Deductibles explained

admin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:40:13 +0000

Insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company. Like all contracts, it’s give and take. That’s what makes a good bargain. In this case, we’re talking about an auto insurance policy. So, in return for the premium, you’re asking the insurer to pay whatever costs arise from the traffic accidents you get into. It’s like a bet. The insurer works out what the odds are given the car you drive and your track record - it’s called risk assessment - and sets the premium accordingly. But you can also gamble. Suppose you think that, as a good driver, you’re never going to get in an accident or, if you do, it’s never going to be more than a fender bender with nominal damage on both sides. In a perfect world of free choice, you could decide not to carry insurance at all. You’ll always have enough cash in hand to pay out for the minor dinks and dents you cause. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. All but three states in the union require you to carry car insurance. If you drive any vehicle on the road without a valid policy in place, you commit a crime. Why is that? Well, it usually takes two to have a traffic accident. You may be the most careful driver in the world, but the idiot who rear-ends you while you’re parked may lack the same skills. It’s also possible that you may overestimate your skills and underestimate the amount of money you may have to pay if there is an accident. Suppose, for example, you hit an imported luxury car and injure the rich lawyer driving, the costs of repairing the car and compensating the lawyer for pain and suffering may be just short of astronomical. So deductibles are a happy compromise. Most insurance companies allow you to pay the first part of any claim you make. The amounts are usually stepped as $100, $250, $500 or $1,000. So if you cause damage valued at $3,400, the insurance company will pay the balance after you have paid your contribution. Yes, payment of the deductible is a precondition of the insurer paying out. So, when you’re getting your online quotes, always remember to opt for the amount of deductible you can afford. That way, your car insurance policy will come with a discount. The higher the deductible, the bigger the discount!

What’s an endorsement?

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:14:05 +0000

When you start out on your quest to find an affordable homeowners insurance policy, remember that The Lord of the Rings ran to three volumes. You have not found what you’re looking for when your online quotes come rolling in. Nor have you arrived at your destination when you read through the policies. The final part of the journey is always dealing with the endorsements. An endorsement is cover added to your policy. You pay more but get extra protection. Be warned. You’re the only one with the responsibility to get everything you have adequately covered. Neither the insurance company nor its agent is going to walk you through your home and talk you through all the potential problems. You have to decide what to add to the policy. To give you an insight into the problems, let’s look at the contents. Most insurance companies give you blanket cover - an average amount that covers most of the stuff you’ll find in most homes. But if you have anything unusual or more expensive, you should take two steps. The first is to make a detailed schedule of everything you have. This will help you decide whether you should buy more blanket cover. It’s not a good idea to guess. As you identify the more expensive items, you should consider having them appraised and agreeing their value with the home insurance company. The more this increases the value of the contents, the more likely it is that you will be asked to improve the security of your home. That brings us to the second issue. The standard policy terms pay on the actual worth of the property when it is lost. That’s not the replacement cost! There’s this little thing called depreciation (or fair wear and tear) and, unless you have an endorsement, you are not allowed to “make a profit” on the policy by buying new to replace the old. Ask about the cost of an endorsement for replacement no matter what the actual value of the property may be. Then we have the quite separate problems of whether your policy will cover the property of non-family members while it is in your home, and what you do with a home office. Suppose you bring work home with you on a laptop owned by your employer and one of the children knocks it off the table. Is it covered? If a neighbor lends you some equipment and it breaks down, who pays for its repair or replacement? As to your own home office, the standard policy covers up to about $2,500. If you have more than this, you should either include the specific items or look for separate small business insurance. Look for online quotes to get the whole picture.

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Deductibles explained

What’s an endorsement?