Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with insurance

No Renters Insurance for Internet pros?

lastobelus — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:40:05 -0800

How can I get renter's household insurance for a Web Application Developer in Vancouver, Canada My girlfriend and I have been trying to get insured since we moved in to a house together, and none of the usual suspects (almost all of whom broker for ING anyway) will give us insurance because I am a freelance web application developer. They all tell us that they will not cover us because I work with the Internet.

Has anyone dealt with this, and gotten insured? I don't mind covering the risk of my computer's & monitors as I have no cash flow problems but we would like to at least get fire & disaster insurance.

Individual vs. Group Health Insurance: Moral & Financial Dilemma

mygothlaundry — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:43:48 -0800

Moral, Economic & Logistical Health Insurance Question: Can/Should I switch myself and my son to a private health insurance plan from my (bad, expensive) group one even though that will result in my whole company losing their coverage? It's time for health insurance renewals at my small (REALLY small: 4 employees) nonprofit in North Carolina. For the last two years I've been covered under their plan, which costs me about $200 a month and does not cover my 16 year old perfectly healthy son at all. They quoted me an additional $345 per month to cover him and I couldn't afford it; so for the last two years he's just gone without insurance. Obviously, this has to change and, since my insurance will now cost $250 a month and I absolutely do not have an extra $50 per month, this is the time to change it.

I've been researching individual plans and have found a couple that are really close to $200 and will cover us both. Granted, they are high deductible but frankly, we're both pretty healthy and I'd rather have us both covered than only one. So it would seem like a no-brainer to switch off the health insurance EXCEPT, and here is the clincher:

My work's insurance company has told us that since we are so small, if any one employee opts for no coverage, they will drop the entire group. "IF that employee has other group coverage (spouse, government such as Medicaid or Medicare) they can opt out. Otherwise on a group your size it must be 100% participation of all eligible employees." is the exact quote from my email last week when I inquired about this.

That would mean that two of my coworkers, who have major health issues, would be completely screwed. That's what has kept me from doing this for the last two years. I don't want to consign them to death and I kind of feel like I would be doing just that. But I'm tired of feeling like I'm depriving my child in favor of my coworkers. I thought of getting an individual plan for my son in addition, but that's going to cost at least $100 per month, which means I would have to come up with an additional $150 more per month than I am right now. I work for a non-profit; I make a non-profit salary and honestly I really can't afford even what I'm already paying. There is no way I could come up with $150 extra. To maintain the status quo and add an extra $50 per month is going to be nearly impossible and it makes me sick to think of paying more when I can't even add my own child. This is making me bang my head against the wall. Help. What should I do?

Motorcycle Insurance in Massachusetts?

santaliqueur — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:33:40 -0800

Where can I find motorcycle insurance in Massachusetts? I'm in the process of buying a scooter that will need motorcycle insurance. Most companies don't do business in Massachusetts. Anyone know of a place to get it? I'm also interested in switching my auto insurance, if I can get a better rate. My current insurer is Commerce, and they don't do motorcycles, I believe. Thanks for any help.

How to get art insurance?

Dukebloo — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:36:05 -0800

Does anybody know about art insurance? How to go about getting coverage? How much it costs? Who are some trustworthy insurers? I don't have a Picasso or anything, so I'm not talking about a million- or even hundred-thousand dollar coverage policy. Just have some random things I've collected that might warrant considering it.

How do you negotiate with insurance companies after an accident?

FlamingBore — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:31:04 -0800

How do we navigate auto insurance negotiation post accident? My partner was involved in a major auto accident this past week. We're now trying to figure out all the insurance craziness. Looks like all the other AskMeFi questions are dealing with someone else's insurance company and we're only dealing with hers. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

On Monday she was driven off the road on I-91 near Holyoke MA. The other driver did not stop and no one has come forward with his/her license plate details, etc. There were witnesses and the police report indicates she was not at fault. She is lucky to be alive and is thanking her lucky stars that her 15 year old Audi took the bullet for her.

The car is totaled (we're pretty sure, as are all parties who have seen it thus far) and we're just waiting to hear from the insurance company. How can she best navigate this situation to get the most from her insurance company to replace the car?

