Hurricane Season 2004--please read

(Jan) wrote in message om...


imo, medical problems are generally the main issue. So if I have an
accident in the Caribbean and need to go to Miami or similar, it'd be
more than a few holidays' insurance to equal the amount I'd pay for
treatment.


Good point to consider on two counts:

1. This has little or nothing to do with Trip Cancellation policies,
such as trips cancelled because of hurricanes, e.g.

2. This can be just a secondary Travel insurance to cover MEDICAL
expenses outside of the USA that is not covered by your primary
medical insurance. It covers domestic travel as well.

Here's an Actual policy that may suit your needs (DISCLAIMER: I am
NOT selling this or any other insurance nor have any business
affiliation with the company, directly or indirectly!!)

Access America BASIC Annual Travel Protection

Benefits and maximum coverage amounts PER INDIVIDUAL:

Medical Expense Coverage $ 10,000
Medical Transportation $ 25,000
Travel Accident Insurance $ 25,000
Accidemt Death Insurance $100.000

Total package price: $124.
For details, call 1-866-455-6110.

For scuba divers who carry the DAN (Divers Alert Network) insurance,
for diving related accidents and medical costs throughout the world,
Access America's Emergency Evacuation costs used to be part of the
DAN insurance benefits. No longer.


-- Bob.

It's all a bet. How much is at stake, what are the odds and what does
the money mean to me. $10 for a $400 camera, I would probably take the
insurance. $10 on a $100 camera I probably wouldn't. Is there a 1 in
10 chance of the camera breaking? I doubt it. Is there a 1 in 40
chance, I'm not sure so I might just buy the insurance.

Chris Guynn wrote:

"DrYak" wrote in message
news:CGdrc.34010$Md.22500@lakeread05...

Charlie,
Sorry, but it is all a bet. Look at the probabilities and the loss to
get the expected value or pay for insurance. And insurance companies
also invest your premium so they can lose all the premium and still show
a profit because of the investments. So I usually decline the
"insurance" at Best Buy because they want too much to insure my new toy
maybe $25 for something that costs $100. Now if they would insure it
for $5 I'd probably take the insurance.


I recently purchased a $400 open box camera from Best Buy for $100 and had
the camera insured for about $10. If it breaks, they'll probably give me a
brand new one (comparable or better), so it was well worth the risk (I've
actually thought about breaking it on purpose :-).




Charlie Hammond wrote:

In article t,
"Skip Elliott Bowman" writes:



Hurricane season is June 1 through November 30, with most gales forming
mid-July through November. While this is no reason not to go or to

cancel

existing plans, a prudent option would be to hedge your plans with
insurance.

[emphasis added]


THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT POLICIES AVAILABLE AND ALL ARE A

LOT

CHEAPER THAN HAVING TO LOSE YOUR $$ OR YOUR VACATION.


I'm sorry to point out that this last is not correct.
Casualty insurance alwasy cost more than it pays out.
This is becasue it has to pay sales commissions and other business
expences in addition to what it pays out. Insurance companies make

money.

Because of this, the general rule is NOT to insure any loss you can
afford to sustain. Well, if you can't afford the cost of your vacation,
then stay home.

Also keep in mind that you will probably NOT loose all of your vacation
money. Most resorts and airlines will (inspite of the original posters
statements) make a full or partial refund under most conditions --
certainly if a hurrican makes thier providing the contracted services
impossible.

My advice is to SAVE the money you would pay for trip insurance.
Every few years you'll have saved enough to treat yourself to a
better vacation -- maybe even a "free" one.

"Jess Englewood" wrote in message ...

I use Blue Cross Blue Shield, and we are covered anywhere in the world.

Negative.

I have ever gone where Blue Cross
Blue Shield affilliates are not available. No where...PNG, Africa,
Solomons, Indonesia, Micronesia, China, Galapagos etc.

You are a scuba diver! :-)

BCBS covers only a small portion of the medical costs. Most travel
insurance policies have "exclusions" on high risk sports, including
skydiving, and scuba diving.

That is why many scuba divers carry DAN (Divers Alert Network) insurance
for diving-related medical expaness to cover what BCBS does NOT cover.


Of course I carry supplemental insurance for med evac and chamber treatment.

