Stop Overpaying for Insurance

Most Oklahoma home policies treat wind and hail as their own category, with a deductible set as a percentage of your dwelling coverage instead of a flat dollar amount. On a $300,000 home, a 1% wind/hail deductible means the first $3,000 of storm damage comes out of your pocket. Brad will show you that number in dollars before you buy the policy. Ask, because it's the one you're most likely to use.

Call the office first: (405) 285-3218. Brad's team walks you through it start to finish, and more importantly, tells you whether filing is worth it at all. A $1,000 fender fix against a $500 deductible might be money better spent out of pocket, because a claim can follow your rate for years. When the claim is big, Brad stays with you through it and makes sure you get the money you're owed.

You don't pay your deductible to Brad or to the insurance company up front. It comes off the top of the claim payout: on a $10,000 repair with a $1,000 deductible, the carrier pays $9,000 and you cover the rest, usually paid to the shop when the work is done. Wind and hail often carries its own separate deductible, set as a percentage of your dwelling coverage.

Sometimes, but not automatically. One small claim rarely changes much on its own; a pattern of claims, or a big one, usually will. That's exactly why it pays to call Brad before you file. He'll tell you where your damage probably falls against your deductible and whether the claim is worth putting on the books. You lose nothing by asking first.

No, and this one surprises people every spring. Water coming in from above, like a burst pipe or a leaking water heater, is covered. Water rising from the ground, from a creek backing up or a storm dropping more rain than the drains can take, needs a separate flood policy. Oklahoma flash floods do more damage than most people guess, and flood coverage costs far less than drying out a house.

Your landlord's policy covers the building, not your stuff. Renters insurance covers your furniture, electronics and clothes, pays for a hotel if a fire or pipe burst makes your place unlivable, and protects you if a guest gets hurt. For most renters it costs about the same as a couple of streaming subscriptions a month, and bundling it with an auto policy often brings it down further. More on renters insurance.

Actual cash value (ACV) pays what your roof or your belongings are worth today, minus depreciation. Replacement cost pays what it actually costs to replace them new. On a 15-year-old roof, that difference can be thousands of dollars on one hail claim. In Oklahoma those numbers swing hard with construction prices, so Brad quotes you both ways and shows you what the upgrade really costs per year.

First, everybody ok? Then start collecting: photos of both cars and the scene, the other driver's name, number, insurer and plate, and the patrol case number if troopers respond. Don't admit fault and don't rush to settle anything at the scene. We put the full checklist together so you can print it and keep it in the glovebox.