Join us on this episode of Fix-It Radio as we dive into a myriad of home improvement topics, including the ever-evolving world of water heaters. Discover the differences between self-cleaning and on-demand models, and learn about the pros and cons of each to decide which system best fits your household’s needs. We also cover essential maintenance tips to keep your heating systems running efficiently throughout the winter months.
SPEAKER 02 :
Walter? Upstairs! Are you alright?
SPEAKER 15 :
In the floor behind the chair.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is America.
SPEAKER 02 :
Does everybody know what time it is? Fix It Radio.
SPEAKER 13 :
And it is Fix-It Radio, KLZ 560. Thank you all for listening. If you’re listening to a replay show, we appreciate that as well. February the 8th today. Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service with me today. He’ll stay with us through Drive Radio. Good morning, Steve. Always a joy having you. And this morning, a little bit of snow in some places for some of you out there. Now, those of you listening to the replay on Tuesday, you might actually have more snow Tuesday than we actually have today. On Saturday. So hard to say exactly how that’s all going to come out and how it’s all going to work out. I am not a weather forecaster. We were talking about that prior to the to the show today. Myself and Larry Unger, of course, and Steve, we were all chatting it up. And yeah, I’m not that. So, you know, it’s kind of one of those that whatever happens happens and we’ll just roll with it. Larry Unger, of course, answering phones for us today. Charlie Grimes. Our engineer, Paul Leuenberger, by the way, who is our resident insurance agent. He’s been mine for years and years now. He is on his way in. He was going to be here by about 9 and had a customer that he had to help out this morning with a particular purchase that had to make sure everything was all covered and done and handled. So he is on his way and will be here a little bit. And we’ll get some updates on some things happening in the insurance world because it is changing. And Steve is over here agreeing because it’s not for all of you that have listened for any length of time. It’s not just you even as the homeowners where things have changed. It’s changing in the business side, the liability side. There is a lot of things in the insurance world that are changing. And frankly, in some cases, including at least in my case, and Steve’s I’m sure isn’t as much difference, the cost of doing things is continually increasing. And in a lot of cases, it’s because of not only the wages, but the insurance side of it as well. Correct, Steve? Absolutely. Not slowing down. And taxes. And taxes.
SPEAKER 14 :
I just got property taxes yesterday.
SPEAKER 13 :
But don’t even get me started. Don’t get me started. I was looking at, you know, because I’ve got several buildings we own and different things. And you look at those and I’m just thinking to myself, where does all this money go? Because it is a boatload of money that these counties collect when it’s all said and done. And it’s like, you’ve got to be kidding me. Where is all this money going? That’s another topic for during the week. No, it’s just I’m with you, though. You look at that and just realize it’s not going down any. And that’s true for the homeowners. You guys are listening as well. The property tax sides of things isn’t changing for you as well. And that’s why I always say elections have consequences. So I talk about that on a on a daily basis. OK, last week. Before we get to Paul here in a few minutes, last week we got into the whole water heater discussion. So I don’t know how we got on that. I don’t remember now exactly what drove us down that path. But we got onto the water heater discussion and differences between, you know, self-cleaning and just regular water heaters and so on. So I did a little bit of research during the week. And, yes, in fact, like I said last week, there are self-cleaning hot water heaters. There are those that do not. There’s pros and cons to each, and what I would suggest you do is you do some research on your own, and if you’re ready to replace a water heater, you need to do some research on that and decide what do you want to have put in. And by the way, I would do that prior to just having somebody come out and install whatever they think you need to have installed, because typically they’re going to, in some cases, either sell you what they may have in their own warehouse that who knows how long that’s been there, been there there’s also higher efficiency heaters now that we didn’t used to have you know even a decade plus ago so lots of changes in that world and for some people you may find that the instant heaters you know the on-demand heaters work very well and you may find yourself wanting to go along that line and again all of these including the on-demand heaters have their own pros and cons and i it’s honestly folks i don’t know how else to say it it’s it’s it’s a crapshoot you have to decide what works best for you and not what a relative a neighbor uh so on and so forth you know i will say that a lot of professionals can tell you what they see in the field what works and what doesn’t work but really at the end of the day i think you need to do some of your own research there’s plenty out there on the internet where you can decide what’s going to work best for me versus what I’ve had and against the on-demand heaters, for example. If you’re somebody that doesn’t use a lot of hot water, maybe you’re somebody that, you know, it’s just you and your spouse, your partner. You may take, you know, each of you one shower a day, maybe one in the morning. Somebody else is in the evening. You’re not doing much other than that, maybe a little bit of laundry here and there. Frankly, if you’re ready to change over, you know, if you’re ready to change out a water heater, frankly, you’re probably a good candidate for an on-demand because you’re not heating the water all the time. You’re only heating it when you actually need it. So there can be a savings on that end of things. In fact, a lot of newer houses are coming with on-demand heaters because A, they can save a little space B, they’re selling the home as more efficient, which it is, because an on-demand heater is only firing when it’s actually needed. It’s not keeping that water at a particular temperature all the time, no matter what. Because keep in mind, a regular hot water heater, a regular water heater, I should say, yes, it makes the water hot. We call them hot water heaters. I always get corrected on that, Steve, when I call them hot water heaters, because it’s heating cold water. So it’s a cold water heater, actually.
SPEAKER 14 :
And it maintains it hot.
SPEAKER 13 :
But it maintains whatever you’ve set the dial to, by the way. So… Some of you like your water a little hotter. Some like a little colder. If you if you raise that up and it’s a little hotter, you’re going to find yourself with a little bit more of a bill because it’s keeping that maintained at that particular temperature all the time. So, again, you talk about that person that maybe uses some hot water in the morning for a shower. Maybe they leave for the rest of the day. Well, that heater is maintaining that temperature all day long, whether you’re there or not, so that when you come home at night and want that hot shower or whatever the case, you’ve got that hot water there ready to go. Where on-demand, it knows when that hot water is being demanded, and it fires up accordingly.
