Shannon Martin

Shannon Martin is a licensed insurance agent and content writer for Bankrate. With a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and 15 years in the insurance industry, she enjoys helping others navigate the insurance world by cutting through complex jargon and empowering readers to make strong financial decisions independently.

Before working at Bankrate, Shannon got her start in insurance by working with AARP members to assist them with their auto, home, and umbrella policies. Next, her career evolved into providing customer service via text, chat and social media. For the past two years, Shannon has used her extensive insurance knowledge to write insurance content, create insurance resources and train future agents and writers.

When Shannon isn't writing about insurance, she enjoys spending time with her kids, debating with her husband about time travel paradoxes, sewing, bowling, and hiking the trails around Niagara Falls.

Shannon wants you to know

In this economy, people live paycheck to paycheck, and their cars matter to them now more than ever. My biggest tip for drivers who hold on to their vehicles for the long haul is to keep comprehensive coverage on your policy for as long as possible. Comprehensive coverage is incredibly versatile — broken windshields, vandalism, fire, hail, flood and wind damage, all perils out of your control and covered by comprehensive. For older vehicles, comprehensive coverage can cost a few dollars a month with only a $50 or $100 deductible — a windshield replacement can easily cost drivers $300. The concern with keeping a physical damage coverage on your car insurance policy is that the cost of maintaining the coverage may exceed the value of your vehicle. If this is the case, speak with your agent about removing the coverage. But if your car is deemed a total loss due to a comprehensive claim, you could use the claim insurance payout as a down payment toward your next vehicle, even if your car's value is just a few thousand dollars.

Shannon's recommended readings

• Appraisal bias and digital redlining: No one-stop solution
• Pet and renters insurance: Why you need it
• Has inflation got you considering a side hustle? You might need insurance for that.