This Is the Best App for Free, Offline PDF Editing

Sometimes you need to quickly remove a few pages from a PDF, or merge it with another document—jobs that aren't worth forking out for an Adobe Acrobat subscription for. PDF Barber is a free website with tools for simple PDF edits like splitting files, re-ordering pages, and adding signatures.

I like this website for a couple reasons. First, it's free, and doesn't even have any ads cluttering everything up. Second, it works entirely offline, meaning you're not uploading your PDF files to the internet in order to use it. "Every split, every conversion, every operation happens entirely within your browser," the website says. You can test this for yourself by turning off your wifi after loading a tool—everything works.

To get started, go to the website and choose which tool you want to use. The main options are for splitting one PDF into two, merging two PDFs into one, rotating the pages in a PDF, re-organizing the pages in a PDF, and extracting pages from a PDF. More advanced tools allow you to add your signature, add a QR code, remove interactive elements, add a watermark, and compress the images.

Credit: Justin Pot

After choosing a tool, you can drag any PDF off your computer into the tool—note that the file must be 50MB or smaller. Because there is no upload to wait for, you'll see your PDF's pages right in front of you, allowing you to make your changes. For example, if you're using the split tool, you can use the checkboxes to decide which pages you want in which PDF, or split using the odd and even pages.

When you're done, you can save the completed documents to your computer. It's all very intuitive and quick, and it's well worth bookmarking if you're the sort of person who only occasionally needs to edit a PDF.

This Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker Is Stylish, Loud, and Only $90 Right Now

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The Beats Pill x Kim Kardashian collab speaker is a mix of high fashion and familiar function, and at this price, it might actually make sense. Right now, it’s going for $89.99 on StackSocial, down from $149.99 (the lowest it's ever been, according to price trackers), and even cheaper than Amazon’s $99 deal. It’s the same Pill everyone remembers—compact, bass-forward, and reliable—but now it comes wrapped in a muted, modern look with a matte dark gray finish. It has a soft-touch back with a removable lanyard that keeps it easy to tote around without screaming for attention. Plus, its IP67 rating means it’s ready for beach days, balconies, or the inevitable kitchen spill.

Looks aside, this version of the Pill delivers a reworked woofer that pushes 90% more air for deeper bass, and the tweeter has been redesigned to keep the highs clean, even at louder volumes. It pairs quickly with both iOS and Android (though Apple users get a bit more polish with instant pairing and Find My support). You’ll get around 24 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it can even charge your phone through the USB-C port. There’s no adjustable EQ in the app, which might be a dealbreaker if you’re picky about fine-tuning, but the out-of-box sound is balanced enough for casual listening. You can also pair it with a second Pill for stereo mode or use multi-room playback to fill your space with the same track. On sale for $90, this Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker is a great deal.

The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: What Is a Clanker?

Whether it’s clique-based lunch tables or who gets voted “Most Likely to Succeed,” exclusion and inclusion have always been central themes of young adulthood—how can you figure out who you are if you don’t define what you’re not? In 2025, it’s clearer than ever that the merciless sorting bin of high school never ends; it just moves online. Robots aren’t welcome at the human table, performative males are getting swirlies for liking tote bags and matcha, and Japanese businesswoman Saori Araki has inexplicably become the most popular girl in school, just for showing up.

What does “Clanker” mean?

“Clanker” is a derogatory term for a robot. It’s not just for physical robots, though. It also refers to AI customer service representatives, text-based AI scammers, large language models, delivery bots, auto-driving taxis, and any other non-human aping humanity. 

The term originated in the Star Wars universe in reference to enemy droids, but it’s catching on in online human discourse. Should “clanker” makes its way into general usage, it will mark a linguistic milestone—the first slur directed at a difference in being rather than a difference in identity. A clanker is defined not by the group it belongs to, but by what it is not: human, biological, conscious. It’s a machine masquerading as human, or imitating participation in human society. So your old car is a clunker, but ChatGPT is a clanker. "Clanker" offers all the self-righteous tribalism of a traditional slur, without the "hurting someone" part.