SPEAKER 14 :
And it never runs out. I’ve had a tankless water heater for close to 20 years now. And we’ve liked it. It’s fit our life, even with the kids, because the kids could take a long hot shower and never run out.
SPEAKER 13 :
You don’t run out.
SPEAKER 14 :
Especially no kids.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, I am, to your point, Steve, I’m a fan of them. I have had them on a couple of occasions. And, yeah, I actually like the way they work. I think they’re very… efficient to your point you don’t run out now here’s the downside they’re going to be more money up front than what a tank type heater is but typically your longevity is better with the tankless than it is a tank type and i mean longevity wise in some cases two to one So if you think about that, you really have to factor all of that in, including your savings throughout its life because of it being on demand and not heating it at all times. So you’ve got to sit down and run the math on that and determine what’s best for you when it’s all said and done.
SPEAKER 14 :
We actually had a couple plumbers at the house this week. They were thinking somewhere in the $8,000 range, too, as much as $15,000, so somewhere in there.
SPEAKER 13 :
They’re considerably higher than what you would.
SPEAKER 14 :
I don’t know what water heater’s going there, a couple thousand, I’m sure.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, you can be, you know, yeah, two, depending upon the circumstances, the size, what they have to do, if there’s any code upgrades and so on, it can be, Steve, anywhere from $2,500, $3,000 and up on a tank type.
SPEAKER 14 :
At least twice as much.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s twice, yeah. I would say it’s about double, yes, at least. And it really, again, depends on your circumstances, what you’re needing done, and so on. And a lot of this, too, by the way, I still think comes down to how long you’re going to stay in the home. So if this is a home that you’ve… you know, you’ve moved into, you’ve done some remodeling and some things like that, and you’re one of those where, yep, this is where we want to be. This is our neighborhood. It’s finally the area that we want to live in, and we don’t see ourselves leaving for, you know, quite some time. Well, then you may find that that tankless heater, when it’s all said and done, is a better investment. On the same token, if you’re like, you know, might live here three to five years and then we’re out of here, I don’t think I’d spend the extra money to do those upgrades. Just put a good solid, you know, if you need one done, put a good solid, you know, tank type heater in and call it good. But yeah, it was a good discussion we had last week and I appreciate all of you that were involved. Chiming in, I had lots of text messages and emails and so on, and sometimes you just hit a hot spot with a topic and it starts to roll, and that was last week for sure. So thank you guys for that. I do appreciate that very much. Okay, we’re still in the wintertime, by the way. And I know when it’s a day like yesterday where it’s 60 degrees, it doesn’t seem like it. Today will seem more like winter than it did yesterday. But there are things that you can do during the winter months maintenance-wise that you really should be doing. Take advantage of some of these times of the year. So one of them, and I’ve got a little article out of familyhandyman.com, one of those is clean your dryer and your dryer vent. It’s easy to do this time of year. Yeah, in some cases you may need to go outside and do a couple of things, but even on a day like today, put a jacket on and go outside for a few minutes. The majority of your work is inside. In some cases, well, all cases, you’re going to want to slide that dryer out, make sure all of the crud and that is all gone from around it. And if you notice there’s a lot of vent or a lot of lint buildup, you may very well want to take the face of the dryer off and look inside to determine how much has built up inside of the dryer i’ve seen some dryers and help some folks out over the years where you pulled that off and it’s like all man there either it’s a fire hazard there’s so much stuff inside of the dryer so yeah that’s one of those things you definitely want to stay on top of that’s one of those more and i’ll just be straight up honest it’s a fairly easy maintenance thing to do if you can run you know a screwdriver and a shop vac and there’s so many tools now that you can even buy the the snakes yeah that’s right the chimneys that’s exactly right you can put them on the end of a drill even and they’ll even spin so many ways now that you can clean those over what it used to be i i can remember a time where you went and got your you know your your handheld backpack blower and you you know stuffed a rag or a towel or something around it and you know around the vent so you didn’t lose any you know pressure and you blew as much out as you possibly could that way another handy way to do it by the way but today with the ability to scrape even the inside of the lines and such out work extremely extremely well so if you’ve got the ability to do that that’s fine and hey uh Real quick, Charlie, Larry, can you go let Paul in, by the way? He is at the door. Thank you very much if you would do that, and we’ll get him on air here in just one moment. Jeff, you’re up next. Go ahead, sir.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, good morning.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good morning.
