I had a most interesting experience this week while assisting one of my clients with a homeownerﾒs policy. He wanted to have his contents insured and so off I went to get costing from the various carriers that provide this coverage, as I like to make sure that my clients are getting the best deal not only in premium but also policy benefit. And policy benefits to me are most important!
While I did my evaluation the client decided that time was running out and I was taking too long (not withstanding that I had wait three weeks for him to complete an inventory listing, which to day is still not done) so he contacted a well place professional in the industry and a personal contact of his for a quote. This professional proceed to provide a quote and faxed it to the prospect.
In the meantime I had faxed two of the quotes I had received.
Once the client got the alternate quote he was on the phone to me, ﾓGlenn, why am I getting a quote for the same amount of content that is causing several hundred dollars less that yours?ﾔ Well I am at a loss and very concern because this is a valued client, whose business I have looked after for years and I could not have him thinking that I have been gouging him. So my question was, ﾓfrom who?ﾔ I was then advised that it was from a name I recognized as being a well placed professional in the insurance business. So on the phone I went to determine why my quote was so much higher than his, as they both came from the same company.
I later learned that the reason for the difference resulted from the way the content was handled.
You see while you may insure your content and think that every item is insured for its replacement value, there are some limitations in the policy that you must always consider as these limit what an insurer will pay on certain items such as jewellery, precious stone, silverware, painting, computers, furs and other expensive items.
Therefore, if you have any of these items with a replacement value of more than $1,000.00 you need to consider taking out ﾓPersonal Possessionﾔ coverage. The Personal Possession coverage does cost a few point more but gives you a much broader coverage and covers specific item and their much higher values. It also provides coverage on these items outside of the home and in most instances worldwide coverage. It is well worth the extra premiums!
Hence the difference in premium between the proposal I was offering and my competitorﾒs, who just did not take the time to fully consider the valuables that the client owned.
It is important for you to take responsibility for your valuables and make a complete inventory listing of all the contents and personal possession you may have in your home, right down to your toothbrush. While this may be time consuming it provides your broker with a full view of what coverage you may need to have and a competent broker would not quote without one.
Be sure to include in your inventory listing:
1. An accurate description of the item
2. Its serial number
3. Purchase price (attach any receipts)
I also recommend that you take photographs or video recording of your content as it is arranged in the house, this will help in the event of a claim.
Finally, once you have decided on and purchase a policy be sure to read the contract, paying particular attention to the ﾓExclusionsﾔ and ﾓGeneral Conditionsﾔ sections. Donﾒt wait until you have a loss to find out what is in your policy!
Glenn S. Ferguson, FLMI, HIA, founded Comprehensive Insurance Agents & Brokers & Comprehensive Consulting to assists both large, multi-national corporations, as well as smaller family owned businesses with their benefit decision-making. Glenn has been helping individuals and businesses in the Bahamas with their insurance needs for the last 18 years.
He is a Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); Associate of The Health Insurance Association of America (HIA) and a licensed insurance broker.
