It’s no secret that insurance can be complicated and confusing. There are a lot of words with specific meanings and rules your policy has to follow. Sometimes, reading an insurance policy can be like reading a book in another language.
In a recent survey, only about
20% of people could identify factors used by an insurer to determine rates. It’s easy to find out what’s covered and what isn’t — if you know what to ask.
We want to make it easier for you to understand the coverage you receive with your Hastings Mutual policy. One way we do this is to encourage you to talk with your
local independent insurance agent. He or she knows you, your family, your business, your needs, and which Hastings Mutual insurance products will be most helpful.
Hastings Mutual Information Sheets
We’re also excited to introduce our new information sheets. (You can find links to each one
here.) These have highlights of our coverage and details on who can benefit from it. Our goal is to make every information sheet easy to understand, without complicated insurance jargon.
After you talk with your agent about the policies you own — or the ones you’re learning more about — your agent will have information sheets available for you to take with you, or to view online. The information sheets will remind you of what you discussed, and answer questions you might have after the meeting.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll find on an information sheet, like
this one, our Homeowners and Personal Auto sheet.
Highlights
Most property casualty insurance companies offer policies for home and car owners, but Hastings Mutual’s policies features a few things that other insurance companies don’t. On our Homeowners and Personal Auto information sheet, we discuss some of the discounts that may apply to your policy, if you’re buying a new one or there’s a change in your situation (talk with your local independent insurance agent for more).
More Details
On the back of each information sheet you’ll see even more features of our policy. Sometimes it’s additional types of coverage that come with that policy. There may be some kinds of coverage you can choose to add to your policy if you are looking for enhanced protection or have special circumstances. Our Homeowners and Personal Auto information sheet lists some of the perils that the policy applies to and the kinds of vehicles that are covered.
Disclaimer
Insurance is carefully regulated by government agencies, so there’s a disclaimer on our sheets, both front and back, to be sure you don’t miss it:
The information referred to is not a policy. Refer to your policy for specific coverage.
There’s a lot more precise, legally appropriate wording on the policy itself and related documents. You have access to this wording, and your agent does too; if you need assistance in understanding it, don’t hesitate to contact your agent to help.
About Hastings Mutual
Hopefully you have a good idea of who we are, if you’re reading this post. (If not, start with the “About Us” video on our homepage.) The sentence you see on our information sheets is an
elevator pitch for our company — who we are and what we do in just 17 words: what we offer, where we offer it, and the fact that we’re not doing it by ourselves; we’re partnering with people in your community, who know your needs.
The more new, clear, contemporary pieces of information that are available to policyholders and the general public, the better chance they’ll have to get the right coverage to manage risk for themselves, their families, and their businesses. Hopefully our information sheets make the confusing, sometimes complex world of insurance coverage a little clearer — that was the goal from the moment we decided to create them.
There are about 40 different information sheets on our website now, with more being created all the time. Find information sheets for
business, personal, and farm insurance here and talk with your independent insurance agent about the coverage that’s right for you.
The Mutual Understanding blog and Hastings Mutual videos are made available for educational purposes only. The information referred to is not an official company statement or policy. Refer to your policy for specific coverage. There is no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information found by following any link on this site. Please contact your local independent insurance agent with further questions and for more details on any insurance policy-related information you read here.