SPEAKER 06 :
We survived our blizzard on Wednesday, so we got about 12 inches of snow up here. It’s about 22 to 24 inches down in the Bitterroot, about 100 miles south of us. Wow. It’s been an interesting week.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, I can imagine.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, yeah, concerning water heaters, first of all, and it’s more of a peeve than anything else, but I hear a lot of people say that what they have is a hot water heater. No, you have a cold water heater.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Because you don’t need to heat hot water. So just call it a water heater. And not a hot water heater because hot water is what you want, not what you eat. So anyway, enough on that. But we had an old munchkin boiler here when we bought the house that the last couple of years it’s been on the last legs. And for almost a year now I’ve had to nurse it along and get a lot of gas valve errors and I have to go out and reset it. So we finally just had it replaced with a lock and bar boiler and That sucker is amazing. I can’t believe the technology that we have now in boilers and how small the footprint is for them. And one of the options on this locking bar is that you can put a sidecar water heater on it. It will heat your water as well as for domestic use as well as water in your floor because we have radiant heat floors. Right, right. And I elected for that option just because I didn’t know what was coming down the road. I mean, we have pretty good electric rates up here. At our consumption rate, it’s still, even though prices have gone up considerably, it’s mostly hydro, and we only pay about $0.09 a kilowatt hour. That’s pretty good.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, that’s cheap.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think, yeah, that’s probably one of the best in the country. So, yeah. So I still have a, an electric water heater, uh, that does for the three of us seem to take care of all of our needs, but just in case down the road, I don’t know what’s, what’s coming down the road. So just in case I had the capability for a, uh, for a, uh, propane water heater as well. So, so anyway, just spoke, you know, it’s more of a one year plan and out scoping out your plans. I think outside the box a little bit. Yeah, you may have an electric or a gas right now, but…
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, you may switch that down. Somebody asked, too, while we’re on this topic, if there’s any maintenance required on the on-demand water heaters. And it depends on the type. In Jeff’s case, with electric, not much you have to do on an electric heater. They’re pretty straightforward. On a gas-fired, whether it be propane or gas, especially, well, the majority of them nowadays are going to be high-efficiency. And if it’s high-efficiency, typically they’ve got filters that are filtering out the condensation that’s coming out of the heater system. itself that’s running down into either your septic we’ve had this conversation in the past either the septic or the sewer and there is some maintenance that you need to do on that end of things depending upon how often it’s used and you can kind of get yourself in a regiment there but outside of that um really jeff and those listening that ask that question not much else you need to do with an on-demand heater they’re pretty self-sufficient
SPEAKER 14 :
I think they want to filter the water coming in a little bit.
SPEAKER 13 :
They would like you to do that, yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
I think that would extend your warranty.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, it’s one of those things where you have your water tested on the front side. Some folks have better water than others, depending upon whether you’re city, depending upon the city and that particular area that you’re in or well or whatever. So good point, Steve, absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, we’re on a community well here. We get it tested once a month. We have some problems for a while, but I think that was because of a – some bad wellheads that were letting some bacteria in. So it’s been over a year now. We haven’t had any problems. And our water, it’s hard. It’s about 12 grains. But it is the best water you can expect to have. There’s no sulfur, no iron, none of the nonsense that makes it on. So I just feel really blessed. But, yeah, the hard part of it, the calcium carbonate in it, that’s something we have to – Probably wash out for us.
SPEAKER 13 :
Jeff, as always, I appreciate you. Have a good one, sir.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, stay warm.
SPEAKER 13 :
We’ll do it, man. You do the same. And Paul finally joined us. We’ll come back here after the break. We’ll get into some insurance stuff here in a moment as well. If you’ve got any insurance questions at all, by the way, home, auto, you name it, give us a call, 303-477-5600. You can text us a question as well. Get that answered that way also, 307-282-22. We’ll be right back. Fix-It Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 13 :
All right, and we are back. Fix-It Radio, KLZ 560. Appreciate you all listening today, by the way, on this fine Saturday, February the 8th. So if you’re listening to Replay Show, you know what day it is. Again, Paul Leuenberger joining us today as well as Steve from Genos. Paul, did you make it down here okay?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I did.
SPEAKER 13 :
You can’t hear? Your volume is going to be on the very bottom one there. Make sure you can hear that way. Does that help?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, there we go.
SPEAKER 13 :
There we go. All right. Did you make it down okay?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, traffic wasn’t bad at all.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good. And you had a little work to do on the way, so that’s okay, too.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I pulled over and decided to run.
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s all right. We understand. So those of you listening, if you’ve got an insurance question, by all means, give us a call. We’ll go over some basic things as well, some of the changes that are happening in the industry. And as you all know, there are changes happening. And I talk about those a lot during the week, not just because of Paul, but just because it’s the nature of What’s happening, a lot of that has to do with just roofs and everything, and it’s the business side as well that Steve and I are very familiar with. So if you’ve got a specific question, though, when it comes to insurance, things that you may want to have or questions that you’ve got in regards to certain types of coverage and things along those lines, 303-477-5600. Now, I will tell you all, and I’ve talked about this in the past. I did this just a few weeks ago. For some of you where you’re thinking, man, it’s getting expensive. Yeah, it is. And it’s like anything else out there, it is getting more and more expensive. So what you have to do is look at ways to save money on the coverage that you have. And I know people, Paul, don’t like hearing this, but what you really need to do is be more disciplined and do some self-insurance if you can. And I know not everybody can, but what I mean by self-insurance is Look at the coverage you have. Drop some things that you don’t need. Raise the deductibles in some areas. Those are all things, if I’m correct in saying, that would save money on your premiums, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
You have to do deductibles. I mean, that’s your number one. That’s what you have to focus on. A lot of people want to lower their coverage. But essentially what you’re doing is… Giving yourself more exposure then. Yeah. Raise your deductible and keep your coverage where it’s at because then you know what your out-of-pocket expense is going to be versus going from half a million of coverage to $400,000 because now you have a $100,000 deductible. Okay. Go to a higher deductible, leave your coverage where it’s at so you’re properly covered, and then you know at the end of the day if you have a claim your deductible is $5,000 versus $100,000.
SPEAKER 13 :
Gotcha.
SPEAKER 07 :
And that’s where you’re going to save the money. Don’t lower your coverage to save money. Raise your deductible.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. Now, when it comes to, really quick, for those that are listening, because I don’t even know this because I don’t usually look at state minimums and things like that, but Colorado state minimums, auto insurance-wise, are what? 25, 50, 15. Okay, and explain what that 25, 50, 15 is.
SPEAKER 07 :
So if you’re driving down the road and you get in an auto accident, state minimums means you’re going to cover, if I hit you and I’ve got state minimums, I’m going to cover $25,000 per person in that car that I hit.