The car was a 93 Audi 90s with about 108k miles on it. She was paying for full coverage. She maintained it well and had recently put in about $1600 worth of work into it.

We've been told that she can negotiate with the insurance company. We've also been told that they are likely to offer her considerably less than the NADA book value, but she should push back on them saying that's the guide to go by.

Is there an insurance adjuster in the house? Any tips, suggestions or insider information to make this as non-excruciating as possible?

Uninsured and unfocused

zoomorphic — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:02:42 -0800

I'm a typical ADD adult, and I don't have health insurance until at least September. I'm down to my last few Ritalin tablets, and I need a new Rx. How much does Ritalin (or Concerta, Adderall, etc) typically cost without insurance, and can I minimize these costs without having to sign up for an interim insurance plan? What are the best generic varieties of the big name psychostimulants? Will getting an Rx while uninsured just kick up my fees when I am finally covered by a health plan because my condition is pre-existing? I've been on Ritalin since I was in fifth grade, where I escalated from a back-of-the-class, disorganized goof-off into a straight-A, ambitious student. Maybe that's a red flag for dependency, but I don't care--Ritalin does right by me.

When I graduated college and no longer had insurance I went off of the pills for two years and floundered, had a string of bad jobs, and I kept a filled bottle around Just In Case. Finally I started using the pills again, and my career is on track. Now I'm down to the last few tablets. I'm now a writer/editor, so in addition to keeping me focused and on task throughout the day (I'm naturally hardwired to work at night, 7pm-3am), Ritalin gives me a sustained sense of well-being that vastly improves my vocabulary and mental acrobatics. I don't want to give it up and see what happens.

I'm currently uninsured, though by September I'll officially be on staff and thusly on a plan. I have medical records stating a pre-existing history with Ritalin.

Then I came across this question that puzzled me. Can my new insurance plan opt to not cover my ADD meds because I have a pre-existing condition? I managed to last without Ritalin for over two years, so will I be shooting myself in the foot if I get another Rx two months before my health insurance kicks in?

Am I overthinking or misinterpreting this? Obviously I don't understand the health insurance maze at all, but I do understand that I can't afford $270/bottle of Ritalin every month (I assume generics are my best bet), nor do I want to face the repercussions of being the scatterbrained, where-did-I-put-that-manuscript trainwreck I can be when left to my own unmedicated devices.

I'm in NYC/Brooklyn, a 25 year old woman, and survive on the minimal bounties of a writer's salary.

Rental Car Insurance and Diminished Value Claims

coffeefilter — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:39:10 -0800

Rental Car Insurance - "Diminished Value" - Say you decline their insurance, and there's an accident. How commonly do car rental companies try to get around your personal car insurance and your credit card car insurance with a "diminished value" claim, or other sneaky end-runs? Because apparently, they can.

Liability Creep

Coverage Gaps

Visa does not cover "diminished value"

Driving uninsured?

Autarky — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:18:03 -0800

What happens if I get caught driving without car insurance? I'm going to be in possession of a car for a very short amount of time. Insuring it would be impractical. I don't *have* to drive it, but it would help a lot to make a few trips to a grocery store a few miles away. Obviously if I get in an accident I could be in some deep trouble, and it's a risk I'd have to take very seriously (though I have a perfect record).

What I'm wondering about is if, say, I get pulled over because of a broken brakelight or for speeding or something. What would be the penalty for driving sans insurance?

Driving infraction: to contest or not?

dougiedd — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:32:30 -0800

I was pulled over the other night after making a right turn at a stop sign. I believe i came to a complete stop but believe the officer could not properly see the sign or intersection from where he was standing. ( they seemed to be pulling lots of cars over: i watched three get pulled over in the short time i was stopped) How can i decide whether to contest this case? In my mind the key variables are: keeping a clean driving abstract so my insurance rates don't go up versus the hassle of going to court and potentially losing the case ( i am planning to photograph the site to see how strong my evidence looks and don't know yet). How would i discover whether this would affect my rates? In hawaii. Geico is the insurer

Freelance liability insurance is making my head hurt.

