Review your insurance
In hard economic times, everyone wants to eliminate unnecessary spending. However, you need to ensure that the changes you make don't adversely impact your bottom line.
When you choose where you will be making financial cuts in your personal insurance premiums, make certain to review the benefits these modifications would have if you actually have to file a claim.
You don't want to be surprised to find out that your coverage will no longer meet your needs. Recent history is replete of examples where individuals choose to change insurance companies without first mapping out the impact these changes will have on the payments they would receive after filing a claim.
In addition, if you should choose change insurance companies, see any comments posted that might give you an indication of how difficult it is to file a claim with this company. If it is difficult to file a claim with an insurer, the savings you realized in premium payments may be zeroed out if you have to spend months filing the claim in order to receive the payment.
You should also consider the length of time an insurance company has been handling the type of insurance you are seeking. For example, a car insurance company that has only started to insure homes will no doubt be much more difficult to communicate with on your specific claim.
The most important thing to remember is that even though you can cut costs on many items for your home, you must be very careful when doing this in regards to insurance. Lowering your premium may mean that you have a much higher deductible, meaning that your responsibility will be much higher, or that the insurance covers only the value that you have borrowed against, and not the principle you put down when you first purchased the property. In the event of a total loss, such as a earthquake, you may find that you only receive enough to pay off the debtors, leaving you with nothing to get yourself back on your feet. .
In a world where good-paying jobs is next to impossible to find, it is wise to ensure that you can buy a new house.
Published March 20th, 2008