SPEAKER 13 :
For medical.
SPEAKER 07 :
For medical. Okay. $15,000 to fix your car.
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s it?
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s it.
SPEAKER 13 :
That doesn’t fix much.
SPEAKER 07 :
No. Not in this day and age.
SPEAKER 13 :
Not in this day and age, it doesn’t. Maybe a bumper. Steve and I are looking at each other like, yeah, that ain’t covering, you know, in some cases, yeah, a little bumper damage. And, you know, if it sent you into a curb and you broke a wheel or an axle or something along those lines, you’re exceeding that in a heartbeat.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and that’s the problem with Colorado insurance now. That’s why it’s got to be so expensive.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, because most running around to meet the minimums to get their license plates means they have to have that as a minimum.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, 38% of people.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, so what’s the last figure?
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s $15,000. Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, you said $25,000, $15,000, and what was the last one? $25,000, $50,000, and $15,000. Oh, $25,000, $50,000, and $15,000. Okay, gotcha.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, so $25,000, $50,000. So $25,000 per person. $50,000 total. $50,000 per accident. $15,000 for property damage. That is nothing. Meaning you better have uninsured motorists, right? Yeah. It’s terrible.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because if you don’t, you’re on your own in that particular situation.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, so you’re turning around and using your own insurance to take care of you.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. All right. Lots to cover. We’ll do that as much as we can throughout. Paul will be with us through Drive Radio as well. So those of you listening on. A Tuesday, if you find that there’s some things we didn’t quite get to, you can sure go back and listen to this episode of Drive Radio. Just go to our website, drive-radio.com, and you can listen there. This, again, though, is Fix It Radio, and our website here is fixitradio.com. John and Cheyenne, what’s going on?
SPEAKER 15 :
Hey, good morning, everybody.
SPEAKER 13 :
Good morning.
SPEAKER 15 :
I have a question for Paul. This is a simple one. Based on the sound of your recent commercials on John’s shows, Is American National going out of the home insurance business in Wyoming? I know Colorado, it sounds like they are.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, they’re getting out of it altogether in the United States.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so is that something that we’ll be able to work on come renewal time in September?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, so they’re non-renewing everybody based on your renewal date. So it’s not based on a certain date where they’re dropping everybody.
SPEAKER 13 :
Some arbitrary date.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, so if you’re non-renewing, let’s say September 10th, then you’ve got until September 10th of that date.
SPEAKER 13 :
And the key for those of you that have American National right now is you’re going to be getting some letters in the mail talking about your rebate checks and things like that. And the key, John, is keep your policy all the way to the end. About a month prior to that, you and Paul get together, figure out what you’re going to change over to, because you want to make sure that you’re going to get all of your the way they’re doing this is they’re going to prorate your future rebates as long as you’ve had no claims and you’re eligible for a rebate. And you don’t want to lose out on any of that by canceling too soon.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, no, I was just figuring we would just, you know, Paul, like I did the last time when you took over for us, what was that, four years ago? You know, we let the old policy expire, and then you took it over either that same day or the next day.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, the problem we’re having now is Ampex really hasn’t done us any favors because what they’re doing is they’re sending out those letters for cashback, and it’s basically letting people know they’re terminating the cashback, but what they’re not letting people know is… They’re terminating everything. They’re doing a lump sum payout, so even though everybody’s getting those letters now, and you may be non-renewing in August, they’re not letting you know that what they’re doing is when you get to your non-renewal date, you’re getting 85% of 25’s check, 60% of 26’s check, 20% of 27’s check, all in one check when you get to the non-renewal date, so you cannot cancel anything. Your home prior to that date, it’s got to go through the non-renewal phase. Right. But they’re still doing all the other insurance.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right, right. And I would just assume that, you know, why would you want to deal with canceling early and hopefully getting some of what you paid for the premium back? Why not just let it ride out until the end of the policy? Thank you. Wine expires early.
SPEAKER 13 :
Said thank you. Yeah, you’re thinking of it exactly the way you should, John.
SPEAKER 07 :
But see, most people aren’t understanding that, so they’re just thinking the cashback’s going away, so they’re canceling early, not realizing that you’re going to get that. And I’ve moved over to a brokerage firm, so then I can still handle all your other insurance, but people don’t know that. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, so you’ll be able to go in, say I call you mid-August, which would be, you know, 45 days prior to my current policy expiring. And we can go over and you could do like a cost-benefit analysis to see which is the best rate with a good company based on now that you’re a brokerage firm.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, we’ve got Safeco, Hartford, Travelers, Auto. I mean, there’s so many other companies we can move you over to.
SPEAKER 13 :
Chubb, for some of you that want something higher end even, that’s the advantage now over what Paul’s even had in the past, John, is just more selection depending upon what you want coverage-wise and what you’re trying to do. And some of this I know because we’ve done this with me because mine ends in about 30 days roughly, 1st of March, I want to say, so we’re a little less than 30 days. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
i’ve learned i’ve learned enough about some of this here recently to just know and be able to talk a little bit about it so so my uh my auto comes up for renewal in march just let that ride through in march and then we’ll do the whole changeover come september would that be a better way to do it yeah because you have to have the home and auto to stay in the cashback that’s part of the program right so just let everything ride until you know it’s expiration date now there is a
SPEAKER 07 :
few day difference between auto expiring and uh the homeowners expiring it’s 13 days is that a big is that a difference nope it doesn’t matter and for and for some we’ve left the auto with amp act just because the auto makes more sense cost wise to stay there because they’re not they’re not getting rid of the auto and home discount for not keeping the because they’re not renewing the home so the auto and home discount on the auto doesn’t go away
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so when we do a full-up review come mid-August, which is when I’ll probably do it, give you 45 days to figure it all out, that would be something you would look at. Is it cheaper to go with, say, Hartford for everything or stay with Ampac for auto and just go with Hartford for the house?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, for some, actually, we’ve done that. We’ve done the Hartford home and left the auto with Ampac.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, okay. And I just pulled Hartford out of the air of one of the companies John recommended. I don’t know. Are there any of the companies that you’re recommending that are not in Wyoming?
