Top Tips To Create A Persuasive Sales Letter

 

 Insurance And Ethics

 Insurance And Ethics

Why do insurance companies keep secrets from their customers? Why are the premiums so high? Why is my insurer denying her claim? It's time to rethink these questions.

It’s no secret that the Affordable Care Act has changed our health care coverage in many ways, but one of these changes is specific to insurance companies: they now have a responsibility to beh

If you explore the subject of insurance and ethics, it should become apparent that there are many ethical issues that can arise. For example, if someone gets into an accident and needs extensive medical treatment after being injured in an auto accident, they may be able to get their medical bills covered by their automobile insurance policy — but what about a person who is injured every time they drive? Or what happens when someone has a lot of children living at home — is it fair for them to try to hold down a job while also looking after those children? There are plenty of dilemmas like these, and more when you think about the financial aspects as well. This post explores some of the ethical dilemmas that exist in our society today.

* * * * *

Before we go any further, I would like to stress that this post is not meant to be a legal defence of any kind. This article is based entirely on the opinions of yours truly, and the author should only be held responsible for what is written here. Please do not sue me!

Insurance Ethics

The more you learn about insurance and associated factors that go into insurance contracts, the more you begin to wonder about certain things that people do. For example, rarely does anyone ever mention an issue involving real estate investment trusts (REITs) when they get into an accident — their lives are insured through their automobile policies, so there's no question of them losing this coverage if they are injured. But what about their possessions? Shouldn't they be covered by the same policy? Why is there no information published about this subject for the average consumer who may not know as much as others?

Is it Ethical to Pay Your Home Insurance Premiums If You Don't Own a Home?

Let's say that you don't own your home, apartment, or condominium. You live in a rented abode. You pay your rent to the property manager, who in turn pays your insurance premium for you. On the surface it would seem that this would be perfectly legal — that you could set up a rental property and still receive the benefits of home insurance.

But there are two key problems with this scenario. Firstly, most insurance companies will not renew your policy if they discover that you don't own a home — and secondly, because of the way accident benefits work (more on this later), this type of arrangement can result in significant financial losses for you.

Let's explore these issues more closely.

If you are an employee, your employer is required by law to have workers compensation insurance for all employees that work for them. This insurance is very, very cheap — and it is obligatory that the employer purchase it. Workers compensation insurance covers your medical expenses if you are injured while at work, as well as providing up to two-thirds of your income if you're unable to work and need time off. It also protects employers against lawsuits from former employees who may be looking for additional money beyond what was originally offered (i.e., settlements).

For most self-employed individuals, it is an obligation to obtain basic property insurance. This covers the building, contents, and fixtures in your place of business.

Unfortunately, while you may have the right to purchase a home and/or open a business without a license, you can't own one or the other without being licensed to do so (e.g., as an individual or as a corporation). Most people get licensed at one point (usually when they're 16 years old), and take a test based on that license to prove that they're qualified (usually with their driver's license). This means that if you're just starting out in business, or setting up your personal residence, you'll need to get this work permit or license before you can have home insurance.

So how do you get a license if you don't own a home? It's simple: You can go to a licensed real estate agent and ask them for a letter of authorization. This is called an exemption certificate, and it basically states that your property is not being used as a residence (i.e., it's not being rented).

The problem with this arrangement is that the real estate agent will charge large commissions for this service — and they may even charge extra for providing the exemption certificate in the first place. If you have to purchase real estate coverage from an insurance company, the cost is usually considerably higher than it would have been if you had simply applied for a license to use your property as a home. It's also important to note that many insurance companies won't even issue a policy for an apartment building when the property isn't rented.

Insurance Ethics

There has been some debate over the years regarding whether or not insurance companies should be allowed to charge premium fees if their policies are going to be processed without regard to whether or not the client actually owns any property. Some people feel that this goes against ethical principles that were instilled in our society by our religion and our legal system — which consider it unethical for someone else (i.e. an insurance company) to profit from our misfortunes.

And yet, some people believe that this is a fair system — because there are plenty of people out there who are living in rented apartments who would have a difficult time paying for costly insurance premiums. Others feel that it's more ethical for insurance companies to charge premium fees regardless of whether or not the client owns property because this helps to increase overall turnover rates on the market — and if everyone owned their own home, then there wouldn't be as much business for real estate agents.

In other words: If you're renting your home, it's probably harder to get expensive insurance coverage than if you had purchased your own residence. That's a basic fact that most insurance agents understand. The problem is that Americans are increasingly opting to reside in rental properties rather than buy homes. As a result, many people will be forced to pay premium fees for policies that they're not going to earn any benefit from at all.

Again, this is an issue where you should definitely get quotes from several different insurance companies before you decide on what policy you'll want to purchase (or if you will even be able to purchase one).

What if you don't have enough money to buy a home?

But what if you can't afford to buy a home, even with all your savings? Shouldn't someone who can afford to do so also be entitled to the benefits of a homeowner's insurance policy? Many people would agree that it is unfair for someone with limited financial resources (i.e., anyone who can't afford to purchase their own home) not to have the ability to obtain insurance coverage for their personal property.

