Calculator methodology

PolicyPlain tools are educational models. They do not underwrite risk, access insurer pricing engines, or produce bindable quotes. Formulas are intentionally transparent so you can challenge the assumptions.

Life insurance needs

Uses an enhanced DIME framework: debts + (income × replacement% × years) + mortgage + education + final expenses − (liquid assets + existing coverage + a partial spouse-income offset). Scenario bands apply 75% / 100% / 115% multipliers for lean / balanced / conservative views. Side-by-side 10× and 15× income checks are shown for triangulation.

Term vs whole cost

Applies age- and health-scaled educational factors to estimate annual term cost per $1,000 of face amount, then scales whole-life premiums as a multiple of term for illustration. Cash-value is shown only as a rough proxy—not an illustrated policy value.

Renters estimator

Starts from inventory totals, then adds liability-tier, settlement-type, and deductible adjustments, multiplied by area / claims / dog factors. Outputs a monthly range (± bands), not a carrier price.

Auto premium ballpark

Starts from a national-style baseline monthly premium and applies multiplicative adjustments for age, record, credit band, state cost environment, vehicle profile, coverage package, deductible, and bundling.

Deductible analyzer

Compares premium savings over a holding period against extra out-of-pocket costs if N claims occur. Break-even claims = total premium saved ÷ extra deductible per claim. Risk-preference modes change the narrative recommendation, not the math.

Umbrella scorecard

Weighted points for net-worth band, underlying auto/home limits, and selected household exposures. Score is normalized to a percentage and mapped to priority bands with next-action guidance.

Should I file a claim?

Compares estimated insurer payout after deductible against a modeled multi-year premium surcharge, then layers fault clarity and cash available for self-pay. Output is a decision band—not legal advice.

GAP insurance worth-it

Subtracts estimated actual cash value from remaining loan/lease payoff, adds deductible drag, and contrasts that exposure with total GAP product cost amortized over remaining term years.

Policy decoder

Maps selected declarations lines to plain-English meaning, residual risk, and one agent question each. No document upload—reader selects the lines they see.

Liability waterfall

Allocates claimant demands against per-person caps first, then drains the shared per-accident bucket in order. Uncovered remainder is the educational “you may still owe” signal.

Quote diff

Compares annual premium alongside a transparent protection score from BI per-person/accident, PD, UM, and deductible drag—so cheaper ≠ stronger.

Privacy

Calculator inputs run in your browser session. We do not require email to see results on localhost.

Questions? Contact us. Related: tools, research & roadmap, editorial policy, disclaimer.