were just going to leave it how it is. Well, you don't want to just leave it how it is because you're leaving yourself to exposure because you're no longer living there. You don't want the tenants that are now living there taking advantage of your coverages. So a landlord policy protects the home, more or less the home.
00:36:01
Speaker
There's a little bit of contents. You know, you have your washer, dryer, refrigerator, not as much. Right. So you can adjust that. And it's just the right coverage that should be there. And it's OK to switch to a landlord policy. Is it cheaper or more expensive? It it's it's actually recently I've seen them less expensive. So landlord has been a little bit less expensive. It depends on the carrier and the home and the size and that type of thing. A little bit less.
00:36:24
Speaker
sometimes it'll seem $200 more a year. But at the end of the day, the biggest thing is put a landlord policy in place, it's the right policy, and get renters coverage for the people that are in there. They should have renters insurance because that's another layer of protection before it gets to your policy. Explain that to people and what that typically costs and what's it cover. Yeah, so I just was reading something today, it's interesting. So we had a carrier, someone said, hey, I want a renter's policy. Their auto insurance went down $400 every six months.
00:36:52
Speaker
just for adding a $15 a month renters policy. So what it's covering is gonna be as a renter, my things and then injuries on the property is probably the two biggest thing. And loss of use, like if there's a fire and I need to live somewhere else for and have a temporary stay while I look for another place, there's that.
00:37:11
Speaker
OK, the landlord policy actually has loss of rental income on it so that when that goes down and you don't have that rental income, you're able to be paid out for what that is instead of having to pay another mortgage. So well, I can see a lot of a lot of landlords require the ones that are smart, but not often do they verify or double check or in year two.
00:37:32
Speaker
It just disappears, it falls off. And then if magically something happens to the home, they realize they have no coverage. And many of these tenants then go, well, you need to put me in a hotel for the next three weeks while this thing gets fixed. And they go, no, no, no, you need insurance. Part of the contract, right? Sometimes it's in the- And then, but it's still a fight. Sure. And so I try to explain this to people that are landlords. You need to continuously ensure it's in place, in force,
00:38:00
Speaker
Because otherwise, it's just once a year, but double check. It's happened to me. Absolutely. It falls off and tenants are like, I don't want to pay that. It could be $10 a month. They still cancel it.
00:38:10
Speaker
I know it can happen. It can, I wish there was a way to let you know that it's been canceled. There is, is there not? Yeah, so there's- I get those in the mail. Yeah, so sometimes they'll put in the lease agreement that the owner of the property needs to be listed as- An additional furniture. And then that way you're aware when the policy's been canceled.
00:38:31
Speaker
So that's a best practice for all my landlords out there. Make sure you or your business, your LLC, is listed as an additional insured in the policy. Additional interest. Yeah. And then you'll be notified if they cancel. They don't renew.
00:38:46
Speaker
And then you can be all over. Absolutely. And you just keep an eye on it. And at the end of the day, they should be like it's almost like between the extra cost that you have and the savings on the auto, it's next to nothing. Yeah. And most of your auto carriers will do it, you know, progressive and most all carriers do it with with the auto. So you can do a renter.
00:39:03
Speaker
In every mortgage company is gonna demand that they're listed in that same fashion, correct? Absolutely, yes. So that's what we do all day, right? They have a financial interest in the home and that's why the mortgage gets paid by the escrow account every year because that bank wants to make sure that it's paid every year, that their investment, I guess, is insured.
00:39:25
Speaker
Right. So he's describing that your homeowners insurance is going to be collected out of the escrow. So if you have a mortgage, they're going to they're going to put a portion of that mortgage payment into a pot. You hear that?
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah. He's like zoning out. I mean, this is rough for him. But your mortgage insurance is going to be paid from that, or shall I say your homeowner's insurance. Mortgage insurance is very different. Sure. That's when you have less than 20% into the home. So your equity position is less. But your home insurance is going to be paid just to protect the lender.
00:39:58
Speaker
So they want to know if you ever cancel it, if something happens or if they cancel you and now you don't have insurance, their asset, they want to protect it. Absolutely. It's not out of the kindness of their heart to help you. It's really to protect themselves. Absolutely. And that's what we get over to the lender for them so that there's no lay work for the client. That goes right over to the lender. We work very closely with them to get them the documents. And I will say the most important thing that I see between year one and year two is that mortgage gets sold.
