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Jastiger posted:Items off premises yes and no. If its in your car parked at your place, yes! If you're out walking around and get mugged you can have that covered if you choose "mysterious disappearance" coverage on certain items. Sometimes "Special Personal Property" is what this is called. It means they'll cover the items no questions asked. Its a bit more expensive, but its the way to go if you're worried about that kind of thing happening. Generally renters policies will have a small bit on property they'll cover no matter what but it caps out really low at like $1000 or so. Talk to your company and get that special property coverage, or if its cheaper, itemize those things to cover them for special property. Depending on the carrier, they may have separate limits for property taken off-premises or in your car. This is important to know because if you have a $3000 laptop or camera stolen from your passengers seat or get mugged on a trip, it may or may not be covered. There may be several property exclusions: - Artwork or jewelry above a certain amount - Firearms - Collectibles - Anything used in a professional or business capacity These may require a separate piece of coverage known as a "floater." Also, make sure your property coverage is either "SPECIAL" as Jastiger mentioned or "ALL RISK." What's the difference between property coverages? Knowing this is important, because sometimes you'll think you'll be getting a great deal on an insurance policy only to realize it excludes most of the common causes of loss (e.g. theft)
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Jan 17, 2013 18:19
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sheri posted:For less than 50K and a 15 year term, you should be able to get something pretty cheap. Google something like term life insurance quotes and you should find some sites that will quote several companies for you. I did this about a year ago and it worked pretty well-- contact the companies who's quotes I liked. (I ended up going with Prudential-- they were one of the cheaper ones, coverage is great, and the underwriting process went pretty smoothly). I advocate finding a local broker via search, Yelp, or referral from a friend or coworker. Not just because I'm an indie myself, but I think it's important the people remember to support local commerce when possible, plus it's nice to have an actual human accountable for things. Also, if something goes sideways with underwriting, it's much easier to deal with a broker that's agile enough to work towards a resolution. For young, healthy people this is generally not a problem, but carriers can fluctuate wildly in their underwriting practices (did you know that having an immediate family member with cancer or heart disease can dramatically affect YOUR premium?) or turnaround time. Take Prudential, for example. They'e always been a very fine carrier. They're backed up right now by several weeks and have been notoriously picky with underwriting. You might not get this level of detail from an internet-based aggregator. The Jizzer fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Jan 17, 2013 |
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Jan 17, 2013 18:25
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MoraleHazard posted:Cool, an SA insurance thread. I'm an insurance broker too, for large commercial energy risks: pipelines, rigs, powerplants, undersea wells, etc. I do some more generic stuff, but the weirder the policy the more fun I have placing it. Amen. Weird poo poo is what keeps me going. I can do vanilla stuff all day long but being hit with a total curveball that makes me actually work is fun, and more rewarding when I'm done.
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Jan 19, 2013 18:00
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ifuckedjesus posted:I have a question about whole life insurance. How is cash value determined? If I'm not mistaken, they take a portion of your insurance premium and put it in a "savings account" where it earns interest, correct? Is the interest rate usually fixed or variable? One would think with current low interest rates it may make sense to opt for term until rates rise if they are fixed... Without getting too complicated, traditional Whole Life works like this: (Premium) - (Administrative Expenses) - (Cost of Insurance) = (Deposit to Cash Accumulation Account) Then, each year you get (Cash Value) * (Interest) + (Dividends) = (Cash Accumulation) As a rule, the cash accumulation in whole life is at a fixed interest rate, but most whole life policies also return non-guaranteed dividends based on the carrier's profit, which can provide a significant boost in the actual return. The dividends (not the interest return) can be used for a number of things: 1. Returned as a cash payment. This is taxable to the extent that it exceeds your cost basis (i.e. the amount of premiums you've put into the policy) 2. Reinvested into the policy in the form of "Paid-up adds," additional chunks of insurance that add to the total policy value and generate additional interest/dividends 3. Premium reduction - once this is high enough it can even offset the majority (in some cases, the entirety) of policy premiums 4. Leave them in the policy to accumulate more cash. There are alternative types of permanent insurance policies such as Universal Life which allocates and accumulates money differently (it's not geared towards cash generation in the same way a whole life policy is), Indexed Life wherein returns are linked an market index such as the S&P 500, and finally Variable Life which are tied to an underlying investment portfolio. An entirely different discussion is whether whole life policies are appropriate given a certain situation (beware of advice from anyone who says "yes, everyone should have whole life" or "whole life is a waste of money, avoid at all costs!") and which carriers are left that still have a decent product (very few) .
