Posts Tagged ‘Should’
At fault car accident, should I use health insurance or car insurance coverage for medical?
February 5th, 2012
Question by risey3k: At fault car accident, should I use health insurance or car insurance coverage for medical?
My car hydroplaned and hit a guard rail last week, I made a claim since the car was totaled. I had to be rushed to a hospital, and all is well now. Should I use health insurance or PIP coverage to pay for medical bills.
Best answer:
Answer by jonnie66
your car insurance will pay medical, so try PIP first
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Should assisted living residents purchase personal liability insurance?
January 30th, 2012
Bennett Voyles
Roughly 900,000 Americans live in assisted living centers, according to the National Center for Assisted Living. And for residents and their families alike, these facilities mean an end to many worries — but not all of them.
Residents of assisted living facilities still might face personal liability risks. What if a resident’s dog bites a visitor? What if a visitor slips and falls inside a resident’s room and sues?
Filling an insurance void
While some experts are skeptical of the seriousness of those risks, one specialty insurance product is providing liability coverage geared toward residents of assisted living centers. Called Asset Guard Endorsement, this insurance was created by insurance agent Eugene Solomon of El Segundo, Calif. Solomon insists that assisted living residents need personal liability insurance but have had little access to it.
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Solomon developed the idea for Asset Guard Endorsement when a colleague asked him a hypothetical question about the colleague’s mother, who was an assisted living resident. What would happen, he asked, if his mother ran into someone on her mobility scooter? At first, Solomon says, the two thought that the assisted living center’s insurance would cover such an incident, but the center where his colleague’s mother lived wouldn’t give that information in writing.
The more they investigated the question, Solomon says, the more they found that liability coverage for assisted living residents was inadequate. Typically, residents had some liability protection through their home insurance or renter’s insurance, which they were likely to have given up when they moved into assisted living, according to Solomon.
Often, he says, new residents are asked to take out a renter’s insurance policy, but many don’t actually do so. Additionally, Solomon found that many insurance carriers don’t want to write a policy for somebody who shares a room, for somebody who lives in a unit for which someone else has keys, or for certain geographic areas that have a lot of senior care centers.
To fill that perceived gap, Solomon and partner James Karmin introduced Asset Guard Endorsement. The coverage, underwritten by Philadelphia Insurance Co., is designed to cover personal liability for those in assisted living centers. It covers damage caused by a resident’s pets, protects personal property and safeguards against lawsuits.
A typical Asset Guard Endorsement policy costs $ 185 a year, Solomon says. Liability coverage options include $ 100,000, $ 300,000 and $ 500,000 limits. Coverage of personal belongings carries a $ 5,000 limit, with the ability to pay for a higher limit. The policy also covers lodging expenses if a resident’s apartment is damaged by a covered loss, such as a fire.
Is this coverage really necessary?
Not everyone thinks this coverage is necessary, however.
“Given the frailty of these folks, both physically and cognitively, I can’t in my lifetime remember a resident getting sued. … It just doesn’t happen,” says Rick Stephan, a veteran of the senior living industry and principal at Rick Stephan & Associates, a consulting firm for providers of senior living services.
The average assisted living resident is an 87-year-old woman who needs help with one or two basic daily activities, such as bathing or dressing. According to the National Center for Assisted Living, 87 percent need help with their meals, and 81 percent need help managing their medications.
Moreover, Stephan says, residents at such facilities aren’t entirely unprotected. Most assisted living residencies carry liability policies.
“Typically, the liability insurance is the responsibility of the provider, not the renter,” Stephan says.
Generally, public liability insurance (a type of insurance businesses buy to cover themselves if a member of the public is injured on the premises) will cover visitors’ accidents. These days, Stephan says, such policies are fairly cheap — about $ 100 per bed — as competition in recent years has driven prices down.
Stephan also is skeptical of Asset Guard Endorsement’s value when it comes to seniors in independent living centers, which provide less daily help than assisted living centers do. For these residents, a standard renter’s insurance policy should be fine, according to Stephan. Unless residents are getting an especially good price on coverage, it holds little appeal for “the independent living resident who has been dealing with a trusted broker for many years.”
Nick DiUlio
A troubling development has emerged in auto insurance: Nationwide, the cost and frequency of claims is on the rise. However, experts say this surprising bump shouldn’t trigger higher auto insurance premiums — at least in the short term.
A recent study from the Insurance Research Council, a nonprofit unit of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America, found the nationwide cost of auto insurance claims rose between 2008 and 2010. Throughout the past decade, those costs have declined or been stable. At the same time, the frequency of auto insurance claims also has gone up — in the opposite direction compared with previous years.
