Someone asked me the other day if working in insurance is confusing. I have been working in insurance for two years and am still a little in awe of my more experienced co-workers who can provide coverage explanations on the spot. So, yes in all honesty, it can sometimes be confusing, especially to someone who is not used to hearing the language.
Looking back at my pre-insurance consumer – self. When I would get my auto policy renewal in the mail from my agent every year, I would try to read it. Those dollars signs and numbers on the coverage page looked like one of those awful long Math word problems to me. So rather than find out what they actually meant, I would file my policy with last years, pay my bill and hope for the best. After I was asked the confusing question, I thought there might be people out there like I was, that do not understand their coverage and what happens if they need to use it.
You are probably familiar with the limits on your credit card statement and monthly budget. They are your set spending amounts that keep you in a safe zone so you have a good outcome financially. Insurance limits work like that with a little difference in how they care for you.
Imagine an invisible fence of protection around your life that is present in case something unexpected and uninvited happens to you. So unlike your credit card limit, your coverage limits begin to be used when misfortune occurs to you or someone else and you are involved.
The truth is when uninvited arrives – it’s to late to repair not enough coverage. Let’s say you decide to lower the limits on your car insurance to 20 /40 (better known as the bare minimum) to reduce your monthly premium. That means you have $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident for coverage. Then, your significant other decides to drive to the store and is hit by a driver with no license and no insurance. The only coverage you have is on your car. Your loved one is in the hospital or laid up for what could be several months. That coverage will probably not go very far will it? And for a little more premium there could have been a lot more coverage in place. At that point you might be asking yourself if the savings was really worth the headache, no pun intended.
Post written by Heidi Avitabile, Personal Lines Account Manager from the RogersGray Sandwich Office. Heidi can be reached at 508.258.2171 or by email at avitabilehe @ rogersgray