00:40:25
Speaker
No one tells us. Yeah. So the second year when we go to send the bill out, it goes to the old lender. It may not get paid. So I tell everyone at the end of the call, it's probably going to, that's probably going to happen. Snap a picture, text it to me. We'll get the information updated so it's in the right area and you're good next year.
00:40:40
Speaker
I mean, I mean, this is the essence of why I wanted to bring you in because a lot of these topics, all these questions are just things that people don't really take the time to think about. It's just something you have. I don't necessarily think about it that often. And then all we do is complain when we get the notice that it went up. That's pretty much my level of involvement. Absolutely.
00:40:58
Speaker
unless you actually have an accident and you realize, oh my God. But it's something to think about. I like giving my business to someone that's local, someone that I know. That's my preference in life, in all aspects of life. I agree. And so I like the fact that you're local, you're here in Hunt Valley, and someone can get ahold of you. You have a cell phone number, you answer your phone. God bless you. Text me.
00:41:21
Speaker
So there's such an advantage for that, and it's one of the reasons why I think people like a state farmer in Erie, because you get an agent. Local agent, yeah. It's a little bit like the old days. I like, you said it, and my agency, I really enjoy it because I'm small, I'm local, but we have the ability that if Jeff's on the call, and it's an hour call with someone just going through things, they know not necessarily to call me, they can chat online, they can hit a button, and then my team will call after hours at seven, eight o'clock at night.
00:41:50
Speaker
Or they can call traditionally on the phone and they're there, you know, within minutes to talk to them. And there's not a lot of smaller companies that can do that, which is really cool about where we're at, where we're positioned. So now having started the business, you have the business headaches that all business owners have. We each have children and sometimes, Charlie, like he'll go somewhere and say, what do you want to do? Like, what do you tell people when you grow up? What do you want to do? Like, what job do I want to have?
00:42:20
Speaker
Yeah. I want to be a scientist. What was it last week? Last week he said he wanted to do what I do, which was my question for you because I thought that was interesting because it's a gut check. We're in the line of work where you've been doing it for years and years and years
00:42:42
Speaker
Would you honestly let your children follow suit and get into your line of work if they have the desire later? Like if they say, dad, I'm thinking about doing your job. What would you honestly say?
00:42:53
Speaker
I would want to make sure that that's something they're really interested in. I think that's the most important thing because my drive and where I'm, it comes from a different place than I am, what my dad did, right? I didn't, I didn't go that route. So what's your dad do? So he, he, um, he's been in the HVAC industry, um, commercial and running duck work and commercial projects, male model or something.
00:43:15
Speaker
No, but I got it. I have a very high appreciation for everything that he has done and that and anyone that works with their hands has done because we need that. And it is very technical. And now he designs. He's still working. He could be retired, but now he designs the duck work and quotes it out and does use the CAD system and all that. And it's awesome. But I got to see what that was all about.
00:43:36
Speaker
And, you know, that wasn't for me. And maybe it's not for them. I have three kids, so maybe we'll get lucky. I don't know. But I think the first thing is to understand that why I'm so passionate about what I do is because I've been through and seen so much like living for 13 years, seeing homes demolished and cars wrecked and then seeing the coverage that wasn't there, but could have been. And so that's why I'm I'm a little different than just your average salesperson. I don't want to sell anything. I just want to explain what those things are.
00:44:06
Speaker
Well, and the line of work that you're in, this is a slow burn because policies, it's not like I've interviewed people that do whole life insurance. That's a different type of insurance and depending on the level of policy, if you sell a multi-million dollar whole life policy, you can get paid 10, 20 grand up right away.
00:44:25
Speaker
These are big commission dollars right away. Your line of work is not like that. It's incremental, it's volume, and you have to get people to renew year after year, have to take care of them. And in 10 or 20 years, the fruit of your labor
00:44:42
Speaker
That's when you can do well in your business. Absolutely. And it is a very small piece every single time to the puzzle that's slowly being put together. But at the end of the day, I want to build a connection with every single client. I probably at this point have 600, 700 clients.
00:45:00
Speaker
And when they call me about reshopping, I can remember certain things that I don't know why, and it really is just because I'm connecting with people and talking
Building Client Relationships in Insurance
00:45:08
Speaker
to them. And that's why they're coming back to talk to me. And that's the goal, is that they could go anywhere. There's an insurance company, five of them on my old block where I was with my original. And it's just about how do you differentiate yourself?