Beyond the interesting sociological moment, people are using the word to parody, expose, and explore our relationship with real slurs in videos like these:

Another difference between “clanker” and other slurs is that clankers don’t care If you call them that. Or so ChatGPT told me. “Since I’m not human, I don’t experience offense or shame. Instead, I’m designed to learn, assist, and adapt," the glitch-lipped clanker said. "Words like that don’t slow me down. If anything, they remind me that I exist at the edge of what people understand and trust,” it added, which is exactly the kind of even-handed claptrap a beep-wheezy clanker would say. 

What is a “performative male?”

The term “performative male” is an insult young men throw at other young men whose tastes, hobbies, and lifestyle are seen as a performance aimed at obtaining societal approval, especially the approval of young women. It differs from “normie” in that the performative male isn’t just boring; he’s boring on purpose. 

The kinds of people who make memes about men they don’t like have offered the following specific markers of performative maleness:

• Matcha lattes (A beverage made with green tea and steamed milk)

• Labubu Toys: (Labubus are extremely popular monster dolls/collectibles)

• Listening to Clairo (Clairo is a lo-fi singer/songwriter)

• Tote bags

• Reading in public (especially books about feminism.)

Performative maleism is becoming such a widespread things, kids are holding contest to determine which male is the most performative. Check 'em out:

"Performative male" is mildly sexist on the surface—it's mocking dudes who like things associated with women (gasp)—but if you go deeper, it's similar to older slang words like “white knight” and “virtue signaling.” A performative male is fundamentally dishonest, because no real man would read in public, so it it must be fake, and why would men be fake if not to make women like them? 

Viral video of the week: I'm SAO. This is a video of me being very nervous!

Usually videos go viral because they’re immediate and visceral—viscerally funny, disturbing, or scary in a way anyone can understand. But this week is different. If you come in cold on I'm SAO. This is a video of me being very nervous! You’ll never understand why its been viewed more than 250,000 times in less than a week. You have to know the history. Here's the lore dump:

Japanese model, self-describe office worker, and former J-pop idol Saori Araki posted this image of herself with the caption “Good morning” to her X account on July 24, 2025.

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Since then, it’s been viewed 78.5 million times. So there is something the internet finds very appealing about this woman, appealing enough for responses like this:

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And for countless marriage proposals like this. 

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Adding to the popularity, people pitted Araki against Sydney Sweeney in memes like this:

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Araki went on to post more pictures that added to her fame, like this one:

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She started a YouTube channel, and her fans followed her there. This explains why the "I'm SAO" video has so many views, but the larger mystery of why anyone cared about the photo of Araki in the first place remains unsolved. 

And I can offer no help. Araki seems like a perfectly nice, attractive woman, but I can’t see the difference between this specific picture and countless other pictures, of countless other perfectly nice, attractive women. Unknown, unnamable forces of the zietgeist, algorithms, and timing converged perfectly somehow to place this photo above all the the others, and transform Saori Araki into “Japanese Businesswoman,” a meme celebrity on par with Star Wars Kid or Grumpy Cat. 

Online fame is weird. 

What is “flocking?” And is flocking even a thing?

I’m not sure how widespread “flocking” is among younger people, but I hope it takes off. The word refers to a supposed romance trend among members of Gen-Z who are eschewing dating apps and traveling to far flung locations to find love instead. 

According to this newly published research, members of Generation Z are 74% more likely than other generations to have "researched the best travel destinations for meeting new people.” They’re “2.8x more likely to believe traveling is the new dating app, and they’re twice as likely to be interested in a vacation romance.”

This research was conducted by online travel company Priceline, so I wouldn’t take it that seriously, (they have something of a vested interest in getting people to travel more often) but other, presumably more objective, research suggests that Gen-Z both wants to travel more than any other generation, and actually does travel more than any other generation. So there might be something to it. Time, as they say, will tell.

