Home, auto, life and claims
The policies outside health cover, and the part that decides whether any of them pays: the claim, the deadline and the file you built first.
Life Insurance
2 guides filed under this heading
- Term vs Whole Life Insurance: How to Work Out How Much You Need
Life insurance is not an investment decision first — it is a question of who depends on your income and for how long. A method for sizing the death benefit.
4 min read - Life insurance beneficiaries: five mistakes that send the money to the wrong place
The form in the insurer's file decides who gets the death benefit, not your will. Five failures that cost families money, and how each one breaks.
12 min read updated October 22, 2026
Auto Insurance
1 guide filed under this heading
- Auto Insurance in the US: What Each Coverage Actually Pays For
"Full coverage" is a marketing phrase with no legal meaning. What each coverage actually pays for, and why state minimums are not enough.
4 min read updated October 4, 2026
Homeowners Insurance
1 guide filed under this heading
- Home insurance claims: the file you build before the loss
Inventory, receipts, and photos decide how fast a claim pays. What to document now, what the adjuster asks for, and the deadlines that vary by state.
12 min read updated October 24, 2026
Renters Insurance
1 guide filed under this heading
- Renters insurance: what your landlord's policy does not cover
The landlord's policy covers the building, not your belongings or your liability. Sizing a contents limit, when replacement cost pays, and what is excluded.
14 min read
Liability Insurance
1 guide filed under this heading
- Umbrella insurance: the layer, the floor, and the condition that caps the payout
An umbrella pays above a retained limit, and its payout shrinks if you let the underlying policies lapse. How to size one, and what the exclusions remove.
14 min read updated October 21, 2026
Disability Insurance
1 guide filed under this heading
- The disability income gap: what actually pays when you can't work, and the months nothing covers
Social Security and employer plans rarely cover the full gap when you can't work. Here's how the layers line up — and the months and dollars left uncovered.
9 min read updated October 23, 2026
Claims
1 guide filed under this heading
- A denied claim: the appeal ladder, the deadline, and what to send
A denial letter names the deadline that decides everything. Which appeal ladder applies to your coverage, the clock on each rung, and what to put in the appeal.
18 min read updated October 13, 2026
Reference pages
Tables and lookups on the same filing, answered without reading around it
- Claim appeal deadlines: which clock applies to your plan
The 180 days to file, the plan's 72-hour, 15-day and 30-day clocks, and the four months for independent review — by type of coverage.
Other topics on Shield
Every guide on this site is filed under one of these