All of our Checkered
Flag drivers know the value of having great car insurance coverage, but,
if you are like me, you may not know exactly how many different
scenarios of what a new commercial calls "mayhem" you are actually
covered against.
Now, for that matter,
most of us don't know the ins and outs of our life, home, or any other
type of common insurance policies.
I found the
following article quite interesting, and although I had heard a few of
these insurance oddities before, it truly made me want to pull out all
of my policies and read the fine print.
Article source: [MSN.Money.com]Insurance you didn't know you
hadYour home, auto and medical coverage
could be better than you think. Here are 11 scenarios for which you
might be pleasantly surprised to learn you can file a
claim.
If you took an ax to your kitchen floor, the
damage typically wouldn't be covered by your homeowners insurance.
Insurers generally don't cover intentional damage, and whacking a floor
with an ax is considered pretty intentional.
Except when the
blows are inflicted in the course of dispatching a rattlesnake that
slithered into your kitchen, threatening your wife and 3-year-old
child.
That's what happened to a friend of Bill
Sirola, a spokesman for the nation's largest homeowners insurer, State
Farm, and the insurer paid up without a murmur.
"It
took him five or six good whacks to kill the thing," Sirola
said.
There are plenty of things that insurance won't
pay for. But in writing about insurance over the years, I've stumbled
across some unexpected things that are covered. Some are pretty
esoteric, like actresses insuring their legs or policies that pay out in
case of alien abduction. But others are fairly common, and I've picked
my 11 favorites among them, starting with my No. 1 of all
time:
Waterbed liability
Cue the
rotating disco ball and the 1970s funk music, because many renters and
condo insurance policies provide coverage if your bodacious berth
bursts.
The insurance applies regardless of what
caused the leakage, as long as you didn't intentionally break the
bed.
Sometimes the coverage is built in; in other cases, you
may need to pay a little extra for a waterbed-liability endorsement. But
once you have it, you're covered for damage to your own pad as well as
whatever you inflict on your downstairs
neighbor.
Tombstone
damage
If a vandal destroys or carries off a loved
one's headstone, it might be covered under your homeowners insurance.
The damage would be subject to the same restrictions that apply to other
coverage, meaning the
destruction:
* Exceeds your
deductible.
* Is a covered
loss.
Theft and vandalism damage are typically covered losses,
but catastrophes often aren't.
"If it gets swept away
by a flood, it's not covered" under the homeowners policy, Sirola said.
"If it's shaken apart by an earthquake, it's not
covered."
Massage
It
turns out that you can get your shiatsu subsidized, depending on your
coverage and the circumstances. Your doctor can prescribe massage to
help you recover from a car accident or an on-the-job injury, for
example. If your insurance covers chiropractic care, it may also cover
massage ordered by the chiropractor.
Check your
policy for details or talk to your employer's human-resources
department.
Weight
control
Run-of-the-mill weight-loss programs aren't
covered by most insurance policies, according to the National Institutes
of Health, but your insurer may cover prescription weight-control
medications and weight-loss surgery.
The latter
typically costs $25,000 to $30,000, so coverage is a really big deal. To
qualify, though, you have to be morbidly obese -- usually defined as
20% or more above your ideal body weight or with a body mass index of 40
or higher. You may also qualify if you're not quite that heavy but you
have a serious weight-related condition, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart
disease or severe apnea.
Even if your weight-loss
program isn't covered by insurance, you may still be able to defray the
cost if it's prescribed by a doctor. In that case, you can use the
pretax money you've put in your flexible-spending account at work to pay
for it.
Flexible-spending plans allow you to pay
for a host of other medical expenses that may not be covered by
insurance, including smoking-cessation programs, birth control,
fertility treatments, orthodontia and (if prescribed by a doctor)
over-the-counter medications, including
aspirin.
Drunken
guests
A friend leaves your Super Bowl party, hops
into his car and promptly plows into another vehicle. Everybody in the
other car winds up in a hospital, and you get sued for serving alcohol
to your friend.
There's plenty of variation in state
laws, regional court cases and insurer policies, but in general the
liability portion of your homeowners insurance can help pay your defense
and any damages awarded, up to the limits of your
policy.
And there's the rub, because many homeowners
policies limit liability protection to $300,000 or so. You'd be smart to
investigate getting at least a $1 million personal liability or
umbrella policy if you're a homeowner.
Also, your
coverage may depend on you not doing something egregiously stupid, like
serving a minor or continuing to serve someone who is already
drunk.
For details, talk to your insurance
agent.
Stupid
kids
Parents in most states can be held financially
responsible for damage caused by their minor children. Fortunately, many
homeowners insurance policies will help pay the bill -- depending on
the child's age, the circumstances and the policy
language.
