Home / Property Insurance can be confusing, which is why it's important to have someone there that is able to answer your questions and make sure that you have the right coverage! On this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we talk with Brianna Keeler with Comparion Insurance about home insurance and how she's able to help in the process! Brianna is an experienced Insurance Agent that is able to assist with a wide range of insurance needs, from custom property insurance to auto insurance, specialty insurance, pet insurance, life insurance, and business insurance! Would you like to take control of your future and build a business you can be proud of? CALL OUR FRANCHISE TEAM TODAY to learn how you could get started today at 302-242-1042! Start your future today in a $ 210 Billion industry that is always in high demand with Disaster Blaster Franchise Ownership! 🔵 A $210 Billion industry AND GROWING! 🔵 Offer THE MOST SERVICES in the industry! 🔵 Training and Support from INDUSTRY EXPERTS! 🔵 A unique model primed for YOUR SUCCESS! 🔵 And more! Disaster Podcast is brought to you by Disaster Blaster! https://disasterblaster.com/ With franchise opportunities available across most of the country, Disaster Blaster is YOUR chance to take control of your future and be part of a thriving restoration brand. Contact our Franchise Team at 302-242-1042 or Franchising@disasterblaster.com to start your future TODAY! Franchise Opportunities: https://disasterblasterfranchise.com #DisasterBlaster #DisasterPodcast #Podcast #Franchise #news #announcement #Business #Entrepreneur #FranchiseOpportunity #FranchiseOpportunities #BeYourOwnBoss #BusinessOwner #SelfEmployed #RealEstate #Realtor #HomeSweetHome #HomeBuyer #HomeSeller #Interview #insurance #insuranceagent #homeinsurance #floodinsurance #petinsurance #pet #home #house

- Coming up on this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we talk with Brianna Keeler from Comparion Insurance about how insurance agents can be a true resource for their clients and how they help make sure that you have the right insurance coverage for your home. Stay tuned. Hello everyone. I'm Matthew Lyons with Disaster Blaster, and today we have Brianna Keeler with Comp Comparion Insurance to talk with us. Brianna is a local insurance agent licensed in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia that specializes in custom homeowners insurance, auto insurance, specialty insurance, pet, life, and business insurance. Brianna is also active in her community in the Lackawanna and Luzerne County areas as well as in NEPA. Thank you for joining us today. I appreciate your time and I look forward to hearing more about insurance. - Yeah, thanks so much, Matt, for having me. We've talked frequently about a lot of the topics that we're going to discuss today, and I just want to say that you're doing such a great job getting education out to the folks and I'm excited to be here to answer questions. - Thank you. I really appreciate that. I know how much time you spend getting information out to your clients and your policyholders and the community, so I definitely very much appreciate that as well, particularly since insurance can be a little bit confusing. So we're going to be going into that a little bit here. To start off, what got you into insurance initially? - So after being a retail manager for over 25 years, I felt the need to use my love of customer service in a different field. So I mentored under some of the best veteran agents in the area that were available through insurance. And I really just came to find that the ins and outs of insurance were interesting. I loved learning about it. So it just felt like a career in that industry for me was going to really have a positive impact on clients. - Okay. And you can pretty much help, as I mentioned at the beginning here, you can pretty much help people with any insurance needs that they have. - Right. So I work a lot in personal lines insurance, so personal lines, meaning home, auto, life insurance, small commercial, we do pet insurance, jewelry insurance, boat, ATVs, RVs, you know, I'm kind of specializing in a lot of different fields. - Nice. Yeah. Because I think sometimes people don't realize what insurance can cover, so it's good to have a local insurance agent that can kind of go through their needs and make sure that they are covered in the event that anything does happen. So I'm really glad that you offer so many options that you're able to kind of customize for people. - Yeah, and I think that's the key word is customization. You know, it's easy to go online and look at all the different options and really get overwhelmed with things, but what we want to do is really look customer to customer and say, what is your specific need and how can we get that covered properly? - That is absolutely great. Is there a particular market that you do focus on personal or business insurance for instance? - Well, I like to say that if you've got it, I insure it. So again, I like to be the go-to agent for my clients, you know, and the community. So whether it's personal insurance or small business, you know, I learn as much as I can about each individual line and the needs of whoever's in front of me. So I like to be the best resource I can for that person looking for the insurance. But if I had to choose, if you had to hold my feet to the fire, I really do like working with first time home buyers and pet insurance. - Okay. So