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David Shaffer Mortgage and Insurance Services
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David Shaffer
David Shaffer Mortgage & Insurance Services License #0648051
925-944-7100
500 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 150
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
shafferi@pacbell.net
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Over the sixteen years I have operated my insurance agency, I have accumulated a lot of information about the products and services of a number of quality insurance companies. I have accumulated a lot of valuable information to help you understand the real differences between insurance policies. I have clients that have suffered total fire losses or serious earthquake losses and have learned valuable lessons I can share with you from these unfortunate events. In addition, I have had the unique privilege in the past to be the appointed representative of my professional trade association, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of the West, to be their spokesperson in front of the California State Assembly and California State Senate on legislation related to homeowners and earthquake insurance.
If all insurance policies from the hundreds of companies selling insurance to protect your home, your valuable possessions, your automobiles and personal liability were 100% identical in coverage and benefits, buying your insurance could simply be a matter of finding the lowest priced product. If the above were true, with the advent of e-commerce,you could simply go to a website, type in your parameters for coverage and be automatically linked to the insurance company for the lowest priced policy willing to underwrite your
policy.
However, probably one of the most important things for you to understand as a consumer of insurance products is that there are significant differences in how various insurance policies, which are legal contracts, will pay you for the damages that you have incurred.
For example, after a fire destroys all of your home, up until the last few years in California, you had many of the major insurance companies offering homeowner policies with "Guaranteed Replacement Cost" clauses. Today in California, many of the major insurance companies that used to offer "Guaranteed Replacement Cost" clauses have eliminated them. In their place, they have been replaced with clauses usually called "Extended" Replacement Cost. What does this mean? Instead of the insurance company "guaranting" to rebuild your home no matter what it costs, today you will find mostly policies that only pay 20%, 25%, 35%, 50%, 75% or 100% over your policy's dwelling limit of liability. On top of this, there are significant differences in the various homeowner insurance policies on how much you will be paid for additional costs incurred to rebuild your home to the current building code standards.
Do you want a world where all consumer insurance products sold are identical? In many ways, it would simplify our lives if this were the case! However, it is highly unlikely there will ever come a time that as a consumer you will have only one option to buy for any particular product, whether insurance or otherwise.
Therefore, it has always been my business philosohpy to educate my new clients and on ocassions even have to re-educate existing clients on 1)first to understand some fundamental claim settlement differences between policies; and 2)once you understand what coverages you really should try to have in your policy, that is when I as your professional agent/broker look for the best coverage possible at the most competitive rates from an insurance company with an outstanding reputation for claims handling and day to day service needs.
If you really don't care about the coverage and service you get and simply want to pay the least amount possible for your insurance, David Shaffer Insurance Services is not the insurance agency for you!
David Shaffer Insurance Services is dedicated to affluent California consumers who not only want to be educated insurance consumers but also want to have David Shaffer Insurance Services be their insurance consumer advocate before and after their loss.
So that I can better help you and I work together on a long-term personal and professional basis, here's a place to get some answers to frequently asked questions regarding insurance for your home, automobile, jewelry, fine arts, other collectables, and personal liability. If you don't see a question for which you would like an answer, please request it via email.
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Auto
What does "full coverage" mean?
The term "full coverage" is a term that means the legally required or most commonly requested coverages. Legal requirements vary from state to state, with some requiring more than others. Full coverage can include bodily injury, property damage, uninsured and underinsured motorist, damage to the insured vehicle (also known as comprehensive and collision) and any other coverages available such as rental car and towing.
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Life
How much life insurance should I get?
If you have a family, most experts agree that a policy worth 5 to 10 times your annual salary is a wise investment. However, many individuals choose to purchase a higher amount.
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Home
What are the types of home insurance?
The two categories of homeowner insurance are "all-risk insurance" and "named-peril insurance." All-risk insurance covers losses except those specifically excluded in the policy. Named-peril policies pay only for the causes of loss specified in the policy.
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