DAN Insuraance? You had better check the changes in the current
policies on evacuation and other previously covered costs that are no
longer included in the coverage by DAN, not even under the Master Plan.

-- Bob.

DrYak wrote in message news:auyrc.41021$Md.11546@lakeread05...

It's all a bet. How much is at stake, what are the odds and what does
the money mean to me.

Not enough.


$10 for a $400 camera, I would probably take the insurance.

Then you paid too much for the insurance! Many shipping carriers
already includes an insurance of $100 in the cost of shipping.
Additional insurance costs no more than $0.90 per additional $100
unit, for all such services.

http://www.dsiinsurance.com/programs.asp?subNav=oneTime

For a $400 item, the insurance cost shouldn't exceed $3.60.


$10 on a $100 camera I probably wouldn't.

Especially when the insurance could be "free". See the link above.



Is there a 1 in 10 chance of the camera breaking? I doubt it.
Is there a 1 in 40 chance, I'm not sure so I might just buy the insurance.

This only affects your personal decision of BUY or NOT BUY the insurance.

Once you selected to buy, there is such a thing as "comparison shopping"
to find out the COST for such an insurance.

In that respect, both you and Chris Guyan overpaid, regardless of the
risks or odds or how you come to the "buy" or "not buy" decision,
according to the insurance premium chart

http://www.dsiinsurance.com/programs.asp?subNav=oneTime


Chris Guynn wrote:

I recently purchased a $400 open box camera from Best Buy for $100 and had
the camera insured for about $10.

Took a sucker bet, as did Dr. Yak.


If it breaks, they'll probably give me a
brand new one (comparable or better), so it was well worth the risk (I've
actually thought about breaking it on purpose :-).

You probably considered taking a medical/life insurance and injure
yourself or commit suicide too? :-)) Read the insurance policies
first, before you do. :-

-- Bob.

Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..

That's one of the reasons that I object to the mandatory insurance.

You are wrong here, grandma, or at least you seemed to be confused
about what's mandatory and what's not.

The mandatory insurance is only on the LIABILITY portion. It has
nothing to do with the value of your Rolls or your clunker. In
many States in the US, the "uninsured motorist" clause is mandatory,
but that's only to protect the insured from having to pay for
damages caused by an uninsured motorist.


We have to insure all our cars regardless of their open market value
to the same amount, and when we have an accident, they will only pay
the blue book value or something close to it.

The OPTIONAL insurance, covered under "Collison", "Comprehensive",
and other clauses of automobile insurance that are not mandatory,
DO depend on the open market value of the car. The premiumm for
"uninsured motorist" (mandatory or not) does depend on the coverage
amount you choose, so in a sense it DOES depend on the market value
of your car too. If you have a clunker, choose the MINIMUM
mandatory coverage. That's the best you can do.


I had an uninsured
motorist hit me, and total an old but in perfect condition nicely
running car, and they would only give me $500 for it. I could not
replace the car for that amount.

What's your complaint, grandma?

If you were not required to carry the "uninsured motorist" insurance
for just a few dollars, and you didn't carry it, you would have lost
your same car, and the $500 the insurance covered, wouldn't it?

So, the mandatory "uninsured motorist" SAVED you hundreds of dollars,
because that insurance costs only a few dollars if you choose the
minimum coverage.


grandma Rosalie

-- Bob.

(Reef Fish) wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..

That's one of the reasons that I object to the mandatory insurance.

You are wrong here, grandma, or at least you seemed to be confused
about what's mandatory and what's not.

The mandatory insurance is only on the LIABILITY portion. It has
nothing to do with the value of your Rolls or your clunker. In
many States in the US, the "uninsured motorist" clause is mandatory,
but that's only to protect the insured from having to pay for
damages caused by an uninsured motorist.

That's what I was complaining about. In our state we have mandatory
certain minimum amount of uninsured motorist insurance.

We have to insure all our cars regardless of their open market value
to the same amount, and when we have an accident, they will only pay
the blue book value or something close to it.

The OPTIONAL insurance, covered under "Collison", "Comprehensive",
and other clauses of automobile insurance that are not mandatory,
DO depend on the open market value of the car. The premiumm for
"uninsured motorist" (mandatory or not) does depend on the coverage
amount you choose, so in a sense it DOES depend on the market value
of your car too. If you have a clunker, choose the MINIMUM
mandatory coverage. That's the best you can do.

