My head is filled with numbers! My husband and I have been researching what our available options are for several different kinds of insurance. First, we made an appointment with our insurance agent. Yesterday, we went to that appointment, and talked things over.
Our insurance company is nationwide, and well known. We already had car insurance, and homeowners insurance from them. The insurance agent was extremely nice, and very helpful. She talked us through some possibilities for health insurance, and life insurance, and reviewed our car insurance and homeowners insurance policies for us. Small piles of stapled papers filled the desk as we spoke, each containing more numbers than I could possibly comprehend the full meaning of. I learned that it is very easy to get overwhelmed when you research insurance options.
Part of why we came in was because we got a notice that our car insurance was ready to be renewed. Our agent reviewed the policy for us. My car is a 1994 Chevy Cavalier. Several years ago, someone backed their car into mine when I was parked in front of a gas station. The damage to my bumper and tail light cost more than the car was worth, and so, my car has since had a salvage title. We were under the impression that if anyone else hits my car, the insurance company won’t pay for the necessary repairs. We will never need a second car, because my husband is legally blind, and cannot get a driver’s license in the state that we live in. We originally decided to go with the least amount of car insurance possible, at the cheapest cost.
Our insurance agent pointed out several important things we did not know about car insurance. It turned out that we actually needed more coverage than we were getting. It wasn’t about how old my car was. It was about being covered in case we are involved in a car accident, get injured, and need to go to the ER. I didn’t know my car insurance could help with those kinds of costs! We also needed to add coverage in case the other driver in the hypothetical accident sues me for his or her medical bills. We also did not have enough coverage in case my car gets hit by another car, and bumps into a third car, which hits a fire hydrant. Our new car insurance policy now will cover those kinds of things. It didn’t cost us much more per month to buy the amount of car insurance we actually needed.
Now, we have our car insurance policy all set. However, we still need to think about life insurance, health insurance, and if we want to upgrade our homeowners policy. This will take some serious number crunching.
Image by Michael Hicks on Flickr