When clients ask me how to lower their premium, I'm always honest: there are ways to save, and there are false economies. Cutting the wrong coverage is a false economy.
Here are the coverages I would never personally remove, and why.
Uninsured Motorist Protection
I've already written about this — but it bears repeating. In Texas, you could be involved in an accident that isn't your fault and discover that the other driver has no insurance, no assets, and no way to pay. Without UM coverage, you're on your own.
The premium cost of UM is low relative to the risk it covers. I wouldn't go without it.
Comprehensive Coverage If You Drive a Vehicle Worth More Than You Could Replace
Comprehensive covers theft, hail, flooding, fire, and other non-collision events. If a hail storm destroys your vehicle, comprehensive is what pays to replace it. In Texas, this isn't a theoretical risk.
The question I ask every client: if your car were totaled by hail tomorrow, could you comfortably replace it without insurance? If the answer is no, keep comprehensive.
Adequate Liability Limits
Liability protects your assets if you cause an accident. State minimums exist to keep you legal, not to keep you protected. If you own a home, have savings, or earn a decent income, those assets are at risk in a lawsuit that exceeds your liability limits.
This is the coverage where I see the biggest gap between what people carry and what they actually need.
Loss of Use on Your Home Policy
If your home is uninhabitable after a covered loss — fire, major storm — where do you go? Loss of use coverage pays for temporary housing and living expenses while repairs are made. This one is often overlooked until families find themselves sleeping in a hotel for three months, wondering who's paying.
Replacement Cost on Personal Property
Actual cash value coverage pays what your belongings were worth at the time of loss — depreciated. Replacement cost coverage pays what it would cost to replace them new. The difference is not small. A five-year-old laptop has very little actual cash value. Replacing it costs what replacing it costs.
Ask yourself: would the payout from actual cash value actually let you replace what you lost? If not, replacement cost coverage is worth it.