Affordable Insurance EZ

Posts Tagged ‘Insurance’

By David Crump

As an insurance salesman for many years, it often puzzles me why people don’t buy sensible protection. Why “self-insure” a large risk instead of buying affordable protection? Here is my “Top 10″ list of why people don’t buy insurance.

1. It is not required.

You may be required by a business contract, bank loan or state auto liability requirement to buy insurance, however, in most cases, protection is a choice. No one requires you to buy higher auto liability limits beyond minimum requirements OR to protect your assets beyond the bank lien requirement OR protect your family with Life Insurance. Many people don’t believe in buying something that they are not required to buy regardless of the value.

2. Some Don’t Believe in Insurance

Sometimes a client will only buy the coverage required and then only begrudgingly. They have no belief that the insurance has any value and consider any money spent on it to be a waste. No discussion of their potential risks or how insurance can be helpful will have any impact.

3. Cultural Heritage does not Value Insurance

I have observed a cultural component to buying insurance. Since insurance is a product of the sophisticated, capitalistic economies of Europe and North America, if you are outside of this cultural group, you are less likely to value the protection. My experience has also been that people of recent Asian heritage typically are less focused on buying coverage. My office helps many first, second and third generation Mexican-American’s in our Austin, Texas, community and we can see the progression as each generation becomes more Americanized in their attitude about insurance.

In my experience, the opposite is also true. People of recent English heritage (or English educated) typically are very focused on their potential lawsuit risks and often buy broader protection including higher liability coverage than my average client. This makes sense because of the long history of insurance in England.

4. Uneducated on Their Financial Risk

Many people buying insurance don’t have the experience or understanding of their potential financial risks. For example, one-third of the people in Texas who are uninsured for Healthcare expenses have more than adequate incomes to buy health coverage but make the choice not to. A major injury or illness can cost far more than they realize. I believe that their choice not to buy at least a catastrophic health plan speaks to the lack of understanding of their potential risk.

5. Denial of Known Risks

This is the “it won’t happen to me” self-insurance plan. I see it all the time; clearly understood risks that can be economically insured, but the risk is ignored.

6. Misunderstands Risks

People buy coverage “backwards” everyday. For example, a low deductible on auto collision is purchased but important higher liability limits are not considered. If you understood your risk, the much greater financial risk is a lawsuit after a bad auto accident. The couple hundred dollars difference in your collision deductible is trivial.

Another example is buying Accident protection instead of Life Insurance. Most people don’t realize that you are four times more likely to die of an illness rather than by an accident. Many people misunderstand their risk and think that accidents are more likely.

7. Intangible Product

Beyond a policy document, insurance is an intangible product. It is a conditional contract with a promise of potential future financial benefit, not an automobile or box of chocolates.

8. Confused about Insurance Choices

This is a common problem. Too many choices with too little understanding of the choices are a recipe for confusion. A confused person won’t buy the protection they need.

9. Unfavorable Attitude toward Insurance Companies

Sometimes people know they need to buy protection, but don’t trust that the insurance company will fairly pay claims. Maybe they have had a bad experience or didn’t understand a claim outcome in the past.

10. Lack of Funds

If insurance was free, everyone would buy wonderful protection. The reality is that coverage does cost money and you have to pick and choose what you buy.

David W. Crump, Ross Gray Insurance Agency

I specialize in Business, Health and Personal Insurance sales and service. A graduate of Texas Tech University (BBA Marketing), I began my career in retailing of Toy, Hobbies and Games. I have been a business owner but changed careers to insurance after selling my interest in a Dallas area Game Store Chain thirteen years ago. Hobbies include Gardening, Music (Bass Vocal) and Stock Investing.

See our website at http://www.quoteaustininsurance.com/. Ross Gray Insurance Agency has a 30+ year history serving Central Texas on all facets of insurance. We are located in South Austin at 2404 S. IH-35. We are here to help!

Copyright 2009, Ross Gray Insurance Agency, Inc.

By Erik Stump

There was a time when those searching for insurance had absolutely no idea how it worked. Agents and insurance companies worked as if each and every detail about insurance plans and policies was top secret information. Customers were given information that the agents thought necessary. If the customer sought a quote, he or she was given an estimate of the deal. There was no explanation on how the insurance premium had been calculated.

Questions or doubts were not encouraged. There was no way any one could find out why the policy was charging a high premium. Of course, there was no question of getting any information whatsoever on ways to reduce premium. All in all, the attitude of the insurance companies could be summed up as that of ‘take it or leave it’ attitude

The World Wide Web has changed all that. Today, one can easily determine which insurance companies are charging the lowest possible deal. This has opened the field and made it easier for people to quickly get the best deal. This has led to insurance companies opening up and providing more information. Today, it is common for the decisions taken by insurers to be explained on blogs and journals.

The investment pattern of different insurance companies and their current financial condition both can be obtained on the World Wide Web. It is almost as if proliferation of multiple quotes comparison website has opened up for all other aspects of the functioning of insurance companies as well.

Whether you are relying on the other resources for finalizing your deal or not, you should always compare quotes. This is because the website will give you the estimates arranged from the cheapest to the most expensive in a span of a few minutes. This will help you take the right decision. How has the recession hit the company? Is it offering low quality service? Has this impacted cost of doing business with the company? You can find all the answers you want on the web. In the long run, these quotes will help you save thousands of dollars on each and every insurance decision you take.

It is important to compare insurance quotes before getting signed up with an insurance policy. When you compare insurance quotes you can rest assured you are saving both time and money because you are guaranteed to get the lowest insurance quote.

A good site to compare insurance quotes online can be found here:

Cheap Insurance Quotes