Post Update July 24, 2012 –  Although most people make their auto insurance payments every month, many have truly no idea of what they are actually purchasing or exactly what they are actually paying to protect. Most think Car insurance pays to fix your car in case of an accident. That is correct as far as it goes, but the truth is that your automobile insurance policy covers you and your household members for many more car insurance options than just your car.

Believe it or not; when you buy auto insurance there are only two car insurance options of the policy form which truly protects “your Car;” That’s the Comprehensive and Collision components of your coverage.

Comprehensive Coverage :  Comprehensive Car Insurance Options coverage is one of many car insurance options which pays to repair your vehicle for perils like having your car catch fire, or when you park at the shopping mall and find upon exiting that your car has been stolen. Comprehensive also covers your car if you emerge from the mall to find that some creepy vandal has used the key from his piece of junk car to etch scratches on the side of your vehicle. Your Car insurance carriers also may consider a collision with a deer under Comprehensive will also cover you for windshield damage from a flying stone or bird strike.

Collision Coverage:  Collision Damage coverage is another one of a number of car insurance options which pays for the Physical damage to your vehicle. Regardless of whether an accident is your fault or not, your carrier will pay to repair your vehicle – minus the deductible you agreed to when you purchased your policy.

Property Damage Coverage:  The Property Damage Car Insurance Options Coverage part of your policy pays for damage you have caused in the event of an At-Fault Accident. The maximum amount of Property Damage the carrier will pay for is determined by the limit you agreed to when you purchased your policy. Property damage can include damage to another car or other property like a home owner’s back yard fence or a utility pole. The state minimum in most states is $5000. Many carriers also offer Property Damage limits that pay as high as $100K.

Liability Coverage:  Another car insurance coverage which covers the driver and occupants of the other car is Liability Coverage. Liability Coverage pays the Medical bills for the occupants of the vehicle your car hit or that was determined to be not-at-fault. Again; the maximum amount paid by your insurance company is determined by the limit(s) you agreed to buy. The minimum in many states is $15,000 per person, $30,000 if more than one person is injured.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage:  What if you are involved an automobile accident and the other driver is at fault? And, to make matters worse, what if the other driver has no auto insurance coverage or has coverage but may not have a sufficient insurance limit to pay for your vehicle or damaged property? Making matters even worse, let’s say you don’t have Comprehensive and Collision coverage on your policy to pay for repairs to your car. Purchasing Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) may make a huge difference in making you whole again. Depending on the state you live in and that state’s laws, UM and UIM can be accessed to pay for the damage to your car and/or Medical bills if the at-ault driver has insufficient insurance coverage or no coverage at all.

Additional Coverage Options:  There are many other car insurance options available for purchase within an auto insurance policy as well. For a small additional monthly premium, coverage for Loss of Income, Accidental Death, Rental car and Towing are available. If, after reading this you have any further questions regarding what coverages belong in your auto insurance policy, I invite you to call me personally at please me a call at 1-800-807-0762 ext. 206.

– Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Managing Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 602

Post Update July 25, 2012 – If you think the concept of “going green” is only a recent trend in the efforts of businesses and people to conserve precious natural resources and make our environment  more sustainable – then think again!  The fact is, car insurance company businesses both large and small have for decades tried to be forward thinking and to include what are now commonly called “green initiatives” into their business plans. It also makes good business sense, because “going green” does not have to be an either/or proposition. “Thinking green” can save money, increase efficiency, enable a business to serve customers better, and help the environment all at the same time!

Regardless of the common cry that “evil business empires” are ruining the United States’ pristine natural resources in their quest for profits at all costs, smart businesses have learned that adopting green technology helps the environment at the same time it helps to cut business overhead and increase the bottom line.

Car Insurance Company Says Going Green Benefits Everyone

In 1996, InsureDirect.com, a car insurance company,  became one of these early innovators.  As President of the largest tri-state car insurance agency in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Ohio, I was very concerned with the amount of copy paper our Lansdale, Pennsylvania car insurance company office was purchasing annually. I wasn’t happy with either the price or the thought of where all the paper we were printing was going once we disposed of it. I estimated that we were purchasing over 50 Million Sheets of paper every year to print , truck insurance, homeowners insurance,  renters insurance and car insurance company applications. All that blank copy paper was costing InsureDirect near twenty-five thousand dollars a year!  We performed a utilization audit and discovered much of the paper we were using was utterly wasted on copying and recopying the same new insurance applications for the purposes of filing, reporting, and forwarding information to our car insurance company. A few year before, all the auto insurance companies we represented stopped providing us with blank auto insurance application.  They provided us with rating software which incorporated an auto insurance application. Not only did we now need to print the application, we needed to copy the same completed and signed auto insurance application for our records.  Of course, we mailed the original to the auto insurance carrier.

I shared my concerns with our Copy Machine vendor, and learned about what was then a new technology when.  I was introduced to scanning.  A business could scan any document into a computer and then have that same scanned document forwarded via Fax, sent by Email or stored as a permanent record on a computer hard drive. The technology could even convert the printed words on a paper form into searchable text so that even more efficiency and greatly enhanced customer service could be realized when searching for an important document or record of an auto or home insurance transaction.