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Jan 20, 2013 18:22
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canyoneer posted:Is there typically any discount to be applied (without changing coverage) to a vehicle's insurance premium when you own the car outright? I just paid off my car and thus have no lienholder, and I don't want to drop full coverage (it's still a valuable vehicle, and I'm not crazy). Can insurance get cheaper for me now? The easy way to answer "Will X affect my insurance premiums" is to ask yourself the following: Will X increase or decrease liability (the likelihood of having a claim on my car or the total possible claim amount)? (Short answer: No.)
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Jan 22, 2013 03:45
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ntd posted:I'm 99.9% sure that pregnancy can't be a pre-existing condition for health insurance, but I don't know what kind of advice to give about actual coverage...depending on income levels, perhaps a Medicaid program if it comes to that 1. In underwritten states (such as CA), pregnancy IS a pre-existing condition for both parents. It's treated as a health condition same as any other. Effective January 1st this will be a non-issue. 2. Be very careful about using the M-word around. There's very strict rules about an agent even talking about it. 3. To meanieface: If you have current coverage and are in an underwritten state (meaning individual health insurance CAN be declined) then by all means do NOT drop your coverage, unless you really do qualify for some sort of state assistance. Each state has a helpline to address this issue.
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May 4, 2013 06:48
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meanieface posted:Okay. Well, the primary danger has passed and the base contract has been fully funded. He's not going to lose his job. Yes, I always tell people to keep COBRA until they've successfully lined up alternate coverage (read: said coverage is ACTIVE, not just "applied for.")
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May 5, 2013 17:10
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Ring of Light posted:I was hoping someone can help me with my current dilemma concerning health insurance. Short answer: Stick with any "guaranteed" coverage you can get such as employer-provided coverage. Iowa underwrites their health plans so your spouse will almost definitely get rejected. Here's how to think like a health insurance carrier: - Review applicant - Will cost of treating applicant's pre-existing condition (by treatment and/or medication) equal or exceed 85% of the monthly premium? If yes, decline. (It's not that simple, but you get the point. These are mostly for-profit entities we're talking about.) Important to note that OPEN ENROLLMENT starts in October. The plans and exchange-sponsored coverage won't be available until January 1st. I'm not based in Iowa so I can't tell you how they're coming along with the exchange implementation.
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May 7, 2013 05:26
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Amethyste posted:I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with this problem. I don't know if Lynch Syndrome per se will disqualify him from being insured, but the recent cancer dx will. Typically with ANY cancer diagnosis, aside from say, basal cell, you're rendered uninsurable for at least a couple years if not up to a decade depending on type and severity. Just because his cancerous appendix was removed doesn't mean he's guaranteed to be cancer free. There's still a mortality factor post-treatment, there's the chance it's spread without you knowing, plus he has an even higher bonus cancer risk for having Lynch Syndrome. If you're curious about how long EXACTLY he'd be ineligible for coverage, PM me and I'll run it by some underwriters for shits and giggles. Keep the employer-provided insurance. If he's able to increase it without underwriting, maybe a good idea. The only other option would be guaranteed-issue coverage but it's expensive and not worth it unless you are really old or really dying.
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May 7, 2013 05:36
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SiGmA_X posted:I have some questions about professional liability policies. CPA firm and $5m policy, WA based. Where would you start the hunt? I can probably help with this. I have a few carriers that specialize in E&O for accountants. Message me.
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Oct 7, 2013 06:37
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13Pandora13 posted:Hey, cool, an insurance thread. Do you work for Chubb? That sounds suspiciously like their appetite. Message me your info, I place a lot of E&S and would love to work with a goon.
