You got to hand it to them, if nothing else, insurance companies are creative. Who else would come up with the idea of health insurance on your pet? It’s a nifty idea – definitely worth a chuckle, but not worth the dollar of your hard-earned cash. Here are some other insurance policies to avoid:
Wedding insurance. You pay around $125 for $3000 worth of coverage if your wedding dress rips on the big day or there’s a fire in the reception hall…Now I ask you, if you’re that concerned about something going wrong, will $3,000 really make up for the loss?
Rental car insurance. In most cases, you’ll already be covered under your own car insurance policy or under a perk associated with your credit card. And even if you don’t have coverage, if you’re renting in Illinois and New York, collision coverage is already included in the price of the rental car.
Contact lens insurance. These policies typically cost around $200 a year and pay to replace a lost or damaged contact lens – hardly a catastrophic loss. If you know you tend to lose or tear your contact often, buy from one of the discount places instead… It’ll cost you about the same price as the insurance premium to replace one lens.
Mugging insurance. Talk about specialized and ridiculous! Mugging insurance pays when you’re hurt or you die in a mugging. Call me nuts, but if you’re concerned about paying for medical bills or protecting your dependents in case of your death, wouldn’t you want insurance that would provide health or death benefits no matter what the cause?
Limited health or “dread disease” polices. Like mugging insurance, these polices are ridiculously specialized. They only pay if you contract certain diseases, like cancer or polio – as if you wouldn’t need health benefits if you got multiple sclerosis.
Air travel insurance. Like mugging insurance and “dread disease” policies, this kind of insurance provides super specialized benefits – in this case, death benefits only if you die in a plane crash. Again, if you have dependents or have other reasons for buying life insurance, do so. Don’t buy coverage for something that is very unlikely to happen and will only pay off in one circumstance.
Vacation insurance. If rainy weather put a damper on your beach vacation, it a real shame… But it’s hardly a catastrophe worth insuring. This goes into the category of “America’s Most Unbelievable Insurance Policy.
Yes, you sure can admire them for their creativity. These policies are kind of like commercials, a mild diversion worth a laugh or two. Just make sure, you don’t buy any of them…
