Disability Income Insurance: What Every Dentist Needs to Know
January 11th, 2012
When you educate your patients about the basics of preventative dentistry, you're not only showing them how to keep their smiles beautiful for life. You're also helping them avoid learning the hard way about the most common dental disasters – up to and including the loss of their teeth.
But have you prepared as well for your own future—in particular, your financial future? What if, for example, you suddenly become disabled—through an accident…an injury…or an illness—and are unable to work? A...
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Through the years, we’ve met many new customers who have been under-insured where it matters, and over-insured where it doesn’t. Though this can happen for many reasons, the usual one is our customers’ previous insurance agent and his or her inattention to detail.
The fact of the matter is, times change, and so does the value of your possessions. Your insurance needs to keep up.
What is Under-Insurance?
Under-insurance is when you don’t have sufficient insurance to cover the value of the things that matter most to you. You may have under-estimated the cost of rebuilding your home and replacing the contents, or perhaps you’ve overlooked or under-valued some items in your home completely. Many people are either unaware that they are under-insured or, worse, have no home insurance at all.
Are you Under-Insured?
Your Van Beurden Insurance Associate can help you keep your insurance coverage relevant and your home and possessions properly insured. If you don’t keep your insurance coverage current, you might not be able to replace your home and its contents. For example, a TV you bought years ago may have cost $750 but the cost to replace it today is $1,200 and more. If you’ve insured it for the original cost, and it’s destroyed or stolen, you’d pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket to replace it.
How to Avoid Under-Insurance
When you receive your insurance renewal, think about re-evaluating your home and possessions. What did you buy this year? Did you do any home improvements? Do you own jewelry? A wine collection? Consider the replacement cost of your home and everything in it. Your Van Beurden Insurance Associate can help you determine if you are under-insured, and recommend the amount of insurance you’ll need to cover the full amount. If you do this review every year, your peace of mind will increase when you know you are completely covered.
Steps to Relevant Insurance Coverage
- Accurately assess the value of your home and its contents, or have a professional appraisal conducted by an experienced appraiser.
- Make an inventory of your possessions that estimates the value of each item in terms of what it would cost you to replace it today, NOT what you paid for it.
- If you have receipts for big ticket items, keep those with your list.
- Write down serial numbers or identifying elements and take photos of more unusual items such as paintings or jewelry.
- Expensive items (jewelry, antiques, cars, wine collections, etc.) should be valued by a qualified appraiser and re-valued every three to four years.
- Some items such as bicycles, jewelry, home theatre entertainment systems and computers (and unusual items such as musical instruments) should be specifically inventoried in your policy so you can be confident they are fully covered.
Some items may be better insured under a valuables policy rather than a contents policy. Discuss this with your Van Beurden Insurance Associate.