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Dec 11, 2013 19:58
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and I'm pretty stoked for that, aiming to finish up in 2016 for the Hawai'i commencement.
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Cheston posted:A lot of general Life Insurance questions: I'm 21/healthy and understand that it's cheaper to get life insurance early on. Is this just because younger people pay longer and are less likely to die, or are there other less-known reasons? And is the quoted amount adjusted for inflation over time? See my answer below - it's because the mortality rate of a 21 year old is very low, so they don't have to charge much to make a profit from a large group of 21 year olds. The amount is not adjusted for inflation; there are some types of policies with an increasing death benefit but they are not common. For young people, unless you have a disproportionately large income, I generally recommend term insurance to start, and then look at universal or whole life once family needs and income dictate a more comprehensive approach. And to answer your other questions: - If you're looking for permanent insurance, you can find universal life, indexed universal life, or whole life policies that will last till you're 120. - The cost is based on your age and health, so being the youngest and healthiest you can be will give you the best pricing. That doesn't necessarily mean you NEED a cash value policy. - Yes, some permanent policies allow a lump sum payment. The aggregate premium tends to be less if you do it this way. Dumping money into a whole life policy is certainly safer than some other methods of investment, but remember this IS an investment and you should be getting proper advise from a professional. You may have better options available to you. PRADA SLUT posted:Insurance is cheaper when you're younger because the idea is that if you have it for 60+ years, you will have paid in more than the policy pays out. It's strictly mathematical, and a 21-year-old is going to pay into it longer than a 81-year-old, so they don't have to pay as much. The company basically says "We will eventually need to pay out $X to this guy.. how many years does the average person live (mortality table), and how much do we need to charge him to make sure we get our money back, based on that number?" No, that's not quite how the economics work. It uses the law of large numbers based on the mortality rate of that particular group of people based on gender, age, and health. If you have a group of 100,000 people and you know the mortality rate is 50 per 100,000, then you price the product so that you don't lose money when those 50 people kick the bucket. I have only in rare cases seen a situation where the aggregate cost of insurance even remotely approaches the total payout. Also, keep in mind the carrier is making 8-15% interest on these premiums as they come in which is additional pure profit. Let's do it this way: A 21 year old in excellent health buys a $250,000 policy until he dies. He has a life expectancy of approximately age 80. Age 21 - 51 = $200/year * 30 years = $6,000 Age 51 - 81 = $1000/year * 30 years = $30,000 Total premiums = $36,000 On the other end of extremes, I have a client who is 79, in poor health, and needs a policy for about 10 years for whatever reason. The premium for a $200,000 policy is about $17,000 per year. Even at 10 years the pay-out is higher than the pay in, and he'll very likely die within 5 years, not 10. The economics of term insurance work out pretty well for everyone involved, which is why you don't see any financial pundits talking smack about those. Universal life and whole life are a different story. There are many situations where a permanent policy works out well but not all the time. The Jizzer fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 16:38
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HondaCivet posted:I dunno if this is the right place to ask but it's the only thread I can find about insurance so I'll give it a shot. I got an offer for a new job, hooray! It's my first job change so I keep wondering how health insurance works. The new job won't cover me until the first business day of the month following my first full month of employment. I need to check and see what happens to the health insurance at my current job. Apparently it either ends right when I quit oooooor it could possibly cover the whole calendar month containing my last day. If it's the former, I'll probably want to use COBRA somehow? I think? I'm still trying to figure this stuff out. Could someone just tell me what people typically do in either situation (full month of insurance vs. cut on day of resignation)? Insurance generally continues until the end of the month in which your employment terminates.