What does “Surf Dracula” mean?

I’m fascinated with obscure slang terns that very-online fandoms come up with to succinctly and colorfully define tropes and characteristics of mass media. “Surf Dracula” is one of those. Coined by Twitter user @topherflorence, “Surf Dracula” is a critique of an aspect of modern “prestige” television series. 

“Back in the day if u did a tv show called Surf Dracula you'd see that fool surfing every week,” Florence posted, “But in the streaming era the entire 1st season gotta be a long ahh flashback to how he got the surfboard until you finally get see him surf for five min in the finale.”

The “Surf Dracula” moniker has been applies to the Halo television show, which took a full season to get to the damn Halo, and the 2020 reboot of legal show Perry Mason, where Mason isn’t even an attorney at the beginning of the show and doest practice law until episode six of an eight-episode season. 

Why Android E-Readers Are Superior to the Kindle Colorsoft (Especially If You Read Comics)

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Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft is the company’s first color e-reader, and while it’s got great hardware, it’s still ultimately a Kindle. Depending on how invested you are in the Amazon ecosystem, that may be inconsequential to you, but as a comics reader, it’s a big problem for me. Luckily, Amazon isn’t the only player in the color e-reader game.

Even if the competition doesn’t always have Amazon’s hardware quality, it does have one benefit: Android. Amazon adamantly stands by its proprietary software, but smaller companies are more willing to play ball with more open ecosystems, and that opens these devices up to a whole new world of content. When color is in play, that’s extra important.

Here’s why the Kindle Colorsoft can’t stack up to Android e-readers, no matter how good its screen is—plus the Android devices I recommend.

What the Kindle Colorsoft gets right

I’ll start with a few compliments. Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft easily has the best color e-ink screen I’ve ever used. It’s bright, low on pixelation and artifacts, fast on refresh rate, has a responsive enough touch screen, and while the rainbow effect that can plague black-and-white content is still an issue here, I’ve noticed it less on this device than on competitors like the (unfortunately non-Android) Kobo Libra Colour.

A 'Sonic the Hedgehog' comic on the Kobo Libra Colour (left) and Kindle Colorsoft (right). Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

It still technically uses the same E Ink Kaleido 3 screen as pretty much all color e-readers, but Amazon’s clearly put in some extra work modifying it, and the company said as much when it was announced. While I initially wrote that off as bragging and buzzwords, I’ll admit that images do look more true-to-form, and shadows and contrast appear more like they would on an actual page.

If all you want to do is use the Kindle Colorsoft to read your Amazon library and enjoy the occasional highlight or book cover in color, then this is a great choice. But you can do so much more with a color e-reader, and because of the rainbow effect, I honestly wouldn’t recommend one unless you plan to really take advantage of that. That’s where the Colorsoft really starts to run into limitations.

Why you might want an Android e-reader instead

The Kindle Colorsoft is limited to Amazon’s proprietary operating system, which means it can only read content from the Amazon store, or that you manually send over to it. Given how many types of content having color on your system opens up, that’s just not good enough for me.

Amazon's file format restrictions

The Kindle Colorsoft has the same restrictions as every other Kindle, which means a lack of native support for the popular EPUB format. This free and open-source e-book file type is commonly used by both authors and libraries—and yet, to get EPUB files on your device, you’ll have to use the clunky Send to Kindle tool via another device, or test your luck with a third-party alternative. In the process, unfortunately, you may find your formatting isn’t the same as before, and even if you don’t encounter difficulties moving files onto your Kindle, you might not have the same luck transferring your Kindle books to other devices. In short, Kindle interoperability is best avoided if you can, and the Kindle Colorsoft doesn’t move the needle there.

The Kindle Colorsoft doesn't have comics apps

Comics apps running on the Bigme B751C color e-reader. Credit: Joel Cunningham

But really, the bigger issue to me is the lack of apps. As an adult, and someone who reads a lot of picture books, the content I’m most likely to read on a color e-reader is comic books. And the Kindle’s software just isn’t built for that right now.

