Maggie Overholt

Contributor​

Maggie is a former lead insurance editor at Reviews.com. She's written more than 70 insurance articles covering homeowners, auto, life, motorcycle, travel, and more.

More from Maggie Overholt

Should You Choose a Digital Insurance Company?

Digital insurance companies strive to meet customers where they are by simplifying the insurance process, increasing pricing transparency, and (ideally) lowering premiums along the way. However, an online-only insurance company won’t necessarily be the right choice for everyone. Here, we’ll explore the why and how of digital insurance companies, and help you figure out whether ...

Tesla Wants to Insure Its Drivers, and Will Double Down on Tracking Data to Do It

Tesla’s worse-than-expected losses per share weren’t the only head-turning news that came out of a Q1 earnings call with Elon Musk last Wednesday. We also learned Musk will be getting his hands on even more of the customer experience by offering in-house car insurance for Tesla customers — supposedly starting sometime next month. “The answer ...

Insurance Companies Can See Your Social Media. Time to Scrub Your Profiles?

Insurance is not an industry known for tech innovation or startup unicorns. Most of the companies that safeguard our homes, cars, and financial legacies are giants that have been profitably plugging along for generations—some since as early as the 18th century. “Change in the insurance industry has, in the past at least, occurred at the ...

What Happens When Smart Home Tech and Insurance Meet

American Family announced last week that it’s working with Neos, a U.K.-based technology company, to bring something called “smart home insurance” to the U.S. market. Home insurance being a traditionally slow-to-change industry, AmFam’s move to introduce the internet of things (IoT) into the mix perked our ears up. We were also intrigued by the idea ...

Do I Need Life Insurance?

It’s easy to understand why parents need life insurance. If a family’s main wage earner were to pass away, their surviving spouse and/or children would likely need financial support to help cover things like living expenses, mortgage payments, and college education. Almost everyone agrees on that fact. According to LIMRA and Life Happens’ 2018 life ...

40% of Drivers Don’t Shop Around for Car Insurance as Often as They Should

Did you know that two identical car insurance policies, for the same driver, can vary by hundreds of dollars depending on the insurance company that sells them? This is because every insurer has a unique underwriting formula. (“Underwriting,” in short, is the equation a company plugs your personal information into to figure out how risky ...

Why No-Exam Life Insurance Isn't Exactly a Free Pass

“No-exam life insurance” has a nice ring to it. It evokes a low-hassle application process and quick turnaround time for your coverage to kick in. No-exam might also sound appealing if you have a pre-existing health condition and worry that a physical exam would disqualify you from getting insured. “Half of all consumers say they ...

4 Things You Can Do With Your Cash Value Life Insurance

If you have a permanent life insurance policy, or you’re considering one, you might be wondering about the “cash value” attached to it. Cash value sounds appealing, sure, but how valuable is it? Can you tap into that money whenever you want? Or are there strings attached? Here, we’ll answer your questions about what it ...

Stay Safe and Claim-Proof Your Home During a Bomb Cyclone

Yes, “bomb cyclone” really is the technical term for the winter storm bearing down on the central U.S. today. “What makes a storm a ‘bomb’ is how fast the atmospheric pressure falls,” explains New York Times science reporter Henry Fountain. “Deep drops in barometric pressure occur when a region of warm air meets one of ...

Tips for Home Insurance if Your Home Was Hit in Alabama This Week

Tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida last Sunday, taking a heavy toll on those in their path. Alabama’s Lee County was especially hard-hit: The Atlantic reported winds of up to 170 miles per hour that leveled a stretch of homes and property more than 20 miles long. Red Cross estimates more than 1,000 homes ...

Page 2