when you're dealing with a first time home buyer, so they're purchasing a house and everything. Oftentimes they don't really know... It might be the first time they've even had homeowners insurance, so they might not know what needs to be covered or how the different policies would apply or what endorsements maybe would be recommended or needed for their particular construction or needs. So you kind of sit down and you go through and break all of that down for them. - Yeah, I mean, especially for a first time home buyer. I remember when I did it, it is overwhelming. It is not just insurance, insurance is one small part of the whole process. And so for me it's important to not only gain that trust, that those people need to have me kind of evaluate their needs, but also take that chunk of, you know, worry off of their plate. So by explaining, you know, just basically, here's what we're going to go through, here's what's gonna happen, here's what you kind of need, let's go through this and let's build from this. We don't need to know A to Z right now because you've got a lot of information that you're carrying, but let's just talk about what you need and what would work for you. And then we can build from there on the knowledge later. - Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because insurance can be confusing to a lot of people. So how do you handle all of those questions? I know from experience, when people try to break down their policy or make sense of, you know, is this covered? Is that covered? Do I need this? Do I need that? There's a lot going on there with insurance and it's not always written in language that your average homeowner can break down and make sense of. - Right? Absolutely. You know, I personally handle every question that comes through as if it's something I'm learning for the first time as well, and sometimes it is. So it's important for me to really listen to the question so that I can evaluate the actual concern, if there's any confusion, explain things in a way that makes sense and then, you know, relates directly to that client. And I've learned it's okay to say that I'm not sure or let me confirm that, you know, so I deal with a lot of resources, underwriting and claims and industry professionals like yourself just to reach out, get information, and have as much expertise as I can on particular subjects. But I will say too, you know, unfortunately your neighbor or your aunt is not going to be a reputable source of comparison for what you need and what you're paying. So I do welcome questions and concerns. That's actually one of the best parts of my job is just to kind of converse and really, if I'm able to answer questions for my clients, then that's, you know, a bonus for me. - That's why I always stress, quite honestly to people, you know, I know you can purchase insurance through 800 numbers and things like that. I don't recommend it at all. I think you need a local insurance agent because you're going to have questions, you're going to want to make sure that you're adequately covered and that you're dealing with someone that knows your local area, knows what the weather is like, knows what coverages you might need, you know? Right. It's not the same. - Yeah. And I do say, you know, kind of piggybacking off of the online situation, you always say that it's great if you aren't a people person. You don't like to talk a lot. I do. So I, you know, I always say that those online services are great. Talk to a local agent, get your policy started with a local agent, and then if you want to service your policy on your own, or pay your bill, or use the app, you know, have at it, you can always do that afterwards. But getting that policy started and having that local connection to begin with is really important. - That makes a lot of sense, because if they're paying their bill and things like that, you're right, they absolutely don't need to reach out to you every time that they do that. It makes sense and it's more convenient to just pay that online or what have you, but when they have a claim and they're not sure, you know, is this going to be covered? How does this work? What happens here? That's when they need someone that they can reach out to, like you that can kind of hold their hand a little bit through the process because they're not going to have any idea what to do. And I see it all the time where an insured has a pipe break in their home, let's say, and they panic, you know, they're not really sure what to do. They don't want to make the wrong decision. And what ends up happening is they don't do anything. And then you have this failure to mitigate, which they're obligated to do under the policy, that in itself creates a coverage issue. So I am a strong, strong, advocate that people should have a local insurance agent because it helps you avoid so many pitfalls. - Yeah, absolutely. - So along that line, because you know, we're kind of talking about this here, what are some of the most common questions that you've gotten from policy holders or clients recently? - Well, I think we can all relate to this one, and it's, why are my rates going up? It's about making this current market make sense. Many are, I think, still unaware of the impact that the last few years have really had just due to weather, excessive claims, natural disasters, inflation, supply chain issues. We could go on and on, but clients are experiencing these rate increases sometimes