Audit receipt: your car policy, in very simple words
Source: State Farm Texas Personal Car Policy booklet, Form 9843C (© State Farm, 2024) · register: very simple (muy sencillo) · language: EN
The register you chose
You asked for the very simple version. That means a grade-school reading level: reading grade 4 or below, very short sentences (12 words or fewer), everyday words only, and a worked example with real numbers for every rule about money. Nuance is not deleted; it is moved deeper into expandable sections, written in the same plain words.
SIMPLE score
Scored 0 to 4 per dimension by the adversarial auditor; passing floor is 3. Action is 3 because the source booklet prints no claims phone number, so the reader must use the number on their own insurance card. That is the honest ceiling for this source.
How the reading level moved
Measured on the reader-facing prose. Three steps: the original 43-page booklet, the plain (sencillo) version, and this very-simple version.
| Measure | Original booklet | Plain | Very simple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading grade (Flesch-Kincaid) | ~11.2 | 6.3 | 2.2 |
| Reading ease (0-100) | 48.0 | 71.0 | 93.2 |
| Average sentence length | 18.5 | 11.7 | 7.9 |
Target for the very-simple register: grade 4 or below, ease 80 or above, sentences 12 words or fewer. All met. (Original grade and sentence length are conservative estimates; the booklet's real legal sentences run far longer than a simple counter can measure.)
Original vs very simple (4-axis)
What changed from the plain version
- Every sentence cut to 12 words or fewer; the average is now under 8 words.
- Added a worked money example to every rule: the deductible ($500 paid on a $2,000 repair, so State Farm pays $1,500), the funeral cap ($4,000 funeral, pays $3,000), and lost pay (lose $1,000, get $800).
- Every insurance word is taught in plain words the first time it appears, with a tap-to-open note and a plain idea leading each card.
- Turned the "not covered" list and the two claim-killers into bullet lists so parallel items read as a list, not a wall of text.
- Turned the time-limit and prompt-pay facts into label-and-value rows.
- Added two things the plain version left out, for readers who want the fine print: how the insurer takes over your right to collect (subrogation) and what happens in another state, each written in the same plain words and pointing to its clause in the full policy.
- Kept the truth rules exactly: no phone number is printed (the booklet prints none), and every dollar amount comes straight from the source.
Reader test
Three test readers saw only the finished page. A basic reader (the match for this register) answered all four key questions correctly: what this is, what to do, by when, and what money is involved, with no missing or hidden answers. A middle reader was fully clear. An advanced reader confirmed every exception is still reachable, including the rental car, the subrogation rule and its one exception, the out-of-state rule, the rideshare carve-out, and the Mexico limit.
Hard words that remain
A few things could not be made simpler without changing what they mean. They are kept in plain surroundings, but the words themselves are hard:
- "subrogation" — this is the real name of the rule in your policy, so you can find it there. The page explains it in full with a plain story and a tap-to-open note; only the single word is hard.
- "read up to that state's lowest legal limit" — the idea (in another state, your cover is raised to the smallest amount that state requires) cannot be said in fewer words without losing the legal meaning.
- A few listed things that are not covered — mold, a nuclear event, war damage, a car taken by police in a drug case, radar detectors, and removable media. The policy gives no reason for these, so none was invented. They stay as a plain list of things that are not covered.