Newbie, Brandon Hemphill

We are happy to introduce our newest member of Mechelsen, Inc, Brandon Hemphill

Brandon was born in Seattle and grew up in Sammamish where he graduated from Skyline High School.  He then went to University of the Pacific on a golf scholarship and played on the golf team. While at the University of the Pacific he served as the Treasurer of the Associated Students of the University of the Pacific.

Brandon earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance and moved back to Seattle where he has served as a financial planner and insurance & investment advisor with another firm in Redmond. Since we have a team approach in working with our clients you will very likely have a chance to work a bit with Brandon and he also will be working with his own clients.

Brandon is a coach for the Field of Champions baseball program in Issaquah and serves as an intern on the board of directors for the Joshua P. Williams foundation in Sammamish. Brandon also recently earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. You’ll have to ask him about that…

Year-round Umbrella Season

What is often referred to as an umbrella policy is actually best called an excess liability policy. Just as its name implies, this kind of insurance extends a layer of liability insurance coverage over-and-above what you carry for liability on your home insurance and your auto insurance.

The occurrences of “normal” people having “normal” accidents where final judgments wound up exceeding their home and auto insurance limits is rather staggering (and frightening). We have many first-hand experiences where court verdicts exceed someone’s insurance limits, leaving personal assets exposed to liquidation. Yuck!

Nearly everyone has some exposure that would benefit from an umbrella policy. These policies are very affordable, customized to address your needs, and are surprisingly easy to understand. They can also extend their limits over boat insurance policies, landlord policies, and secondary property policies.

We strongly recommend that you talk to us about either adding an umbrella policy to your insurance portfolio, or talking to us about the adequacy of the one you currently have!

Discounts vs. Savings

The insurance industry selling "discounts" is a red herring, in my opinion. Every commercial for every insurance company touts "we have discounts" and none of them should entice you to buy. Would you fall for it if someone advertised a free car if you bought a $26,000 steering wheel? No, you'd recognize that the car is worth $26,000.

Insurance discounts don't work the same way, but they are nearly as ridiculous because many discounts aren't related to anything you can do about anyway. Multi-car discount? You either have more than one car or you don't and you aren't going to go buy another car just to get a discount on the insurance. One of our best insurance companies has 13 auto-policy discounts and I say only 2 of them can be "pursued", meaning that you could choose to go get it versus it just being there for you if you qualify. In other words, the "discounts" are just how they are going to price you, not how you can exert control over your own insurance costs.

Instead, I say forget the marketing that is meant to fool you and concentrate on making conscious decisions about your insurance that do directly impact your total premium. Carry high liability limits, but increase your deductibles. Make sure you have replacement cost for contents, but think twice before buying bells and whistles to your policies (that aren't really insurance anyway). Choose a robust insurance limit on your home, but really question if earthquake insurance for your clothes and sofa makes sense.

The insurance industry has worked very hard over the last 10 years trying to make you believe that you don't have to think when it comes to your insurance protection (i.e. cavemen are just as capable), but it's much better for you to keep control and make educated decisions about what is important to you. Falling for the "discounts" trick is bad news if you aren't spending time on the design of your coverages first!

Borrowed vs. Rented Watercraft

That's me pulling kids around on Flathead Lake in Montana last week. Did you know that my insurance coverage is different depending on whether or not I was renting the SeaDoo vs. borrowing it? It's true.

Unfortunately for me, I think about that kind of stuff while I'm on vacation. But fortunately, I knew what I needed to do about my insurance so that I could stop thinking about work and instead have fun trying to knock my nephew off the tube!