without claims or issues that they have personally. So to them it's not really... they can't understand the justification of these increases because they personally haven't had any claims or issues on their part. But, you know, with the entire industry changing, there's been so much misinformation about how insurance actually works. And so this is why the consultation part of my job is actually critical just to be able to really personalize each client's needs and what's going to work best for them and their best interest right now, and then also in the future down the line. Okay. - And, and I completely understand why you'd be getting all of those questions so frequently at this point. And just for those watching, why is that? I mean, if an individual doesn't themself have a claim, why would their premium go up? - So as much as we like to, you know, take shots at the insurance industry, insurance is state regulated, and so we have to mitigate some of our risks both statewide and then obviously nationwide. So if the claim or the loss pool is not big enough for that specific carrier, they then have to, you know, petition to get rate increases from the state. And so at that point when those things happen, everybody has to bite a chunk of that off. And so that's where those rate increases happen. I think over the years it's just become more and more frequent, obviously because of the situations that we're in and the frequency of insurance being used. And so without that knowledge and that education behind it, it just seems really unfair for a lot of folks. But I think, you know, if you've got the right agent, that can kind of again, explain things to you and really discuss it and, you know, here's where you are comparatively in the market, it makes it a little bit easier to swallow. - Okay. So basically the purpose of insurance is to spread risk, so if, even though an insured themselves may not have a claim, right, because claims across the pool, let's say, maybe have gone up or the costs of claims have gone up because of inflation or the cost of materials and things of that nature, their premium will go up because that risk is then spread out across the entire pool, - Right? Yeah, I mean, to simplify things. It's a very delicate and very detailed industry and so there are, you know, a lot of little details that happen behind the scenes, but it's all a very ebb and flow type of industry. So you've got to just kind of go with the flow on things, but again, having a local agent that can navigate carriers and understands the market and what those carriers appetites are looking for, they can put you in a better situation so that we can kind of, again, reduce the likelihood of major increases in the future. - Okay. So when someone does come to you, you know, maybe their insurance with their prior carrier went up that year or something of that nature, are there options available through you to kind of find a cheaper insurance policy that's out there with the same or similar coverage or, you know, what kind of options do you have available? - Yeah, and so, you know, when I say when we talk about shopping, that's one of those things, it's just a generic term that we use for agents that have options with multiple carriers. When I offer that service to my clients, I do make sure that they understand that I'm going to give you my advice, and that may be to stay put where you are. It's not always going to be about moving you just to save a few dollars here and there. That's actually frowned upon because you want to build those portfolio details that are going to make it better for you in the future to become eligible for better rates, better coverages, and then be competitive in the market. So yes, going out and shopping is a definite perk when you have an agent that can not only do it for you, but really understands the carriers that you may or may not be advised to move to. - I appreciate that. That makes a lot of sense. It's not something that I've looked at quite that way, but that makes a lot of sense, absolutely. So do you find that you get more questions from policyholders or your clients when they're looking at insurance policies and getting insurance or when they have a claim? - So I think in this situation, most shopping involves price and most claims involve coverage. So the line of questioning is very different. So I would say that, you know, when I write a policy, I'm already thinking "if something happens, what is gonna protect this person?" And then I can work with price from there. So I'm comparing needs versus budget and it's the most natural, you know, for a person to think about price, especially when they're not happy with their current premiums. When you go to a store, for instance, and you're looking to buy a new coat, you know, think about what you look at first. Are you just looking for the right color, the right size, the right material? Or are you just looking at the price first? You know, do you want the coat to do its job or do you just care if it's below a certain price? As far as claims, I would say that the fine print in your policy holds the keys. Most of the info is challenging and hard to understand, but that's why you have a local agent to help simplify the answers to your questions. So don't be afraid to ask. - I agree with you a hundred percent. A hundred percent, absolutely. You know, one of the things that we find that people don't really understand is that not all