Insurance Made Easy

A Comprehensive Roadmap to the Coverage You Need

Tony Steuer

• Publisher: Life Insurance Sage Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780984508198
• eBook ISBN: 9780692021682
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Insurance
• Index: Business

Insurance can be confusing and expensive, but it’s also necessary protection from risk. To alleviate that confusion, Tony Steuer has created a comprehensive guide to insurance—from how to calculate your ideal level of coverage to avoiding fraud—using the familiar metaphor of professional football. Your agents act as your coaching team, and each type of insurance is a player on your team, covering a different position. Let’s see who’s on the roster: ?• Auto insurance
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance, including Medicare
• Homeowner’s/renter’s insurance
• Life Insurance
• Long-term-care insurance
• Annuities Insurance coverage is a personalized product, based on a specific need to cover a risk. Don’t overpay for the wrong coverage. Draft the right players now with Insurance Made Easy.

PART I

Getting Prepared for Your Insurance Season

“In football, like in life, you must learn to play within the rules of the game.”

—HAYDEN FRY

CHAPTER 1

Playing by the Rules: Getting to Know the Insurance Bill of Rights

“Do right; do your best; treat others as you want to be treated.”

—LOU HOLTZ

Football has a set of rules that every team and player must abide by. These rules are constant for every football game so that each team and each player knows what to expect and can be properly prepared. Imagine a game where each team had their own set of rules; it would be chaos. Football players and coaches are expected to follow not only the rule itself but also the spirit of the rule. The rules are taken seriously, and penalties occur when the rules are not followed.

Insurance works mostly the same way; there are rules that are consistent across the board, while there are other rules that vary by state, by insurance company, and even by how you purchase your insurance. The Insurance Bill of Rights provides an even playing field, with consistent rules for everyone—for consumers, for insurance agents, for insurance companies, and other members of the insurance industry.

The insurance industry is going through a historic transition due to access to information, stronger consumer laws, and advanced technology. With these changes, it is time to review and change how consumers and the insurance industry interact. It is time to protect the rights of consumers while defining the responsibilities for consumers and for members of the insurance industry. Doing so will have a positive impact for everyone involved at all levels of the insurance process, from reviewing insurance needs, purchasing an insurance product, and monitoring an insurance product, to making a claim.

Defining a clear set of unifying standards is how we’ll create a roadmap for the insurance industry. The Insurance Bill of Rights will create a stronger relationship and a higher level of trust between consumers, insurance agents, insurance brokers, and insurance companies while helping sort out each party’s responsibilities. The Insurance Bill of Rights is based on the simple premise that insurance agents, wholesalers, and companies should place the consumer’s best interests first, to the best of their abilities. It provides simple, clear, and reasonable guidelines to accomplish this goal. This will set a standard of excellence for all in the insurance industry.

The Insurance Bill of Rights offers best practices. It was created specifically as a guide to what consumers can expect from insurance agents, insurance companies, and other members of the insurance industry. These best practices are intended to address many of the legal and ethical requirements applicable to insurance agents, brokers, and companies. In addition to these requirements, members of the insurance industry must also become familiar and comply with all other applicable laws and regulations.

The Insurance Bill of Rights also requires that members of the insurance industry act professionally. Professionalism here is defined by courtesy, honesty, responsibility, conduct, skill, good judgment, and a high level of excellence (going above and beyond what is required). If this is what we all strive for, then positive results are sure to follow.

OBJECTIVES

The Insurance Bill of Rights is intended to accomplish three major goals:

1. To strengthen consumer trust in the insurance industry
2. To provide a clear set of rules for insurance industry members
3. To improve the proper usage of insurance

Through effective, needs-based practices and fact-finding, it ensures that coverage is monitored to continue to meet your actual needs and encourages you to be insurance literate. For many years, insurance has been a black box, something that people know that they need but which they had no real, unbiased information about.

Because of this lack of information, most people do not have the right coverage to fit their needs. They end up with insurance they don’t need, with premiums either they can’t afford or they see no value in paying. It’s time to change the conversation so that consumers end up with coverage that fits their actual need, with premiums they can afford. Monitoring an insurance policy and making adjustments over time to your insurance portfolio are almost always overlooked. Over the years, your insurance needs change. Sometimes the change in need is simple, such as getting a new car, while other times, it can be more complex, like when you have a new child who’s not yet been added as a beneficiary to an existing life insurance policy.

This is where the Insurance Bill of Rights matters: Making these adjustments, just like performing regular maintenance on your car, is what will ensure that you have the right coverage when you need it.

Knowledge is power, and the power should be in the hands of the customer—you. Having and knowing your rights will protect and benefit you, and will call the insurance community to task, thus helping you and your agents optimize your insurance coverage and minimize your premiums.

