Read the Episode Transcript
| 00:05 | ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House. With Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host, Veronica Waters.
VERONICA: Welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m your host, Veronica Waters, here with another special episode for you, which I think you will find is maybe kind of turning the tables a little bit. |
| 00:32 | VERONICA: Episode after episode, after episode, you have heard the Montlick injury attorneys talk to you about what the insurance companies don’t want you to know. The stuff that they will try to keep you from finding out about that just might jeopardize your personal injury case should you ever have one. But today, we are doing something a little different. And we’re talking to you about getting your insurance lined up, so you have it just in case you need it, which of course you hope you never do. |
| 01:00 | VERONICA: Today we’re talking about what the team at Montlick wants you to know to keep yourself protected. This is Insurance 101, here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. And as always, two amazing guests sitting next to me in the studio. We’re going to start off with a repeat visitor to Lawyers in the House, an aspiring standup comic, perfect pitch singer, amazing trial attorney, Georgia Outstanding Young Lawyer by Atlanta Magazine just a couple of short years ago. |
| 01:31 | VERONICA: And a successful former prosecutor in George’s court system, Nate “the great” Kratzert. Welcome back to Lawyers in the House, Nathan.
NATHAN: Thank you, Veronica. I appreciate the introduction. I think half of that was true, but I do appreciate all of that. Thank you. VERONICA: Miami University, John Marshall Law School. I don’t know that I ever… did I ever ask you what brought you into law? I usually like to ask everybody that. |
| 01:55 | NATHAN: I don’t think you’ve asked me that once before, but essentially… after getting close to the end of the college, I was… I would say I was very fortunate because I lucked into this. I realized that an athletic career was certainly not on the horizon. And as I got closer to the end of college, I realized I needed to figure out something to do. |
| 02:16 | NATHAN: And fortunately, I had always had a very high interest in the legal profession, and I had family friends whose parents were attorneys. And after speaking to them, I decided to go ahead and take the LSAT, went to law school. And I feel very fortunate because I think about halfway through, I realized that this was definitely for me. I enjoyed law school, I think, unlike some other people.
VERONICA: Wait, wait, wait, what, you enjoyed law school unlike some other people. So, some people are just toughen it out, like gritting their teeth through it? That doesn’t seem like something you do for fun. |
| 02:47 | NATHAN: No, I think so. I mean, I think there’s a lot of people there. It’s just another stepping stone, but I made some really good lifelong friends. I really enjoyed learning and the classes and my professors who also have become lifelong friends. So, for me, law school is a fantastic experience. I met my wife, I think, my last year of law school; so that was also a very positive thing for me. So, I’ve got nothing but good memories from law school.
VERONICA: What sport were you playing when you realized you weren’t going pro? Were you doing hockey? |
| 03:15 | NATHAN: I was doing hockey, but certainly I learned early on that there was nothing there on the horizon.
VERONICA: And I remember.. does anybody remember Nathan telling us before that he could have been a personal injury client, in a way, because you had so many sports injuries and lost a couple of teeth along the way? NATHAN: Well, I’ve definitely had the injuries. I think it helps me relate more to my clients because when they’ll talk to me and they’ll say, well, I have to have the surgery, or I have to have this done, or I’m having a concussion. |
| 03:46 | NATHAN: And I’m going through these symptoms, especially when it comes to concussions, like, I certainly understand. I’ve had several. And it’s something that I think you don’t get unless you get it. And when it comes to surgeries and having clients that go through that whole process of rehabilitation and things like that… I’ve been through several procedures, whether it be through my knee or my shoulder. And you know a couple of times with a broken nose here and there, being able to relate to a client and tell them, you know, what my experience was and what it’s going to take to get back. |
| 04:19 | NATHAN: I think is extremely helpful. And sometimes they need a lot more encouragement. Other times they need me to call them and say, hey, get off the couch, get up, go do it. They need the tough love. And I think that makes a difference when they can call and actually get not just the legal advice, but also some encouragement from their attorney because they’ve actually been through it.
VERONICA: Full-service attorney. NATHAN: I try as best as I can. Absolutely. |
| 04:47 | VERONICA: Sitting next to Nathan, a special guest today here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. She is Shannon Price, an insurance broker who works with the firm Sterling, Seacrest and Pritchard. And she’s here to talk to us a little bit about what we need to know to make sure that our insurance is sort of lined up- all our T’s crossed and I’s dotted, right? Shannon.