policies are the same. I feel like over the last, you know, 10 years or so, there's been a push with, and I think a lot of it's marketing, right? Like when you see a commercial for an insurance company now it's, you know, a catchy theme song. It's a funny mascot. It's, you know, it's never talking about what the coverages are. You know, what happens when you have a claim or anything of that nature. And I get. Marketing often is, you know, the fun stuff that kind of gets people's attention. I get that a hundred percent. But with that kind of came a situation where insureds feel that insurance is a commodity a lot of the time. So every policy's the same, it doesn't really matter who they're with. It's just all about price and every policy is essentially identical. That's what I hear a lot from people, and I have to kind of explain to them that that's not really the case. You know, not only are the policies not the same and the coverages not the same, but you also have endorsements that, you know, can add and remove coverage and make all sorts of different changes to the policy as well. So, I mean, how do you explain all of that to an insured that's trying to figure out why this insurance policy is cheaper than that one, and maybe it's not going to be the same thing, or, you know, that they really need this particular endorsement even though it's going to cost a little bit more, you know... How do you handle all of those conversations? - Yeah, so I would say too, I totally agree with the whole marketing aspect of things. The flashy jingles and mascots and, you know, we laugh about all of them. We think they're funny, but they're not really that funny when something happens. So again, the way that I kind of explain it and, you know, the way that I try to kind of brand myself is that you've got all these different companies. You could be a customer of any one of those companies if you wanted to be. But as far as like a loyalty thing goes, a lot of folks like to talk about loyalty. You know, I've been with the A, B, and C company for so long, and when you're talking about loyalty and those kind of things, you want to really think and unfortunately these companies, you know, they can't be loyal to you all the time, you know, because they've got a business to run. So when we're talking about loyalty, we're trying to push in the agent to kind of be that person that's going to say, look, you need to come to me to ask the questions, and I'm going to advise you. I know that you love that commercial because they've got a great mascot. Or I know that you know, Aunt Sue has had 25 great years with, you know, A, B, C company, but is that the right fit for you? And are they going to offer the coverages that you need? So again, it's important to, you know, kind of get in with the local agent so that we're able to kind of put you in the right place. And don't worry, we've got pens and swag and things from all of the carriers, so if you really are interested, we can get you something. But as far as endorsements, the way that, you know, that you were kind of mentioning endorsements and how these policies are so different, you know, they're not cookie cutter. This is an area where customization and detail are extremely important. I'm sure I've had clients rolling their eyes, why is she asking me so many questions? But when it comes to homeowners, it's important to not only find the right endorsements, but again, to have a broker that's going to find you the right carrier that offers those endorsements and offers those coverages. And so one of them that, you know, we haven't actually really discussed in detail a lot has been, water backup and sewer drains and one of those coverages that is not automatically on your policy. It's often one that gets cut or gets added with minimum limits. Folks are not aware that what that policy coverage does nor, you know, do they even need it if it's only a small amount that's really not going to get them much coverage. So there's other endorsements as well. You would be shocked at how many there actually are with certain carriers, you know, matching your roof if part of your roof gets damaged, matching the siding if part of your siding gets blown off. Especially if you have an older home with aluminum siding, you know, you don't want half aluminum, half vinyl siding. It's important to make sure that they can match those if there's a claim. There's service line coverage, equipment breakdown, extended replacement cost, scheduled items, and even incidental farming for those folks that like to have some chicken coops in the back. And so, you know, those are just some of the options that are available and they're all important, but they need to make sense for that client and that situation. - I am so glad that you hit on that and you explained that so well, because a lot of people I think, think that, okay, you know, I'm gonna get the insurance policy, I'm covered, I'm good to go, everything's taken care of. But what they don't realize is that the insurance policy is made up of a lot of different things. You've got the base policy and then you have these endorsements that add things like matching. And these are things that when people don't have them and they then have a claim, they're very upset they didn't. They might have saved $60 by, you know, and, that's what we're talking about. Like, we're talking pennies and it means that the insurance company is only going to be replacing one side