Mike Messer, Shelter Insurance
Insurance insight with Shelter Insurance’s Mike Messer.
1. What insurance do most people not have but should? Life insurance is the coverage that an alarming amount of people do not carry. Nearly 40 percent of adults in the United States have no life insurance at all, and nearly 25 percent have some, but it is inadequate for their needs.
2. What is the most frequent misconception about the insurance industry? With the heavy amounts of rain we have received in Missouri this spring, a common misconception is that flooding basements from the rainwater is covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. The only way to cover this is to have flood insurance, which any homeowner can purchase separately. You do not need to be in a flood zone to have flood insurance.
3. Can you pass along some advice that the majority of your customers might not know? In Missouri, your credit history has a major effect on your insurance premium. Better credit equals lower premiums. So by taking action to improve your credit, you may be able to improve your auto and home insurance rates.
4. What types of disasters are most mid-Missourians not covered for? Should we be? Earthquake coverage is an optional endorsement to your homeowner’s policy. There are frequent earthquakes in southeast Missouri along the New Madrid fault (The Missouri Department of Natural Resources recorded 68 earthquakes from 2009 to 2011 above a 2.0 magnitude in SEMO.) Although damage is not common to occur in mid-Missouri, our relative location to the New Madrid fault makes it possible to have moderate to severe damage. Insurance is a matter of risk. So if earthquake damage is something you worry about, then you should have the coverage to ease your mind by eliminating that risk.
5. If, for example, your house burns down, typically the amount of content coverage is a formulaic percentage of the value of your home. The two might not necessarily match up. So does documentation matter? And what would you suggest for someone who wants to ensure that his or her stuff is, well, insured? Yes, documentation can really help the customer who had the loss and the insurance company to help evaluate the claim. I encourage folks to make a list of contents room by room. The list can be very general and pay specific attention to unusual or higher-valued items. You may find that certain things are limited in your policy, and you may be better off insuring them separately (such as jewelry, fine art, collectibles, guns or archery equipment, etc.). Give your agent a copy of this list, and he or she can keep it in your file in case of a loss.
I encourage everyone to have an annual review of his or her insurance plan. At that time, you can discuss if the coverage limits on your policies are adequate and if adjustments need to be made. Things change rapidly in our lives, and a regular review will help ensure that you are covered the way you want to be covered and that you are getting all the possible discounts available.
6. Insurance is one of Columbia’s big industries. What do you think are the positive side effects of insurance being one of our “big three”? The insurance industry in Columbia obviously provides a large employment opportunity to mid-Missourians. Not only are there a lot of jobs, but most also pay well and have excellent benefit packages.
7. Are there any negative side effects (for example, I’ve heard that when disaster hits elsewhere, we get hit hard financially)? Yes, natural disasters can affect the employees who work here locally. Employee profit sharing for some of these companies can be affected by the companies’ performances in all regions. This can hit folks who are close to retirement and limit their spending ability or require them to work longer to have enough savings.
The second negative side effect would be if we were to lose any of our insurance companies to relocation, etc. It would be very difficult to replace all of those jobs and benefits.