TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
You’ve bumped into a pole; there’s a little damage but nothing too bad. Should you even call your insurance company?
That is a question faced by countless drivers every day and the answer is not always so straightforward. The short of it is yes, there are situations where it is ok, and even more beneficial, to not call your insurance company after damaging your car. What are some of those situations?
The Types of Accidents You Can Pay For Out of Pocket
Filing too many claims through your insurer can cause your rates to soar; costing you hundreds if not thousands over the coming years. If you find yourself in the following situations, think twice before calling them up.
An Inexpensive One Car Accident
Bumping into a pole, your kid’s baseball putting a dent in the side: these are situations that cause some damage, but nothing that’s too expensive to fix. Damage you inflict to your own car is always handled through your collision or comprehensive insurance. Both coverages come with deductibles that usually range from $50 all the way up to $2,000. If you estimate the damage inflicted to your car to be below your deductible, or even slightly above it, you should just handle the repairs out of pocket. If the damages are $300, but the deductible is $200, you would save $100 by filing a claim, but your company may decide to raise your rates, costing you more money in the long run.
The only thing we would advise in this situation is to make sure your estimate of the damage is accurate. Insurance companies expect claims to be submitted in a timely manner. If you wait too long, your claim may not be accepted. If the damage turns out to cost more than your initial estimates, you may be stuck paying for it. If you have a local auto body shop, check with them to be sure the damage will be inexpensive to fix.
If you are injured in a one car accident, so long as you can afford the medical bills either out of pocket or through your health insurance, you do not need to report it. If you hit a pedestrian however, that always needs to be reported.
A Very Minor Two Car Accident
In an accident with no more than two drivers where neither is injured and the damage minimal, you can both agree to not call the insurance company. The benefits of not calling your insurance company are the same as in the situation above. Admittedly however, it is a bit trickier with an extra driver. We would advise you only do this if you trust the other driver.
The reason being, the other driver can at any time renege on their agreement to not involve the insurance companies. It may not be wholeheartedly , but say the damage to their car turns out to be more costly than originally thought, or their neck starts to hurt a few hours later. The intent could be malicious as well, where they try to take advantage of the agreement by blaming you for damage to their car you didn’t even cause.
It will be disadvantageous if it comes down to them having their insurance company behind them, and you by yourself. So, unless you know or really trust the other driver, we would not recommend you not call your insurance company even in the most minor of two car accidents. If the other driver is trustworthy however, then this situation would be ok.
The Types of Accidents Where You Should Always Report it
There are a few accidents where no matter what you need to report to your insurance company. What are they?
Accidents Where Someone Else is Injured
If another driver involved in your accident is injured, even if its minor, it needs to be reported. Medical expenses are costly no matter where you go in the U.S. If they need to get themselves checked out due to injury, most likely they will come after you to pay the bills.
How much you need to pay depends on how much at fault you were, and that depends on which state you live in. For example, If you live in a state like Missouri, the amount you pay is proportional to the amount you were at fault. For car insurance in New Jersey on the other hand, if you are found less than 50% at fault, you do not have to pay anything.
What does this all mean? It means you do not want to be defending yourself on your own. You spent a lot of time and money finding the best car insurance company, so you will want them behind you to insure the other driver’s company is not taking advantage of you.
Accidents Where the Damage is Costly
Whether it's a one or multi-car accident, if the damage is large, you must report it. Your car may even be relatively unscathed but if you caused a lot of damage, you need to report it as well. Odds are, in such a large accident, even if no one is injured, someone is going to seek recompense from you. You will want your insurance company on your side for the same reasons you want them if someone else was injured. Your insurer doesn't want to pay out such a large claim either, so they're going to use their resources to fight and reduce your exposure.
Content courtesy of Value Penquin.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
You’ve bumped into a pole; there’s a little damage but nothing too bad. Should you even call your insurance company?
That is a question faced by countless drivers every day and the answer is not always so straightforward. The short of it is yes, there are situations where it is ok, and even more beneficial, to not call your insurance company after damaging your car. What are some of those situations?
The Types of Accidents You Can Pay For Out of Pocket
Filing too many claims through your insurer can cause your rates to soar; costing you hundreds if not thousands over the coming years. If you find yourself in the following situations, think twice before calling them up.