of siding or half of your roof, or, you know... these things really do make a lot of sense to have, you know, especially the matching, especially the sewage backup. That's one that I see a lot in our industry because when that happens, and this is how I always tell people - when that happens, do you want to clean it up? Because if you want a professional to clean it up, you're going to want insurance that's going to cover that. So it's absolutely something that they have to sit down with a local insurance agent. And I'm glad that you ask so many questions because that's what helps you determine what they do need. - Right. - So would those be probably the endorsements that you feel are the most important for the majority of people? Sewage backup, matching, things like that? - Yeah, I definitely think, you know, they're the most common, but they're the ones also that make the most sense. Things that are going to happen are most likely going to involve those few items. And really those are going to be the common areas where, you know, the most headache is going to be, or frustration with a claim. You know, it's important to kind of consider that. How upset would you be if you had half of a green roof, half of a brown roof, you know, if it's something that doesn't bother you, then not a problem. But if it is something that would bother you, then it would be worth exploring and putting into the budget for sure. - Yeah. And the other thing too, quite honestly is, I mean, if you sided your house or you replaced your roof, you know, 5 or 10 years ago and the sun has been beating down on it for 5 or 10 years, there is no matching that now. - Right. - So people that think like, oh, well they still sell that siding, or they still sell that shingle - when you replace half that that roof or you replace one side of the siding, you are going to see a difference. - Right. - You know, so that's where matching is really, really important to have, because, you know, nobody wants to be in a situation where one side of the house doesn't match the other. - Right. - Sometimes people don't realize, or they can't afford, you know, to, to replace the siding on the other sides of the house, and had they taken out a matching endorsement, they wouldn't have to even worry about it. - Yeah. And that's why it's so personal too, because you know, each person is not going to get a set amount. It's going to be different for everyone. And so that's why, you know, again, it makes sense for one person, but it might not make sense for another. - Yeah, absolutely. I'm so glad that you're there to help make sure people have these coverages because without someone like you, they don't even know they exist. We'll be back after a short break, but while you're here, don't forget to like and subscribe. Moving on a little bit to, I do want to talk about specialty insurance and things. So, you know, specialty insurance covers things that standard policies don't, like flood coverages and things of that nature, you know, how do people know if they need those policies or how do you know if they need those policies and how do you kind of help them through that process? - The way I look at it is, you know, welcome to NEPA. There are many areas that need to consider additional coverages that include flood insurance, mine subsidence insurance, sinkhole coverage. And remember, you do not need to live in a flood zone to purchase flood insurance. So we often think of the river, but that is not the only cause of flooding. There are web resources that are available to the public. You can simply plug in an address to see if you may need to consider those protection based coverages. There's designated zones that they will list on those sites. And us agents, we use those public systems just like everybody else. So we're really just making a recommendation for coverage. It's not a substitute for, you know, verifying your own personal risk. If you do carry a home loan or a mortgage, often the lender will make a requirement, you know, for that flood insurance or other insurance coverages. So that being said, you know, once we establish that coverage is recommended, I do have options for flood insurance through the NFIP, which is the National Flood Insurance Program, but I also have private flood insurance, which now offers a tremendous benefit for some because it's added coverage and it's got flexibility with it. All flood insurance does not need to be expensive. And it should be discussed with a local agent to learn exactly what it can do and how it can cover you. The other specialty coverages like mine subsidence or sinkhole coverage, those can sometimes be added directly to a policy depending on the carrier, and it can also be purchased separately through, you know, a state or a federal program. So there's a lot of resources out there, they just need to be accessed. I think too many just kind of rely on, you know, someone else to kind of tell them if they need it. But I would highly recommend everybody kind of just doing some investigating online through the local websites just to see if you're able to pull up your risk and see if you're in a mine subsidence area, if you are in a flood zone, if you've been known to have water intrusion as far as flooding, you know, talk to an agent about the policy, see if there's options that could cover you whether you need it or not. - That makes a lot of sense. So from my experience, and tell me if this is the same