So, not only were we able to use document scanning technology to cut our purchasing of copy paper by 80% (and save a good number of trees in the process),  we also eliminated the need to constantly buy new filing cabinets every month to store new auto insurance applications. Not only did we end up saving $200 on the purchase of new filing cabinets each month, we were also able to cut the area we needed to heat – over 1000 Square feet of office space being used to house nearly 100 Filing cabinets – reducing what’s come to be known as our ‘carbon footprint’ by a significant amount. These changes also reduced our monthly expenditures has allowed us to repurpose those funds into hiring more customer service people. That not only provided our customers with a better experience, it also helped set up InsureDirect.com as a licensed insurance organization that excels in serving our customer’s needs in everything from getting the right auto insurance in NJ, PA, OH, the right Homeowners Insurance, Trucker Insurance coverage at the lowest possible price to resolving any service issues with industry leading efficiency.

Today, with these measures having been taken 15 years ago, I estimate that InsureDirect has saved nearly 100 trees and passed on the savings of what would have been over $100,000 in copy paper and filing cabinet purchases.

So, if you’re a business person, even if you haven’t really been thinking of ways to include Green technology in your business, taking your company paperless is a great place to start. The savings to your business and your contribution to helping the environment will be a plus for everyone in your community! And, if you’re a potential customer of InsureDirect, consider that our commitment to green business practices not only helps our business to run more efficiently and to keep our planet healthier, but also delivers a better buying and customer service experience to you at the same time. Going Green is one of those rare win/win opportunities where everyone can benefit!

– Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Managing Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 602

Post Date December 2, 2009 –One of the most recognizable tag lines in car insurance advertising today is: “You could save 15% or more by switching to Geico.” Wow! Think about that! Could it be true? Is Geico Insurance 15% cheaper than every America auto insurance company?  Think about this; if this were true, Geico would be only car insurance company in the United States. The reality is, if you shop online, watch TV, listen to the radio or read the newspaper, every car insurance company makes it sound like they are the cheapest. So Mike, how can that be?  Well, it can’t.  If there was truly one car insurance company which had the best rates on car insurance, we would not have thousands of car insurance carriers all competing for the same auto insurance dollar.

Can You Really Save On Car Insurance?

The truth about these “our car insurance is the cheapest” claims is very simple. Every driver, car and situation is different. Every car insurance company needs to raise and lower it rates to stay in business. While everyone is running around shopping for the best rate on car insurance in NJ, OH, PA and so on other states; the carriers are keeping you guessing by raising and lowering their rates and calling the Programs they offer by different names.

Trying to compare one insurance company to another is like shopping for a mattress. Yes, that’s what I said: Car insurance policies are like mattresses. Just try to find a common name of a mattress at two different bedding stores – it will never happen. Say you go to “Mattress Galaxy” and find a great Mattress called “Spine Bracer.”  If you want to compare the price at “Bedding World” – they may have the identical mattress; but it’s named “Straighter Spine.” That makes it tough for you to really compare products. The reason they do this is because they don’t want you to be ableto tell the difference. So if I’m going to have the same experience when shopping for auto insurance, what is one to do? What option do you really have instead of shopping between different car insurance carriers who try to obscure the difference between the policies they offer? If you go to State Farm; Allstate or Nationwide – a ‘captive agent’ represents only one car insurance carrier. If you call Geico, they’re only going to give you one rate. A Geico rate. The same is for State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and 21st Century.

The one thing all the captive agent companies hope you don’t  do is call a national broker like InsureDirect.com. We’re independent.  This means that when you call our Toll-Free number, our friendly representatives give you the ability to receive quotes from over 30 different major carriers including Progressive and carriers owned by Allstate and Nationwide.

But wait a minute Mike! I’ve been told buying from an agent costs more money because an agent makes a commission.  I’ve been hearing that for 18 years.  If I hear another captive agent lie one more time – I’m going to scream.  The next time you hear that tale,  keep in mind who it was that told you will pay more for your car insurance by going through an agent or broker. The big carriers who have to add in the cost of their astronomical advertising budgets, or the single product carriers who have to look out for their ‘captive agents,’ right? Thought so.  Don’t be fooled by the common misconception that if you buy direct and cut out the agent; you’re going to pay less and save money. Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, the exact opposite is usually the case. Independent Agents and Brokers make it possible for independent car insurance companies to sell insurance who don’t necessarily see the wisdom of spending 100’s of  millions of dollars on TV, Radio advertising or captive agents who must be paid regardless of what they sell.

Lets take Geico for example. I don’t know if you are aware of the cost of advertising these days, but it’s astronomical. But here’s where it gets interesting… How many millions of dollars do you think it costs Gieco to make sure that there’s always a Geico TV or radio commercial or a picture of their lovable lizard in just about telephone book in the nation. Not to mention paying for internet ads running 24 hours a day 365 days a year?

The answer? Actually, it costs them nothing!

That’s right, all that advertising doesn’t cost Geico a dime. Those millions of dollars being spent daily are paid by every single auto insurance policy holder currently insured through Geico. So think about this if you are with Gieco.  The next time you see a Gieco commercial, ask yourself if that’s the one you paid for? Now; if you take the advice I offered above and combine that with what you now know about who really pays for the high price of car insurance advertising, isn’t it worth at least one more call to us at 1-800-807-0762 , to see just what you might save on your auto insurance.

– Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Managing Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 602