SPEAKER 07 :
So far, the big ones that have been really competitive have been Hartford, Safeco, and Travelers.
SPEAKER 15 :
And they’re all in Wyoming?
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 15 :
oh perfect all right well i guess john that answered my question okay um that’s why we brought him in can i can i comment real quick on what jeff was talking about absolutely yeah no go ahead we’re fine go ahead john oh if when i was working uh started in the gas industry there was a lot of people that had combination boilers where they had their heat and their hot water through the boiler in the winter and they had an electric water heater in the summer or a gas water heater in the summer. And what they would do is they would just use their water heater as a storage tank. So it would be in series. The boiler would heat the hot water, put it into the tank, and then you would always have more water on hand because an old boiler that did both would work kind of on demand, kind of like you do new on-demands, etc. the boiler would be hot, and then if it needed to reheat to get more hot water for regular usage, they would kick back on again. So one of those things you might want to look at and see if he can add a hot water heater to his current boiler, and then he could eliminate or just have an electric as a backup.
SPEAKER 13 :
Sure. Makes sense.
SPEAKER 15 :
Just a little plumbing to put it in series.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, makes sense.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right, John. Have a good day.
SPEAKER 13 :
We will, John. Appreciate you very much. Great question. So for those of you listening, let me make sure we recap. Those of you that have been on or still are on American National Insurance, you may be getting letters in the mail. Well, you are getting letters in the mail depending upon when your renewal date is telling you that the cashback program is going away. Here’s the key. Do not, and I repeat, do not call and just cancel your insurance or go and shop for another company. First of all, Paul can do all that shopping for you. Second of all, you’re going to lose your rebate, your prorated rebate that you have coming if you do that. Believe me, for a lot of you, that rebate check is fairly sizable, and you don’t want to give that up if you don’t have to. In fact, I don’t know why you would have to. Go ahead and let that insurance ride out, just like we talked about with John from Cheyenne a moment ago, and handle it that way. Right, Paul?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I mean, it is terminating, but it’s terminating because your home’s non-renewed. I think the reason Hempac’s doing that is they don’t want to be paying out that money, so they’re sending letters out to everybody.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, they’re hoping that someone will just cancel, switch, go someplace else, and now they’re not writing a rebate check.
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct. I mean, you’re getting it. John got his and it’s September, but he doesn’t realize it’s non-renewing because he hasn’t gotten the non-renewal because he’s not 90 days out yet.
SPEAKER 13 :
Right. So for those of you that are getting some of those letters in the mail. Number one, don’t be alarmed. Second of all, you can always reach out to Paul and ask him a question about your particular situation and what you need to do and what your timing’s like and so on. He can always pull that up. He’s got all your records where that’s an easy thing to do. And then you can make a determination moving forward as to the time you want to get things done and so on. And believe me, Paul’s going to call you as, even in your case, John, Paul’s going to call you no matter what when it’s time to get things done to make sure that you’re not lapsing and there’s no issues along those lines. the point being when it comes to american national insurance because one of the biggest things they had in the past which i enjoyed and appreciated was the fact that if you were if you did your insurance correctly you self-insured some things you didn’t have claims you got 25 of your policy premium back in that fourth year which was really nice to have and if you kept that rolling every fourth you know well every year After once you got your first one every every year thereafter, you got your rebate check, which in some cases, for those of you that are listening that have, you know, home and several cars and maybe an RV and a motorcycle and snowmobiles and other things, depending upon what your insurance bill is, you got a quarter of that back for that that, you know, that that year. you know, three years prior, basically, I should say, you got that 25% back. So the way they’re doing it now is they’re going to prorate that. And some would say, well, that’s not fair. I should be getting all of it. Well, they don’t know if you’re going to have a claim in the next one or two years. So they’re prorating that based upon them writing you a check today off of what may or may not be a future claim. Am I saying that right, Paul?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, you’re getting 26 and 27. And for people that had claims that aren’t getting a 25 check, you’re still going to get 26 and 27. And if you had a claim this year and you weren’t going to get a check 25 or 26, you’re still going to get a check for 27s.
SPEAKER 13 :
So you’re still getting a portion.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, no matter what.
SPEAKER 13 :
And those of you that had no claims, you’re going to get a pretty sizable check.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah. It’s 85 of 25, 60% of 26, and 20% of 27. That’s the math of it.
SPEAKER 13 :
For some of you, it’ll be a sizable check. So point being, don’t cancel. You’re going to lose that if you do. I agree with Paul. That’s sort of, in a way, I don’t want to say it’s sneaky, but it kind of is because what they’re figuring on is some of you will just cancel. You’ll go someplace else. You’ll not have that rebate check coming, and they’re going to save money in the process.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, it’s millions of dollars that they would save.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, times however many, tens of millions. I mean, you look at that nationwide, that’s a big number.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
Huge.
SPEAKER 07 :
You’re in September, and you get that letter, and you’re like, well, if I’m not getting any more cash back, that’s the reason I’ve been sticking around. I’m canceling now.
SPEAKER 13 :
And I’m going to go somewhere else.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and you don’t realize you’re being non-renewed because you haven’t gotten that letter yet because you’re in September and you wouldn’t have gotten that letter until July. Right. So you’re canceling now, not realizing what else is going on. Right.