thing you see, most people that have specialty insurance, like flood insurance or mine subsidence insurance only have it because the bank told them they had to. And what people don't realize is flooding does occur from a variety of sources, not just, you know, rivers and things. And I saw a statistic the other day that 99% of counties across the entire United States experienced flooding in the last, you know, 20, 25 years or so. So that's a staggering figure to really consider when so many people don't have coverage. So when something does happen, even though it could very well be a fluke, you know, they could very well not be covered for it. - Yep. It could potentially come down to being just a simply, you know, a flood basically is two or more properties being inundated with water. So think of it this way - if your neighbor up the street has a very large above ground pool and it bursts and their yard gets flooded, the neighbor's yard gets flooded, your yard gets flooded, you've got two or more properties that are affected and that, you know, goes down into your house and you've got an inch of water in your house, that's a flood. No government website is going to tell you that you need flood insurance for that. We're also thinking about, again, in the northeast recently, so many of the issues with flooding that have absolutely nothing to do with the Susquehanna or the river, they're really tiny creeks and small bodies of water that, you know, have those potentials to overflow and cause flooding in an area. And so, you know, I think many people, again, they kind of just wait to be told that it's needed, and, you know, historically it is not an inexpensive coverage, but it can be. So again, just having that conversation, what does this look like for me? What are your thoughts on it? What's your advisement? It's a, well worth it conversation. - Absolutely. Because in the event that something does happen, they're going to want to make sure that they're covered for it and claims are unpredictable. You know, you never know what's going to happen to your property from one year to the next. You know, when I bought my house, in the first year I had a furnace puff back, a roof leak, and a pipe break in my kitchen. So, you know... - Yep. - Yeah. Now, fortunately, you know, I happen to know people, so I didn't have to submit a claim other than the pipe break was really significant so that ended up being a claim that I did report, but I was able to take care of everything else ourselves. But you don't know what you're buying when you buy a house. You don't know what might be hiding in the walls that you're not aware of. You don't know what your luck's going to be like. So who knew I was so unlucky! - You got it out of the way. - Yeah. So that's kind of what I kind of stress to people. You really don't know what's going to happen and insurance is there to protect you from the unknown. So it makes sense to kind of review everything with you and make sure that they have those protections. So when they do have a claim, so let's say someone does have a claim, you know, there's a lot of factors that play a role in determining coverage. We are often involved in that process. For instance, from the standpoint of determining the cause and the extent of damage, I know that you are not involved in making coverage decisions for claims, but the claims process can be confusing. How are you able to support insureds through the claims process? - So the best way to support insureds is to write the policies with claims in mind. Does my client understand why they have this coverage and what it would be used for? So providing information on what to do or who to call in the event of a claim, you know, advising that many claims are handled on a case per case basis. And to anticipate that there's gonna be involvement from an adjuster. And although I do not directly handle claim details, you know, it is important to contact me when something happens so that I can lend support, you know, whether that's through advisement or some phone numbers, referrals for professional mitigation services such as yourself, interpreting, verifying requirements, you know, all those kind of things on the back end of things. But, you know, no matter what the situation is, it's just about taking some of that burden off the client's plate. I think that's the most important to me. - And being that resource is really, really, helpful for an insured that really has no idea what to do. You know, when, when someone has a claim, it's uncommon for someone that has had a claim to have experience in that regard, you know, and even if they've had a claim before, it's an emotional period, you don't know what might be salvageable, you might not know what you might lose. You don't know what what to do. So it's good to have a resource that's able to kind of help them through that. So for example, one of the most common questions that we get during a water damage claim is how mold coverage works. You know, people think that, oh, well I've got mold coverage, so if I find mold in my house, it's going to be covered by insurance. And, you know, it's a little more nuanced and complicated than that. Would you mind expanding on that and kind of explaining how the mold coverage works and where it applies? - Right. So again, with this, you know, I don't deal directly with claims and this is one of those situations where it is going to be based case per case. Whenever a claim