However, in actuality, most insurance companies won't insure an individual that doesn't own property — and the reason for this is quite simple.

Conclusion

It's not uncommon for people to be confused by the difference between a homeowner's and an apartment or condominium owner's insurance policy. When you add up all the costs involved with each, it'll become clear that it really isn't worth the time or money to purchase both policies — especially if you're not actually using your property as a residence.

The reason why this is so important to know is because of how accident benefits work (more on this in future articles). If you have an insurable interest in residential real estate, then you may be entitled to make use of them if you're catastrophically injured on your own property.ave ethically. Under ACA Section 2718, insurance companies must updated disclosures and policies each year with information on how you can file a complaint against an insurer for bad faith claims handling. Not only does this mean the insurer will disclose when an insurer is violating the law, but it also means that you’ll at least have the opportunity to take advantage of the law.

So why is this important? It’s important because insurance companies are, by definition, aiming to maximize profits and minimize losses. Insurance companies maximize profits by lowering their costs and minimizing their losses through an array of tactics that drive up rates and sometimes deny legitimate claims. In a climate like this where claims costs are so high, every possible course of action is designed to make sure they don’t lose money on every claim they file. Unfortunately, some of these tactics are unethical.

When an insurance company denies a claim, there are many possible reasons behind it that could be totally or partially ethical. Bad faith is when an insurer has total disregard for your rights as a policyholder or the rights provided by the law and acts in bad faith without regard for consequences.

Some examples of bad faith:

Changing their terms of coverage after you signed up.

Failing to pay your claims in a timely manner (If your insurer won't pay within 90 days, they must notify you).

Delaying payments to increase profits while costing you unnecessary interest expenses.

Failing to inform you of the details of your coverage.

There are cases where an insurer honestly believes something here violates their policies or is against the law, in which case it might not be considered bad faith. For example, in the insurance industry there are many things that may seem unethical but aren’t necessarily bad faith -- these include:

Policies that include things like gender identity and refusing to remove those exclusions. Some insurers don’t have explicit LGBT exclusion language but do have other policies that include this language (for example, they may refuse to cover anything a transgender woman does).

Policies that exclude or cover some sex-related medical procedures but not others, such as hormone therapy.

Policies that cover a procedure that is typically only covered in the post-surgery phase (like reconstructive surgery after breast cancer, for example).

But what does “good faith” mean? That’s the tricky part. Good faith includes acting in good faith through the application of policies and practices: it means truly accepting claims and treating them according to a legitimate understanding of what it means to follow those policies and practices. Thus in applying these rules, an insurer acts with honesty and integrity – the classic definition of good faith. The ACA now requires all insurance companies to meet this standard.

What we see in the insurance industry today is not good faith; it's a system filled with hidden traps and loopholes that can, in the end, lead to bad acts that are ultimately unethical. When an insurer’s language and practices don’t adhere to this standard of good faith, you should question why your claims have been denied or how they’ve handled them.

It’s a widespread problem that insurers are not acting in good faith. More than one in three households (35%) have experienced denial of a claim according to the Census Bureau. We’re working to update this information and how we use it, but you can read more on our website about health insurance and the Affordable Care Act.

On that note, we encourage you to consider filing a complaint against your insurer. It’s free to file and can be done online at www.GetYourMoneyBack.com/complaint or by calling 1-855-GET-YOU-MONEY back (1-855-438-9622).

If you have questions, please email me at [email protected] or call me at 202 906 5778.

I will be more than happy to discuss any issue you are having with your insurer.

Did You Know?

If your insurer is delaying payments in order to increase profits at the expense of interest expenses, you may be entitled to make a claim for damages from the company. It’s a hidden tactic that can cost you hundreds and thousands of dollars -- damage your credit score and make it hard for you to get good rates if not clean it up altogether. If your insurer won’t pay within 90 days, they must notify you.

Health Insurance And Ethics

July 27, 2014 in Health Insurance , Privacy , Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 23, 2014

Next Month's Meetup Is On August 2nd!

I know I said it would be a month ago. But if you received an email yesterday from me and Joe telling you to come out of hiding then I don't have any excuses. You can tell I'm excited too: "We will be discussing the challenges of the Affordable Care Act for small businesses. If you aren’t an insurance agent or independent contractor then come by and listen in on how to navigate this health law. This is a free event but please RSVP by emailing Mary [email protected] . The meetup starts at 6:30 pm. Thank you."

I'm proud to announce that Next Month's Meetup will be on Tuesday August 2nd from 6-7:30pm. I hope to see you there!

This month we are following up on our meeting last month in which we talked about the Affordable Care Act, and now we're going to talk about the challenges thereof for those of us not in the "insurance agent" biz.

Conclusion

I'm excited for this month's meetup: it was a lot of fun last month and I think we'll have another good turnout. The meetup starts at 6:30pm and will be held right above the Chipotle on Washington Ave & Centre St, in Lexington.

July 23, 2014 in Health Insurance | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 10, 2014

Click here for more info! Check out our new website at www.getyourmoneyback.com ! This is an educational service from the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies .