How is Your Insurance Rating Calculated?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy picpedia

If you’ve ever compared your auto insurance rate to that of a friend, you may come to find that even though you’re both the same age and use the same insurer, what you pay could be quite different from what your friend pays.  What most consumers don’t realize is that insurance rates aren’t the same for everyone.  That’s because insurance is based on risk.  Insurance companies calculate risk by using a number of factors, including how old you are, where you live, what you drive, how many tickets you’ve had and where you park your car for the night, just to name a few.  If you’ve ever wondered how insurance rates are calculated, today’s blog should help take the mystery out of the process.

Is Gap Insurance Worth the Price?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

There’s nothing more exciting than driving a new car off the dealership lot.  The look, feel and new car smell is intoxicating to most drivers.  Especially if they took weeks or months to decide which model to buy before wheeling and dealing with the sales manager.  Hopefully your new pride and joy will give you and your family years of driving pleasure.  Unfortunately, that joy can come to a screeching halt faster than new ABS brakes if your car should be stolen or destroyed in an auto accident during the first couple of years you drive it.  What most owners don’t realize is that as soon as their car drives off the lot, it depreciates significantly.  So much so that their auto insurance may or may not be able to replace that new car with one of equal value should worse come to worse. 

Will Your Auto Insurance Rates Rise if You File a Claim?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pxhere

Into every life a little rain must fall.  Or, so the story goes.  When the rain falls in Florida, which is a frequent enough occurrence, the number of auto accidents dramatically increase.  With auto accidents come auto insurance claims.  The question I frequently hear from many of my customers is, “If I get in an accident, will my auto insurance rates go up?”  The answer is, “It depends.”  If you aren’t labelled at-fault, then your rates won’t go up since the claim will be filed through the at-fault driver’s insurance company, unless they have no insurance.  If you are deemed at-fault, the answer is Yes, your rates will go up.  Then next question is invariably, “Why and by how much?” 

Going to the Dogs - What Does it Really Cost to Own a Dog?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

Having owned numerous dogs over the years, I can attest to the fact that it isn’t a cheap proposition anymore.  While you can adopt a dog from a friend or the animal shelter for next to nothing, what most would-be dog owners don’t factor in are the expenses involved in caring for a dog these days.  Whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool dog owner or are considering buying or adopting a dog, this blog is for you.

Does Daylight Savings Time Scare the Daylights Out of You?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy Pixabay

In less than 2 weeks, it will be time to set our clocks ahead by one hour.  That's because March 8, 2020 is the start of Daylight Savings Time (DST). I don’t see why they call it that.  It ought to be Daylight Stealing Time is you ask me.  That’s because when you spring forward, what you actually do is steal one precious hour from your weekend. While many argue that you get it back in six months when we North Americans are obligated to fall back,what most citizens fail to appreciate is how much psycho social damage both time-jumps actually cause.

How to Drive the Best Deal on Your Next Car?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy pexels

Other than a rent or mortgage payment, the single biggest monthly installment most folks make every month is their car payment.  Since many new and some used vehicles cost about as much as houses did a couple decades ago, I thought it was high time I took the time to show you how to drive the best deal on your next set of wheels. 

Are You Ready for the Internet of Things?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy needpix

I can still remember back when personal computers were new and ultra-expensive.  Today, everything from my car to my TV is computerized and you can buy a laptop for under $500.  But what’s really scary is the fact that soon a lot of other dumb appliances and apparel are going to be internet-enabled.  If you don’t want to get left in the lurch, you need to learn a little about what is being called the Internet of things or IoT.