That's not what I had. I have no Collision on any of the cars.

My complaint is I have to carry minimum $100,000 uninsured motorist on
all the cars which I've had to pay out on for 20 some years (from when
we moved to Maryland) at the very least. We have about 20 cars, of
which we actually drive about three to five regularly (Several of
them are 'antiques' which can't be driven very much because they have
antique licenses, but they all must be insured the same way because we
don't have enough garage space for all of them and to get separate
antique car insurance they have to be garaged) and have about 7
insured.

Also, according to state law I have to have the same liability on all
the cars - the ones I drive where I need it and don't want the minimum
and the ones I don't drive where I really don't need any insurance but
have to have it in order to keep the car licensed.

I had an uninsured
motorist hit me, and total an old but in perfect condition nicely
running car, and they would only give me $500 for it. I could not
replace the car for that amount.

What's your complaint, grandma?

If you were not required to carry the "uninsured motorist" insurance
for just a few dollars, and you didn't carry it, you would have lost
your same car, and the $500 the insurance covered, wouldn't it?

It isn't just a few dollars over time and the number of vehicles that
we have. If I had only the coverage for the amount the insurance
company would pay on the car, it would be mega cheaper.

So, the mandatory "uninsured motorist" SAVED you hundreds of dollars,
because that insurance costs only a few dollars if you choose the
minimum coverage.

I'll never get back anything on the thousands of dollars I've paid
over the years for uninsured motorist. The car cost about $1200 used,
and all I wanted was enough money to replace it. I didn't want
thousands of dollars. I wasn't going to buy a new car. They didn't
even want to pay the money for my 4 broken ribs (a minimal amount
really) because we have limited PIP on everything except the uninsured
motorist.

$500 is a trivial amount when it comes to buying even a used car. I
can afford to lose that amount. What I can't really afford is all the
money I pay in premiums.

grandma Rosalie

"Jess Englewood" wrote in message
...

(snip)
IF I remember right chilly once posted that BCBS of Canada does not cover
members when traveling outside of the country.

Sorry, you don't remember correctly. What I said was that BC told me that I
wouldn't be covered if I went to certain countries. Of course, it was the
countries to which I intended to travel that were not covered.

Further, I've learned that they do not pay the front end expenses or take
care of you. You must handle all yourself as well as pay, and then recover
upon your return.

The insurance I get now, according to my agent (who has had clients that
required major assistance), will take care of me from moment reported and
pay all costs from the get go, as well as look after logistics.

"chilly" wrote in message
news:XZHrc.533256$Pk3.159624@pd7tw1no...

Further, I've learned that they do not pay the front end expenses or take
care of you. You must handle all yourself as well as pay, and then
recover
upon your return.

Some BCBS here in the states is like that as well. It all matters what group
you buy into. Mine is not a pay first, get reimbursed later.....but I do
still have the same deductible and office visit payment of 15 bucks no
matter where I'm at. What I like about group I'm in is that if I decide to
see a doc out of the PPO my coverages remain the same, the deductible just
doubles. Which isn't a great amount of money for the option of additional
choice.

Though if the coverage was better and the overall costs lower I wouldn't
mind at all being in a plan that made me pay first and get reimbursed later.
But as it is I get a good level of coverage for my whole family, worldwide
for about $ 450.00 per month.

In article , "Jess Englewood"
wrote:

Some BCBS here in the states is like that as well. It all matters what group
you buy into. Mine is not a pay first, get reimbursed later.....but I do
still have the same deductible and office visit payment of 15 bucks no
matter where I'm at. What I like about group I'm in is that if I decide to
see a doc out of the PPO my coverages remain the same, the deductible just
doubles. Which isn't a great amount of money for the option of additional
choice.

Double check on this w/BCBS. Some will pay in the US, but require you to be
reimbursed if outside the US. Also, some (if not most areas) may require you
to pay and be reimbursed no matter what BCBS says about coverage outside the
US.

--
"No"
Amy Carter when asked if she had a message for
the children of America.

"Kurt Ullman" wrote in message
ink.net...


Double check on this w/BCBS.

Sometimes Usenet is such an incredibly valuable resource :^)

Next to happen will be some fine newsgroup participant, with years of travel
experience to draw from, suggesting that I not pack a gun in my carry on.