happens, we're always looking to the cause. So it always goes back to point A what caused the issue and is that initial caused something that is a covered peril. So mold coverage applies only as a result of a covered loss. So just because you find mold under the sink doesn't mean that you can call and make a homeowner's claim about it. We've got to have a covered loss and a cause for that. So, like you mentioned, mostly water claims is where we see this a lot. Property policies usually include a mold, fungus, wet rot, dry rot type of endorsement, so all policies usually have that included, but it provides a very limited amount for those losses. But again, that mold has to be caused from something that is initially covered. There are options to purchase extended mold coverage, and it's only offered through eligibility, so it provides higher coverage options, but that customer has to meet certain guidelines. If you're eligible, you know, the mold option will allow you to purchase those higher coverages that are going to be associated with the mold, fungus, wet rot, you know, that are usually limited. Some of those guidelines are going to be that you have no prior water losses, so you might knock yourself right out of the running of being able to purchase higher values if you've ever had a water loss prior. If you've got things like synthetic stucco, you know, just really some strange details that you might think are crazy, but it makes sense on an insurance perspective. Plumbing and things, you know, systems that have not been updated in the last maybe 20 years, you know, we don't want to offer you, you know, a ton of money for a plumbing system that is inevitably going to fail. We want to see those upgrades. Also with the roof, you know, roofs these days are the hot button subject. We don't want to see roofs that are, you know, 25, 30 years old, you know, because again, inevitably there's going to be a loss and it most likely could become due to water and then produce mold. So those coverages are available, but there are very specific details and it is very limited coverage. So getting the source of the problem identified early and mitigating it early to avoid that mold is, you know, the key point in that whole kind of area. - Okay. That's one that I get all the time, you know, is people wondering, you know, like, okay, where does the mold coverage apply? What can we expect there? I've had people assume that the water damage itself isn't covered if mold has already begun to develop because they look at the sudden and accidental verbiage in the policy and they kind of miss the foreseeability part of that. So, I mean, having some mold growth doesn't necessarily mean that a water damage was going on for an extended period of time. So it's very much, like you said, getting to point A and making sense of what happened, when, and why. Right. Okay. I appreciate that. Because getting a question like that answered from a professional is always great. So this is the Disaster Podcast, so I always have to ask this question, you know, what's the biggest disaster that one of your insureds has experienced and how did the insurance company resolve everything for them? - So I took over a client after a house fire. It was a total loss for this client, unfortunately. I was able then to visit his new home a few years later after it was rebuilt. And we just kind of discussed the experience. I was very happy to hear that his carrier was supportive and in the midst of everything, he was treated well and fair and was, you know, very thankful that his home was able to be rebuilt just as he had hoped. And so there's always going to be legwork and frustration during a loss, but hearing the story, you know, learning about those experiences of clients also helps me to navigate the market and, you know, have confidence in the companies that I do business with. So I like to do the follow up work on these things because I do like to hear those kind of testimonials for what their process was like. It not only helps me again, possibly prevent another client from having a situation like that, but then it also helps me, you know, have the knowledge again that, you know, if I'm putting them somewhere it's somewhere that I can trust and that will most likely handle their claim the best that they possibly can. - That's great. I always like hearing stories where the claim went smoothly, they got their life back together, you know, their house put back together, or in that case rebuilt. A claim is a horrible circumstance to be in, regardless. It's never going to be enjoyable. It's stressful. Sometimes things can't be replaced, you know, when you have sentimental items or family photos and things like that. We see that sometimes, and we do our best, but some things just sometimes aren't recoverable from a claim. So an insured has to kind of go in understanding that there are limitations to what the insurance company is able to accomplish. But it's nice when the insurance company really tries and the insured sees that. I always like seeing that. - Yeah, absolutely. - So a lot of people don't really value the insurance that they have until they need it, you know, so when you're dealing with that on your end and you're writing a policy and you're kind of going through that, one of the things I hear from people all the time is when you're going over the coverages, the insured isn't necessarily tuned in, right. It's when they need it that suddenly