A big exception: Insurance policies won't
pay for damage resulting from "intentional," "malicious" or "illegal"
acts.
If your little Sally accidentally knocks a
baseball through the neighbor's plate-glass window, your homeowners
insurance may kick in. If she hurls a brick through the same window,
though, you're on your own for the costs of the replacement -- and for
the therapy she so desperately needs.
Stupid pets
You're out
on a walk with Dudley, your mild-mannered pooch. Suddenly, the mutt gets
it into his head that a passing pedestrian poses a deadly threat.
Without warning, he lunges to the end of his leash and sinks his fangs
into her leg. A few days later, the pedestrian sends you her rather
hefty emergency-room bill, and there's talk of emotional distress and
lost wages.
Once again, it's your homeowners
insurance policy to the rescue -- maybe. Many insurers have gotten so
sensitive to dog-bite claims that they won't insure owners of certain
breeds or dogs that have already bitten someone. To get insurance, these
owners often have to agree to an exclusion that prevents them from
making a claim related to the
animal.
Common reasons insurance claims are
denied
Even if you are covered, you'll probably want
to invest in a visit to the veterinarian (to see if there's a physical
cause for the aberrant behavior) and in a good trainer (to try to ensure
it doesn't happen again). A dog that bites even once is a huge
liability to you and the people around you -- and can be an outright
danger.
The dorm
thief
College dorms are packed with tempting goodies,
including computers, televisions, music players and bicycles. The good
news, according to the Insurance Information Institute: If you live in a
dorm and you're considered a dependent of your parents, their
homeowners insurance policy covers your stuff from destruction and theft
-- with one big exception.
Few insurance policies
cover the value of digital music collections or other computer files. So
if the thief makes off with your iPad plus the computer that contains
your music and video library, you wouldn't get financial help replacing
files potentially worth thousands of dollars. That's yet another reason
it's essential to back up all your files regularly and store the backups
off-site or online.
Also, the protection of your
parents' insurance disappears when you move off campus. When you're
ready to kiss dorm life goodbye, pony up the $200 or so necessary to buy
a renters insurance policy.
A visit from
the Grinch
This happened to a friend, and it's a
distressingly common tale at the end of the year. She needed to make a
quick run into a store, so she parked her car loaded with Christmas
presents in a crowded mall parking lot in the middle of the day. She
returned five minutes later to find a broken window and all the gifts
gone.
Auto insurance covers the damage to the car but
not the theft of its contents, unless the stolen contents are supposed
to be attached to the vehicle, such as a car stereo. However, holiday
presents are considered personal possessions, so they're typically
covered under your homeowners or renters
coverage.
You'll have to fill out a police report, of
course, and your claim is subject to your deductible. If you've got a
high deductible, you may not be out of luck if you used a gold or
platinum credit card to buy the gifts. These types of cards typically
offer "purchase protection" that will reimburse you for the theft of
recently bought items, up to a certain limit (often $1,000). See your
card agreement for details.
Counterfeit
cash
If you unknowingly accepted a bunch of bogus
Benjamins, you may not be completely out of
luck.
Homeowners and renters insurance typically
provide a limited amount of coverage for losses due to counterfeit
money, check forgery and credit card fraud. The limits are usually low,
$500 to $1,000, and deductibles may apply. Talk to your insurer for
details.
The
locksmith
Some of us are more absent-minded than
others. If you've ever slammed your car door and then realized -- that
all-important split second too late -- that your keys are dangling from
the ignition, you're one of us.
Roadside assistance
is an optional coverage through most auto insurers, although it's one
that can quickly pay for itself with one or two lockouts or tows. You
also can get roadside-assistance coverage through a variety of other
sources, including your cell-phone company, your car's manufacturer or a
full-service plan offered by an auto club or other
provider.
Something to note: Exactly who or what is
covered depends on the provider. Your auto insurer typically provides
coverage only for the insured car, while an auto club service covers the
driver, regardless of the vehicle being driven. Cell-phone plans
typically cover whoever has the phone at the time, so you can lend it
and your coverage to a friend or family member.
Also,
your insurer may count roadside-assistance calls against you when
determining your premiums, although it's typically a fairly minor
negative. If you're concerned, though, opt for another roadside-service
provider. (end of article)
Now, if you purchased your
vehicle from
Checkered
Flag, there's a good chance you have roadside assistance or a
similar type of perk program that you were automatically signed up for
at time of purchase. Not sure? Call the
Checkered Flag store where you purchased your vehicle. All
locations can be reached through
(757) 490-1111