SHANNON: That’s correct. VERONICA: I don’t ever get the chance to ask anyone this question. So, you’re going to be the first. SHANNON: I’m ready. |
| 05:17 | VERONICA: What led you to a career in insurance?
SHANNON: No one actually chooses insurance as a vocation, you know. No, it’s usually one of those things that your dad was in, or you just kind of fell into it. I was a magazine editor before I went into insurance. VERONICA: Insurance magazine? SHANNON: It was not insurance related at all. So, I thought I needed something with a little more teeth in it. Something that needed… had something to it. |
| 05:47 | SHANNON: And helping people through insurance… I’m able to take some really dry information, which no one likes, and explain it in a way that people understand it.
VERONICA: Well, we do not want dry information on this show. But we do want information and that’s what we’re bringing to you on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Insurance 101, the topic of the day. Shannon, Nathan, thanks for being in the house. NATHAN: Thank you. VERONICA: So, let’s start off talking about just a couple… how about a primary on some of the terms that we hear? |
| 06:16 | VERONICA: Because I’ve heard insurance agent and broker and adjuster. That’s kind of a softball I know, Shannon, but let’s start there.
SHANNON: So, an insurance agent is someone who helps you procure your insurance policies. They have to be licensed in the states in which they work. And an insurance agent who is at a captive, or direct agent, is someone who only works for one company. So, the billboards you see, the commercials you see, those are normally a captive agent. A broker is an insurance agent, but they might have access to ten or 12 companies. |
| 06:47 | SHANNON: So, when you come to a broker with your policy or coverage questions, we can look at two or three carriers, whatever the best carrier is for you. No one is different or… Or bad or different. It’s just… they’re just different.
VERONICA: It’s just numbers, right? SHANNON: That’s right. VERONICA: It’s a dollars and cents or what coverage is possible. SHANNON: Correct. VERONICA: No favorites? SHANNON: No favorites. VERONICA: Okay. And an adjuster? SHANNON: An adjuster is someone who is assigned to a claim once you’ve had an incident or an accident. VERONICA: And that’s who… SHANNON: They work for the insurance company. VERONICA: …Nathan’s going to be talking to? |
| 07:17 | SHANNON: That’s right.
NATHAN: Correct. VERONICA: That’s an after the fact. SHANNON: That’s right. VERONICA: All right. So, we want to get the best coverage in place for ourselves before we ever have to talk to an adjuster. So, let’s talk about how that works. What’s the first… Let’s do cars. You’re going to talk to us about auto insurance, right? SHANNON: Correct. VERONICA: Where do we start? SHANNON: We start with a review of the current coverage that the person has, and we want to make sure they have plenty of bodily injury and liability limits as well as property damage coverage. |
| 07:48 | SHANNON: So, let me break that down. It’s very easy. When you look at your insurance policy, you’ll see a limit that says bodily injuries slash property damage. Bodily injury is what happens… what the coverage is if you get involved in an accident, you damage the other person’s car or you injure them. They have medical expenses. The first two numbers are bodily injury, per person. So, you have a $100,000 per person up to 300,000 for the accident, right?
VERONICA: Yes. |
| 08:16 | SHANNON: So if there are three people in the car and they are all injured, each of them has a $100,000.
VERONICA: Those are the limits. SHANNON: That’s the limit. VERONICA: Okay. SHANNON: The last limit is property damage, which is if you hit someone’s car, and damage that, or if you run into someone’s mailbox or their garage door or whatever it may be, it’s the actual physical damage to a structure or car. VERONICA: Okay, I’m actually pulling up my policy right now because I’m going to have you eyeball it. Sure. Since the last time… I know you guys remember the first time we did that on one of these shows. |
| 08:46 | VERONICA: And we don’t want to talk about what the attorney said. I will let their faces tell the story, but I’m going to let Shannon take a look at it now and see what she thinks. Okay? All right, so we’ve learned about what the limits are and what those… liability things. What is liability? Can someone just sort of lay out for me, what is liability?
NATHAN: So, liability is essentially where you, yourself, on your insurance policy – you may have caused an accident. So, for example, I’m driving down the roadway and you were driving in front of me. |
| 09:19 | NATHAN: I strike your vehicle. My liability coverage is what covers Veronica Waters for her property damage and/or for any kind of bodily injury claim that she might have.