now that's information that they want to have. So when something does happen, the insurance company can help in so many ways. What do you think is one of the ways the insurance companies can help that insureds are least aware of? - You know, I always put myself in the shoes of the client when I get a claims call, whether it's a windshield on their car, a roof leak, water damage, it's all a personal disaster when it happens. And I know how inconvenienced and nervous I would be. So ultimately, you know, insurance, like I said, it's a business and it has procedures and it has policies, you know, for a reason. And I like to inform my clients, I always tell them that, you know, we're here to protect you, but there has to be some level of accountability on their part as well. Home maintenance, knowing what to do to mitigate risk and what the responsibilities are on their part, you know, to supplement that insurance. So insurance is not a set it and forget it thing. It's very much like a portfolio. So as an insurance advisor, local agent, this is why I surround myself, you know, with area professionals to be that resource when they need it. The conversations are most effective when, you know, we review things and I'm there to support when needed. - That that's wonderful. Because when somebody has a property claim or an auto claim, a lot of the provisions of the policy, I find that, you know, they're not always aware of, and from my experience, they're not always things that the adjuster or the claims department mentions either. They're often working remote, they're not local to the insured or the property. So they don't really see some of the struggle that insureds are kind of going through. So one of the things that I've noticed at least lately especially is that a ALE is becoming more and more available through the agents rather than the claims staff because you know it's in the policy, but the insured often doesn't, and the adjuster sometimes doesn't think about it or know that the insured needs it. You know, and for those listening, ALE is, is Additional Living Expense, so it can cover things from, you know, hotel stay or you know, an extended stay room or meal expense. You know, if you have a fire in your kitchen, you can't cook, it'll allow you to eat out at restaurants and kind of pay for those expenses until you're able to kind of get things situated. So, you know, these are all kind of coverages that people don't even realize are there sometimes. - Right. Many of them are, you know, standard on a policy. You know, I get those phone calls, you know, just like you, and you know, what does this mean? You know, when we're sitting down and we're discussing a policy it gets long, it gets long-winded, you know, we're not really paying attention to every little detail. And that's why it's important, I think, to get those policies, break them out every once in a while and really kind of take a look at them and say, boy, you know, what does this mean? Shoot me an email and say, Hey look, I was looking at this, what does this mean? I'm more than happy to answer it for you. - And that's great because you know, that's absolutely what everybody should have with their insurance policy and a lot of people don't. So, you know, to have a local agent that can answer those questions, that can hold their hand when need be, you know, I strongly encourage anybody listening that is looking for insurance to reach out to you because it's good to have someone that's that's able to do that and be there for them. So I want to thank you very much for coming on and talking with us today. I know that insurance is confusing to most people, so it's always good to have an experience and knowledgeable insurance agent that is able to not only answer your questions, but make sure that you are properly insured too. I'm sure there are a lot of people listening to the podcast that you could help with their insurance needs. Can you provide your contact information in case anyone wants to reach out to you? - Absolutely. You absolutely cannot miss me. I'm pretty much everywhere. Brianna Keeler, Comparion Insurance Agent on Facebook and LinkedIn. @briannakeelerinsuranceagent on Instagram, you can call me directly in my office in Moosic 871-6267. Email me brianna.keeler@comparioninsurance.com or Google and visit my website. Brianna Keeler Comparion Insurance Agent. https://www.comparioninsurance.com/insurance-agent/pennsylvania/moosic-0894/brianna-keeler - Very, very cool. So you're definitely everywhere - This is true. - And what states do you write for again? - So, I am resident licensed in Pennsylvania, but I'm also able to assist in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. - Thank you very much. For most people, their home is the biggest investment they'll ever make and it's important to protect that. I really appreciate you coming on to talk about the importance of homeowners insurance and answer so many questions about it. If anyone listening needs help with their insurance, please reach out to Brianna and she'll be happy to help. Is there something you would like to hear about? Please email us at disasterpodcast@disasterblaster.com and please visit our website for a ton of great content about property damage and the home buying process at www.DisasterBlaster.com. Would you like to take control of your future and build a business you can be proud of? We can help. 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