How you may buy your insurance policy is changing in Missouri and national. Many insurance companies are placing a large emphasis towards online purchase of policies. In some of these ads the major point is a cheap price and insurance coverage is displayed as commodities that can simply be purchased like picking a cereal box off your grocery's shelf.
The problem of course is insurance policies are way more important than what cereal you choose. Obviously the price of anything is important, and consumers are naturally price sensitive, but the old adage, you get what pay for continues to be true. If you buy at rock bottom prices online you're getting paired down coverage that may leave you with many gaps.
Simply put, all coverage are not the same, and just because you have a coverage doesn't mean you are covered exactly the same way you would be if you had seen and agent and purchased a policy that cost a little more. My advice is see an insurance agent or two in person. Get advice on what the scope and price of coverage is and then choose which policy is best for your particular situation.
Let me give you an example of how two policies can differ greatly. An inexpensive underinsured motorist policy from a national online advertiser defines underinsured motorist coverage in a way that totally off sets the coverage by what the opposing driver has in liability coverage. A more traditional company that sells its policy through agents cost a little more, but it treats the same coverage as excess over the other driver's liability coverage. So if buyer one has $100,000.00 of underinsured coverage and is in a sever crash with another driver who has $100,000 of liability coverage and is badly injured he collects $100,000.00. The second buyer who paid a little more gets to collect $200,000.00. Obviously one of these policies offers much more protection than the other.
As I see it the problem with buying on line is that you don't get to ask questions face to face, and you really don't get an understanding of what is really covered. I recommend that you treat insurance like what it really is, a very important part of your financial risk management, even if some companies want to race to the bottom competing over price.
The problem of course is insurance policies are way more important than what cereal you choose. Obviously the price of anything is important, and consumers are naturally price sensitive, but the old adage, you get what pay for continues to be true. If you buy at rock bottom prices online you're getting paired down coverage that may leave you with many gaps.
Simply put, all coverage are not the same, and just because you have a coverage doesn't mean you are covered exactly the same way you would be if you had seen and agent and purchased a policy that cost a little more. My advice is see an insurance agent or two in person. Get advice on what the scope and price of coverage is and then choose which policy is best for your particular situation.
Let me give you an example of how two policies can differ greatly. An inexpensive underinsured motorist policy from a national online advertiser defines underinsured motorist coverage in a way that totally off sets the coverage by what the opposing driver has in liability coverage. A more traditional company that sells its policy through agents cost a little more, but it treats the same coverage as excess over the other driver's liability coverage. So if buyer one has $100,000.00 of underinsured coverage and is in a sever crash with another driver who has $100,000 of liability coverage and is badly injured he collects $100,000.00. The second buyer who paid a little more gets to collect $200,000.00. Obviously one of these policies offers much more protection than the other.
As I see it the problem with buying on line is that you don't get to ask questions face to face, and you really don't get an understanding of what is really covered. I recommend that you treat insurance like what it really is, a very important part of your financial risk management, even if some companies want to race to the bottom competing over price.
