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None of us get much mail anymore that’s important, but when you are involved in a matter with your insurance company, it is very important to read insurance mail every time it is received.
I don’t mean that you should break into the office at night and rifle through desks.
I do mean it is important to read and understand all of the mail you get from your insurance company and agent. I realize that you get a ton of it and it would be easier to put it in the junk drawer or throw it away. Don’t. It usually contains important information. Unless you read and understand it, you could be in danger.
Read Insurance Mail Right Away
When you first apply to buy insurance you will usually get a binder. This is a temporary insurance policy pending review of the application and the issuance of the permanent policy. The review process, called underwriting, may take a few weeks, so keep the binder. If the insurance is for your car, keep the binder with you so that it can be produced quickly if needed. If the binder is for some other kind of insurance, keep it with all of your other important papers pending delivery of the permanent policy. Remember where you put it so that if you have to leave your home fast, you can grab it.
When you get the policy in the mail, compare it to the binder to make sure that the amounts match. For example, if you applied and paid the first premium for $50,000 of life insurance, make sure the insurance policy is for that amount. The amount is usually shown on the front page of a life insurance policy. If the amounts differ, call The Insurance Problem Solver and I’ll find out why.
The amount of coverage on other kinds of policies, like car and homeowners insurance, can be more confusing to figure out. This is because the same policy can have different amounts of coverage for different kinds of risks, all within the same policy. Therefore, it can be harder to compare if what you got was what you applied for. If you have questions, again, The Insurance Problem Sovler can help.
Automobile and health insurance policies come with ID cards to be used as proof of insurance. Always carry one with you. If someone else is insured under the policy, he or she should carry one, too. Change out the cards when you get new ones, because if you have to show proof of insurance, expired cards don’t count. That’s another reason to open mail from the insurance company.
Sometimes the insurance policy will be delivered to the agent’s office. So, if you don’t get the policy within a few weeks after applying for it, call the agent to see if they have it. If problems continue, call The Insurance Problem Solver and I’ll figure it out. It is important to act quickly because binders provide insurance for only a very limited time. You might not have received the policy because the application was denied, but how will you know if no one digs out the information for you?
Some insurance policies state that the insurer may change policy language from time to time. An example is a change in the extent to which a kind of loss is covered, like fungus coverage in a homeowners policy. The change could be a total exclusion of coverage, or a change in the maximum amount payable. You must understand what you are covered for. If you don’t read and understand the mail, you won’t know what you are covered for. Yet reading and understanding are different. The Insurance Problem Solver will help you understand.
Insurance premium information, including bills, may also come by mail. If the premiums are automatically deducted from your bank account, this is less of a problem (unless there is not enough money in the account to pay the premium). If the premium notice comes by mail, it may look like much of your other insurance mail.
So, if you just put it in the junk pile and forget about it—“poof”—the insurance may be cancelled for non-payment and you will be uninsured for a loss that happens afterwards.
BUT CONSIDER THIS: If the insurance agent or the insurance company was told of a new address, and sent the premium notice to the wrong one, the cancellation for non-payment of premium may have been improper. If that happens, letters and calls to everybody involved may get the matter resolved quickly, especially if they are from somebody who knows about insurance, like The Insurance Problem Solver.
This article should remind you of the importance of why you should read insurance mail all the time. So, please don’t forget![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]