When did you last Review your Insurance Coverage – Doctor?

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Why shopping around periodically is a smart move

By Lon Jefferies, MBA CFP™  http://www.NetWorthAdvice.com

Lon JeffriesWhen is the last time you compared rates on your home and auto insurance policies – doctors and all ME-P readers? Unfortunately, a stellar safety record doesn’t always translate into lower insurance rates. Even if you think you have a good rate, shopping around periodically is smart.

A Reader’s Query

After attempting to follow my advice of maintaining an umbrella insurance policy, one of our ME-P readers contacted his insurer to add coverage. This reader was shocked when his insurer informed him that he didn’t qualify for an umbrella policy because he didn’t carry sufficient liability insurance on his auto policy. (Minimum auto liability insurance – frequently $500,000 – is required in order to purchase umbrella coverage.) Although this individual had owned his policy for eight years, he was unaware that the policy only provided $50,000 of liability coverage. This amount was clearly insufficient for an individual approaching retirement.

In addition to realizing that he was severely under-insured, this individual discovered he was also paying excessive premiums. For only $50,000 of auto liability coverage, this person was paying $914 per year. Moreover, the individual realized he was paying $351 per year for the $350,000 of liability coverage the individual had on his condo. Consequently, in total, this person was paying $1,265 per year for $50,000 of auto liability and $350,000 of home liability coverage.

Case Model

This individual then spoke with an independent insurance agent to increase auto liability coverage to an amount that enabled him to obtain an umbrella policy. This was critical, as it dramatically decreased the individual’s liability exposure, a risk an individual with accumulated assets clearly shouldn’t have. Even better, the individual was able to obtain dramatically improved rates on his policies. For a total of $1,207 (less than he was previously paying!), the individual was able to secure $1,000,000 of auto liability coverage, $350,000 of home liability, and an additional $1,000,000 umbrella policy.

policy insurance

Assessment

Clearly, it can be beneficial to occasionally review and compare rates on your insurance policies. People tend to believe that policies that have been owned for extended periods of time are efficiently priced, but it may be the opposite. If you haven’t verified that you are adequately insured and conducted a cost comparison recently, speak to an independent insurance agent and minimize your exposure with cost-effective policies.

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Conclusion

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One Response

  1. Can Amazon Dominate In Insurance, Too?

    In January 2013, LIMRA reported that 90% of industry executives it had surveyed believe that insurance companies will continue to form strategic alliances with “non-traditional organizations” to expand distribution.

    The example cited was MetLife’s trial alliance with 200 Wal-Mart stores. Then Accenture’s “Customer-Driven Innovation Survey” found that more than two-thirds of customers would consider purchasing home, auto and life insurance from businesses other than insurers—23% were open to purchasing from online service providers like Amazon or Google (which acquired auto insurance aggregator BeatThatQuote.com way back in 2011 in the UK).

    http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2014/07/13/can-amazon-dominate-in-insurance-too/

    So, can Amazon dominate the insurance industry?

    Mark

    Like

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