Think Twice Before Reducing Insurance Coverage

By CHRIS LEONARD

By CHRIS LEONARD

Staff Writer

MILLERSBURG -- Seeking less insurance coverage on a home or automobile might be too great a risk to take amid a recession in order to save money in a monthly budget, according to area insurance companies.

"I would say the trend is to try to save costs at this point. They're looking for ways of watching their dollars, trying to get more for their dollars," Vaughn Troyer, managing partner for Hummel Group in Berlin, said. "Fortunately in the last few years in the property casualty side ... the insurance rates have been coming down. The market has been having reductions in costs, but that market trend is beginning to shift."

With rising foreclosure rates, fluctuating gas prices and an overall increase in the standard of living, some consumers are hard- pressed to make ends meet. And businesses aren't having a field day, either. Amid struggling to meet the bottom line, some restructure and even commence with layoffs.

"It's kind of a tough situation because this is the time when someone is laid off, things are tough. This is the worst time to cut off on the amount of coverage because if something were to happen financially, this is when they need the coverage the most," Troyer said.

Ways to keep costs down for auto insurance include fewer automobile accidents and speeding tickets. For home insurance policies, some providers might give discounts to consumers for installing deadbolts and security systems, according to Jarrett Dunbar, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Mike Steiner, product manager for personal lines at Huntington Insurance in Wooster, said consumers should consider higher deductibles for auto insurance.

"The ways you can reduce premiums are to increase deductibles and take older vehicles and not insure them for physical damage," he said.

Scott Allen, president of Whitaker-Myers, said the frequency of catastrophic claims aren't that high.

"Take a big deductible, because you have to pay your insurance premium every year. You'll have to pay a little more at the time of the loss ... but at least you had the satisfaction of knowing every year when you paid your premium you paid less," he said.

Ohio has the 13th lowest premiums in the nation for auto insurance and the sixth lowest for home insurance, according to Dunbar.

If consumers aren't happy with rates, he said to shop around, because Ohio is a competitive market.

"A 10-minute phone call could save you quite a bit of cash," Dunbar said.

In 2009, he said Ohioans will see a slight increase in auto insurance, however. Home insurance figures were unavailable.

"We'll see a slight increase, but it won't be as bad as some other parts of the country," Dunbar said.

Reporter Chris Leonard can be reached at 330-674-1811 or e-mail cleonard@the-daily-record.com.

Originally published by By CHRIS LEONARD Staff Writer.

(c) 2009 Daily Record, The Wooster, OH. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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