For about $10 a month, both Marvel and DC have apps you can subscribe to that will give you access to pretty much everything they’ve ever published, barring some more recent comics that are saved for higher subscription tiers. As much as I like buying-to-own, the value there is just too good to pass up, especially since buying an issue on its own, whether physical or digital, usually costs around $5.

Neither of these apps, however, are available on the Colorsoft. Instead, you’ll have to rely on Kindle’s own store, and while some comics there are available via Prime or Kindle Unlimited, the selection is far less varied, and is unlikely to let you read most comic runs from start to finish. You can buy issues piecemeal, or just stick to indie comics that aren’t on the Marvel or DC apps anyway, but that’s pretty limiting and gets expensive fast.

Android e-readers don’t have this problem. If not being able to access the big two’s comic apps is an immediate disqualification for the Colorsoft for me, then this is the reason to go for Android, any hardware weaknesses aside. You can download whatever comics app you want from the Google Play Store, including other options like the Shonen Jump app, and you’ll be able to access your library, browse, and read just as you would on any other tablet.

Better web browsing

Having Play Store access means you don’t have to stop there. You could also, for instance, download Chrome (or whatever internet browser you like). While the Kindle does have a basic web browser included, the device’s low memory and the browser’s incapability to use tabs or sync with other devices makes it hard to recommend. Again, with an Android e-reader, you don’t have those limitations. If you’re not a big comics fan, that’ll be a huge boon for you, as you’ll be able to see your favorite websites in full color (which can help with formatting and images), but now much easier on the eyes than they would be on a more traditional screen.

Gaming and other creative use cases

You can even get cheeky with your app downloads. While e-readers have low refresh rates, an Android e-reader can technically stream video or even play games, albeit at low frame rates, if you want some lo-fi entertainment. Retro gaming YouTuber Wullf Denn has a whole video on how he turned his pocket-sized Boox Palma into a decently convincing Game Boy clone, and while it’s mostly a novelty, an Android e-reader may actually make for an acceptable, more easy-on-the-eyes way to play games that are less about reaction time, like Pokémon.

Having Android on an e-reader lets you get way more creative with how you use it, and while that’s not strictly essential if all you can display is black-and-white, having a color screen that can only access the Amazon store feels like getting a Ferrari and only driving it to church on the weekends. From reading comic apps to going off the beaten path and turning your e-reader into a smart home hub, you can do so much more.

Which Android e-reader should you buy?

There are a few color e-readers that run Android and are strong alternatives to the Kindle Colorsoft, many of which have personally passed through my colleague Joel Cunningham’s hands. Not all of them have as good of a screen as the Kindle Colorsoft, but some come close. And even if they don’t, here’s a secret: A good color e-ink screen is still a mediocre screen overall. Color e-ink can only display 4,096 colors at this point, and you’re never going to escape its overall dull and muted look no matter which device you get. So if you’re already making compromises, it might be worth it to get a slightly less accurate display to get a much more open operating system.

On that note, here are some of the best Android color e-readers I would recommend over the Kindle Colorsoft. Note that I'm linking both to Amazon and the manufacturer's sites, so you can compare prices and convenience as you prefer.

Boox Go Color 7

$269.99 at Amazon

$269.99 at Amazon

This Android e-reader currently costs $280, which is the same as the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition (my preferred model). For that price, you’ll get a similar seven-inch screen, and $50 on top of that will snag you a stylus. Unlike the Colorsoft, it comes with a roomy grip on the left-hand side, along with physical page turn buttons. It’s about the closest experience you’ll get to using a Kindle. The original model has also been discounted to $220 if you can find it, although it has a weaker processor and is currently sold out on the official Boox site.

Boox Note Air 4C

$529.99 at Amazon

$529.99 at Amazon

The Boox Note Air 4C costs more than the Kindle Colorsoft, going for $510 on Boox's site, but is worth it for those who need a larger screen. With its 10.3-inch display, it gives you far more room than the Kindle, being much closer to a comic book page or actual piece of paper. It’s intended more for productivity, coming with a stylus and magnetic case out of the box, but its roomy grip and large screen make it a great choice for anyone who can stomach the price.