VERONICA: Okay. So, it’s important for me to have good liability coverage, why? NATHAN: Mainly to protect yourself from purposes in the event that, let’s say, for example, someone’s very catastrophically injured. You didn’t intend to go out and someone ends up paralyzed. You didn’t intend, you know, when you’re driving and maybe someone jumped in front of the car or maybe walked in front of the car and you struck them, and they passed away. |
| 09:53 | NATHAN: You didn’t intend for that to happen. However, in the event that you don’t have enough liability coverage and you end up being sued, then that means that all of your personal assets are in play at that stage.
VERONICA: That’s… go on with that, Nathan, because I remember we talked earlier about the reason you have insurance, Shannon and Nathan, is to protect yourself so you don’t get hit in your own personal pockets. |
| 10:21 | VERONICA: But what I’m hearing you say is, it’s possible for your personal pockets to get hit too.
NATHAN: Absolutely. And in fact, you know, there are people that have actual personal liabilities of insurance that go beyond just car insurance. You’ll see a lot of celebrities that have actual personal liability policies when they are… just for their lives daily because obviously celebrities can have interactions and they could potentially be sued in the event that something happens, on the street, or in their daily lives. |
| 10:50 | NATHAN: But for example, in the car situation, what we’re talking about, more or less… yes, you want to do protect yourself, but also in the context of something catastrophically happening. You know, from the standpoint of my perspective, I always think, well, if I do make that mistake, if I… if something does happen, not only do I want to protect myself and my family, but also, I feel somewhat of an obligation. I want to make sure that that person is taken care of.
VERONICA: You want to try to do your part to help that other person. |
| 11:20 | VERONICA: Shannon, talk to us a little bit about something that we have tackled a couple of times on the show. We talk about uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage. How many of us have that here in Georgia?
SHANNON: It’s elective, so it’s not required to have it; but everyone needs it. VERONICA: You know what? And I asked you specifically about Georgia, but I do know that you write all over the nation. SHANNON: All 50 states. That’s correct. VERONICA: Does every state require it? Yeah, does any state, I should say, require it? |
| 11:50 | SHANNON: Not that I know of that’s a requirement. You can reject it. Our agency requires that you have it in equal limits to your bodily injury.
VERONICA: And tell us why it’s so important. SHANNON: Well, not everyone carries enough insurance or carries the minimum amount of… each state has a minimum limit that they require that you have in order to drive a car. And that may not be enough. So, if someone has a 25 50 25 limit- back to that bodily injury and they hit and total my car, and I drive a $40,000 car, then I’m upside down. |
| 12:23 | SHANNON: By $25,000. That make sense?
VERONICA: Yes. So, the reason that I think this show helped educate me so quickly and shockingly was because I always thought underinsured motorist meant it was for the other guy. How wrong I was. SHANNON: It fills in the gap. It helps protect you if the person doesn’t have enough or doesn’t have any at all. Because there are people that are driving around without insurance. |
| 12:50 | VERONICA: Now, let’s say I’m in an accident and I’ve got to get a rental car or something. Anything special I need to know or do? How bad can it get?
NATHAN: Well, especially in the rental context, I think, Shannon, you and I have spoken about this before, especially with how COVID has gone and the supply chain issues are still ongoing. I’ll use the example of my wife. I’m sure she’ll not be happy about this, but recently a deer decided to jump in front of her vehicle. |
| 13:18 | NATHAN: And as a result, the car had to go into the shop. We had to get it repaired. And what I think normally would have taken a week or two, ended up taking probably more than 60 days to get the car repaired. And she was in a rental car. And thankfully we had enough rental coverage because usually you only have 30 days of rental coverage, if you even have it. And in that context where you hit a deer, you may not have any rental coverage and you don’t have a vehicle for that next 60 days and if you’re in my world where I have four kids to tote around, that becomes incredibly difficult. |
| 13:49 | VERONICA: You are up the creek without an SUV, so to speak. So straight ahead, we’re talking about how much is too much or how much is enough with Shannon Price and Nathan Kratzert. This is Lawyers in the House.
You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. |
| 14:18 | VERONICA: I’m your host, Veronica Waters, and I’ve got the giggles because I’m here sitting with Montlick injury attorney Nathan Kratzert and insurance broker Shannon Price and while we were looking at my policy, I see that she looks like she’s got something to say.
