main

by Bill Mixon o

If you take out a new insurance policy you must sign an application.
If you sign an application you are “attesting” that the answers to the questions are correct.  If the agent answers the questions for you and puts in an incorrect answer and you sign the contract you are attesting to the answers on the applications- even if they are wrong and are contrary to what you told the agent.
 
An insurance application is a legal document.  Even a contract you fill out on line.
 
If you sign your name to an untruthful answer on an insurance application it can be considered a “material misrepresentation”, even if the inaccurate answer was an honest mistake…  A material misrepresentation can VOID a contract.
 
It is important to save a copy of your applications.
 
If you make changes to your insurance you need to keep copies of the change.
If you think you added a car to your policy and the change never took…. You could be driving around without protection… In most states there is a period of time where you may have automatic protection when you purchase a new  car but the amount of automatic protection may be far less than you hoped it would be and the automatic protection does not extend into a new policy period.
 
It is a good practice to read your insurance statements, and keep any that show changes or upgrades to your policy.
 
It is a great idea to sit down with your agent and review your insurance statements every few years so that you can be sure you understand what the insurance statement is conveying.
 
You should know what “other than collision” means and what CNW stands for.
You should understand what a “grace period” means.
 
It can be very helpful to know when rental reimbursement takes effect and when it does not. It is important to know when your deductible applies and when it does not apply.  Most importantly you need to know what 50/100 stands for.
 
It would be a pleasure for me to sit down with you, even if you are not one of my clients, and review your insurance statements with you.