SPEAKER 13 :
So don’t do that is our point. That’s partly why we wouldn’t have Paul on with us today is for a lot of you that are with American National, you’re going to get those letters just because you’re getting the letter. You’re still going to have insurance in effect until your renewal date. They’re just not going to renew you at that time, but then you will get – the cash back prorated, like we just said. Paul, what can people figure on that end of things? Same time they would normally get their cash back, or how is that going to work?
SPEAKER 07 :
Let’s just say you were non-renew in August 1st. You’re going to get that check two to three weeks after that.
SPEAKER 13 :
That fast?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s real quick.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, because in the past, that cash back check came several months after your renewal date.
SPEAKER 07 :
About 60 days. So if you’re non-renew in August 1st, you’d have it by the end of August.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, so good to know. So folks, again, for all of you that have American National Insurance and you get some of those letters in the mail, please do not cancel. You’re going to lose your cash back if you do. Keep everything in effect. If you’re worried about anything or you want more details because maybe something’s a little more unique to you than what we’ve talked about here, give Paul a call. He’d love to take care of you. His number, for those of you that maybe don’t have this written down, 303- 662-0789. We come back, we’ll talk about a few things that Paul can now offer, by the way, that he wasn’t able to offer prior. Now being a broker, we’ll get into that in just a few minutes as well. This is Fix It Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 13 :
All right, we are back. Fix-It Radio, KLZ 560. Appreciate you guys joining us today. Again, myself, Steve Horvath from Geno’s Auto Service with us. He’ll be with us through Drive Radio as well. Paul Lundberg with us today. And Paul, really quick before we take our next call, given that all these changes have taken place and you’re now a broker, not just working for one individual insurance company, what does this enable you to do?
SPEAKER 07 :
Just gives me options. I mean, I’ve got the ability to go more on the commercial side. I’ve got access to Grundy, Hagerty, Hartford, Travelers, Safeco, Allstate. I mean, it’s endless possibilities.
SPEAKER 13 :
So you’ve got a lot more options that you can offer.
SPEAKER 07 :
A lot more options. And I still have options with American National. So, I mean, we’ve got everything now. Okay.
SPEAKER 13 :
Joe, you’re next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I have a question about insurance. Let’s say that you have house insurance and then they don’t do things quite right and they’re not scrupulous. Can you change to a different insurance and does that cause you an issue or a problem if you do so?
SPEAKER 07 :
No. I mean, and it’s not, it’s prorated. So, I mean, if you’re paying $1,000 a year or $1,200 a year and six months in you change and you’ve paid it all up front. You get your $600 back. Yeah, you’re going to get $600 back.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, no, I’m wondering if it dings you for going to a disinsurance company.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, not at all.
SPEAKER 03 :
I mean, so if somebody’s been unscrupulous with you and you think, no, I’m not going to keep with this company, I’m going to go to a different company, you shouldn’t have a problem or issue for that?
SPEAKER 07 :
No.
SPEAKER 13 :
Should not. You can change whenever you want. The only thing that dings you, and this is for everybody listening, you included, Joe, is insurance companies do what they call loss runs, meaning what has the last insurance company or companies paid out on you as an individual, and they can do that for several years after. In a row. So the only thing that really ever dings any of us, whether it’s home, auto, business, whatever, is what kind of losses have you had with that company, with a company, I should say, in the past. And that’s what they’ll use to rate you moving forward, even with a new company.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I see. OK.
SPEAKER 13 :
Nothing to do with who you switch to.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, okay, so they might rate you higher because you had some claims. Yep, they will.
SPEAKER 13 :
That one I can guarantee you. They will make you pay more no matter if it’s a new company that’s never paid a claim because you’re a higher risk now because the actuary shows that if you’ve had a claim, you’re liable to have another one. I hate to say it that way, but that’s typically how they look at it. You’re going to pay more. And that’s true with, again, auto home business included, Joe. So, again, that’s why for me personally, you do everything you possibly can to reduce claims, including paying some things out of pocket if need be, because down the road, you’ll save money because of what we’re talking about.
SPEAKER 07 :
And you will pay more if you’ve got, you get big discounts for longevity. So when they pull your reports and it’s like, oh, you’ve had three insurance companies in two years, you get dinged for that. Yeah, because you’re jumping around. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Now, what if it’s a claim because due to nature, like a hail damage or a tornado comes through? Oh, it’s still a ding on you.
SPEAKER 07 :
It just doesn’t hurt as bad. Now, if you’ve got, you know, a hail claim, you’re fine. But if you’ve got a hail claim and a water claim and then another claim, then it starts to…
SPEAKER 13 :
Or on the car side, you yourself have caused numerous accidents that the insurance company has paid out on. That’s now on you. Here’s where it doesn’t necessarily… I mean, it still can affect you because any claim can affect you. So let’s talk for a moment, Joe. Great questions, by the way. So thank you for these. These are awesome questions that affect… Everybody out there listening. So, Paul, you talked earlier about the state minimums and all of a sudden you have an accident and the person that hit you has state minimums, but you’ve got a very expensive car they just ran into and that $15,000 isn’t enough to cover everything on your end. Your uninsured motorist on your own company is now going to kick in. Does that ding you down the road?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, because you’re not at fault.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
So at-fault claims hurt you, not at-fault don’t. So if you hit me and I’ve got to use my insurance to take care of me because you don’t have enough, those don’t hurt you. Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Then why wouldn’t, you’re not at fault if nature comes through.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, but they look at you as a… The way they do that is, again, with the actuaries, Joe, and insurance companies started this probably prior to any other type of business out there. They look at all sorts of models, and they look at different areas of the country. For example, Joe, State Farm, who we all know is a huge insurance company, Prior to the California fires, not long prior, but prior to, they canceled all insurance in that area because something must have told them, we are at huge risk here. This is a problem. Whatever they threw into that model to determine that, hey, we are at big risk here. We need to pull out. They did. So even though those people in some cases probably had no claims whatsoever, they still pulled out and canceled because of what they felt might happen in the future.