SHANNON: We have a ten-second check up here. We can do a little in deep, a little bit more in depth later, but you do not have currently medical payments coverage. And medical payments coverage is a coverage that you provide for everyone in your car, regardless of who’s at fault. |
| 14:50 | SHANNON: So, if the three of us were going to lunch, in your car, and we got in an accident, you’re not providing any coverage for us or yourself. Regardless of who’s at fault. If you’re in my car, I’m giving each of us $50,000 to make sure our bodily injury or our, you know, any medical expenses we have are taken care of.
VERONICA: All right, so pop quiz. Am I right when I say that if my med pay doesn’t kick in, then the passengers’ uninsured motorist coverage would kick in? SHANNON: It all depends. VERONICA: No, maybe. |
| 15:19 | NATHAN: It depends on the situation, the accident, things of that nature.
VERONICA: Okay, can I have too much coverage? SHANNON: You cannot have too much coverage. VERONICA: Say that again. SHANNON: You cannot have too much coverage. You buy as much coverage as you can possibly afford. In a tough economy, it’s the first thing that people want to do is reduce their coverage. But for just a little bit more premium, you can protect your coverage, protect your assets, and get a little broader coverage. |
| 15:53 | VERONICA: Why is that so important? Why doesn’t it make sense for me to cut back if I’m budgeting?
NATHAN: From my perspective, the answer really is… is in our context, again, you have to go back to that potential catastrophic injury or that potential. Nobody thinks that when they leave the house that day that they’re going to go outside and they’re going to get hit by a dump truck and leave their family with nothing. Or that they’re catastrophically injured. They lose both their legs. They lose an arm. |
| 16:23 | NATHAN: They can’t work anymore. To Shannon’s point, you can’t have too much because in that situation, you can’t assume that the other party or the other person in their vehicle has enough coverage to make sure that you are protected for the long term. So, the onus is on you to ensure that you are protecting yourself long term because it’s not necessarily just about you. It might be your family, it might be potentially your career. You may be out for an extended period of time that goes beyond FMLA leaves and things of that nature. |
| 16:53 | VERONICA: We’re talking about Insurance 101 here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Coming up, the difference between auto insurance and home insurance. Thanks so much to Shannon Price for being in the house with us. More to come.
You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSB. |
| 17:23 | VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick and with me your host Veronica Waters. Wanted to remind you that we are so happy to have you here, but if you missed any extra special nuggets from the first half of our Insurance 101 show, you can always remember to find us on every podcast platform. Get all the good stuff that you missed or just re-hear the stuff that you loved. It’s on Spotify. It’s on Apple podcast. It’s on Stitcher. Wherever you like to get your favorite podcasts, we are there. Be sure to like and subscribe. |
| 17:51 | VERONICA: And then every episode when it drops comes right to you. You don’t have to do anything else. And remember, you can always visit us on every social media platform, find us on the Facebook, the Instagram, the Twitter, we’re @Montlicklaw. And check out every episode we’ve ever had on LawyersintheHouse. com. We are so glad to have you with us. Hope you are learning a lot like I am on insurance 101 with Nathan Kratzert, injury attorney and a new guest joining us this half hour. |
| 18:21 | VERONICA: She is Marie Nitto, who is another insurance broker. You just heard from Shannon. Now you’re hearing from Marie, insurance broker with Sterling, Seacrest Pritchard. Thanks so much for being in the house with us, Marie.
MARIE: Thank you. Happy to be here. VERONICA: I got to ask you the same thing that I asked, Shannon. How does one choose an insurance career? How does that happen? MARIE: You kind of fall into it. It’s not something you choose. |
| 18:47 | MARIE: I was a nanny and basically in college helped out at a Nationwide agency, stuffing envelopes. And then they basically asked me to start learning the business, and then I fell into it and got stuck in it. And then I always tell people, you know too much and you can’t get out.
VERONICA: Wow. So how do you… is it something that you enjoy? Does it feel like work? MARIE: I love it. It’s a passion, actually. I love helping people and you just feel… it’s just something that I love to help clients find value in their insurance. |
| 19:18 | MARIE: And learn. I look at it more as being an adviser.