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Jan 17, 2014 08:02
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Boris Galerkin posted:I need to get renter's insurance soon so I'm shopping around right now. How come I can't get any estimates without putting in my SSN/DOB and all that other identifying information about me? What I really want is a website where I can say: "I'm 2X years old, single, and want to insure Y thousand dollars. How much is it gonna cost me?" What should I be watching out for? What should I look for? Because all the online quote systems want someone accountable for the quote requests. If you don't want to give up that info, call an agent. I recommend State Farm as their standalone renters' rates are absurdly low and they pay out on claims. Make sure that all of your belongings are covered under REPLACEMENT COST. Some companies issue as ACTUAL CASH VALUE which will screw you over if you lose anything with depreciable value. Make sure you account for ALL your belongings, including clothing, furniture, fixtures, computers, cameras, cell phone, your buttplug collection, etc. Anything collectible or of particularly high value (usu. over $2K should be "scheduled" with the insurer which costs extra. quote:I know some of you are gonna say "call your car insurance company" but I don't have car insurance because I don't have a car. That actually leads into my next questions: 1) Can I legally drive my roommate's car? I'm not sure how car insurance works, like if the car is insured, or if the driver is insured. 2) Every once in a blue moon, I'll go and rent a car. I always decline everything they try to sell me because that's what I've been told to do. I pay with my Amex card, so I know I've got some kind of insurance through them. Is what I'm doing legal? Or do I need to actually accept and buy their add-on insurance? 3) Say I wanted to buy a beater car for light errands. I'd only drive it like once a month or once every two months. It seems really silly that I'd have to pay car insurance at a monthly rate with such low anticipated usage. Is there such thing as "pre-paid" card insurance that would suit me? Yes, it's covered as "permissable use" assuming your roommate has this under his policy. If you rent a car and decline their insurance you DO NOT necessarily have full coverage. No, there's no such thing as pre-paid insurance but if you only drive a little bit per year and have liability only on your policy with minimum limits, it should be pretty cheap. The Jizzer fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 21:39
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Sperg Victorious posted:What kind of factors go into renter's insurance rates? 1. Where you live (location and building information -- i.e. if you are in a fire hazard death trap built in 1919 this may make insurance more difficult to procure) 2. Prior claims 3. Amount of insurance (liability and property) 4. Bundling with other coverages (i.e. auto) ...among other things.
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Jan 24, 2014 21:43
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BlackMK4 posted:I signed up for heathcare through Healthnet using the Obamacare market place on 1/31 - it is now 2/11 and my premium is due by the 2/15 to start coverage on 3/1 so I try using the website to get my member ID but it doesn't have my information. I called Healthnet and they say there is nothing that can be done until they 'get my information.' My question is how long does this poo poo actually take to go through and what are my options for quick coverage in the interim? I ride a motorcycle as my daily transportation and have two race course days planned for late March which I'd rather not have to eat the cost of. I deal with this several times a day: * If you have completed your application, and have received confirmation that you're covered as of 3/1, then you're covered as of 3/1. * Most carriers understand that the Marketplace systems take FOR-loving-EVER to send over information and have been postponing payment deadlines as a result. * Your stuff should probably be all taken care of by the end of the month. It's taking about 2-3 weeks on average. * There's no such thing as "quick coverage" anymore. Short term / limited coverage health plans are extinct thanks to the PPACA.
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Feb 12, 2014 18:25
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BlackMK4 posted:
This won't change processing time, it just changes the amount of your bill (i.e. either gov't sends your credit to the carrier monthly on your behalf, or just gives you a year end lump sum). If you applied within the deadline you'll be fine.
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Feb 15, 2014 17:37
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Kung Fu Jesus posted:You still may not want to file a claim on your homeowner's. This is correct, plus it's harder to shop for new coverage with a claim on your record. The same goes for auto insurance too. I've had clients ask about claiming a $600-800 repair on insurance (when they have a $500 deductible). It doesn't make sense because the long-term cost to you is going to be that much or more than to just pay it out of pocket.
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Feb 15, 2014 17:39
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The Jizzer posted:* There's no such thing as "quick coverage" anymore. Short term / limited coverage health plans are extinct thanks to the PPACA. Posting a correction; there ARE a few companies still offering limited / short term medical. Please note these are underwritten (meaning they can decline to cover based on pre-existing conditions) and do NOT count as Minimum Essential Coverage plans so you can't use these to get out of the mandate. One carrier I know of is Assurant: https://www.temporaryinsurance.com/STMConsumer/Quote/ContentPages/StartQuote.aspx
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Feb 15, 2014 18:31
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Hed posted:We're trying to rebid the standard basket of insurance policies (Health/Vision/Dental) for our small 10-person firm. Does any good here broker that? We're incorporated in Colorado. I should be able to help. Messaging you now.