An Inexpensive One Car Accident
Bumping into a pole, your kid’s baseball putting a dent in the side: these are situations that cause some damage, but nothing that’s too expensive to fix. Damage you inflict to your own car is always handled through your collision or comprehensive insurance. Both coverages come with deductibles that usually range from $50 all the way up to $2,000. If you estimate the damage inflicted to your car to be below your deductible, or even slightly above it, you should just handle the repairs out of pocket. If the damages are $300, but the deductible is $200, you would save $100 by filing a claim, but your company may decide to raise your rates, costing you more money in the long run.
The only thing we would advise in this situation is to make sure your estimate of the damage is accurate. Insurance companies expect claims to be submitted in a timely manner. If you wait too long, your claim may not be accepted. If the damage turns out to cost more than your initial estimates, you may be stuck paying for it. If you have a local auto body shop, check with them to be sure the damage will be inexpensive to fix.
If you are injured in a one car accident, so long as you can afford the medical bills either out of pocket or through your health insurance, you do not need to report it. If you hit a pedestrian however, that always needs to be reported.
A Very Minor Two Car Accident
In an accident with no more than two drivers where neither is injured and the damage minimal, you can both agree to not call the insurance company. The benefits of not calling your insurance company are the same as in the situation above. Admittedly however, it is a bit trickier with an extra driver. We would advise you only do this if you trust the other driver.
The reason being, the other driver can at any time renege on their agreement to not involve the insurance companies. It may not be wholeheartedly , but say the damage to their car turns out to be more costly than originally thought, or their neck starts to hurt a few hours later. The intent could be malicious as well, where they try to take advantage of the agreement by blaming you for damage to their car you didn’t even cause.
It will be disadvantageous if it comes down to them having their insurance company behind them, and you by yourself. So, unless you know or really trust the other driver, we would not recommend you not call your insurance company even in the most minor of two car accidents. If the other driver is trustworthy however, then this situation would be ok.
The Types of Accidents Where You Should Always Report it
There are a few accidents where no matter what you need to report to your insurance company. What are they?
Accidents Where Someone Else is Injured
If another driver involved in your accident is injured, even if its minor, it needs to be reported. Medical expenses are costly no matter where you go in the U.S. If they need to get themselves checked out due to injury, most likely they will come after you to pay the bills.
How much you need to pay depends on how much at fault you were, and that depends on which state you live in. For example, If you live in a state like Missouri, the amount you pay is proportional to the amount you were at fault. For car insurance in New Jersey on the other hand, if you are found less than 50% at fault, you do not have to pay anything.
What does this all mean? It means you do not want to be defending yourself on your own. You spent a lot of time and money finding the best car insurance company, so you will want them behind you to insure the other driver’s company is not taking advantage of you.
Accidents Where the Damage is Costly
Whether it's a one or multi-car accident, if the damage is large, you must report it. Your car may even be relatively unscathed but if you caused a lot of damage, you need to report it as well. Odds are, in such a large accident, even if no one is injured, someone is going to seek recompense from you. You will want your insurance company on your side for the same reasons you want them if someone else was injured. Your insurer doesn't want to pay out such a large claim either, so they're going to use their resources to fight and reduce your exposure.
Content courtesy of Value Penquin.
TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2017
Drones are exploding in popularity in the Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia area, and so are the news stories about someone flying too close to a commercial aircraft or shooting down a drone. These are real incidents, but with these five dos and don’ts of drone operation, you don’t have to experience one.
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Do know your drone — and your capabilities. Practice your maneuvering skills, including safe landings, in an open field or empty parking lot. You could even join a local club to learn how to fly. Once you do, be sure to stay away from people, wildlife, public events and, yes, your neighbor’s pool party.
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Don’t forget to register your drone. In the eyes of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), your drone isn’t a toy. It’s an Unmanned Aircraft System, one you need to register with the agency.
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Don’t fly above 400 feet or within 5 miles of an airport. If you do, you’ll violate FAA guidelines. Though flying near an airport may be possible after first obtaining clearance from the facility and control tower.