Stacey — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:52:39 -0800

I'm a small freelance business owner, with a new client whose standard contract requires me to carry general liability insurance. Probably not a bad idea, so I could use some tips for what to look for in this type of insurance, and any good carriers. But in the meanwhile, for this specific contract, I'd like to get that clause waived. Has anyone had any success having a clause like this waived, and how did you do it? I run a small copy-editing business part-time. Liability insurance hasn't been an issue up until now. Clients aren't on my property, I'm not on theirs, no one's traveling anywhere, they make all final decisions on whether to accept my suggestions...it just hasn't been a high priority and no one's asked about it before. But my new client is so happy with the job I just did that he wants to get me signed up as a contractor at his university so he can hire me again. Which is great, but there's this boilerplate language in the contract about how I need to carry all sorts of insurance - the general liability, plus workers' comp, employer's liability, and automobile liability.

Ultimately, if I can afford it, it's probably not a bad idea to have this sort of insurance. I'd like to start looking into it, and would gladly accept suggestions for companies that might have a reasonably-priced insurance policy for this sort of business. (I've looked around a little so far and the policies I'm finding seem to assume full-time employees, property, and 6-figure revenues, which is all way out of my league right now.)

In the short-term, I'd like to get paid for the job I've already done (which was originally supposed to be a one-off and thus not require all of this), and have time to look around for good insurance rather than jumping into the first thing I find just so I can satisfy this contract. A little Googling led me to some stories of editors who were able to have clauses like this waived after pointing out they don't really apply to businesses like mine. I'd like to try that tack and am looking for advice on how to proceed. Has anyone successfully had something like this waived in a contract? If so, what arguments were persuasive?

Treatments deemed unnecessary after the fact, do we have to pay?

Sloben — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:12:43 -0800

Several months after her last visit to physical therapy, my fiancee was informed that her health insurance company won't pay for the last two months of it because they didn't think it was "medically necessary". Even if she upheld all her obligations, including co-pays every visit, is she liable for these charges? (more details inside) Some details:
- Jan: She was referred to an in-network physical therapist from her primary care physician due to pain from a back injury.
- June: Almost 5 months later the therapist stopped therapy as they felt they had done all they could do. She had paid her co-pay every visit and had even inquired about whether she needed additional referrals from her physician, to which she was answered no.
- Nov: Almost 6 months after the last visit, she was informed by the health insurance company that they weren't paying for the final two months of visits due to lack of "medical necessity".
- Feb: The physical therapist starts sending us bills for the final two months of treatment.

Since then we have appealed the "medical necessity" assessment with the health insurance company and were denied. They essentially said they had repeatedly asked for additional notes from the therapist regarding the final two months, and once they received them had deemed the treatment ineffective (and unnecessary) because she wasn't demonstrating the required improvement to prove the ongoing treatment medically beneficial.
We have also filed a complaint with the Illinois Dept. of Insurance, but they essentially said there is nothing they can do.

The therapist is getting aggressive and threatening to call a collections agency if we don't pay several thousand dollars.

We feel that at some point during those two months someone should have at least let us know these treatments might not have been covered instead of half a year later. We are mostly upset with the therapist because it seemed like they racked up 60 days worth of charges even while the insurance company was not paying them, all while my fiancee was never informed or given alternative options. We have researched things quite a bit, but short of getting a lawyer, haven't found any details in terms of legal obligations and obligated time frames that might help us out. Any help or suggestions from the hivemind?

iphone insurance possibility

femmme — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:37:55 -0800

How can I insure my Iphone? I am completely addicted to my iphone. I have a case and all that jazz but I am still scared of her breaking. apple care only *fixes* it if its not jailbroken. Mine is; so that immediately wipes out apple care. Is there any third party coverage I can buy that would cover theft also. I charged it but not on a credit card that has the coverage. Since I got such an insane deal I had to move fast and don't really understand if and what cards have insurance and what that would cover...:( but it is too late now regarless...
Hive mind, lay it on me!

No one likes Cigna DMO. :o(

acorn1515 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:39:28 -0800

Help me escape the clutches of my Russian dentist -- who do you recommend as a general dentist in midtown Manhattan? I've already checked out previous posts here recommending Dr. Lantner, Dr. Deidan and Dr. Wong, but none of them take Cigna DMO.

