The ValChoice blog is the best source for independent, unbiased consumer insurance information. Our information is unbiased and trusted because we do not sell insurance and do not have investors. Our mission is to help consumers get good insurance at a good value.
Kent Shantz has been blessed with much good fortune in his career. Kent’s hard work; focus on building strong relationships and “just doing the right thing” have undoubtedly been significant contributors to this good fortune. This article chronicles Kent’s career from his start as an independent agent through to his role as President and CEO […]
This week the Carolina’s experienced a 100-year flood. Over the last three-years, Houston experienced three 500-year floods. What’s happening? How can these rare events occur with such a high frequency? 100-Year Floods Suffer From a Naming Problem First off, the name 100-year flood is misleading. Instead, the 100-year flood should be renamed to be a […]
Less than one week before a trial was slated to begin in federal court in East St. Louis Illinois, State Farm settled with the plaintiffs’ attorneys. The customers suing State Farm were seeking $1 billion in damages, plus interest and penalties. In total, the settlement could have gone as high as $8.5 billion. Rather than […]
Advice to “ask around” is included in many articles and blog posts on how to shop for the best car and home insurance. However, asking around is pretty close to a waste of time. Therefore, at ValChoice we offer a better solution. To “ask around,” how many people would you have to ask? Let’s go straight […]
To the question of who has access to your personal information, the answer is…a lot of folks. In fact, a lot more than you realize. Are you notified when your personal information is shared? Some people would say “yes.” Not long ago, a lot of people would have said yes. For good or bad, it’s come […]
It’s a beautiful summer evening. A nice ride on the bike would be great fun. Do you ever wonder, “should I wear a helmet?” That’s a good question. We present the statistics that answer that question. First a disclaimer. This post is about riding a motorcycle without a helmet. As a former avid bicycle rider, […]
Is your car insurance renewing before the next big price increase? We used 19 years of data to analyze how cyclical car insurance prices are and found that late summer and fall are the best time to lock in a new price. Additionally, the industry is currently undergoing rapid price increases. Taking action early could […]
Hold on to your hat, this is going to surprise you. It’s true, home insurance prices have been increasing more than double the rate of median family income. We collected data going back to the year 2000 from the federal reserve board. Yes, that’s a reliable data source. Then we did the calculations. Surprisingly, looking at […]
David Gautsche has proven his leadership skills, not once, but three times. Upon graduating from college, David started his career in the manufacturing sector. Next, he moved to financial services. Most recently, David was recruited to become the president and CEO of Goodville Mutual. Goodville is a mutual property/casualty insurer headquartered in New Holland, Pennsylvania. […]
Fourth of July. What a great holiday. Family, friends, good food and drink. Celebrating our freedom is of course the reason for the fourth of July holiday. Here in New Hampshire we take our freedom seriously. Just how serious we are about freedom is best captured in our state slogan, “Live Free or Die.” Undoubtedly, being […]
