UNDERSTANDING INSURANCE POLICIES AND RIDE SHARING RISKS

BY ALAN PLAFKER, PRESIDENT & CEO
MEMBER BROKERAGE SERVICE LLC
A MELROSE CREDIT UNION SERVICE ORGANIZATION

Uncover your policy’s secret message

Insurance contracts are complicated. Even your decoder ring may fail to reveal details in your policy. When you buy insurance, you and the carrier enter into a contract. Bottom line:

You promise to pay a premium to the insurer, in exchange for financial protection in the event of certain circumstances. Don’t worry; your professional independent agent is here to help.

Here is a short guide to understanding your policy:

  • Declaration page

    1. This first page adds specifics to the company’s generic, off the shelf policy and makes it truly your policy.

    2. Your name, your policy number, your property—all information specific to you is indicated on this page.


  • Definitions

    1. This is the dictionary of the policy. If words are used with meanings outside ordinary English usage, they are given policy specific definitions here.

    2. Throughout the document, these words will be distinguished by quotation marks, italics or bold print.

    3. This page is important; definitions sometimes mean the difference between a claim that is paid and one that is not.


  • Insuring agreement

    A general statement of the events and damages to be covered is here subject to all the other provisions of the policy, of course.


  • Exclusions

    The insuring agreement begins the coverage promise with a very broad statement that must be narrowed down to the specific coverage intended with exclusions. Oddly enough, much of a policy’s actual coverage is found in the exclusions.


  • Exceptions

    The exclusions begin by taking away coverage, but then exceptions restore those portions of it that are ultimately intended. Just as two negatives add up to a positive an exception to an exclusion is your coverage.


We hope this quick overview has helpful. If you have any trouble understanding your policies we are just a phone call away. Protecting you in the event of disaster is the job of the carrier; making sure you have the coverage you need is ours.


Conditions

You probably knew there would be “strings” attached to the promises made by the insurance company. Conditions outline your duties after a loss. Essentially, the insurance company needs a way out of the contract if you won’t cooperate in the reporting, investigation and adjustment of your claim.

  • Miscellaneous provisions

    They are exactly what they sound like. Not all provisions fit neatly in the other sections of the policy. For example, property coverage will need to define the type of valuation to be used in paying the claim (replacement cost, actual cash value, etc.). A commercial general liability policy must lay out how the policy will react to other insurance you may have that covers the same claim.


  • External factors

    Even factors outside the policy provisions can impact your coverage. Some of these external factors include statutes, insurable interest, legal doctrines, hold harmless agreements, market values and other insurance. They must be examined for their effect on the final determination of coverage for a specific claim.


I hope this quick overview has helped. If you have any trouble understanding your policies, call your agent.

Protecting you in the event of disaster is the job of the Insurance carrier. Making sure you have the coverage you need is your responsibility with help from your agent.

By using an independent insurance agent to purchase insurance, you, as the policyholder, will receive more personal service. An agent with whom you have direct contact can be vital when purchasing a product and absolutely necessary when filing a claim. Your local, independent agent is able to deliver quality insurance with competitive pricing and local personalized service.

Whether it’s for your car, home, boat or any other special need you may have, they work with you to select the level of protection you need. Their staff of personal insurance specialists will help you choose programs designed to fit your goals, budget and lifestyle. Give them a call today!

Photo: Elena Michaels


Ride sharing: Income Lyft or Uber dangerous?

Recently, peer-to-peer ride sharing has exploded on the scene. It is either the next big innovation in the marriage between technology and social networking or it is the next big
innovation since slap bracelets and silly bandz. Regardless of its future, ride sharing is here, and, at least for the immediate future, isn’t going anywhere.

At its most basic level, ride sharing is carpooling. It is the act of sharing a vehicle with one or more persons for the purpose of commuting to a desired destination. The goal is to share costs among all occupants of the vehicle, making the commuting more inexpensive than it would be if you were commuting alone. However, with the rise of peer-to-peer ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft, this act of carpooling has taken on a more commercial quality.

With peer-to-peer ride-sharing services, drivers use their private vehicles to give rides to individuals who have requested them via a ride-sharing app. Prior to requesting a ride, the passenger is required to enter their credit card information into the app, and upon successful arrival, the driver is paid via the app from the stored credit card information. Sounds like a pretty good system, right? The driver picks up some extra cash and the passenger gets where they need to go without breaking the bank.

But what happens when inevitably something goes wrong—something like a car accident? There are millions of car crashes a year. When an accident occurs we exchange insurance information and then wait for the insurance companies to send a check to cover the damage and/or the medical bills.

However, when the vehicle you are traveling in is a ridesharing vehicle, the outcome could be different. Most standard personal auto policies contain exclusions for livery, i.e., driving for hire. These exclusions could remove liability;

  • medical payments coverage;


  • uninsured motorists coverage;


  • coverage for damage to your auto; and


  • underinsured motorists coverage from your policy.


This means that instead of saving or making a few bucks, you ultimately could be left to shoulder the burden of thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of hospital bills and auto repairs.

Given the uncertainty surrounding insurance coverage for ride sharing, it is important that if you are planning on using ride sharing, either as a driver or a passenger, to speak with your agent first to ascertain whether you will have coverage in case of an accident. And if you don’t have coverage I hear bus passes are pretty inexpensive these days.

For more information, talk to your financial professional, legal advisor, or the author of this article.

Your Professional Insurance Agent …
We want you to know about the insurance you’re buying.

Alan Plafker is President of Member Brokerage Service LLC, a Melrose Credit Union Service Organization. He is a licensed Insurance Broker and also serves as:
  • Past President of PIANY (Professional Insurance Agents Association of NY),
  • Treasurer for the New York Independent Livery Driver Benefit Fund Board of Directors.

His Agency insures thousands of polices for TLC Insurance as well as many policies for all types of PERSONAL and COMMERCIAL insurance. You can reach him in his Briarwood, Queens office at (718) 523-1300 ext. 1082, or visit the website at: www.MemberBrokerage.com

 

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