The last time I randomly selected a dentist from the provider list, the office ended up being a sketchy half dentist office/talent agency, where only after he started drilling (for what I was told was a routine filling) did the dentist inform me that he was putting on a temporary patch, and that I needed to get a root canal. And the dental hygienists only spoke Russian -- I felt like Elaine in that episode of "Seinfeld" where she's in the Korean nail salon.

Any recommendations in midtown? A search for dentist, of the 10036 zip (where my office is located), for CIGNA DHMO turned up Drs. Krasnov, Gulbenkian, and Klein,
as well as several docs with the Group Health Dental Facility, and the Ferreira Dental Group, among others.

Job-loss Mortgage Insurance?

JPowers — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:05:11 -0800

Should I get job-loss mortgage insurance? I've got a GREAT job, have no plans to ever leave or get fired, but for peace of mind, should I get insurance that will pay my mortgage for me if I ever run into an extended period of unemployment? My question is more along the lines of "is this type of insurance generally considered a waste of money?" Specific company/plan suggestions would be great as well.

Long term care insurance - worth it?

beagle — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:37:49 -0800

Calling all insurance pros: Is it worth keeping my long term care insurance? I have long term care insurance policies for myself and my wife (both approaching 60). The current premium is $978 per year for each of us. We started the policies about 10 years ago. At the time, the premium was $684 a year, but it has been raised several times. There is a 5% annual benefit increase provision, so the daily nursing care benefit currently is $264, with a limit of $289,080, for each of us. So, its the equivalent of 3 years of care, at that daily rate. The policies include home health care benefits and spousal waiver of benefits provisions. There is a 90-day elimation period (no benefits payable until period of care passes that point).

When it comes to health, home and auto insurance, I am risk-averse, and would want to avoid a situation of eating up other assets to pay for nursing care. On the other hand, 2 grand a year total for the 2 of us is getting a bit steep.

I know I've "invested" around $15K into these policies, but that's water under the bridge. My questions are:
Is $978 a year a good deal for the benefits involved?
Are there better deals?
Do I get any benefit from continuing these payments now, versus just letting it lapse and restarting policies when we are, say, 70?

Thanks for any insights.

yes, I am actually that lazy.

nihlton — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:58:10 -0800

Can i take my driver's license test in a rental? Since it probably makes a difference, I am in washington state, seattle specifically.

so nearing the age of 26 its probably about time i got my driver's license. however, I don't have a car, or know someone with a car in which i would be insured.

Can i rent a car with only a learner's permit?

Can I pay to have a friend's car insured for a month such that I would be covered while I take the test?

what are my options here?

This seems like a rather nasty catch 22 situation.

Should we repair unclaimed damage before an inspection?

Anonymous — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:18:22 -0800

Ontario car insurance. My wife and I have insurance through PC financial. Over the last year, our cars have been damaged, but we haven't filed a claim. Now, they've requested an inspection of our cars. Is this just to ensure they don't pay for preexisting damage in the event of future claims, or can we expect them to get mad/raise rates for this? My wife's car was damaged when I was a blind idiot in a parking lot. I did about $800-1000 damage to my wife's car which we haven't gotten fixed, and about $900 in damage to a nice lady's car. We paid her cash (the quote to repair the damage came much lower than we were anticipating), and had her sign an agreement/receipt for the cash and that she had no further claims against us. 5+ months later and we haven't heard further from her. Neither party reported this to the police. This is a newer, but low sticker price car.

Someone tried unsuccessfully to break into my car. In the process of this, both door handles were popped partially out of the car. I had an estimate of $300 to fix. It's a mid-age low sticker price car. We had reported this to the police. We were told that there was a series of successful auto thefts in our area that night, to consider ourselves lucky that they failed with my car, and that they were unlikely to catch the culprits. This occured 6-12 months ago.

We have just enough money in savings to get these fixed if we need to. But we're alright with the unsightliness and would rather have the money for future emergencies that don't involve cosmetic damage to possessions.

