Auto insurance is full of numbers and terms that can feel more confusing than they need to be. Let’s break down the basics in plain English—no jargon, we promise.
Think of your auto policy as a bundle of different coverages, each doing a different job. Some pay for damage you cause to someone else. Some pay to fix your own car. Some help cover medical bills. You can mix and match depending on what you need.
Liability coverage is usually required by law, and it’s the part of your policy that pays for the other person’s damage and injuries if you’re the one at fault in an accident. It does not pay to fix your own car—that’s a different coverage.
You’ve probably seen liability limits written as three numbers, like 100/300/100. Here’s what each one means:
So with 100/300/100 coverage, if you cause an accident that injures two people, your policy could pay up to $100,000 for each person, as long as the total doesn’t go over $300,000.
UM stands for Uninsured Motorist, and UIM stands for Underinsured Motorist. Together, this coverage protects you if you’re hit by a driver who doesn’t have insurance at all, or who doesn’t have enough insurance to cover your injuries. This happens more often than you’d think, so it’s worth understanding—even though it protects you rather than someone else.
A deductible is the amount you pay out of your own pocket before your insurance starts paying for a claim. If you have a $500 deductible and $2,000 in damage to your car, you’d pay the first $500, and your insurance would cover the remaining $1,500. A higher deductible usually lowers your monthly premium, but it also means paying more out of pocket if you ever need to file a claim.
Auto insurance doesn’t have to be confusing once you understand what each piece is actually doing. If you’re ever unsure what your policy covers—or whether your limits make sense for your situation—that’s exactly the kind of question we’re happy to help with.
Two people can have policies that sound identical and still get very different checks after a claim. The reason usually comes down to two little words buried in the policy: actual cash value.
Actual cash value means your insurance pays what an item is worth today—not what you paid for it, and not what it would cost to replace. To figure that out, the insurance company takes the price of a new item and subtracts depreciation for age and wear. A 10-year-old couch might have cost $800 new, but its actual cash value could be closer to $150 by the time it’s damaged or stolen.
Replacement cost coverage pays what it actually costs to buy a new item of similar kind and quality today—no subtraction for age or wear. Using the same example, a replacement cost policy would help you buy a new couch, not just hand you what the old one was worth.
Some homeowners and renters policies default to actual cash value unless you add replacement cost coverage, often for a relatively small increase in premium. After a fire, storm, or theft, that difference can mean thousands of dollars—especially for older belongings, roofs, or appliances.
It’s worth knowing which type of coverage your policy actually has before you need to use it, not after. If you’re not sure which one you have, that’s an easy thing for us to check for you.
“My landlord has insurance, so I’m covered” is one of the most common—and most costly—misunderstandings in renting. Here’s what’s actually going on.
Your landlord’s insurance protects the building itself—the walls, roof, plumbing, and other structural parts of the property. It’s there to protect their investment, not your stuff.
If a fire, burst pipe, or break-in damages or destroys your furniture, electronics, clothing, or other belongings, your landlord’s policy generally won’t pay to replace any of it. That’s the gap renters insurance is built to fill.
A renters policy typically covers three things: your personal belongings if they’re damaged or stolen, your liability if someone is hurt while visiting, and additional living expenses—like a hotel stay—if your rental becomes temporarily unlivable after a covered loss.
Renters insurance is often one of the least expensive policies you can buy, especially compared to the cost of replacing everything you own out of pocket. For many renters, it’s a small monthly cost for a real amount of peace of mind.
For many small business owners—especially in construction and the trades—it can be difficult to know when someone should be considered an employee and when they are truly working as an independent contractor.
And it is not simply a matter of whether someone receives a W-2 or a 1099.
How you classify the people who work for your business can affect your taxes, employer responsibilities, and insurance coverage.
There is no single question that determines the answer. Laws and requirements can vary, and classification depends on the facts and circumstances of each situation.
However, there are some important signs to consider:
If several of these questions make you unsure about how your workers are classified, it may be a good time to review the situation with the appropriate professionals.
If authorities determine that someone who was treated as an independent contractor should actually have been classified as an employee, the business could face taxes, contributions, interest, penalties, and other obligations.
There is also another important consideration: insurance coverage.
A General Liability policy can protect a business against many types of third-party claims, but it generally is not designed to cover work-related injuries to your own employees.
That is what Workers’ Compensation insurance is designed to address.
This can become a serious issue when a business considers someone an independent contractor, but it is later determined that the person should have been treated as an employee.
A serious workplace injury can result in significant medical costs and other financial obligations. Depending on the circumstances, an accident may also lead to a review of how the business’s workers are classified.
Worker classification is a legal and tax issue, and your insurance agent does not determine whether someone is legally an employee or an independent contractor.
Your insurance agent can, however, help review your policies and identify possible insurance risks related to the way your business operates.
At Bryson Insurance Agency, we can review your coverage at no cost and help identify areas you may want to discuss with your legal or tax advisor.
Have questions about your business coverage?
Call or text 970-945-0737 or email us at service@bkarrenagency.com. We are here to help you understand your coverage and better protect what you have built.
