How to Choose Your Policy
You will likely need to buy more than one kind of insurance sometime in your life. How can you know which policy to choose and how much coverage? Which company should you work with? Here are some guidelines to help you purchase the right insurance product.
- Compare the same policy to find the best rates. Make sure the deductibles and coverage are the same for each policy you compare. The cheapest insurance may not have the best coverage and you want to know before you commit.
- Find out about the company's financial standings. You don't want to lose money to a business that goes bankrupt a few years from now. With life insurance, you are often out that money with no recourse.
- Have someone listed on the insurance that can discuss the policy if you should become incapacitated.
- Review your insurance policy annually to know if you want to make changes.
- Ask about their customer service. Will you deal with a local agent or go through a national call service? This is especially helpful to know with insurance where you will make a claim, such as homeowners or auto insurance.
- Ask about the claim process. For auto insurance, will you need to get estimates or do they have a repair shop that they deal with exclusively? Knowing this information ahead of time can save you frustration later on.
- Check with the Better Business Bureau. While you can expect to find complaints on any insurance company, look at how they handled them. Did they respond to the customer's issue? You want to find a company that is dedicated to customer service.
Have a list of questions to ask an agent about your insurance policy. If they do not know the answers or provide satisfactory answers, look somewhere else. Many people are caught unawares by the details in their policy when it comes time to make a claim or use the insurance. It pays to know exactly what the policy covers and what it doesn't before you need it.
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