Should we get the cars fixed ASAP and then bring them in for the inspection? Should we have notified the insurance company of damage to the cars that we weren't making claims for and then bring the cars in? Should we just bring the cars in and let them make notes and then go our merry way? Should we start budgeting for a rate increase?

Any reason not to accept a disability policy with exclusions I don't like?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:44:18 -0800

Will accepting a disability insurance policy with pre-existing condition exclusions negatively impact my ability to get a policy without them later or have other negative effects? I've been offered a disability policy, but it contains an exclusion for all mental health conditions because I underwent therapy for anxiety following 9/11 (I lived a few blocks away). They've said there's no way to remove the exclusion. If I take the policy, am I putting a blot on my permanent record (or is there already one)? In the short term, I don't see this exclusion in itself as being a problem, but I'm worried about the secondary effects of accepting a policy with such exclusions.

I can of course shop around for another policy, but in the meantime, I'd like to be covered, and would cancel later if I found better coverage. Will there be negative ramifications to accepting this policy in the meantime? If you require more info, send email to askanoninsurance@yahoo.com.

Insurance claim against other driver denied. So what now?

Anonymous — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:18:30 -0800

Insurance claim against other driver denied. So what now? Two weeks ago my step daughter was involved in a collision. She was turning left at a four way stop, and was hit in the passenger side rear door by someone going straight on. She said she had let someone else through, then was taking her turn when he hit her.

The other driver said he was taking his turn, and she pulled in front of him. He also said that he was traveling at less than 5mph when he hit her. The police officer obviously didn't agree, asked him twice if he was sure of that, and suggested he look at our car before answering. One look at the damage made it obvious he was going a lot faster. (This is a fairly large intersection, so it is possible to build up speed, especially from a rolling stop).

He was ticketed, my step daughter was not.

Now his insurance company (Farmers) has denied our claim, saying he has a witness (who my stepdaughter never saw, and who did not talk to the police), who says that he had the right of way.

Our insurance company are now saying that they might pay his claim against her, and are no help for our claim as we had 3rd party insurance.

So now we have a written off car, a bill for towing and storage that is growing rapidly, and face future higher premiums.

So what do we do now?
Do I pay the $600 storage to get the lien off the car, sell it to a junkyard?
Sue Farmers?
Go to the other driver's court date?

(Oh, this is in Oregon)

Has anyone used Careington Dental plan, or something comparable?

nitsuj — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:01:46 -0800

Has anyone used Careington Dental plan, or something comparable? My girlfriend and I are looking to get some basic work done on our teeth. We don't have insurance, so are looking at using a dental plan of some sort. Does anyone have any experience with Careington?

They offer a $6.95 per month plan that gets you great rates on lots of procedures. Too good to be true?

It doesn't seem like full dental insurance would make sense for us, since we rarely have work done.

This is in the United States.

I was just in a car accident and I need your advice on how to handle it.

sharkfu — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:54:30 -0800

I was just in a car accident and I need your advice on how to handle it. I'm a little shaken up and I live alone so I have no one to advise me on how to handle this.

While dropping my friend off at the airport, I approached a police checkpoint (just police cars and cones, not a parking structure with an arm that lowers) where two lanes merged into one to stop for ID Check. I was ahead of a parking shuttle van (privately company owned), 90% merged, and at a full stop as I waited for the two cars ahead of me at the checkpoint.

The parking shuttle, who I thought was just riding rather close because he was overly aggressive, didn't stop and dented/ scraped the left rear of my car with the right front of his van. I guess he didn't see me or he wasn't paying attention. It happens.

I pulled up to the checkpoint and the cop had me pull over. He said since there were no injuries no police report was needed. He did note that there was major paint transfer from his van to mine, but none from mine to his (does this prove I was stopped and he was the one moving up?).

I was shaken but it was really slow accident so it wasn't bad. We exchanged info, but he didn't have the insurance info in the van so I had follow him back to the parking office to get it.

That's where everything got crappy...