00:45:22
Speaker
and especially the social media piece and I do a lot of it and insurance isn't fun and exciting, but it is something and that's the best way that I can show what I do and how I help is just getting out there and trying to put myself out there. It's a tough industry for sure. For sure. That it is and it's one of those industries that's somewhat thankless and it's just like, oh, I got to pay for that. I don't want this.
00:45:45
Speaker
And no, I mean, it's just it is what it is. I always say that people want a house. They don't really want a realtor. And so they try to get to the house and they find out they can't get into the house without me or someone like me. And it's like then you it's like an awkward way to sometimes have to build yourself into the equation. And it's kind of hearing what you're hearing. It's you're a necessity and you have to add enough value and enough personality to it to to merit them remembering you and using you specifically.
00:46:12
Speaker
and have the ability to because people are in these days are just not like it used to be with loyalty. They want their options. You go on Amazon, you figure out 15 different things are the same thing you want. And then you make that decision. And I want to work with people for the long run. So why can't I be the person that moves them around and moves them and helps them throughout that process?
00:46:30
Speaker
I mean, have you paid any attention? I know certainly a lot of brokerages have, real estate brokerages, when the easy button's gonna be hit where it's bundled together, you have your policy, you have your home, they're gonna try to displace real estate agents one day, these are facts.
00:46:45
Speaker
where they can click a button. You want that house on 123 Main Street, here's the button to click it. It's bundled with your mortgage, your title, your insurance. It's like a one button done. And I'm imagining that's coming for you too. Is that in the space already? I think that there are plenty of carriers that have gone down that route and figured that
00:47:06
Speaker
the value of an independent agent and advisor is better than that. So we have a lot of demo tech, ensure tech companies that their goal was direct to consumer. It didn't work at all. So now all of them allow us to use their products to quote and help clients.
00:47:23
Speaker
We have clients here that want to shop. So they don't really want you included, but sometimes they're forced to work with you. Exactly. And the other thing is this is like the whole AI topic. It's absolutely right there for insurance. And the way that I look at it is it's like a calculator, right? When that came, it was like, oh, that's cheating. You know, you got a calculator.
00:47:41
Speaker
It's just a tool, you know, it's just going to be a tool right now. And I think we need to lean into it for what what I do and try to leverage it the best way that we can. But it's there's no stopping it. It's going to happen. But again, what scares me is when you said every individual has a score associated with their name, that's going to scare a lot of people because with
Impact of AI on Insurance
00:48:01
Speaker
A.I. and with the ability to track, I mean, the use of of compute power. Mm hmm.
00:48:06
Speaker
and they're going to individualize it, so they're going to understand everything about you. They're going to understand all of your history in every capacity. They'll probably know your web browsing history. They'll associate a score because AI can do these powerful things. I can only imagine what the insurance industry will do in 10 or 20 years when this is just
00:48:25
Speaker
It'll be I think that there will there will still be obviously the regulation from the state, you know, what you can and can do some consumer protection. I would hope. Yeah, absolutely. So there's still going to be that regulation there. But like I think they just passed or they're working on it like an A.I. machine passed the insurance test for flying cover color, you know, and you know, it just it's it's going to be a thing probably.
00:48:44
Speaker
and I'll adjust and start to leverage it before it even blows up because I'm just an early adopter to everything. I try to be to everything, the tools that we use in our business, how we help people, how we schedule our calls. We just wanna be out in front of it and make sure that we're accessible and easy to reach. I think some people that have done it even longer than you and myself in my industry that those that dare to say we are not possibly replaceable are the ones that are gonna be replaced first. Sure.
00:49:13
Speaker
and the people that are willing to acknowledge what's out there and try to utilize it, and utilize it for the benefit of the consumer, because ultimately, no one cares about us. They can care about their finances, their family's well-being. That's it. So can they save money? Can they make it easier? And then how do we leverage that and use it in our own business, in our own life?
00:49:33
Speaker
And, you know, so you're still a relatively young guy and you have the ability to learn and adapt to these new technologies. And as long as we put the client first and they're benefiting from it, I think we'll be OK, at least for the short term. And I know the things that we're working on, a lot of the things that we're working on, it's exciting to see the technology that's going to be in there to how it's going to integrate with the quoting and the re-shopping experience to where, you know, I'll be involved.
