Author
Managing Editor
Sarah Mitchell is the Managing Editor of Best Insurance Guide. She leads the editorial team that researches, writes and fact-checks our guides on home, auto and renters insurance, working with our contributors and reviewer network to verify claims against regulator and industry sources before publication. *Editorial note: contributor profiles reflect current editorial roles. License numbers and verifiable professional credentials are published here as contributors provide them. Our guides are educational and do not constitute personalized financial advice — always confirm details with a licensed agent or your state insurance department before buying.*
home insuranceRenters liability pays when someone else is hurt in your home or by your actions. Your own injuries are your health insurance, and the naming confuses everyone.
home insuranceTheft is covered wherever it happens and forced entry is usually not required. The category sublimits are where claims disappoint, and cash is capped at almost nothing.
home insuranceDwelling fire policies cover the building without the homeowners package around it. The three forms, what each leaves out, and why landlords and vacant homes end up here.
car insuranceFlorida makes you carry PIP and property damage and asks for no bodily injury liability at all. That single gap explains most of what goes wrong in a Florida claim.
car insuranceA clean record is the largest discount in car insurance and it is not one discount. It is five separate mechanisms, and most drivers are only receiving two of them.
home insuranceThe honest answer is that the purchase price is close to irrelevant. What decides the premium is the rebuild cost, the roof, the state and the deductible structure.
home insuranceMost policies now carry two or three deductibles, and the percentage one is the one nobody has read. How they work, what raising them actually saves, and where the line sits.
home insuranceA house in Savannah and a house in Marietta are priced by completely different risks. Coastal wind deductibles, north Georgia hail, and the lightning exposure nobody mentions.
home insuranceNew Jersey premiums are moderate for the Northeast and the coverage gap is severe. Most of the state's flood exposure sits outside the mapped high-risk zones, where nobody is required to buy.
home insuranceOhio is one of the more affordable states to insure a house in. The claims that actually cost Ohio homeowners money are hail and sewer backup, and one of those is excluded by default.
car insuranceCoverage can start the same day and frequently within the hour. What actually causes delay is missing information, an unusual risk, or a verification step nobody warned you about.
car insuranceAn at-fault claim commonly raises a premium by a quarter to a half and stays on the rating for three to five years. What decides where in that range you land.