“This was somewhat surprising and a little troubling,” says David Corum, vice president of the Insurance Research Council. “The long-term trend of decreasing claim frequency may be ending.”
According to Corum, personal injury protection (PIP) claim costs — those related to medical expenses, lost wages and other damages — per insured vehicle rose nationwide by more than 18 percent from 2008 to 2010. Moreover, when it came to bodily injury liability claims — which cover the medical costs of injuries to passengers in your car and other cars after an accident — 2010 was the first year since 1994 that frequency did not decrease.
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“This may be a statistical blip or it may be a fundamental change in the trend of claim frequency,” Corum says. “If the frequency is no longer going down and instead going up, consumers could be in for some trouble.”
The effect on your premium
Eli Lehrer, vice president of nonprofit research center The Heartland Institute, says the findings in the Insurance Research Council study probably won’t affect the average consumer’s auto policy right away. A single-year increase in claim costs isn’t enough to warrant higher insurance rates. Since insurers’ profits “are currently pretty healthy,” he says, there isn’t much room for them to pass these costs along to consumers.
“I would guess that a two- or three-year trend would probably be enough to start affecting rates, but not just a single year,” Lehrer says. “I think the auto insurance market is just too competitive right now.”
What drivers should be most concerned about are their habits behind the wheel, says Jim Whittle, chief claims counsel for the American Insurance Association trade group. A person’s driving record and claims history remain the most important factors used to determine insurance rates.
“Your individual driving habits are extremely important,” Whittle says. “If you are safe and responsible, you’re probably going to have fewer accidents and fewer claims than someone who isn’t a good driver, and that’s where you’ll see the most noticeable impact on your premiums.”
Fault vs. no-fault
The Insurance Research Council report focused a lot on the increased cost of PIP claims in three of the largest states that use a no-fault approach to car injury compensation — Florida, Michigan and New York. In Florida, for example, the average PIP claim cost per insured vehicle rose 62 percent between 2008 and 2010.
Whittle says the no-fault premise is simple: If a policyholder is involved in an accident, that policyholder’s auto insurance company is responsible for reimbursement without proof of fault. Policyholders aren’t allowed to seek legal damages for losses caused by other drivers.
In states without no-fault systems, however, policyholders must go through a process to determine whether a defendant is liable, and whether the costs are reasonable and are tied to an accident.
Mike Barry, a spokesman for the nonprofit Insurance Information Institute, says fraud and abuse within the no-fault system causes consumers in New York to collectively pay tens of millions of dollars more in premiums.
“What happens is certain medical providers take a bill that may have been $ 6,000 and make it $ 8,000,” Barry says. “While it’s illegal, there are some players in the medical community who figure no one’s going to notice a bill that went up by $ 2,000. If this is done enough times in a state with 19 million people, it’s going to drive up the cost of auto insurance.”
Insurance fraud within the property and casualty industry — which includes auto insurance — costs about $ 30 billion a year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau, says PIP fraud is part of that figure. Scafidi says the findings of the Insurance Research Council report can be explained partly by the high volume of insurance fraud schemes around the country, particularly in no-fault states.
“Phony accidents followed by unnecessary or repetitive medical treatments performed by questionable providers all add to the cost that we pay for coverage,” Scafidi says. “These findings (by the council) are not at all surprising for those of us in the business of investigating insurance fraud.”
Other explanations
Fraud and abuse are not the only reasons for the increase in claims costs. Lehrer says the continued rise in medical costs shares some blame.
“The largest bills that auto insurers have to pay are almost always medical bills,” Lehrer says. “And even though most auto claims don’t involve injury, almost all expensive auto claims do, and a typical hospital stay costs more than the average car.”
Insurance expert Frank Cacchione, CEO of New Jersey-based TNC Management Group, says the increase in the filing of auto insurance claims can be attributed to:
• More high-performance, sporty vehicles on the road.
• An increase in driving now that economic recovery is slowly under way.
• Distractions caused by drivers who are talking and texting on their cellphones.
“I think the combination of these factors will lead to more rate increases in 2012 and, at some point, stronger restrictions on the use of cellphones while operating a vehicle,” Cacchione says.
The weak economy also may shoulder some of the blame for increased claim costs, says Ernie Bray, CEO of AutoClaims Direct, which provides claims services and technology to insurers.
“Anytime you have tough economic conditions, you have a lot more people trying to exaggerate their claims in order to cash in,” Bray says. “They see insurance claims as a way to get a little extra money, and this drives up the cost of claims. Someone has to pay for this, and ultimately it’s the consumer.”
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Health insurance should be more like car insurance, you pick the coverages and the deductibles to meet your?
