How to use the Koala advisor.
It's a chat box, so there isn't much to learn, but knowing what it's good at, and what it will refuse to do, is the difference between a useful answer and a wasted question. Here's the whole of it.
10 free questions a month · An AI, never a lawyer
A way to ask the question you didn't want to sound stupid asking.
Most people never read their policy until something has already gone wrong, and by then the person explaining it is usually someone with a stake in the answer.
The advisor exists to close that gap. It teaches you how US insurance works in plain English, on demand, with no commission riding on what you conclude: what a coverage does, what the language on your policy means, and how a claim actually runs.
It is there to make you harder to confuse. It is not there to make your decisions, and it will tell you so.
Four things, and none of them take long.
- 1
Sign in
Signing in is how Koala counts questions against you rather than against a stranger; it isn't a paywall. Every account gets 10 questions a month, free, and they come back on the 1st.
- 2
Ask in plain English
There is no syntax and no keywords. Type the question the way you'd say it out loud. If you don't know the word for the thing you're asking about, describe it. Working out the term is part of what the advisor is there to teach you.
- 3
Keep going
It follows the thread. Ask it to slow down, to define a word it just used, or to explain what that means for someone in your situation. A follow-up costs a question, but it doesn't start over.
- 4
Watch the counter
The header of the chat shows how many questions you have left. When they run out it tells you plainly, and it tells you when they refresh.
Not sure where to begin?
The advisor opens with these three as one-tap buttons. They're there because they're the questions people actually arrive with. Tap one and read what comes back before you spend a question of your own on something harder.
- What does an umbrella policy actually cover?
- How does a deductible work on a homeowners claim?
- What is an adjuster allowed to ask me for?
One thing worth knowing before you start: your conversations are saved to your account, private to you. That's what lets Learning Progress track what you've covered and your history follow you across devices. Only you can read them, and you can clear them from your account whenever you want.
The questions it answers well, and the ones it won't.
An assistant is only as trustworthy as the list of things it won't do. Both halves are worth reading before your first question.
Ask it this
What a coverage actually does
“What does comprehensive cover that collision doesn't?” It will tell you where the line sits, and what falls on either side of it.
What a word on your policy means
“What is recoverable depreciation?” Actual cash value, proof of loss, the appraisal clause: ask it to define the term and say where it starts costing you money.
How the process runs
“What happens after I file a claim?” What an adjuster does, what a denial letter has to tell you, and what generally comes next.
How your state changes the answer
Insurance is regulated state by state. Say which one you're in, and it will tell you when the answer turns on that, and when it doesn't.
It won't do this
It won't give you legal advice
It is not a lawyer and Koala is not a law firm. It explains how the system works; it will not tell you whether to sue, or how your particular dispute should come out.
It won't tell you what to buy
No carrier pays Koala anything. It won't name a company to buy from, won't recommend a policy, and won't quote you a price.
It won't read your documents
It can't see your policy, your denial letter, or your settlement offer. You're talking to it, not uploading to it. The claim check is the tool built to read what your insurer sent you.
It won't pretend to be a person
It's an AI, it says so when asked, and it is instructed to say “I don't know” rather than invent a statute, a deadline, or a number.
Koala is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The advisor is an AI, its answers are for informational purposes only, and it can be wrong. Check anything that turns on a deadline or a dollar figure against your own policy documents.
How to spend a question well.
Say where you are
Insurance is regulated state by state. Naming yours lets it tell you when that actually changes the answer, and when it makes no difference at all.
Ask why, not just what
“What is a deductible?” gets you a definition. “Why would I pick a higher one?” gets you the trade-off, which is usually the thing you were actually trying to work out.
Push back on it
If an answer uses a word you don't know, say so and ask it to try again. It would rather explain the term than have you nod along.
And if 10 questions a month stops being enough, that's the entire reason a plan exists: a bigger allowance and a stronger model behind it. See what the plans change.
If you'd rather read than ask.
The advisor is the fast path, not the only one. Everything it explains is also written down, and none of it costs a question.
- Read it
Reference
The glossary
Every term Koala uses, what it means, and where it actually costs you money.
- Read it
Product
What the advisor is
The case for it, what it refuses to do, and the live chat itself.
- Read it
Claim check
When you need it to read the documents
The advisor explains the system. The claim check reads what your insurer actually sent you.
Go and ask it something.
10 questions a month, free, on every account, and they come back on the 1st.