The owner and manager at the van place were complete jerks. I've been in accidents before and I always strive to make it amicable despite adrenaline and emotions. They didn't want to listen to my side of the story, claimed I was in the wrong lane and it was my fault, and talked about calling the cops. I told them I was fine with that. When we did exchange info, they photocopied my insurance card rather than writing down. When I asked if they could just photocopy theirs to save us time they said "that's not our problem". At one point I said, "You know this doesn't have to be adversarial, we can still be amicable" and they just grunted. They just generally made an unfortunate situation really crappy. I got the sense they were kinda shady jerks.

I don't like conflict or making things worse, so I'm honestly more shaken up by their attitude and behavior than the accident itself.

And here's the thing: 6 Months ago a guy rear-ended me. It was low speed, no damage was done. The guy was so nice and apologetic about it I told him to forget it. We didn't need to make claims. He even offered me cash and I turned him down. It's an older car and it's not in perfect shape so I didn't want to hassle either him or me.

If they had been nice to me I might have done the same this time. But they're behavior makes me want to be formal about it and teach them a lesson. But is this shooting myself in the foot? I think I have a $500 deductible--so it might not even been covered AND my rates might go up, right?

So is my desire to win overshadowing my own best interests?

Other minor details:

-98 Honda Civic, not in great condition

-Progressive insurance, customer for 9 years

- Picture: imagevenue link

-Could they claim whiplash or something (by one of the van passengers) and sue me?

-I really don't like that they have my address-- will they retaliate against me? I'm probably paranoid but they seemed like the kind of guys who could do that.

Mostly I just want this to go away, but I'm trying to fight through that to deal with it in the best way.

Should I file a claim for hail damage?

stovenator — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:06:01 -0800

My car has a few dings in it from a hailstorm last night. Should I file a claim with my insurance? I drive a 2006 BMW 330i, and I have two or three dings on the roof, and one or two on the hood. My comprehensive deductible is $500 . Is it worth it for me to submit a claim? How much is it likely going to cost me to get it fixed?

Pre-existing condition waiting period?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:12:49 -0800

(USA filter) I just got health insurance, Yeah! But I just got a letter that I have to wait a year before they will pay for something that diagnosis "should have been" received before the effective date of my policy. So does that mean if I have tests that show that a cancer probably started two months ago, I'm screwed? So this means I shouldn't have any tests for a year??

I feel fine but I really want to have the tests that I am supposed to be getting for my age. I just feel devastated.

Help me find medical insurance in Boston.

nightengine — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:33:21 -0800

Help me find medical insurance in Boston. My family and I are moving to Boston in a couple months so I can return to school. Up until now, my employer has provided our medical insurance. However, I will not be employed while in school, and my wife (a music teacher) is still looking for a position. I can elect to use COBRA, but the premiums are outrageous. I vaguely know Massachusetts has a law requiring all residents to be covered by insurance. So I have several questions. First, how long do we need to reside in MA to qualify for any plans offered to residents? Second, where do we go to look for plans? Finally, which plans do MA MeFites recommend or avoid like the plague? If we can't look for policies through whatever state mechanism exists, please recommend a broker or other solution.

We are a family of three (two adults and a 4-year-old). Any plan we consider will have to have (a) decent prescription drug benefits and (b) mental health coverage.

Is my mother's estate being scammed?

forthright — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:10:43 -0800

Medical insurance paperwork still coming in 9 months after my mother passed away. My mother passed away when she was living in a nursing home the end of September 2007. Ever since then I have been receiving explanation of benefits letters from Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Medicare. I can certainly understand bills for the date she was rushed to the emergency room, and for some a month or two prior that had just been working their way through the system.

But I am still getting bills from dates prior to the date she died. How do I know if this is fraud? Who would remember what was or was not done that long ago, and obviously the patient cannot be asked. It seems unlikely an xray lab or psychiatrist could take 9 or 10 months to get around to submitting a bill. The whole thing seems fishy.

Up until now it has been academic because the bills showed nothing due from the estate. The last couple amount to a few hundred dollars supposedly being owed, and are from August 2007.

Has anyone else run into this with their deceased loved ones? I tried doing the following MeFi search and did not see anything that sounded like my situation: "deceased bills insurance nursing home".

Has anyone ever complained and if so, to whom?

Thanks in advance for any advice. As you can imagine this is a little more emotional than your average unexpected mail, since it brings me back to a time I was trying to get over.