January 26th, 2012
Question by mission_viejo_california: Health insurance should be more like car insurance, you pick the coverages and the deductibles to meet your?
The health-care debate has centered on the uninsured. That so many people do not have health insurance is a consequence of foolish government policies: regulations that raise the price of insurance, and a tax code that ensures that most people get their insurance through their employer. If you don’t work for a company that provides health insurance, you’re out of luck. People locked out of the insurance system still have access to health care. But they often end up in emergency rooms because they did not receive preventive care.
For most people, however, it is another aspect of our employer-based health-care system that causes the most trouble: the insecurity it creates. People worry that if they switch jobs, they will lose their health insurance. They worry that their company will cut back on health benefits. Universal coverage is not necessary to address these worries. Making it possible for individuals to own their health-insurance policies themselves, rather than getting them through their companies, would solve the problem. It would also reduce the political momentum behind socialized medicine.
Best answer:
Answer by 51
you want your health insurance to go down? Call you congress man or woman and tell them to boot the free loaders from south of the border
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How should I do health insurance deduction from paycheck if I choose my own health insurance ?
January 19th, 2012
Question by shanravi_29: How should I do health insurance deduction from paycheck if I choose my own health insurance ?
I want to choose my own insurance instead of company sponsored plan.
Usually when we elect company sponsored plan the premium on health insurance
is tax deducted from the paycheck. But if I choose and pay my own insurance Can I still make tax deducted from each paycheck? or should I apply tax deduction during tax filing?
Best answer:
Answer by HMichele
You can’t payroll deduct if you are paying your premiums on a private insurance plan. The insurance company will be billing you not your company. If you are self-employeed, have 1099 income, you deduct the premiums from your taxes. You have to weigh the pros and cons of each and make an informed decision on which is better for you.
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Where should I go for the best Renter’s Insurance coverage in NYC-Queens area?
January 18th, 2012
Question by Plaid Ninja: Where should I go for the best Renter’s Insurance coverage in NYC-Queens area?
I am looking to get renter’s insurance but there are many choices. I know very little about choosing an insurance company or what I should be looking for. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Best answer:
Answer by jodi c
try www.rent-direct.com
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Should Police and Fire protection be run by private and insurance companies like healthcare is?
January 6th, 2012
Question by Eye of Sauron: Should Police and Fire protection be run by private and insurance companies like healthcare is?
Should we do away with this socialistic police and fire protection for all?
Best answer:
Answer by trooper3316
The US Constitution protects people from the government. This protection would not apply if police services were run by private business. Not having the protection of the US Constitution would create much greater problems.
I doubt you would find as many private citizens willing to run towards the sound of gunfire, or into a burning building.
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Tags: Companies, Fire, Healthcare, insurance, like, police, private, Protection, Should | 
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What should i tell the car insurance company?
January 3rd, 2012
Question by Jitu: What should i tell the car insurance company?
I bought a car 6 months ago but I did not take an insurance policy. Im planning to take a new one. What should I say to the insurance company. Are they gonna ask about when I bought the car and charge me for not insuring it?
Best answer:
Answer by Southern Hippo
Here in bc, i would just put yesterdays date in the field that asks when you bought the car…
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If I have health insurance, should I not pay for certain coverages on my car insurance?
December 27th, 2011
Question by BabyEater: If I have health insurance, should I not pay for certain coverages on my car insurance?
I have health insurance with HealthNet. For car insurance, there seems to be 3 major items for coverage:
-BODILY INJURY LIABILITY
-PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY
-UNINSURED MOTORIST & UNDERINSURED MOTORIST
I’m under the impression that the third item is health insurance *for me* if I get into an accident. Why do I want that if I am paying for medical insurance anyway? Should I minimize coverage on this item?
Best answer:
Answer by la428282
Because if you were permanently injured by a driver with no insurance… this coverage would give you MORE then your medical bills (and with no co-payments etc) this is where “pain and suffering” comes in. So… i think its a very important coverage. You dont want to be hit by a uninsured motorist… lose a finger… and not get any compensation for it do you?
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Should I store jewelry in a safe-deposit, or purchase a safe, or increase my renters insurance coverage?
December 27th, 2011
Question by ELVIN K: Should I store jewelry in a safe-deposit, or purchase a safe, or increase my renters insurance coverage?
I’m considering increasing my covering and getting a safe for added safety. I’ve read that safe-deposit boxes are not insured so I’m not sure if that is really a good idea. Your thoughts?
Best answer:
Answer by got it
Get the insurance. what good does it do to own something if you don’t have regular access to it?
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Should I Provide a Recorded Statement?
December 19th, 2011
Tampa injury attorney Stephen M. Barbas talks about providing recorded statements to insurance companies following an auto accident.
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