00:49:57
Speaker
All right, you went through the whole application. Here's Jeff. Let's make sure your coverages are in line to what you had. Oh, you just built a pool. How about we talk about this coverage here? Things like that. We're going to be there. It's still an adviser. It's just a matter of that process of the application stuff that it's probably going to be streamlined and simplified. Right. So I'm excited for it. Honestly, I am. So well, that's great. Well, Charlie, what did you learn today? That's cool.
00:50:21
Speaker
What about for the last 45 minutes or whatever? You learn anything here during this process? Do you remember what Mr. Jeff does? What's he do for work? What you do? Kind of. What do I do? Go houses.
00:50:37
Speaker
Uh-huh. That's pretty close. He helps people put insurance on their house in case something happens to it. We protect the homes. Or the cars, if you get in a bump, right? You bump your car or your house gets damaged. Yeah. If you have a fire and something happens to your house and you go, uh-oh, I need to build it back up. You call him and his company will help. What do you think about that? Is that what insurance is? That's what insurance is.
00:51:03
Speaker
So you have it so you don't use all your own money in case something bad happens. Now I know what insurance is. There you go. See, that's what we've been talking about. I mean, you have insurance for your car too. So if you had an accident, you can call Mr. Jeff over here and they'll make your car all better and you don't have to spend all your own money. You can spend his money. How does that sound?
00:51:29
Speaker
Now you know what it is hot darn see I heard you like Pokemon cards we talked about that yeah I do insurance can protect them if you lost them uh-huh uh-huh I bet you have a bunch of them here's a sign that didn't JLo ensure her hind end mm-hmm or a better one is um
00:51:53
Speaker
Rinaldo his legs his legs. I like I like the hind end better than the legs. I'm a soccer person. So but But you know, they are insurable things, you know, it's very interesting to see what can be insured like you most people are hey I have a Rolex watch probably ensure that because if you don't you have $500 on your homeowners policy and That rock watch might be 20 a question
00:52:19
Speaker
you would just ask that.
Insuring Valuables: A Real-life Example
00:52:20
Speaker
I have my wife's engagement ring. I have some of my watches on my policy. I've heard conflicting things from you people. Go ahead. Do I ensure those valuable items? What do you call those? Special personal property. There you go. Do we schedule that in our homeowners policy or is it better to have a separate policy in the event I actually have to place a claim so my claim history isn't affected from my homeowners policy? Good question. So depending on the amount, a lot of people like it inside of their mortgage, in the mortgage to their
00:52:49
Speaker
Because it's less expensive. Well, it's still the same price. It's just you're paying it through your mortgage and out of sight, out of mind, one less bill. So some people like that. But that's exactly why I do recommend Jewelers Mutual as one of our carriers. You just ensure that. And if you have a loss, if you damage it, if it gets lost, right, that's separate. Your home insurance does not go up because of it. So that's the benefit of it. And why?
00:53:11
Speaker
I mean, it made me look good, but when I bought the engagement ring, they added like 20 grand to that darn thing for insurance purposes. And so, of course, I mean, yeah, of course, that's what I paid for it, hon. But is that normal? Is it always insured for dramatically more than what you just bought it for? You know, you'll probably see it for more than what you bought it for. And I don't know.
00:53:36
Speaker
I guess it really depends how you found it or who you're working with and that type of thing. But yeah, the appraised value is the most important thing, not how much you bought it for because the appraised value is what it'll sell for now. And the other thing to know is that as that precious metal appreciates
00:53:53
Speaker
You need to make sure that that's moving at the same rate. Right. And some of the carriers, they don't. They just stay still for what you what you put in there originally. Yeah, they said I'm supposed to go back every five years and get insured. Sure. Whatever. Get another appraisal and then get it updated. I mean, they insured it for so much. I laughed. I go, this is ridiculous. I mean, yeah, we do. I mean, I don't ever get into it with them about that. They say, here's the appraisal. I said, OK. And people think that it's expensive to insure.
00:54:19
Speaker
five bucks a month, 10 bucks a month, depends on how much it is, I was going to say. But, you know, you want to protect it. And the base policy, like I said, is not going to cover if you crack the diamond on a wall or if you drop it in the toilet or in the ocean, you're going to get you're going to get a sub limit, which is either 500 or 1000 or maybe two thousand dollars.
