April 08
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April 08 |
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Insurance is one expense item that you may tend to for-get about, until the premiums come due! If you’re having trouble making ends meet, you may decide to reduce expenses by not buying insurance, or at least not buying as much. But first think about the consequences! There are frequent news stories about people without insurance who are faced with huge bills when a house is destroyed, a car is damaged, they suffer a major illness or accident or someone passes away. Premiums can be high, but paying the bills after such a loss is usually much higher. Before dropping insurance
coverage, review your current policies. Visit with your agent and/or the
companies to see if there are ways to reduce costs. Shopping around is also
a good idea. Get quotes from a variety of companies that offer the coverage
you need. Consider these things: q Deductibles. A deductible allows you to self-insure the first portion of any loss. Usually, the higher thedeductible, the lower the premium. q
Coinsurance. This
means that you and the insurer share in the payment for any loss,
usually on a percentage q
Multi-coverage discounts. Many companies offer
discounts for having more than one type of coverage with q
Other discounts. Many companies offer
discounts for things that reduce risk such as dead bolt locks, smoke More Tips: q Review coverage period-odically to make sure you aren't over insured q Check to see if it's cheaper to pay premiums for a full year rather than in monthly or quarterly installments. q
Take a look at group plans offered through organizational
memberships, etc. These often have lower premiums |
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Kris Jenkins jenkinsk@missouri.edu Regional Specialist Human Environmental Sciencs Last revised: 02/15/06 |