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Do get authorization for commercial use. If you use a drone for commercial purposes, such as taking photos for your real-estate business, you must get FAA authorization first. Just using a drone for personal recreation? No authorization required.
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Do understand the risks. Drones can weigh up to 55 pounds, so there’s the potential for them to cause some serious damage – damage for which you might be liable. However, not all homeowners insurance policies provide liability coverage for hobby or model aircraft. Give us a call to find out what kind of coverage you might have.
Hey, we get it. Drones are affordable, fun to fly and have a number of interesting uses, such as aerial photography. Just remember to be smart and safe while yours is in the sky. And, if you’re being impacted by someone else’s drone use, it’s best to talk it through. Because we here at PMA Insurance Services, LLC don’t want to see you on the local news!
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
by Caitlin Bronson | Jan 07, 2016, Insurance Business America.
Insurance companies have a crisis of faith on their hands.
According to a new poll from Morning Consult, American ire over rising healthcare costs is increasingly focused on their carriers, even more so than on the federal government or pharmaceutical companies.
A full 31% of poll respondents hold health insurance companies responsible for the last 10 years of risig healthcare costs, compared to 25% who blame the government and 13% who think pharmaceutical companies are causing the rise.
The scrutiny is particularly strong as the Department of Justice is continuing to review the proposed mergers of four of the nation’s largest insurers. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees have also held hearings on the proposals, and Hillary Clinton has included rhetoric in her campaign that target insurers in her healthcare plan.
That public anger, which eclipses public anger against pharmaceutical companies, makes sense, says Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“Public opinion of both industries is relatively low right now,” Levitt told Morning Consult. “But, people generally have a conflicted view of drug companies. People are worried about high drug prices, but they also recognize that pharmaceutical companies make products that keep people healthy and in some cases save their lives.
“So, people are possibly more likely to blame insurers for rising health costs.”
Additionally, insurance is increasingly falling short in shielding policyholders from financial difficulty. According to another recent survey from Kaiser and The New York Times, one in five working-age Americans with health insurance reported having problems paying medical bills in the past year that cause serious financial challenges and changes in employment and lifestyle.
Specifically, insured Americans who face problem medical bills reported delaying vacations or major household purchases (77%), spending less on food and clothing (75%), using up most or all of their savings (63%), taking an extra job or working more hours (42%), increasing their credit card debt (38%), borrowing money from family or friends (37%) and even changing their living situation (14%).
While those statistics make the frustration against insurance companies understandable, however, the shifting of blame is not entirely fair. The causes of rising healthcare costs are diffuse and may actually be led by hospitals and doctors, said Levitt.
“Drug costs are the fastest rising part of the health system right now, but over the last decade hospitals and physicians have contributed much more to the rising health costs than drug companies,” Levitt said.
The results of the poll come on the heels of another survey from Kaiser and The New York Times that suggests even those with insurance coverage struggle to afford medical bills.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
December 7, 2015Volume 25Issue 43
Several publicly-traded health systems reported elevated numbers of uninsured patients at their facilities in the third quarter of 2015, raising questions among health insurance industry watchers about the long-term viability of the exchanges. But hospital executives and advisers say there are a number of underlying causes at play, and that it’s far too soon to panic.
“A lot of the insurers were saying basically when they were reporting third quarter results that they were seeing a lot of attrition in the Affordable Care Act policies,” says Steve Zaharuk, senior vice president at Moody’s Investor Service. Insurers were reporting faster rates of attrition than in 2014, which Zaharuk says could be attributed to any number of factors, including failure to pay premiums or acquisition of employer-sponsored insurance. But higher premiums and other cost factors very well may have driven people off the exchanges, he says.
“We’ve seen some regions where the increases in premium, the increases in copays and out-of-pocket [costs], and the decreases in the network are saying there’s a big change afoot as far as the attractiveness for these policies for 2016,” he says. “Maybe this is the beginning of a trend, because there are some signals out there that there could be a problem with these policies for 2016.”
Higher patient volumes translate to a plus for hospitals, as long as the patients making the claims have insurance. Gallup on Oct. 8 pegged the uninsured rate to 11.6% in the third quarter, down from 11.9% in the first quarter, which is why hospital conglomerate HCA Holdings, Inc.’s reported increase of uninsured patients set off a few alarms.
