Is Your Insurance Covering What You Think It Is?

I've been following a couple of posts on Facebook from some very unhappy groomers following denied insurance claims.

They are unhappy because they did not have the coverage they thought they did.

We all get a large envelope with pages and pages of our coverage when we sign up and again when we renew our policies. All the experts recommend we read it, but it daunting and written in insuranese. My eyes start to glaze over when I make the attempt.

Instead, I contact my insurance specialist. An insurance specialist is NOT YOUR AGENT. An insurance specialist is your contact person within the insurance company itself, such as Travelers, Hartford, Nationwide, and so forth.

An insurance specialist can walk you through your policy as it appears in their files.

Bottom line is this.

You are only covered as it appears on their end. It doesn't matter what your agent says. If you are mobile and have different policies for vehicle and business, you need to speak with each insurance specialist.

Suggested questions to ask include (but not limited to):

1. The details of the animal floater. Under what circumstances is this floater enacted. Many non-industry policies only include death, NOT injury. There will also be a dollar amount limit on each occurrence.
2. The details of your business interruption policy. What are the exclusions? If you are mobile, does it cover when your vehicle is in the shop for a motor vehicle accident.
3. What are your deductibles?
4. Do you have full glass coverage? Thats both mobile and shop.
5. Is there a limit of your equipment?
6. For mobile groomers, is the full amount of the conversion accounted for?

This phone call will take about 20 minutes of your time and will save you an inordinate amount of grief in the event you make need to make a claim.