VERONICA: An adviser. You ever had somebody like me come to you and say, please help me with insurance coverage. And you’re like, oh my gosh, let me put on my cape and get this girl’s… get this girl… MARIE: Every day. VERONICA: Every day. MARIE: Every day. VERONICA: Every day. We’re talking insurance 101 here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. |
| 19:49 | VERONICA: And Marie, we are going to delve into the home part of insurance with you. How different or similar is it when we’re talking about insurance for the home versus insurance for the car?
MARIE: So, you’re going to have property insurance, which is going to cover the structure, the home, and then also the big important part, too, is the personal liability coverage that you’re going to get, which is your liability coverage on that homeowner policy. |
| 20:18 | VERONICA: We learned a little bit about liability, but I only seem to think about liability when it comes to car accidents. But apparently, that’s a very short-sighted view.
MARIE: Yes. So just if you entertain at your home or you have… your children have children come over, other friends, someone gets hurt on the property. You would then have your bodily injury liability coverage. It’s going to protect you if you’re sued for those injuries on your property. |
| 20:47 | MARIE: Also, personal injury coverage, too, that follows you anywhere.
VERONICA: Are my policy supposed to be connected like through the same, for example, my insurance is with… my insurance policy… I have the home, and I have the car on the same policy. Is that standard? Is it supposed to be like that? Is there a case where it wouldn’t be like that? MARIE: We suggest that. There are… there are people that have different policies with different carriers. It makes it a little bit more inconsistent. |
| 21:15 | MARIE: And you can then have gaps. So as an adviser, we say we would prefer that you, whenever possible, have everything with the same carrier because then if you have a claim that’s going to go into the umbrella, which we’ll talk about, you can then have at least the same adjuster with the same carrier, which is going to help you out in the event of a claim.
VERONICA: All right, is it different… what you’re talking about? I think I’m talking about just buying a policy from the same company, right? |
| 21:43 | VERONICA: My agent, my captive agent, say, has written a policy for both my home and car. What is it? I’ve heard about you can have a policy bought through someone else, but it’s carried by another company. What is that?
MARIE: So, you can have the same agent and maybe a different carrier for the home coverage and then the auto coverage. Is that what you mean? VERONICA: I don’t know. You buy your insurance through one company, but then the policy is carried by somebody else. MARIE: So maybe like USAA and you might have a Chubb policy through USAA. |
| 22:14 | VERONICA: Okay. Okay. What is that all about?
MARIE: So, it just depends on the agency that’s writing the coverage. They might have other carriers that they write with to give you the best coverage for your program. VERONICA: Okay. Okay. I got it. So, Nathan, we know that you have worked obviously hand-in-hand with insurance companies or maybe sometimes it’s like fist-to-fist. You know, it’s an adversarial relationship sometimes. But what is the relationship like or the interaction like when you have to get involved? |
| 22:45 | NATHAN: You mean in the context of a claim? So, from that standpoint, very often, what I have found when you’re dealing with adjusters, I think adjusters are just like almost anybody else. They… generally, people want to do the right thing. A lot of insurance adjusters, they’re professionals. They have a job to do. They have a company mandate that they also have to adhere to. And they have to do their job within the context of those companies’ rules. |
| 23:13 | NATHAN: Now, what we have found, at least in my industry, is that what’s fascinating is that the exact similar set of facts, depending upon who the insurance carrier is, you could have very, very vastly different outcomes. Mainly because each insurance carrier has a different set of standards that they apply to what they value a claim at. And obviously from the personal injury standpoint- from the attorney’s standpoint, we see similar sets of facts similar to injuries. |
| 23:44 | NATHAN: Well, that should mean similar value. Carriers don’t look at it that way. And again, we always look at it in the context of you have to take into account as a client or a potential client… When you do get injured, that… remember that the insurance industry, they are there to make money. They are not there to just hand out dollars. It’s not like when you’re going on Oprah. Not everyone gets a toaster, okay? |
| 24:07 | NATHAN: So at that stage, you have to do everything you can to protect yourself by calling a personal injury attorney like myself or anyone else over at Montlick at 1-800- LAW-NEED and make sure that they are protected for the long haul… because that insurance adjuster, while they are trying to do the right thing, they’re doing it in the context within their carriers rules.
