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Insurance Riders: Overview

Posted in Auto Insurance Riders , Life Insurance Riders

September 29th, 2009
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No two people are exactly alike, and therefore they will require different needs from their insurance coverage. Unless you are 100% average, chances are that your insurance policies including auto, home and health will all include some type of insurance rider to help customize a policy to meet your specific needs. When it comes to insurance coverage, a “rider” is defined as an additional set of conditions that are supplemental to the the basic package offered by the insurance company.

Riders come in many shapes and sizes, and they can vary greatly based on the personal needs of a policyholder. For example, a young couple just starting out in the world may not yet own their home or a lot of expensive possessions. They may opt for an affordable rental insurance policy and generally that may cover their basic needs. However, once you add into the equation the value of an expensive engagement ring, that policy may not be sufficient and an additional jewelry rider covering it may be required to provide financial security in case the gem is stolen.

Life Insurance Riders

Throughout the entire insurance industry, riders are commonplace. There are many life insurance riders for you to choose from:

• Common life insurance riders
• Guaranteed insurability
• Accidental death
• Children’s protection
• Disability waiver off premium

Auto Insurance Riders

Auto insurance also has its fair share of riders that consumers may opt into. Some options include:

All this coverage may cost you extra but will provide you with the piece of mind needed.

Health Insurance Riders

Not to be excluded from all this is health insurance. Although it is typical for health insurance companies to include riders to protect themselves from the cost of “preexisting conditions,” consumers can also put some in place. Health care riders are fairly common, especially when it comes to getting:

• Maternity care
• Prenatal care
• Dental and vision care

Regardless of the type of insurance adding riders will ultimately cost the insured more money out of pocket. However, the inclusion of specific coverage may be worth the additional cost paid and should be considered by all regardless of the type of insurance being purchased.

You May Have an Accidental Death Benefit in Your Auto Insurance Policy

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Claims , Auto Insurance Riders

April 7th, 2009
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Accidental death benefits are a type of additional coverage that can be added to your auto insurance policy. The rider (a contract authorizingadditional coverage for something specifically not covered within an auto insurance policy) will pay out an amount of money to cover the funeral expenses of a person killed in a car accident. Typically, the maximum payout benefit for an accidental death benefit is $5000. To add that level of protection on your policy would cost approximately $100-$125 annually. This type of accidental death benefit is different from the accidental death or dismemberment insurance that may be offered along with your life insurance or health insurance plans.

Accidental Death Benefit Beneficiaries

Accidental death benefits tend to provide a separate level of coverage for you, your spouse or others named in the rider, if any of you perish in an automobile accident. The limits on a accidental death benefit is different from the other types of maximums your insurance company may pay on your claim. To ensure that you and your loved ones are properly covered by an accidental death benefit rider, everyone needs to be independently listed on the declarations sheet, regardless of who was at fault for the accident. Ultimately, death benefits will be paid to the surviving spouse, parents of a minor child, or the estate of the insured individual. Although it may be disheartening to consider an accidental death benefit in an auto insurance policy, it is an important rider to have so that your family will not be burdened by funeral expenses if you pass.

Additional Auto Insurance Riders

If you are unfamiliar with auto insurance riders, here are a few more that you might want to consider:

Roadside assistance and towing coverage
Rental reimbursement coverage
Towing and labor coverage
Gap coverage

Important Additions to Your Auto Plan: Towing and Labor Coverage

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

March 2nd, 2009
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If you’re like most people, you want to feel as safe and secure as possible, especially when you’re out driving around. What would happen if you were driving across the country, for example, and you had a major car problem that forced you to pull over, and left you unable to continue? It happens all the time. In order to prepare for just such an emergency, it is recommended that you make an important addition to your auto insurance plan: get the optional towing and labor coverage.

With towing and labor coverage as part of your auto insurance policy, you’ll rest easy knowing that if anything happens to your car, you’ll be covered in a time of stress. Towing and labor coverage means that when you’re stranded, your car will be towed to a mechanic shop, and the price of the towing will be covered by your insurance. You will also be covered for the costs of the labor involved in repairing your car. That can really add up, as anyone who’s been to the mechanic recently can tell you.

It is important to remember, however, that with towing and labor coverage, only the labor involved in repairing your car will be covered – towing and labor coverage will not pay for the price of any new parts required to get your car back in operating condition. That will be up to you to cover. It is also important to remember that towing and labor coverage will not, in almost all cases, apply to whatever car you’re riding in. It will only apply to one principal, specified automobile.

Many roadside assistance services, such as AAA, offer towing and labor coverage. If you already have AAA or another roadside assistance plan, you most likely won’t need to get towing and labor coverage through your insurance company. You should also look into rental reimbursement and gap coverage in addition to your towing and labor coverage.

If you have questions about towing and labor coverage or any other aspect of car insurance, be sure to speak to a qualified car insurance professional.

Important Additions to Your Auto Plan: Gap Coverage

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

February 25th, 2009
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If you have auto insurance, or are thinking about getting it, you may want to consider adding on gap coverage. Gap coverage, which is an optional form of car insurance, protects people with big car loans that they’re going to be paying off for a while. This way, with gap coverage, you as a car owner will never find yourself in a position where you’re paying off a loan on a car you can no longer drive due to an accident.