SPEAKER 03 :
And probably because they know that the government… Well, I wasn’t going to go there, but yes, you’re exactly right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes, 100%.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you guys have a very blessed day.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, thank you. No, Joan, those were great questions. Thank you, by the way, for that. So I guess, in a way, Paul, you do need to be a little bit careful of… who you’re jumping to because that makes it look like maybe you didn’t even pay fully on the last policy so you jump to the next policy and then the next policy and the next policy and that’s a red flag is what you’re saying.
SPEAKER 07 :
You’ll just end up paying more because you’re not getting longevity discounts.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, because again, like we were talking with Joe a moment ago, they’re looking at all of those things in your past.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
What kind of a customer are you basically, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, so this has always been a big issue. This isn’t to get into the political thing, as Joe was trying to avoid as well. But it’s out there, so we might as well lay it out on the table and talk about it. Because there’s some folks out there, some politicians, even some in Colorado, that would love to see insurance companies no longer rate based upon your credit rating.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, it’s always a black eye.
SPEAKER 13 :
Because?
SPEAKER 07 :
People with good credit take care of their stuff.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s as simple as that.
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, that’s the law of nature.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, so again, folks, that side of it also can affect you. So if some of you are thinking, man, why am I paying so much for insurance? Well, look at some of these things. First of all, look at the basics. What’s my credit rating like? how many claims have I had in the past and how recent were those? And then lastly, some of the things we talked about earlier, what are your men’s maxes and what your deductibles look like? Because in some cases, maybe you’ve got good credit, maybe you haven’t had any losses, so to speak, but you don’t have your policy structured in such a way that it’s maximizing your dollars. And what I mean by that is some of you that have the ability to have a higher deductible. So We’ll use the example of the uninsured motorist end of things. So let’s say we’re driving down the road and we get hit and that person only has the minimums. So it’s $15,000. Number one, I guess the other question that people would probably have automatically on that one, Paul, is let’s use that scenario and I’ve got a $5,000 deductible. Do I have to pay my deductible before an uninsured motorist kicks in?
SPEAKER 07 :
So if you hit me and now I’ve got to use my insurance, yeah. So if I’m using my own insurance to fix my car because you don’t have enough, then I’ve got to use my deductible to get my car fixed. And then at the end of the day, then once the claim’s finalized and done, then my insurance would go after your insurance. Okay. And then I’m still out my deductible. Then once everything’s finalized, then I can go after you personally. Correct.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. So keep that all in mind. So point being, if you’re going to do some self-insurance, which I highly advise people do, I think that’s true even on the business side, you have to make sure you’re able to fund some of these things. So if you’ve got a $5,000 deductible, can you write a $5,000 check? if something major like this were to happen. Now, one thing, Paul, that I wanted to talk about, and I think we have enough time now to squeeze this in, because this is always a big deal with Dave Hart and my roofer, Roof Savers of Colorado, because he’s going out. In fact, he had a particular customer this past week where he went up on the roof and looked at it, and it was in such bad shape that the current insurance was canceling him because of how the condition of the roof was. And I don’t think people really understand that whole end of things and how the deductibles are even changing on roofs.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, a lot of companies are going to, you know, you’ll have like a split deductible. You have a deductible for perils, which is fire. Right. That kind of stuff. But then you’ll have a percentage deductible for wind and hail, and that percentage is based off the value of your house of coverage A. So if your house is insured for $300,000 and you have a 1% wind and hail deductible, then your deductible is $3,000 deductible. Okay. So if it’s wind or hail related, your deductible is $3,000.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay. On the same token, if it’s a $2 million property and you’ve insured it for that, you’ve now got a $20,000 deductible.
SPEAKER 07 :
If it’s wind and hell related. If it’s fire, then you’d have your normal deductible, whatever that deductible would be. But if it’s wind and hell related, that’s what your deductible is.
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s another area, folks, where I can tell you most don’t know their policy. Most don’t know what their roof coverage is even like. And, Paul, I also know that some companies, and now that you’re able to talk about multiple companies besides just American National, I know there’s also a lot of companies that will prorate that roof. based upon, in other words, let’s say that we have a total loss because of hail, but it’s a 10-year-old roof that they estimate is only going to have a 20-year lifespan, you’re not going to get full value at 10 years, correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, you’ve got to look at your policy. If it’s ACV, it’s actual cash value, which means they’re going to give you 50%, 60%, 70% towards that roof, minus your deductible. Or you may have RCV, which is replacement cost value, which means it’s guaranteed minus your deductible, and that’s it.
SPEAKER 13 :
And what’s the majority of companies doing now?
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s split. Some do first 10 years, and then it goes up to an ACV. Some do the first 15.
SPEAKER 13 :
It just depends. Okay, good info. Mike, you’re next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, I was noticing that from what I’ve read and a couple of folks I’ve talked to is that a lot of insurance companies are no longer covering roofs in Colorado, particularly along the front range, which tends to be hail alley. And how do you, is there a rider that you ride for the roof, or are you going bareback on that, which is, you know, and I agree with Paul, there’s a, or with John, excuse me, that there’s, a certain amount of self insurance that is a good thing to do. But have you noticed that Paul?