VERONICA: Let’s talk about the context of home insurance, which is what we’re talking about with Marie. What do you… what’s your interaction there? What are you looking for? How does that come into play? |
| 24:37 | NATHAN: So, it’s very similar to the car. Situation context and also… I always look at it as when I explain it to a client, you know, with the homeowners policies, it’s very similar to almost having like a business policy. You look at your home almost as like a business policy of insurance that… you’re there to protect the business of your family, the business of your home. And the nice thing, too, is that usually within your homeowners insurance, you can also loop in what’s called an umbrella policy. And I think Marie can probably touch on that even more in depth. But so that’s how it can all interplay and protect you the best. |
| 25:08 | NATHAN: I think that’s also why it is often beneficial to have the same carrier in those kinds of situations.
VERONICA: Let’s talk about that umbrella coverage that Nathan just mentioned, Marie. MARIE: So, umbrella coverage, I tell clients is the most important coverage that you can have because you can self-insure property. But when it comes to your liability, you want to get the most coverage that you can get. VERONICA: Is that what an umbrella means? Yeah. I mean like, I don’t even understand the term. MARIE: Picture it as an umbrella. So, you have your home and your auto coverage or your boats or whatever. |
| 25:40 | MARIE: And then you have an umbrella liability policy that sits over top of all of those. And so, you have basically a primary liability limit on your home and then on your auto and then you have an excess layer of liability over top of that. So, when that primary liability limit is exhausted, both on the auto… So, if it’s an auto claim and the bodily injury is exhausted, then your umbrella limit would kick in. Say if that’s a million or 3 million or 5 million or whatever. |
| 26:08 | VERONICA: So, it kind of protects… I was going to say… I was going to ask what it protects, but it protects everything that the other stuff doesn’t.
MARIE: It’s an excess layer. So, it’s just a next layer of liability that you have on your primary policies. VERONICA: So, it won’t always be touched. And in fact, maybe it sounds like it sometimes it might not be touched at all. MARIE: Correct. Yeah. And carriers don’t want it to be. VERONICA: It must be pricey then. Is it super expensive to add umbrella? MARIE: Actually, no. |
| 26:37 | MARIE: It’s very competitively priced. As long as you don’t have a whole lot of tickets and accidents and claims, you can get a large liability limit for very reasonable price. That’s why I tell clients. I quote it for everyone. Most of my clients have it. And it starts at a million is the first limit and nowadays a lot of clients have… 5 to 10 seems to be the average depending on the client.
VERONICA: Yeah. Nathan also mentioned something about celebrities having personal liability coverage. How much is your personal liability coverage? |
| 27:06 | NATHAN: Well, thankfully, I’m not a celebrity. So, I don’t have. I don’t have that kind of coverage, fortunately. But you know there are people out there that do have those types of situations. And it’s interesting because I’ll read stories about interactions, maybe athletes or celebrities have had. And I know that usually… often those celebrities will often have these kinds of policies that will protect them just for those particular situations because, you know, face that they are targets because, you know, of their status. |
| 27:37 | NATHAN: And I certainly do not have any of that status, which I’m perfectly fine with. |
| 28:06 | VERONICA: Tell me a little bit about the common concerns that you hear, Marie, because I know I just asked you about price. Is that something that you hear a lot as a broker?
MARIE: Yes and no. A lot of the clients that I deal with, it’s more of… I try to get them to see the value of the policy that you’re getting. More as… because it’s not always about price. We want to make sure that you’re properly covered, and you don’t have gaps. So, if you do have a claim, you don’t want to come back to me and go, well, I thought I had this coverage and I didn’t have it. |
| 28:37 | MARIE: So, my job is to make sure you know what you’re buying and how much. it’s up to you to decide what limit you want to buy. Depending on what…
VERONICA: So, what concerns do people throw your way? What do people want to talk about? MARIE: Liability is a huge one, obviously. A lot of people come to me for umbrellas, and that’s where we start because maybe they couldn’t get, you know, a certain size umbrella, so they’ll come to me for that. |
| 29:01 | MARIE: Also, to make sure that, you know, they do have enough coverage for their vehicles, property damage coverage on those vehicles, comp and collision. I try to steer people a little bit away from the price of everything to make sure that, you know, first to see the value of it first because it’s not always apples to apples. We want to make sure that you’ve got… because like Nathan was saying, all these policies with different carriers are different, you know, broader than others.
