How To Analyze Your Insurance Policies

INSURANCES THAT YOU DO NOT NEED

In these trying economical times, everyone's trying to figure out what to get rid of and what they absolutely do not need to spend money on.

In the case of most people, cutting costs has become essential in trying to make ends meet.

Insurance is one area where you can save a substantial amount of money simply by figuring out what kind of insurance you have and then whether or not you need it.

Let's examine some of the biggest wastes of your insurance dollars and then you decide if you want to continue paying for them.

There might be some circumstances where someone would want to keep their policies but for the average consumer, these types of insurance just aren't necessary!

CAR RENTAL INSURANCE

You're paying for the collision damage waiver (CDW) which can double your rental charge! Check your own car insurance policy but you'll probably find that you are already covered for rental cars.

Another place to check is on your credit card. Most credit cards also have rental insurance coverage.

If you find out you're covered for rental cars, don't ever pay for car rental insurance again!

CANCER INSURANCE

Cancer Insurance. Most policies are pretty expensive - at least $400 per year and the bottom line with these policies is that many cancers are not covered.

They claim that you will get huge payouts if you get cancer and that's what draws people to get the policies in the first place. Nowadays who isn't worried about cancer?

Check the policies very carefully for loop holes such as certain types of cancers not being covered.

A regular health insurance policy should cover cancers regardless of type.

ACCIDENTAL DEATH INSURANCE

Statistically, accidents are the third leading cause of death in people ages 45-64, but the statistic is that they cause less than 5% of deaths in general in all age groups.

The statitistics for people over 65 years of age dying from accidental causes drops to less than 2%.

While this might be an "okay" policy for younger people, a better investment for your family is a term life insurance policy.

CREDIT AND MORTGAGE DISABILITY AND LIFE INSURANCE

These are insurance policies meant to cover minimum payments on your credit cards and loans for up to 36 months on most policies.

However, they are very expensive and are a high profit item by way of commissions for the insurance broker.

It's estimated you could pay up to 4 times more for this type of insurance than if you put it into term life insurance.

Check on increasing your disability benefits to the maximum at your place of employment or checking into life insurance through them.

You will pay much less than through an individual insurance company.

MORE INSURANCE POLICIES YOU DO NOT NEED

CREDIT CARD FRAUD INSURANCE

This is totally unnecessary insurance because you already have it! Credit card companies expect you to report fraudulent charges as soon as you realize that someone has made them on your card, you've lost your card or it is stolen.

At most by law, you are only required to pay $50 of any charges fraudulently applied to your credit card and the credit card will reverse them as soon as you notify them, cancel your card and reissue a new card.

Most times, they waive the $50 charge as well. This just happened to us and I know it to be true!

FLIGHT INSURANCE

By far, you are safer in a plane than in a car!

The likelihood of a crash is not worth the expense of purchasing flight insurance. 

If you have life insurance, you are already covered!

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

This is an insurance that will pay on your credit card for 6-12 months if you no longer are employed. 

If you have savings, you can pay this on your own without the expense of having unemployment insurance. 

It would make more sense to put the money for the insurance in the bank!

EXTENDED PRODUCT WARRANTY INSURANCE

This is something every store in the world pushes at you and the chance of you ever using it is about nil. In all the years that we've purchased extended product warranties, we've used them once.

Most products have their own warranty anyway and if something goes wrong, you can return it.

How many things do you need to buy extended product warranty insurance on?

HOSPITAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE

This type of insurance policy grabs people with the incentive that if you're hospitalized, you could make up to $100 per day. 

Not too many people are in the hospital for procedures these days - most are turfed and surfed.  Most procedures are routinely done outpatient.  So where is the benefit of this policy and paying all your dollars into it? 

Many people without health insurance look to these policies to cover them in case something catastrophic happens but no hospital is going to charge you $100 per day.  This policy will not begin to pay the fees charged by hospitals which run into the thousands per day not hundreds. 

The policy also does not cover lab fees, procedures, x-rays, etc. so that $100 per day is chickenfeed weighed against a staggering medical bill. 

That's why health insurance is a vital insurance to have.

HOW TO KEEP FROM BEING INSURANCE RICH AND CASH POOR

In short, these are some ways to trim the fat off your budget when it comes to insurance.

You can get rid of these insurances and save your senior dollars!

If you're paying for any of these insurances, take a look at your other policies and see what's covered and what isn't, such as rental cars, credit card fraud, etc.

If you can eliminate these insurance policies from your budget every month, think of the dollars that you can put back in your own pocket - or better yet into the bank.

Especially if you are a senior, money counts and the more you know, the better you can enjoy your sunset years.

Take a look at better bets like term life insurance policies or work through your employer for insurance if you are still employed or your spouse is.

No need to throw money away on insurance policies that are more for the insurance brokers than for the clients!

If you have more ideas on insurance policies we do not need, please contribute to the hub by adding your comments below.