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, they’re there, they’re covering them, it’s just going to be based on the age of the roof and how much coverage they’re going to give you. So, I mean, some of them are just going to cover up to a certain age of the roof. And then at that age, you’re going to go on a percentage to where they may say, you know, you get to age 10 and we’re going to be at 75%. And every year that that roof gets older, you’re going to lose 3% towards the new roof. So at age 11, you’re going to be at 75%. And then from that year moving forward, you’re going to lose 3% each year towards that new roof minus your deductible.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s interesting. My neighbor asked me to look at her policy, and I read it. I used to do a lot of contract stuff. And it was with Amica, which is actually a pretty highly rated company. They don’t cover the roof at all, period. End of story in Colorado.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow, that’s not good then. In the big terminology you got to look at is, and people don’t understand it, it’s ACV versus RCV.
SPEAKER 05 :
No, no, replacement versus actual cash.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, no, I went to replacement years ago after I figured out what the square footage cost was to rebuild my house. compared to what? And of course, everybody that was in 80% of the people in the superior fire couldn’t rebuild because of a CV versus replacement.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah,
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, it was staggering. I know that was a huge news thing.
SPEAKER 13 :
And again, for me, Paul and Mike both, and Steve, while I feel sorry for anybody that has total losses because I do, I know what that’s like, I don’t feel sorry for people that don’t take the time to sit down and understand their policy and know exactly what’s in it and or make sure that they’re insured properly anymore. Because a lot of those folks, Mike, as you know, end up insuring for whatever their mortgage amount is, and they feel like that’s good enough, I don’t need any more. Well, yeah, until you have a total loss.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, John, you couldn’t be more correct, and Paul knows this. And it’s one of those things where you’re stepping over a dollar to save a dime.
SPEAKER 13 :
All the time. That’s right.
SPEAKER 05 :
You’re right. It’s the same way I feel about maintaining your vehicles. You know, you can maintain it or you can pay me a lot later. How do you want to do it?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and a lot of people don’t go through their ITV, which is insurance to value, and you look at the guts of your policy, and it’s like, oh, yeah, my bathroom is more custom, but, well, if we change it to custom, then that’s going to increase the coverage. Well, just leave it at builder’s grade. Well, but it’s not a builder’s grade. It’s more custom because you’ve got granite countertops. You don’t have linoleum. You go through that stuff, and it’s like, well, your house should be insured for 580, not 410. Well, just leave it at 410. Well, then… That’s the problem you have, and that’s exactly what happened in that Superior fire because you have a lot of older homes, and then you go through it, and they’re like, yeah, but I don’t want to pay $1,200 more a year on my homeowner as well. And then the fire happens, and that’s exactly what happened up there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yep. No, no, absolutely correct as a listener and a— a guy that studies that stuff, you really, it pays to look into it hard, to talk to a guy like Paul, to sit down and really get your due diligence done and figure out what you actually have. Because, pardon me for saying it, because a great deal of these contracts are, you know, on page 2A they give it to you, on page 13B they take it away.
SPEAKER 1 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 13 :
You have to really watch things. And, Mike, that’s where my feeling is don’t buy insurance on the Internet. Have an agent. If it’s not Paul, at least somebody you can sit down and have a conversation with that will explain all those things to you. Somebody even that you can call that will go to bat for you if need be with that particular insurance company. That’s the advantage of having an agent versus having somebody online.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree with that. And by the way, I’ve had the same insurance company for a number of years. I just got rid of them after 32 years. Went through several agents. Not all agents are created equally.
SPEAKER 13 :
No, they are not. 100% on that one.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thanks, fellas. Mike, appreciate you very much. Let’s squeeze. If I can’t get this one all the way done, Mike, I’ll carry over to Drive Radio, but let’s at least get started. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
Real quick, I’m leaving the state. Should I change insurance agents?
SPEAKER 13 :
Where are you going to?
SPEAKER 04 :
Tennessee.
SPEAKER 13 :
I’ll let Paul answer that one.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you can stay with the same company. If you’re going to change agents, he’d have to still be licensed in Tennessee.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, that answers the question then. Because I have no problem with farmers. They’ve been fine for me.
SPEAKER 07 :
You’d have to find out if that agent’s still licensed in Tennessee, but you could stay with farmers as a company.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, that answers the question.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 13 :
You’re very welcome, Mike. I appreciate that very much. And that’s a great comment, Paul, because there’s a lot of folks that are looking at doing different things in regards to, you know, do they stay in Colorado? Do they move? What do they do? So on and so forth. And that’s always a big concern that a lot of folks have is, you know, I like my age and I like what he’s been able to do for me while in Colorado, quote unquote, but I’m moving to Texas or Tennessee in this case or Florida. What do I do moving forward?
SPEAKER 07 :
You just have to find out that, I mean, most agents aren’t. You have to be licensed in that state to do business in that state. So, like for me, I’ve got Wyoming, Nevada, Texas, Arizona. So, I mean, I can do other states, but I’d have to be licensed in other states. But most companies are in other states, but you just have to get the agent that can do those states. Is it difficult to get licenses in different states? No.
SPEAKER 14 :
Are they all pretty much the same? Pay the fees. Pay the fees, okay. There’s no testing or anything like that? No.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right. Good to know. All right. For those of you listening, by the way, if you’ve got other questions for Paul, I’ve always got his availability to ask questions. So even if you’re listening on Tuesday and you have another question, you can text me 307-282-22. You can call Paul directly, by the way, 303-282-22. 662-0789. Or you can go to fixitradio.com, send an email as well, and I can get things taken care of that way also. So Drive Radio, this is Saturday. Drive Radio is next. If you’re listening on Tuesday, thank you so much for listening to the replay. We appreciate that as well. We’ll be right back, though. This is Fix It Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 08 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.