Gap coverage is best for people who have bought a brand-new car and put almost no money down on it (something more and more common these days, as dealerships try to tempt people into buying a new car with very sweet deals). You may have paid $25,000 for the car, and still owe $20,000 on it – but in the months that you’ve been driving it, the car has depreciated faster than your monthly car payment. So, you owe $20,000 on your car, but it’s worth $17,000. That $3,000 discrepancy is where gap coverage comes in handy. If your car is stolen or damaged beyond repair, after you’ve paid your deductible, your insurance company will only pay out what the car is worth. That means you could get less money from your car insurance provider than will pay off the remainder of your loan, and you’d then be “under water” – paying off money to something that is worthless.

If you choose to get gap coverage, you as a car owner would see your car loan forgiven if you ever find yourself in the situation described above. It has happened enough times to enough people to be a legitimate concern, and if you can afford to get gap coverage it could turn out to come in very handy some day. You might want to look into other additions to your auto insurance policy to make sure you are fully protected for everything you need, like towing and labor coverage or rental reimbursement.

Gap coverage isn’t offered by all insurance companies, and it may not be available everywhere. To learn more about gap coverage, be sure to speak to an auto insurance expert.

Important Additions to Your Auto Plan: Rental Reimbursement

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

February 18th, 2009
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When it comes to auto insurance, the rule of thumb is the more coverage you have the better. By spending more money each month on a higher premium that provides you significant financial protection, you are making sure that you will not be hit with potentially catastrophic bills should something unfortunate happen. Besides towing and labor coverage and gap coverage one thing to pay extra for is rental reimbursement, in case your car becomes inoperative due to mechanical repairs.

If you get into an accident, regardless of whether it’s your fault or not, you could be looking at a long period of time while your car is being repaired. In the time it’s out of commission you will need a car, and most people will end up renting one. Renting a car for long periods of time gets very expensive quickly. If you’ve paid for rental reimbursement, however, you will have the cost of that rental covered either partially or in full, depending on what kind of rental reimbursement coverage you’ve opted to pay for. Rental reimbursement coverage is a prudent insurance option to buy, because what you pay every month for it will be dwarfed by the car rental bill. If, for example, your car is out of commission for two weeks, and you rent a car for those 14 days at $80 a day – and that’s for a real junker! – you will be looking at a rental bill of over $1,000. If you have rental reimbursement, however, you can rest easy knowing that that bill will be paid either partially or in full by your insurance company.

To learn more about rental reimbursement or any other aspect of auto insurance, call or meet with an auto insurance representative to go over all your questions in detail. You should certainly do this before you sign anything.

Roadside Assistance and Towing Coverage

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

January 14th, 2009
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If you own a car, you should really invest in roadside assistance and towing coverage. This will allow you to call your insurance company if your car breaks down, and youre unable to drive it. A tow truck will come to get you and the car, towing it to an auto mechanics garage where it can be assessed. This coverage could really come in handy if you damage your vehicle and need assistance.

For example, say youre driving across country from Boston to Los Angeles in your minivan. Everything is going smoothly until you get to a small town at the far end of Kansas.. As you enter the city limits you smell something strange and then you immediately notice that theres smoke coming from your engine. The engine light comes on and your car dies. Now youre out in the middle of nowhere, and its a five-mile walk into town in the pouring rain. What do you do? With roadside assistance and towing coverage, you can make a simple call and wait for help to arrive. Soon, someone will be on their way to get you and your car and bring you to a mechanics garage, where the problem with your car can be assessed. If you didnt have roadside assistance and towing coverage, youd have to walk the five miles into Wakeenie in the pouring rain, find a repair station, and then have them bring you back to your car. What if you were traveling with a pet? With roadside assistance and towing coverage, youd be rescued without ever having to leave your car or your loved ones. Whats more, its all already paid for, meaning you wont have to spend a dime.

As with everything, policies can vary from company to company, so when it comes to roadside assistance and towing coverage, be sure to explore all your options with an auto insurance specialist before you make any move.

Besides roadside assistance and towing coverage, you may want to explore other additions to your auto policy:

1. Rental Reimbursement
2. Gap Coverage

Loss of Use / Rental Coverage

Posted in Auto Insurance , Auto Insurance Riders

January 7th, 2009
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When it comes to auto insurance, we can takes steps to make sure we will always have a car, even when our own isnt working or has been stolen. How? By adding loss of use and rental coverage to our overall auto insurance package. You would not go light when getting rental insurance for a rental car, so why would you not have similar protection for your car? One thing that is true of just about everyone is that we tend to take the things we rely on the most for granted until we lose them.

By adding loss of use and rental coverage, you are paying a monthly premium towards the day when (if) your car is too damaged in an accident to operate, or has been stolen. How will you get around while youre waiting for it to be repaired? What will you do while the paperwork is being processed? After all, you still need to get to work and make money to stay afloat. With loss of use and rental coverage, your insurance company will pay for your rental car while youre without your own. You will be required to rent a car that is comparable in value to your own of course although it would be fun to rent a Rolls-Royce while your Ford Taurus is in the shop, but thats just not the way it works.

Clearly, adding loss of use and rental coverage to your basic insurance policy makes a lot of sense for people who commute back and forth every day. After all, renting a car is expensive, and the bill can get big fast. So, if you have loss of use coverage, you can rest easy knowing that youre covered. Loss of use and rental coverage is an optional part of car insurance, so you will need to weigh the pros and cons of getting it. Its just one of the many things you should go over when you sit down with a qualified auto insurance expert to discuss your needs, the law, and the best auto insurance policy for you.