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Feb 20, 2014 06:28
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West SAAB Story posted:It is odd that insurance will cover if a tree falls on a fence, but not when a fence falls on a tree. Oddly enough, insurance policies often DO cover this (they have a "trees and shrubbery" sublimit). The Knights who say Ni would be pleased.
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Feb 21, 2014 00:13
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MoraleHazard posted:The kind of insurance I do is very large energy risks like oil & gas wells, pipelines, petrochemical plants, and power companies. I'm finishing up a $1.4 billion policy that has about 20 insurance companies on it. I actually like my job most of the time. I want to know more about this. I did a $15mm cyber liability policy that had three carriers stack limits and that was an ordeal. I can't fathom working with 20. What's the premium on something like that? Please tell me you get paid commissions. I had a friend that scored a trucking account that was $1.6mm in premium but her contract was salary only. quote:I purchased LTC coverage in my mid thirties because the industry was changing the rules and getting rid of the unlimited coverage model. I'm not a health insurance expert by any stretch, but I'd guess mid-40s would make sense. Quoted for truth. Mid to late 40's is the best time for LTC. Premiums spike at age 50. They become ridiculous at age 60. Technically you CAN get LTC up into your 70's but either you likely have some health condition that disqualifies you or your premiums are so high you should probably think about offing yourself if you break a hip. A big shift in the industry is the availability of hybrid policies -- life insurance that has an amended Accelerated Benefit wording allowing you to disburse policy funds as if it was an LTC contract. This may obsolesce LTC as we know it.
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Feb 28, 2014 04:05
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Jastiger posted:Well, I did LTC for a couple that were in their mid 50's and they had a pretty solid plan. If I remember right the premium as about $300 a month for both of them. I think that particular policy was with Genworth which generally offers a solid policy to their customers. It was about 4 years ago though and the industry changes a lot, so take that for what it is. It's a bit higher now, but not that far off. I just ran a plan with the following: Married couple, 50 years old, preferred $250/day 3% compound 90 day eilmination 5 year benefit Lifetime pay Came to about $420 / month. Not sure how things look in other states but it's a coverage wasteland in CA. Most carriers have bolted from the market or have stripped down their coverages. There's really only 2-3 viable options right now.
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Mar 1, 2014 05:19
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an skeleton posted:What kind of dental insurance should I be shopping for on the (Texas) healthcare marketplace if I know that I'll probably need crowns/root canal-level work done this year? Does the Texas marketplace have dental options? That's my question. I wasn't aware of state exchanges selling anything except the mandated pediatric dental. That said: If you are expecting costs *this year* your best bets would be a DHMO or discount plan. Most DPPOs have a waiting period of 6-12 months for major work. Also, keep in mind that many dental PPO plans have rather low annual caps ($1000 - $1500 annually) so their utility is limited, especially if you factor in the higher premiums.
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Mar 16, 2014 03:31
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SiGmA_X posted:My friend needs someone to chat to about professional insurance for a computer tech company in California. Anyone here able to do that? He wants to buy it if it turns out he needs to and it'll cover what he's looking for, etc, etc. Sent you a PM. I do a lot of professional liability / cyber liability.
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Apr 9, 2014 17:42
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Salsaranouth posted:Thanks for the response. I'm actually on the step where I choose a plan now. I have been struggling between picking bronze and silver. Obviously no one ever intends to have anything serious happen to them. I don't have health issues though, and I'll probably do some basic check-in type stuff along with some tests, cleanliness type stuff. Silver will give you less headaches in the future, especially if you need something like an x-ray. Also ignore online ratings, nobody goes online to say what a pleasant interaction they had with their insurance carrier. They only go to complain. According to the internet, EVERY carrier sucks balls. Kaiser is good, if only because their recruitment strategy is top notch and they have an excellent EHR system. There can be a good wait for specialists, though. However, Scripps does have an excellent reputation and talent pool. Never had experience with it so I don't know how their service is.
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Jan 22, 2016 23:57
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