Below are the ten rights you have under the Insurance Bill of Rights:

	The right to have your agent act in your best interest
	The right to receive customized coverage appropriate to your needs
	The right to free choice
	The right to receive an answer to any question
	The right to pay a fair premium
	The right to be informed
	The right to be treated fairly and respectfully
	The right to full disclosure and updates
	The right to quality service and fair handling of claims
	The right to change or cancel your coverage and be notified of any change

This may seem complicated, but your rights boil down to the Golden Rule and general decency. Your insurance agent, broker, and company should be expected to treat you with respect and fairness and to communicate honestly and completely with you. You, in turn, have the obligation to do the same. We’ll delve deeper into your rights in the rest of the chapter; look for the icon to see how each right relates to what you should expect from your insurance provider.

HOW DO I DETERMINE MY INSURANCE NEEDS?

Insurance is about defining your goals and needs; these are your foundation. And, yes, there is a difference: Needs are necessities and required. Goals are what you would like to have. Although there are commonalities among certain life stages or types of insurance policies, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy; you will have your own specific needs.

You should discuss both your goals and your needs with your insurance agent to make sure they understand well enough to recommend the right policy (or policies) for you. Your potential coverage needs should be reviewed for each line of coverage under consideration, and your existing coverage should be taken into account. Any new recommended coverage must fill a specific need (i.e., a gap in your coverage). Any replacement must be carefully reviewed, with all pros and cons considered, and presented in writing by your agent.

How do I know how much insurance to buy?

Your objective in choosing coverage should be to meet your needs, but cost and reality sometimes dictate your choices as well. Keep in mind the adage that you don’t want to be “insurance rich” and “cash poor.” In other words, don’t overextend yourself. While insurance may very well be needed, it won’t do you much good if you must cut other necessities out of your budget. Balancing your overall financial needs should always be your primary concern. It’s better to take less coverage to make sure that you can afford to pay the premium in the future.

QUICK GUIDE TO TERMS

•A premium is the amount paid by the insured (consumer) to an insurance company; this is usually monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual.

•A claim is made by the insured (consumer) in the event of loss, damage, or other act requiring the insurance company to pay out a benefit.

•A benefit is the amount payable by the insurer (insurance company) to a claimant, assignee, or beneficiary under each coverage.

How can I match my insurance to my strategy?

Draft day is one of the most important days for a football team. Whether a draft is good or bad can make or break a team. Draft evaluation is something that takes countless hours for multiple members of a football team’s home office. The best drafts occur when teams make smart decisions and base their drafts on the team’s needs. Doing your own research and making your own judgment will keep you from drafting an underperformer.

In drafting insurance policies for your team, you will spend hundreds or, most likely, thousands of dollars a year, so you should make equally careful decisions. Consider spending at least as much time reviewing your insurance as you would selecting a new computer or television.

During a football season, many things will change. For instance, a player might not perform as expected, or they might get injured. The key to being successful is to remain flexible and to understand this state of constant change. Your insurance needs will continually change in the same way, especially with major life events, so it’s important to review your needs at least every two years.

SHOULD I WORK WITH AN AGENT OR BROKER?

Having the right coach to meet your team philosophy is critical. If you are geared toward having a powerful running game but your coach invests heavily in wide receivers, you are not on the same page and will not be successful. Al Davis was the classic example of an owner who picked coaches based on the type of offense he liked to run. His most successful coach, John Madden, convinced him to modify his strategy, which led the Raiders to a 10-year winning average of 75.9% (regular games and playoffs), the second-highest winning percentage for any coach with over 100 wins. The bottom line: If you have a good coach, you should listen to him or her.

The key is for you to find a professional, qualified insurance agent who has exceeded the minimum requirements and who has dedicated themselves to being a competent insurance agent. If you are working with a professional, trained agent, they can provide you tremendous value—as much as any good coach. A qualified insurance agent, especially one who has taken the Insurance Bill of Rights pledge, can guide you through the process of reviewing your needs and selecting a policy, guiding you through underwriting to get a policy issued, and assisting you in continuing to monitor your coverage to ensure that you continue to have the coverage you need and to help you spot potential trouble with any existing coverage. When evaluating an agent, be sure to ask about his or her processes, which they will be readily able to explain.

Insurance agents will also know the insurance market—which companies are best for which type of product and, depending on the product, how different companies will view different health issues, which companies offer favorable rates for your area (for homeowner’s coverage and related), and many other beneficial details that will save you time and money.

Why do I need a coaching staff and not just one coach?

Insurance agents and insurance companies tend to specialize in ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: Getting Prepared for Your Insurance Season
• Part II: Your Insurance Portfolio: Building a Strong Team
• Appendix A: Other Types of Insurance: Handling Trick Plays
• Index
• About the Author