00:54:37
Speaker
So that's why I tell everyone up front, even if they're not, you know, married yet, I say, hey, do you have like a wedding ring? Like, oh, I wish. And I'd say, well, all you need to know is this is a thing, because I've I've talked to so many people that put in a claim for lost jewelry that did not schedule it. So and then who looks bad? Yeah, the insurance company looks bad. And that's not what they want to be. They just educate and explaining, hey, there's an option here.
00:55:00
Speaker
You don't have to do it today, but remember, it's a thing. Right. Just like flood. Well, the craziest thing I ever did, I had that engagement ring and I spent a fortune on it, not what I got praised for. But regardless, I took it to Jamaica to pop the question. This is for your mama bear. And I went to Jamaica and I thought it was really smart. I gave it to my Jamaican photographer. It was a sunset photo shoot and I gave it to this guy. I met him all of 30 seconds ago.
00:55:25
Speaker
And I handed him my ring and told him my idea. He's like, yeah, man, you know, like we're good, man. And I I was so excited to do it. I was all nerves and all energy and all this. He held it for 20 minutes. And I eventually popped the question. It was not insured. And yeah, that was a whole situation. Did you eventually I remembered when I got home, I go, oh, did you? You did get the ring back. She currently wears it. Thank God. I thought she wasn't getting another one.
00:55:52
Speaker
That was enough. But I'm just saying to those out there that are listening, do not do that. Make sure you have it insured prior to popping the question. I've seen some interesting things insured, bourbon collections, trading cards, you know, those coin stamps. There's all kinds of things that can be insured. People don't go down that that path and call you to ensure this. Absolutely. We've got three or four different carriers that just do those special items.
00:56:18
Speaker
Or sometimes it's on your home policy if you want to put it on there as well. Well, there we go. Yeah. Well, that's some good information. So Charlie, how'd we do today? Really good. You think we did pretty good? What was the best part? Everything. Everything was the best part? Yeah. Can you name one thing that you learned that you remember? Insurance. And what is insurance? If you crashed your car,
00:56:47
Speaker
or something, then you could rebuild it with insurance instead of using your own money. Yes. Absolutely. We did it. Nice work, dude. We did it. I think we did it. So all anyone that's listening to this.
00:57:02
Speaker
It's a wake up call. It's you should be reevaluating your current policies, what you're paying for it. If you have thoughts or questions, get out there in front of it. Someone like Jeff or actually, Jeff, if you're in Maryland, can you help people outside of Maryland, by the way, anywhere in the US? I personally, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, like you said, and my team are anywhere in the US so we can help them no matter where they are. It'll be a skilled agent like myself that can shop the carriers and find them.
00:57:28
Speaker
And if I have a policy I haven't shopped in forever, does it cost me any money to call you up and say, can you check out what I have going on here? Absolutely not. And I'll even be able to tell them, I'll give some suggestions. If I can't help, I'll still give an evaluation. Even if I don't hire you, I could take your information and bring it back. Absolutely. That's interesting. Love to help.
00:57:46
Speaker
Love to help, so I appreciate you coming to help answer some of these questions I have, and if you work with me and my team, there's a good chance you might be introduced to Jeff and his agency. It's important, and it's something that hopefully you learned a little something from. I know Good Charlie here has learned what insurance is now, so that's good. We did one thing today. Got you out an hour early from school, and so you've learned something. I can tell the teacher, right? Yes. Right? Yes. Do you like being on the podcast? Yeah, I love being on the podcast.
00:58:15
Speaker
What's your favorite part about it, you think? Learning stuff. Learning stuff? Is it a pretty studio in here? Yes. Do we look really handsome in the monitors? Yes. Do we? For sure. For sure. Yeah, we look really good.
00:58:30
Speaker
All right. Well, that's it. That's wraps it up, guys. Hopefully I kept you interested enough to hang with me. It can be a dry subject, but I think it's worthy or worthy calls. And if you learn nothing else, go and talk to someone like Jeff here, call Jeff directly and and get it checked out. So thanks for coming. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. And Charlie, thank you for joining us today. You're welcome. And I'll see you soon on the next episode with Matt Ryan and all roads lead to real estate.