Champ Money

Most people know that when shopping around for a new mortgage, auto loan, or credit card, that they should first check their credit reports, as well as their FICO score, just so there are no surprised. What many people don’t know, however, is that similar reports are used by the insurance industry.

The reports used by insurance companies are called C.L.U.E. reports. There are versions for personal property and auto.

The C.L.U.E. Personal Property report provides a seven year history of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property. The following data will be identified for each loss: date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.

The C.L.U.E. Auto report provides a seven year history of automobile insurance losses associated with an individual. The following data will be identified for each loss: date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.

You can get a free copy of your C.L.U.E. report here.

Musical instruments can cost anywhere from a few dollars, up into the tens of thousands of dollars – and in the case of antique instruments they can be valued into the millions.

If you or your children own musical instruments of any significant value, make sure they are insured for loss due to damage or theft.

There are a few insurance agents who specialize in musical instrument insurance. They provide policies specific to musical instrument coverage. However, you can save a significant amount of money by added a personal property rider to your existing homeowner insurance policy.

Be careful, however, to make sure that the coverage from this inclusion would be as inclusive as that provided by an instrument-specific policy. In most cases, there coverage might not be quite as thorough, but the difference in premiums could be very significant – with the homeowners route being cheaper.

Always purchase generic drugs - both prescription and over the counter. Since brand name drugs are usually much more expensive than their generic equivalents, ask your physician and pharmacist if a less expensive generic or an over the counter alternative is available.

Be sure to take advantage of the recently introduced “low cost” generic drugs available at several national retailers and grocery stores. The medicine is equally effective as name brand medicines.

Even if your insurance covers the cost of the medicine, you should still shop as though you’re spending your own money - because you are. All insurance payouts are eventually passed back on to the consumer. If their costs are reduced, your premiums will be protected from increases.

The same is true if your employer pays 100% of your health insurance premium. The more money they pay for this benefit, the less they’ll have available for your salary.

You can save several hundred dollars a year on homeowner insurance and up to $50 a year on renter insurance by purchasing insurance from a low-price, licensed insurer. Ask your state insurance department for a publication showing typical prices charged by different licensed companies. Then call at least four of the lowest priced insurers to learn what they would charge you. If such a publication is not available, it is even more important to call at least four insurers for price quotes.

Are you paying for unnecessary insurance?

If you’ve got no dependents, you don’t need life insurance.

Accidental death insurance is rediculous. If you need insurance, then you need it all the time - not just for “accidental death”.

Rental car insurance is a large expense, and quite often not necessary.

Don’t take the rental car insurance if you are sure that your own auto insurance covers you - be sure to verify this however, because you definitely don’t want to be driving any vehicle uninsured.

Keep in mind that many major credit cards also have built-in rental car insurance.