VERONICA: You don’t want to put a budget on the business of your family’s well-being. |
| 29:30 | MARIE: Correct.
VERONICA: Quickly, in a couple of seconds, I do want to ask you about flood coverage this past spring, we saw tornadoes, we saw some flooding. And I’m curious to know whether or not my home insurance covers that kind of stuff. MARIE: More often than not, no. So, flood coverage and earthquake coverage is not typically included in a homeowner policy. That’s something that has to be purchased separately or added on by an endorsement. So, when it comes to flood, that’s rising water from the outside in. |
| 30:01 | MARIE: It’s usually a body of water that rises up and comes into your home. That’s not going to be covered. It’s not like a pipe burst and that kind of thing. That would be covered under your homeowner policy.
VERONICA: All right. NATHAN: I think most closing documents even… they’ll even say when you’re closing on your home… will say, wow, you don’t live in a floodplain. So, you don’t need this, when you actually might. VERONICA: Wow, yeah. Marie Nitto and Nathan Kratzert are talking to us about Insurance 101 coming up the Montlick closing argument. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. |
| 30:34 | If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.
VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters, here with Nathan Kratzert of Montlick injury attorneys and Marie Nitto, insurance broker with Sterling, Seacrest & Pritchard, talking to us about Insurance 101. The Montlick closing argument is here. Nate, the floor is yours. NATHAN: I think the overall takeaway I want everyone to get from this episode is that insurance is there to protect you. |
| 31:06 | NATHAN: You cannot be over insured. I think a lot of people hear that and the most important thing that they can do, I think, is really go and speak to an actual agent, a broker, for example, like Marie, like Shannon, because their vested interest is getting you to be sure that you are covered overall long term. What’s going to fit within your budget and also what’s going to fit for you and your family? Because again, at the end of the day, nobody walks out their door and thinks what happened on the news yesterday is going to happen to them. |
| 31:39 | NATHAN: But from my standpoint, it does. It happens all the time. And it’s not something you’re prepared for. You can’t be ready for it. And too often than not, when I have these phone calls, people are in situations to where they don’t have enough coverage, or the other party doesn’t have enough coverage. And someone like Shannon or someone like Marie can ensure that you do have those coverages and that you are protected for the long term.
VERONICA: What do I need to look for when it comes to getting an insurer, Marie? |
| 32:07 | MARIE: You want to look for someone who uses A-rated carriers to make sure that they’re backed financially… have the financial backing to make sure that they’re there to pay your claim when you do have a claim. And you also want to make sure you’ve got enough coverage. Homeowner policies, you want to make sure that you’ve got replacement costs. We use… there’s such a thing called guaranteed replacement cost, and then there’s… so market value is what someone would pay for your house and then there’s the insurance replacement cost, what it would cost to actually rebuild your home back to what you had before. |
| 32:38 | MARIE: You don’t want to be short on that because if you’re short on that, then you’re going to suffer. You’re going to have to come out of pocket a lot of money, and that’s not something that you want to do in the event of a claim. So, it’s real important that your home is insured to value.
VERONICA: Do you guys do renters insurance? MARIE: We do. We do. And that’s going to cover contents coverage, and then also that big important piece that personal liability coverage will be also attached to that as well. |
| 33:07 | VERONICA: Okay. And this is a quick question as I was, like, looking through insurance documents. I was thinking I would take my phone and, like, just start taking pictures of stuff around the house, just so I kind of have a record. Is that helpful?
MARIE: Absolutely. VERONICA: Is it something I should be doing? Should have done a long time ago? NATHAN: It can’t hurt. Can’t hurt. VERONICA: Can’t hurt. It might help. MARIE: Because you’re going to forget. Let’s say you have a fire and you’re going to forget what that… how many lamps you had in that room or what photos or pictures you had on the wall. Believe it or not, people forget because it’s overwhelming. |
| 33:37 | MARIE: So, it’s a good idea to take photos. Take a video, put it in your bank deposit box or give it to somebody.
VERONICA: I love it. Thank you so much for Insurance 101. Maybe we should do an Insurance 102, because there’s so much information we’ve learned. And probably we’ve only just scratched the surface. Thanks so much to Marie Nitto and Nathan Kratzert. I’m Veronica Waters here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. We’ll see you next time. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Catch us live every Sunday 8 a.m. |
| 34:09 | on 95.5 WSB. |
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