Coverage Analyzer

Comparing insurance by premium alone is like comparing loans by monthly payment alone: it hides the part of the deal that decides whether it was a good one. A policy that costs $260 less a year and carries a deductible $1,500 higher is a worse arrangement for anyone who claims even occasionally.

This analyzer puts the premium and the claim exposure into a single number, so three offers with different structures can be ranked on the same basis.

Result

Lowest expected annual cost

Policy C

That policy’s expected cost

$1,540

Policy A expected cost: $1,620
Policy B expected cost: $1,690
Policy C expected cost: $1,540
Lowest premium: Policy B
Lowest premium amount: $1,190
Expected claim cost included: $200

This is an estimate based on the values you entered. Actual premiums, coverage, eligibility and pricing vary by provider and by individual circumstances.

Expected annual cost adds the premium to the share of a typical claim you would pay yourself, weighted by how often you expect to claim. It is a planning comparison, not a prediction.

A policy is more than its price. Check exclusions, claim service, endorsements and the financial strength of the carrier before switching.

Policy comparison

Policy	Annual premium	Deductible	Limit	Expected annual cost
Policy A	$1,520	$500	$250,000	$1,620
Policy B	$1,190	$2,500	$250,000	$1,690
Policy C	$1,340	$1,000	$250,000	$1,540

How to use the coverage analyzer

Enter the annual premium, deductible and coverage limit for each policy you are considering.
Set the size of a claim that would be typical for your situation.
Set how often you realistically expect to claim, using your own history.
Compare the expected annual cost column rather than the premium column.

What people use this for

Ranking three quotes that differ in more than price.
Testing whether a cheap policy stays cheap once claims are considered.
Checking whether a low coverage limit would leave a real exposure.
Documenting why you chose one policy over another.

Worked examples

Every figure below is produced by running this calculator against the example inputs, so the numbers always match the tool.

Three structures, one typical claim

Policy A at $1,520 with a $500 deductible, B at $1,190 with $2,500, C at $1,340 with $1,000, against a $7,000 typical claim once every five years.

Lowest expected annual cost: Policy C
That policy’s expected cost: $1,540
Lowest premium: Policy B

A limit that is too low

The same policies where B carries a $5,000 limit against a $7,000 claim, leaving the excess with you.

Lowest expected annual cost: Policy C
Policy B expected cost: $1,690

What expected annual cost means

It is the premium plus the average amount you would pay yourself per year. If a typical claim costs you the full $2,500 deductible and you claim once every five years, that is $500 a year of expected out-of-pocket cost on top of the premium.

Nobody claims 0.2 times in a year. The figure is not a prediction - it is a device for putting two different risk-sharing structures onto a single comparable scale, which is exactly what an insurer does when pricing them.

What it deliberately leaves out

Exclusions, endorsements, claim-handling reputation, the financial strength of the carrier and how the policy responds to a total loss all matter, and none of them are numbers you can add up.

Use this to shortlist, then read the wording of the two that survive. A slightly more expensive carrier that settles promptly is worth considerably more than the difference in premium.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

Expected annual cost = premium + (deductible share of a typical claim + any amount above the limit) × expected claims per year.
Claim frequency and claim size are your estimates. No probability distribution or carrier claims data is used.
All figures are estimates produced from the values you enter. This site has no rate feed and no carrier data, so it cannot quote or price a policy.
Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This calculator provides an estimate based on the information you enter. Actual insurance premiums, coverage, eligibility and pricing vary by provider and individual circumstances.

This website is not an insurance company, an insurance agency or a licensed broker. It does not sell insurance, does not provide insurance quotes, and is not authorised to give advice about which policy you should buy.

No result produced here is an offer of insurance or a guarantee of coverage. Only a licensed insurer or agent, working from your verified details, can quote or bind a policy.

Frequently asked questions

What claim frequency should I use?

Your own history. Two claims in fifteen years is about 0.13. Guessing high favours low-deductible policies; guessing low favours high-deductible ones.

Can I compare only two policies?

Yes. Leave the third premium at zero and it is excluded from the comparison.

Does a lower expected cost mean I should switch?

It means the price and risk structure look better on the numbers entered. Read the policy wording and check the carrier before acting on it.

Why does the coverage limit matter?

Anything above the limit falls on you. For a typical claim well below the limit it makes no difference, which is exactly what the calculation will show.

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