Bigme B751C

$279.99 at Amazon

$299.00 Save $19.01

$279.99 at Amazon

$299.00 Save $19.01

A budget pick, the Bigme B751C has a seven-inch screen and comes in at $240 on Bigme's site, which is a little cheaper than the base Kindle Colorsoft. For that discount, you’ll be signing up for ghosting issues, a weak front light, and plenty of bloatware, according to my colleague Joel Cunningham’s review. But on the flip side, you’ll still get Android. You also have a grip with dedicated page-turn buttons, and in a move that could help make interactive apps just a bit more variable, you can up the refresh rate on a per-app basis.

This Eufy Solar-Powered Four-Camera Security Kit Is at Its Lowest Price Right Now

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If you’ve been considering adding a few outdoor security cameras around your home but didn’t want to spend a fortune, the price of this Eufy Security SoloCam E30 (4-Cam Kit) might make it worth revisiting. It’s currently $349.99 on Amazon, $200 off its usual $549.99 tag, and according to price trackers, that’s also the lowest it’s gone so far. It’s still a bit of an investment, but for four wire-free, solar-powered cameras and no monthly fees, it’s at least worth a closer look.

Eufy Security SoloCam E30 (4-Cam Kit)

$349.99 at Amazon

$549.99 Save $200.00

$349.99 at Amazon

$549.99 Save $200.00

The IP65-rated SoloCam E30 cameras are designed to run wire-free, with a battery life of about three months, though that’ll depend on how many motion-triggered events you rack up. You can also hardwire them if you want continuous 24/7 recording, including four-second pre-rolls (you’ll need to buy the power cables separately). The cameras rotate a full 360° with a 70° tilt, so even one unit can cover a good chunk of your porch or driveway. Video clarity is solid as well, thanks to the enhanced 2K resolution and f/1.6 aperture, which helps at night with infrared night vision. They don’t include a spotlight, but for most general surveillance, that’s not a dealbreaker.

One thing to like here is Eufy’s no-subscription approach. You can store footage locally using a microSD card (up to 128GB, not included) or the 16GB built-in storage in the HomeBase S280 that comes included with the kit. And if you already have a HomeBase S380, you can tap into more advanced AI features such as familiar face recognition.

While the cameras are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, there’s no Apple HomeKit support yet. Still, the two-way audio, solar panel compatibility (2 hours of direct sunlight a day keeps it charged), and support for up to 16 cameras per HomeBase make it a capable and expandable system, especially for users who don’t want their footage stored in the cloud.

Six Common Tactics Contractors Use to Upsell You

Renovating or repairing a home can be an expensive proposition. Americans collectively spend about $600 billion on home renovations every year, and if you own a house, you know that just keeping it in good condition isn’t cheap, either. Every time you call a contractor to fix, replace, or upgrade something in your house, you know your bank account is going to take a hit.

For those contractors, however, your renovation or repair inquiry is also a sales opportunity. That’s fair—they’re running a business, after all, and “upselling” additional or upgraded materials or services is part of that. But there’s a difference between a contractor simply alerting you to the benefits of a more expensive option and a contractor manipulating you into spending more on an upsell that you don’t really need or want. The next time you have a contractor in your house for a repair or renovation, watch for these signs that they’re trying to upsell you using sketchy techniques.

Asking permission

When a contractor mentions an upgrade or an additional service they can provide that wasn’t part of the original scope of work, they might pause and ask you if it’s okay to explain the benefits. You might think this is just being polite, but it’s a way of manipulating you. When you grant them permission to keep going, you’ll be less likely to interrupt or disagree, because you’ve ceded some of that authority.

You might still say no, of course—this isn’t mind control. But it gives the contractor space to finish their sales pitch and preemptively address common objections that you might have used to end the sales pitch before it went too far.

