Bonnie Hellman on tue 31 may 11
My attitude towards insurance is that when I pay premiums the money is gone
(from my assets). I sincerely hope that I never have claims, and hence neve=
r
recover anything in return, since that means that I've not had an accident,
no one was hurt outside my family, and my property was not damaged.
A few years ago I was "involved" in an auto accident. I had started to pull
out onto a busy street, but stopped when another car made a left turn in
front of me and cut me off. I stopped, but could not back up because the
line of traffic behind me had pulled up. So I stopped with the nose of my
car onto the shoulder of the busy road. The first car coming on the busy
road stopped, the second car stopped, but the 3rd, 4th and 5th cars did not
stop until they hit the cars in front of them. I and my car were not hurt
but some people were very angry.
I consulted an attorney, whose first question to me was about my insurance.
I said that I carried significant umbrella liability coverage. The attorney
said that financial judgments were unpredictable but he thought I'd be OK.
It turned out that no one filed a claim against me, but just having the
insurance made it easy for me to go about my life.
I feel the same way about medical insurance. I'll pay the premiums and hope
I don't get my money's worth. In 2010 when I broke my ankle, the
insurance company paid out about $45,000 (and I paid out about $2000). I wa=
s
glad to have had the insurance to get the medical care I wanted, without
worrying about how to pay for it. But if there were a choice (which there
isn't ), I would gladly have continued to pay out more in insurance
premiums than the insurance company paid out.
Maybe I've been snookered, but I agree 100% with James that looking back 30
years later, with no insurance claims, you can lament that you "wasted" you=
r
money, but you have no way of knowing whether or not you'll file a claim a
month after paying premiums, 10 years later, 20 years later, 30 years later
or never. You can carry minimal insurance on your property, but unless you
are carrying "full replacement cost" you'll only recover a percentage of
your loss, in the event of a loss.
I have known people with homes that were a total loss, who did receive the
full value of their insurance policies. Not all insurance companies are as
good to deal with in the event of a loss. You can also opt for a very high
deductible, and that's not a bad choice for those who could pay the
deductible.
I personally (and professionally) think that it is prudent to have an
umbrella liability policy, in this time of high damage awards, and would
suggest that everyone at least consider all the insurance options out there=
.
Injuries can happen, even when we take what we consider to be all
precautions. And sometimes the lowest premiums are not the best purchase in
the event of claims.
Best,
Bonnie
Bonnie D. Hellman, CPA in CO and PA
Ouray, CO. USA
pdp1 on tue 31 may 11
Insurance is a form of legalized Gambling, in which one puts up a bet or
wager with a Gambling House who specializes in it, about how one will have =
a
particular loss. The House takes your Money, and, their position about your
bet or wager, is that you will not have the loss.
If one has the loss one has bet or wagered one would have, then, one wins
the bet or wager.
If one does not have the loss one bet or wagered one would have, then one
loses the wager or bet.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie Hellman"
> My attitude towards insurance is that when I pay premiums the money is
> gone
> (from my assets). I sincerely hope that I never have claims, and hence
> never
> recover anything in return, since that means that I've not had an
> accident,
> no one was hurt outside my family, and my property was not damaged.
>
> A few years ago I was "involved" in an auto accident. I had started to
> pull
> out onto a busy street, but stopped when another car made a left turn in
> front of me and cut me off. I stopped, but could not back up because the
> line of traffic behind me had pulled up. So I stopped with the nose of my
> car onto the shoulder of the busy road. The first car coming on the busy
> road stopped, the second car stopped, but the 3rd, 4th and 5th cars did
> not
> stop until they hit the cars in front of them. I and my car were not hurt
> but some people were very angry.
>
> I consulted an attorney, whose first question to me was about my
> insurance.
> I said that I carried significant umbrella liability coverage. The
> attorney
> said that financial judgments were unpredictable but he thought I'd be OK=
.
> It turned out that no one filed a claim against me, but just having the
> insurance made it easy for me to go about my life.
>
> I feel the same way about medical insurance. I'll pay the premiums and
> hope
> I don't get my money's worth. In 2010 when I broke my ankle, the
> insurance company paid out about $45,000 (and I paid out about $2000). I
> was
> glad to have had the insurance to get the medical care I wanted, without
> worrying about how to pay for it. But if there were a choice (which there
> isn't ), I would gladly have continued to pay out more in insurance
> premiums than the insurance company paid out.
>
> Maybe I've been snookered, but I agree 100% with James that looking back
> 30
> years later, with no insurance claims, you can lament that you "wasted"
> your
> money, but you have no way of knowing whether or not you'll file a claim =
a
> month after paying premiums, 10 years later, 20 years later, 30 years
> later
> or never. You can carry minimal insurance on your property, but unless yo=
u
> are carrying "full replacement cost" you'll only recover a percentage of
> your loss, in the event of a loss.
>
> I have known people with homes that were a total loss, who did receive th=
e
> full value of their insurance policies. Not all insurance companies are a=
s
> good to deal with in the event of a loss. You can also opt for a very hig=
h
> deductible, and that's not a bad choice for those who could pay the
> deductible.
>
> I personally (and professionally) think that it is prudent to have an
> umbrella liability policy, in this time of high damage awards, and would
> suggest that everyone at least consider all the insurance options out
> there.
> Injuries can happen, even when we take what we consider to be all
> precautions. And sometimes the lowest premiums are not the best purchase
> in
> the event of claims.
>
> Best,
> Bonnie
>
>
> Bonnie D. Hellman, CPA in CO and PA
> Ouray, CO. USA
Vince Pitelka on wed 1 jun 11
Bonnie -
I always liked what Woody Allen said about life insurance back in his
stand-up days. This could be transposed to any kind of insurance. He said=
,
"When you buy life insurance, you are gambling on your life. You are
betting that you will die, your insurance agent is betting that you will
live, and you're paying him hoping he wins."
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
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