Editorial team and standards
This page explains who produces InsurTool content, what each role is accountable for, and the standards every page is held to. It also states something most sites in this category do not: the responsible-editor role is currently vacant, and we would rather say so than print a name we cannot stand behind.
The responsible-editor role is vacant
A byline only means something if the person named actually reviewed the page and can be checked. We have not yet appointed a named responsible editor, so every byline on this site currently reads the InsurTool Editorial Team, and structured data attributes authorship to InsurTool as an organisation rather than to a person. That is the accurate description of how the content is produced today.
Filling this role requires a real person with verifiable credentials and an external professional footprint a reader can confirm — a licence number, a designation, a professional profile, published work. When that person is appointed, the byline on every page switches to their name, the structured data switches from an organisation to a person, and this page will name them along with what they reviewed.
We will not fill this slot with an invented name and a plausible-sounding biography. A fabricated author is a misrepresentation to readers, and a fabricated identity is discoverable. A vacancy stated openly is worth more than a credential that does not exist.
Who does what
| Role | Status | Accountable for | What the role requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responsible editor | Vacant | Owns the accuracy of published content. Reviews every substantive page against its cited sources before publication, approves the correction process, and is the named person accountable when something is wrong. | A real person with verifiable insurance or personal-finance credentials and an external professional footprint a reader can check. The name, credential and any relevant licence or designation must be confirmable outside this website. |
| Researcher / writer | Editorial team | Drafts each page from primary sources — state insurance statutes and regulations, NAIC publications, state Department of Insurance guidance, and the datasets documented on our data methodology page. Builds the worked examples and the arithmetic. | Ability to read a policy form and a regulation, and to distinguish a filing from a marketing figure. |
| Data maintainer | Editorial team | Maintains the open datasets: retrieval, cross-checking, coverage definitions, quality flags and the version log. Re-runs the generation scripts so published files are reproducible from their sources. | Documented sources for every figure, and the discipline to mark a figure unverified rather than publish it as fact. |
| Corrections | Editorial team | Triages reader corrections, verifies them against sources, and records the outcome in the version log or on the affected page. Corrections are logged even when the original figure turns out to be right. | A public contact route and a written record. See the corrections section below. |
How a page gets made
- Source gathering. Primary sources only where they exist: state insurance statutes and regulations, NAIC model acts and publications, state Department of Insurance guidance, federal regulations, and the datasets documented on our data methodology page. Aggregator figures are used only where a primary source does not publish the number, and they are labelled as such.
- Drafting against the sources. Every factual claim is written next to the source that supports it. Worked examples are constructed so the arithmetic is visible and checkable by the reader.
- Removing what cannot be supported. This is the step that does the most work. Precision that the evidence does not support is deleted rather than softened. Surcharge tables, vehicle-category premium ranges and similar content were removed from our auto insurance article for exactly this reason.
- Accuracy review. Figures are re-checked against the cited source, and the retrieved date is recorded. Where the responsible-editor role is vacant, this review is performed by the editorial team and the byline reflects that.
- Publication with sources on the page. The source list and the retrieval date appear on the page itself, not only in an internal record.
- Review cycle. Pages carrying rate figures are reviewed annually, and additionally whenever the underlying series refreshes or a reader reports an error.
Editorial standards
Every number has a source, or it does not ship
Where a page states a figure, it names the regulation, statute, dataset or published series it came from, and the date it was retrieved. Where a figure is a modelled estimate derived from a sourced base, the derivation is shown — for example, the 2026 homeowners premium on our state pages is the Insurance Information Institute 2021 average escalated by a stated factor, with the original figure displayed alongside.
Arithmetic is shown so it can be checked
Worked examples — a depreciation calculation, a present-value figure, a deductible applied to a claim — are reproduced in full so a reader can verify them independently. This is deliberate: checkable arithmetic is the difference between an explanation and an assertion.
We do not invent names, credentials or quotations
No fabricated author, no invented reviewer, no quotation attributed to a person who did not say it, and no "study" without a citable study. This rule exists because the alternative is a misrepresentation to readers, and because a fabricated identity is discoverable — the web has a long memory, and the consequence of being caught is worse than the cost of simply not having a named author yet.
Uncertainty is stated rather than smoothed over
Where the evidence is mixed or a figure is unverified, the page says so. Our auto insurance dataset currently ships a minimum-coverage column that fails a plausibility check; it is marked unverified in the data file, excluded from our own analysis, and disclosed on the data methodology page. Publishing the gap is the point.
Corrections are public
Substantive corrections are recorded on the affected page, not quietly edited away. Two are already logged: the withdrawal of a national full-coverage auto figure that could not be traced to a citable source, and the removal of premium-surcharge tables stated with more precision than the underlying evidence supported.
We disclose how we are funded
Our funding model and any affiliate relationships are described in full on the affiliate disclosure page, including a plain statement of which partnerships are active and which are not. Advertising is labelled, and no advertiser reviews or approves editorial content.
What we are not
- We are not an insurer, agent or broker. We do not sell policies, and we cannot bind coverage or advise on what to buy.
- We are not a licensed adviser. Nothing on this site is insurance, legal, tax or investment advice. Where a question requires a licensed professional, the page says so.
- We do not accept payment for editorial placement. Advertising is labelled, and no advertiser sees content before publication or has any input into it.
- We do not publish figures we cannot source. Where a figure is an estimate or is unverified, the page and the dataset both say so.
Corrections and contact
If something on this site is wrong, we want to know. Write to [email protected] or use the contact form, and include the page, the figure or statement you believe is wrong, and a source for the correct version if you have one.
Substantive corrections are recorded on the affected page. Corrections are logged even when the original figure turns out to be correct, so that a reader who saw the earlier version can see what changed and why. The full process is described in the editorial policy.
Disclaimer
InsurTool publishes educational information about insurance. It is not a licensed insurance provider, agent or broker, and nothing here is insurance, legal, tax or investment advice. Confirm the details of any policy with the insurer and consult a licensed professional about your own circumstances.