Focus on benefits

Most upsells that a contractor will suggest will have real benefits for you—upgraded materials will likely last longer, for example, and a higher level of appliances or HVAC equipment will probably run more efficiently. There’s nothing wrong with a contractor suggesting something that will improve the comfort, security, or enjoyment of your house.

But these upgrades typically cost more, and you probably entered your renovation or repair journey with a budget in mind. In order to get past any resistance to a higher cost, contractors may have a laser focus on the benefits of the upsell, talking a lot about the improved experience, aesthetics, or utility of the upgrade and skimming over the increased costs. They may even hand-wave your questions about cost and imply it’s not a huge amount. By the time the increase shows up on a change order, supplemental invoice, or the final charge for the work, it’s too late to worry about it or complain. It’s crucial to always nail down a precise cost of any change to your plans before you agree to anything—and if your contractor is vague about those costs or resists attempts to get a clear quote ahead of time, you know they’re pushing an unnecessary upsell.

Good/better/best

A common psychological trick used in a broad range of sales is the “good-better-best” gambit. When presented with three options—a basic, no frills package (the “good”), a middle-ground upgrade (the “better” option), and a top-tier, more expensive option (the “best”), people will often opt for the middle, “better” option because it suddenly seems like a deal. You feel like you’re saving money by not going with the “best,” but also getting at least some extra value.

Contractors use this to position your current renovation or repair plans as the “good” option—the basic, baseline choice. Then they offer a slight upgrade and an “all-in” upgrade, and make you feel smart for choosing the “better” option instead of splashing out for the “best,” when in reality, your original plan took care of your needs and both upgrades were probably unnecessary. For example, you might have been happy with new ceramic tile for your bathroom floor, but your contractor suggests you might be happier with natural stone (better) or even natural stone and an in-floor heating system (best). Suddenly, your original choice feels cheap, and the middle option seems like a reasonable upgrade.

Combinations

Another way of manipulating your perceptions in order to upsell you is to combine several upsells into a package deal. When you have too many choices to make, you can become paralyzed with indecision. As a result, presenting every potential upsell separately can lead to increased resistance, and that sense of being overwhelmed by choices often means you’ll just stick to the original plan. In order to avoid this, a contractor might package several upsells into different combinations. It superficially reduces the number of choices you have to make and also serves to obscure the true cost of upsells because they get muddled together into an overall price.

FOMO

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a classic manipulation tactic used by a lot of people—contractors included. The upsell is presented to you as a rare opportunity that you’d be foolish to pass up. One scenario might be leftover materials: They purchased a lot of fancy materials for another job and didn’t use them all, so they’ll upgrade your project at a discount. Or they might point out that since you’re going to have open walls and/or floors and ceilings, it’s a rare opportunity to upgrade the wiring, plumbing, or to install features like heated floors. The implication being that you’ll regret not doing it now while you had the chance. That may be true—but it’s also a way of making an upsell seem more like a necessity.

Plain old fear

It’s a good idea to be suspicious of a contractor who tries to upsell you to a total replacement or upgrade after being called in for a straightforward repair. Sure, a malfunctioning appliance can be a sign of imminent failure, but if you hire a contractor for a repair and they pressure you with dire pronouncements—uncovered code violations, dangerous conditions, or emergencies that have to be dealt with immediately (which they can, of course, handle for you)—get a second opinion before you make any decisions. If they resist the second opinion, be very suspicious. If they have a proposal all worked out after being at your house for a short time, be extremely suspicious.

Three Crucial Facts You Need to Know About an Insurer Before Buying a Policy

People in the U.S. pay more than $1 trillion in insurance premiums each year. Most of us have more than one insurance policy at any given time, including health, auto, homeowners, and life insurance policies. And when the time comes to shop around for a new one, you probably do some due diligence, researching the premiums you’ll have to pay for the amount of coverage that you want.

