Claims/Settlements
 

Still waiting on your claim settlement...
Are they aging your claim like fine wine?
 
Should have used an Insurance Broker instead...
  
Cathy S. Ramsundar Insurance Broker
acts as a liaison between you and your insurance company to help expedite
 your claim settlement in a timely
and fair manner.

Your Claims dictate your Premiums

• How premiums are calculated:
  Within reasonable limits, some of which are prescribed by law, your premium is calculated to reflect the probability that you will make a claim – that is, that you will draw funds from the insurance pool. Those who are unlikely to draw from the pool pay less than those who are more likely to draw from it.

  Insurers take many factors into consideration to determine the likelihood that you will make a claim. A common misconception is that a policyholder who has never made a claim should pay less, little or nothing for insurance. While it is true that past claims history is important, a more reliable indicator of how likely a person or business is to make a claim is the statistical group to which he/she/it belongs.

   

• Industry earnings:
  Insurance companies generally do not make money on the premiums gathered from policyholders. In 2005, insurance companies paid more than $21 billion in claims while taking in $35 billion in premiums. The difference between the premiums and claims, in this case $14 billion, is used by the companies to pay salaries and taxes ($6.2 billion in 2005), and to cover the overhead costs (such as electricity bills) of running a business. It is also used to pay the administrative costs of settling a claim. 

• Insurance pays for …:
  Insurance pays for only those types of losses described in your contract. It is very important that you read your policy and/or talk to your insurance representative about what you are covered for and what you’re not. Insurance will not pay for every problem that you may encounter, nor is it a maintenance contract. Insurance is generally intended – and priced accordingly – to help policyholders cope with the financial consequences of unpredictable events that are "sudden and accidental."  If, for example, you live on a floodplain by a river, flooding of your property in the spring is not sudden or accidental; it is inevitable and, therefore, uninsurable. 
  Your premium dollar travels a long and winding road, but, in the end, most of it goes to assist consumers in one way or another. For example, if you suffer a loss, a portion of your premium dollar and those of several other policyholders finds its way back to you, to help you recover.