If you’ve ever been asked to “send over a COI” before you could start a job, sign a lease, or work with a new client, you’re not alone—and it’s a lot simpler than it sounds.
A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a short, one-page summary of your insurance coverage. It shows what types of coverage you have, your policy limits, and how long your coverage lasts—without handing over your entire policy.
General contractors, property owners, and clients ask for a COI to protect themselves. It’s proof that if something goes wrong on the job—an injury, damage to their property—your insurance is there to respond, instead of it becoming their problem. Many contracts and leases simply won’t let you start work without one on file.
Usually not long at all. Most COI requests can be turned around quickly once we know who the certificate holder is and what they’re requesting.
Need a certificate of insurance? You can request one directly through our Compliance & Audit Support page, or call or text 970-945-0737.
If a contract you’ve signed mentions adding someone as an “additional insured,” it’s a common request—and an easy one to misunderstand.
Adding someone as an additional insured means they get added to your liability policy for the work you’re doing for them. If a claim comes up related to your work—like an injury or property damage—your policy can help protect them too, not just you.
General contractors, property owners, and clients often require it because it shifts risk in their favor: if something goes wrong because of your work, your insurance responds first, instead of theirs. It’s a standard, expected part of doing business in many industries, especially construction and trades.
You may also see this phrase alongside additional insured requests. In plain terms, it means your policy has to pay first, before the other party’s own insurance is asked to contribute anything. Contracts often require both together.
Adding an additional insured is usually a quick update to your policy, not a new one. If a contract is asking for this kind of wording, send it our way and we’ll make sure it’s set up correctly.
When people think about life insurance, they often picture something for later in life—but some of the smartest life insurance decisions happen when you’re young. Here’s why life insurance can be a great idea at any age, and it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
Life insurance rates are based largely on your age and health. The younger and healthier you are when you get a policy, the lower your rate typically is—and that rate can stay locked in for the life of the policy. Getting covered in your twenties or thirties instead of waiting until your forties or fifties can mean paying significantly less for the same amount of coverage, for years to come.
Term life insurance covers you for a set number of years—like 20 or 30—and it’s often surprisingly affordable, especially when you’re young and healthy. It’s a great way to make sure the people who depend on you, like a spouse, partner, or kids, would be financially protected if something happened to you.
It might sound unusual, but an Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy for a child can actually be a smart long-term move. Because premiums are based on age and health, coverage for a child is typically very affordable. And because these policies build cash value over time, a policy started early has decades to grow—potentially becoming a meaningful financial resource by the time your child is an adult, whether that’s for a first car, college, or a future home. It also locks in their insurability while they’re young and healthy, regardless of what health changes might come later in life.
You don’t need a specific milestone—a new baby, a mortgage, a certain birthday—to think about life insurance. The truth is, the earlier you start, the more affordable and flexible your options usually are. Whether you’re just starting out, growing your family, or thinking ahead for your kids, there’s a policy that can fit where you are right now.
We’re happy to walk through your options—no pressure, just information—so you can decide what makes sense for your family.
If the letters A, B, C, and D make Medicare feel more like alphabet soup than health coverage, you’re not the only one. Here’s what each part actually means, in plain terms.
Part A helps cover inpatient hospital stays, care in a skilled nursing facility, hospice care, and some home health care. Most people don’t pay a monthly premium for Part A if they’ve worked and paid Medicare taxes for enough years.
Part B covers the everyday stuff—doctor visits, outpatient care, preventive services, and durable medical equipment. Unlike Part A, most people do pay a monthly premium for Part B.
Part C, better known as Medicare Advantage, is an alternative way to get your Part A and Part B coverage through a private insurance company instead of directly through Medicare. These plans often bundle in extra benefits, like vision, dental, or prescription drug coverage.
Part D helps cover the cost of prescription medications. It’s offered through private insurance companies and can be added to Original Medicare, or it may already be built into a Medicare Advantage plan.
Most people end up choosing between two paths: Original Medicare (Parts A and B, often with a separate Part D plan) or Medicare Advantage (Part C, usually with everything bundled together). Neither path is automatically “better”—it depends on your health needs, budget, and preferences. We’re happy to walk through what each option would actually look like for you.
“I already have life insurance through work” is one of the most common reasons people put off getting their own policy—but employer coverage usually covers a lot less than people assume.
Many employers offer a basic amount of group life insurance as part of your benefits—often somewhere around one to two times your annual salary. It’s a nice benefit, but for most families, that amount alone wouldn’t come close to replacing years of lost income, paying off a mortgage, or covering future expenses like college.
Employer group life insurance is tied to your job. If you leave the company, get laid off, or retire, that coverage typically ends with it—sometimes with an option to convert it to an individual policy, but often at a much higher rate.
An individual life insurance policy belongs to you, not your employer. It stays in place no matter where you work, can provide a more meaningful amount of coverage, and locks in a rate based on your age and health at the time you buy it—which is usually your lowest cost to ever get that coverage.
Think of workplace life insurance as a nice extra layer, not your whole safety net. Having your own policy alongside it means your family’s protection doesn’t depend on where you happen to be employed.
We’re happy to walk through your specific situation—no pressure, just answers.
Talk to an Advisor