An interesting and sad case crossed our desk this week. It concerns a case from outside of Florida that turned on an insurance rule that applies wherever you are: If you abide by the terms of the policy, the insurance company will consider your claim. Otherwise, the insurance company can deny the claim, and every court from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast will find the denial reasonable.
The hurricane season is around the corner, and the heavy predictions are coming in. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this week that 2014 will see normal to below normal tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic. The season officially runs from June 1 to November 30.
Insurance is a picky business. Insurers write policies that look generous but are, in fact, fairly narrow. For example, an insurer or agent may use the term “all peril” when referring to a homeowners policy. The average person would understand that to mean all perils: hail, famine, war, lightning, a terrorist attack and so forth. Any damage to your home caused by anything under the sun will be covered.
An insurance company has prevailed in an unusual dispute with a Florida condominium owner. The woman filed a claim with State Farm Florida Insurance Co. after an unpleasant incident in the unit above hers. Her upstairs neighbor died, and the body was not discovered for a couple of weeks. By that time, the body had decomposed to the point that the abdomen had ruptured, allowing bodily fluids to escape.
We cannot say it often enough: Read your insurance policies carefully. If you have a claim, follow the instructions laid out in the policy for filing that claim. And when you purchase a policy, carefully go through what it covers and what it does not cover.
Most Americans are aware of the importance of homeowner’s insurance, health insurance, car insurance, and life insurance, but when it comes to disability insurance there seems to be a bit more of a disconnect. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that not enough Americans have the coverage they need if they end up becoming disabled.
New legislation is now heading to the office of our Florida Governor. If passed, it would prohibit insurance companies from using credit information to deny homeowner claims.
A column in Forbes this week offers some interesting insights about millennials — well, interesting for baby boomers, maybe. This generation, born between 1980 and 2000, does not know a life without the Internet. The Internet and all the technology that has sprung from being more easily connected is just the way things are for millennials. There’s nothing shiny and new about it, the columnist says, the way there’s nothing new about electricity for boomers. As a result, selling to millennials takes a completely different mindset.
While we often discuss homeowners insurance, we know that not everyone owns a home. Research shows that millennials — the generation born between 1980 and 2000 — tend to rent rather than to own. A recent poll shows, though, that millennials may not understanding some of the risks of renting or, perhaps, may not be worried about how to protect themselves.
The insurance claim form for the Titanic is going up for auction in the next week or so. It’s an interesting document, and not just for insurance types. The four pages completed by Second Officer Charles Lightoller offer a surprisingly clinical description of the disaster. Lightoller may have had a reason for his ho-hum tone, or he may have simply had a “Just the facts, ma’am” moment.