The health system’s uninsured admissions went up 13.6% in the third quarter when compared with the year-ago period, totaling approximately 4,400 admissions. HCA saw the numbers increasing in the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Bill Rutherford said during the third quarter earnings call.
But it’s too soon to tell if it’s a trend, says Dean Diaz, senior vice president at Moody’s Investor Service. Diaz points out that HCA has a large concentration in two states that did not expand their Medicaid programs: Florida and Texas.
In the call, Rutherford conceded that while the elevated number of uninsured was seen across its markets, those two states accounted for nearly 75% of all uninsured admissions. Rutherford attributed one quarter of the increase to processing delays in Texas and Kansas for newly eligible Medicaid recipients, and 10% of the total to exchange members who lost their insurance.
Uninsured Rates Are Fluctuating
Matthew Borsch, lead health care research analyst at Goldman Sachs, asked if HCA executives thought something could be “brewing” in terms of whether exchange members see value in health coverage, given that when they’re uninsured, most of their care is written off due to inability to pay.
HCA President of Operations Samuel Hazen said that the effects of health reform have been “materially in line” with HCA expectations, and that exchange growth is up year over year. “So we are still seeing solid growth,” he said. “Now the issue of seeing some reduction in terms of lives in the exchanges is reality as well. I don’t have data through the third quarter; I have CMS data through June where I can compare the number of lives in the exchange as of end of March as compared to end of June at 2015. And there is a decrease at the end of June. Nationally it’s about 2.3% fewer lives in the exchange and for HCA states it’s about 3%.”
Rosemarie Day, president of Massachusetts-based Day Health Strategies, believes the uninsured rate has remained stable, since just about all observers aside from a few hospitals are reporting flat or decreased uninsured rates.
“The uninsured rates have totally gone down, no question about it,” she tells HPW, citing data from Gallup and the U.S. Census Bureau that said both employer-sponsored coverage and direct purchase rates have either maintained or increased. “Overall, bottom line is, [a] reduction in the uninsured [and] more people with insurance of all types.”
Tenet Healthcare Corp. also reported a 3.7% uptick in the number of charity and uninsured patients compared with the third quarter of 2014, pointing to Florida and Texas as well. In response to a question from Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Schenker, Tenet Chief Financial Officer Daniel Cancelmi said the company has actually seen a decline in the number of uninsured year-to-date.
“We feel very confident about what we can generate in terms of additional growth from exchange patients as well as some growth in Medicaid expansion states,” he said. “So, there’s nothing in particular that we saw that seems like a trend that we are overly concerned about.”
President of Hospital Operations Britt Reynolds added that exchange growth in Texas and Florida had increased significantly, and CEO Trevor Fetter said the market has been a major plus for the company.
“[The exchange market has] been a great product for us. We continue to drive substantial gains in volumes in this quarter,” he said. “It was 53% in the exchange volumes, and I think those are well established now as a marketplace for individuals to buy insurance. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, one of our strategies has been to have very attractive offerings on those exchanges that include our hospitals, and we hit a record high of 90% of our hospitals being in the lowest cost silver plan networks.”
At Community Health Systems, the uninsured rate remained flat for the quarter at 5.8% year over year, with the hospital pointing in part to another non-expansion state, Tennessee, along with Florida. But a November report from accounting and consulting firm Crowe Horwath found that hospitals on the whole experienced a 31.2% decline in their uninsured rates from January 2014 to September 2015.
Still, the shifting dynamics of the exchange market are likely to blame for at least some fluctuation in the uninsured rate. Jim Whisler, national leader of Deloitte’s health actuarial practice, says he has also seen a few hospitals reporting increases in the number of uninsured patients.
“With the large rate increases in many of the exchanges, the federal government admits it’s getting harder to attract people to the exchanges, because you know initially they got a lot of the sick people who really needed insurance, and now they’re trying to attract the healthier people who may make the decision to pay the penalty versus getting the insurance. So maybe what they’re seeing is that this trend of reduced uninsurance is starting to reverse itself. I guess I wouldn’t be too surprised if that’s a recent phenomenon.”
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