Blog

By Jeff Ryan April 7, 2026
Factors You Can’t Easily Control These factors are built into your profile, but still play a major role: Your location: Claim trends, traffic, and weather patterns where you principally drive. Your age and driving experience: Especially for younger drivers. Other drivers in your household: Their age and driving history. The vehicle you own: Unique to the Year, Make, Model, and Sub-model’s damageability and cost of parts/labor. These factors significantly influence price differences, but they don’t tell the whole story. Factors You Can Control This is where habits and wise decisions can make a real difference: Your driving habits: Minimizing tickets and accidents can have a direct impact. Your coverage choices: Liability limits, deductibles, and optional coverages can vary widely. Your insurance consistency: Avoiding lapses in coverage. Your annual mileage: How much and how often you drive. Discount opportunities: Bundling, pay-in-full, NYS defensive driving course. Your Insurance Score (Yes—You Can Influence It) Insurance companies use a credit-based insurance score as part of their rating process. While it’s based on financial behaviors, it is not permanent—and it can be improved over time. Simple habits like: Paying bills on time Reducing outstanding debt Avoiding excessive credit inquiries… can positively impact your score—and in turn, your insurance rates. Your insurance score is under your control and a worthy mid to long-term project in and of itself. For more information on what you can do to positively influence your score, see: Great 8 Tip #8 - What's Credit Got to Do with Insurance? How Can I Improve My Auto Insurance Score Why Comparing Rates Doesn’t Work When someone says, “I only pay…” , the uniqueness of their fingerprint is missing. What are their: Deductibles Driving history Insurance score Household profile Coverage limits: what they may be giving up in terms of protection. Price without context can be misleading and discouraging.
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU December 7, 2025
Part 7 – Designing a Value-Driven Insurance Plan
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU November 24, 2025
Part 6 – Advice, Advocacy, and Answers
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU November 12, 2025
Part 5 – Can Your Company Deliver?
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU October 29, 2025
Part 4 – Custom Coverage = Real Protection
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU October 15, 2025
Part 3: Coverage Limits - "The Ceiling You Don't Want to Collapse"
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU October 1, 2025
Part 2 – The Risks of Chasing Cheap
By Jeff Ryan - CLU, ChFC, AIA, CIC, CPCU September 17, 2025
Part 1: What Are You Really Paying For?
Insurance fraud is a significant problem, exceeding $300 billion annually, with the Property and Cas
By Jeff Ryan May 6, 2025
Insurance fraud is a significant problem, exceeding $300 billion annually, with the Property and Casualty sector contributing nearly $50 billion to that total.
More Posts