But that it offered a good premium isn't the only thing you should know about a potential insurer. Fair premiums, low deductibles, and expansive coverage are important, but none of that means much if you choose an insurer that’s struggling financially, has very low customer satisfaction rates, or which routinely denies even legitimate claims. If you’re in the market for insurance, there are three facts you need to know about any company you’re considering buying a policy from.

The insurer's financial stability

The most crucial thing to know about an insurance company is whether it has the cash on hand to cover claims made on its policies. The best-written policy in the universe won’t do you much good if the company selling it to you goes bankrupt when too many people actually try to actually use the insurance it sold them.

States set minimum reserves insurers are required to keep on hand to cover claims, but as the name implies, these are minimums—sometimes calculated as a percentage of potential claims, sometimes based on other financial factors. Insurance companies can’t legally fall below those reserves, but the reserves are only intended to prevent a total market collapse. In reality, insurers should have a lot more on hand, especially if there’s a possibility of a large number of claims being filed simultaneously (e.g., homeowners insurance claims in the wake of a disaster like a flood or wildfire). It might sound impressive that a small, regional insurance company has $100 million on hand to cover claims—but that looks like small potatoes if they have $1 billion in potential claims at any given time.

You can find a financial stability rating for most insurers over at AM Best. You’ll need to create a free account to search the database, but once you do, you'll be able to see at a glance the “Financial Strength” rating of an insurer, which can range from a “superior” A++ to a “Poor” D. The website also offers a “Financial Size Category (FSC)” that offers an approximation of how much money the insurer has on hand, ranging from I (less than $1 million) to XV (at least $2 billion). A small, regional insurer might only have a few million bucks in the bank, but if its overall rating is A++, it's still considered financially sound.

The insurer's claims record

Getting a good deal on an insurance policy is only useful if the insurer actually approves and pays out for legitimate claims. I once had a homeowners insurance policy that seemed worse than useless—though it satisfied my mortgage provider's insurance requirement, it never once paid out on a claim. Sure, it always had a reason my claims weren’t technically covered, but that didn't help me in the moment. This is why it’s crucial that you research a company’s track record of denying or paying out claims before buying the policy.

Unfortunately, doing so can be difficult, because claim approval data isn’t easy to find. Insurers aren’t required to make it available to the public, so they simply don’t.

There are some resources, however, that can at least give you an idea about a company’s history of claim approvals and denials. Plans sold through Affordable Care Act marketplaces are a bit more transparent, and you can find past denial rates at the Kaiser Family Foundation site, which offer some clues. You can find studies online that offer up some details about which companies deny the most claims, like this one from ValuePenguin, showing that UnitedHealthcare rejects a third of claims from its customers. It might take some muscular Googling, but information about denial rates can potentially be pieced together this way—and if you see denials from a potential insurer noted over and over again in these studies, you might want to reconsider buying from it.

The insurer's customer satisfactions scores

Finally, even a company that has a reasonable claims approval rate and is financially stable can be a poor choice if working with it is a miserable experience. Before you buy insurance, you should know one more thing: The satisfaction level of current and past customers. It's not so much a hard number as it is a vibe, but it’s an important piece of data nonetheless.

There are three sources where you can get a sense of customer satisfaction about an insurer before you buy a policy:

• State insurance departments. Each state has an insurance department that regulates insurers writing policies in that state. These departments often publicly list complaints made against insurers on their sites. You can find your state’s insurance department through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) website.

• NAIC. Speaking of the NAIC, it also maintains a database of insurers that includes complaint reports. Search for your prospective insurer and see how many complaints are lodged against it, what the trends suggest, and how they compare to competitors.

• An online search. Finally, people tend to complain publicly when large companies treat them poorly, so checking social media and other websites for mentions of an insurer can yield some real-world insights into what it’s like to own a policy from it. Keep in mind that almost every insurer will have some complaints against it—people who have had bad experiences tend to be more vocal than those who are completely or even mostly satisfied— so you’re looking for volume and trendlines (i.e. a lot of complaints over a long period of time).