Term of The Week
Admitted Assets
As defined by the Insurance Information Institute.
Assets recognized and accepted by state insurance laws in determining the solvency of insurers and reinsurers. To make it easier to assess an insurance company’s financial position, state statutory accounting rules do not permit certain assets to be included on the balance sheet. Only assets that can be easily sold in the event of liquidation or borrowed against, and receivables for which payment can be reasonably anticipated, are included in admitted assets.
Larry's Tip of The Week
Do you have collectible items, like a baseball card collection? Do you have some fine pieces of jewelry? Did you know that your standard homeowners or renters insurance policy, although it pays for these stolen items, the value it places on them is very small.
Most policies will pay from $1,000 up to $2,500 for all jewelry combined. People often forget about their valuables or assume that they are covered on the standard policy.
Fireman’s Fund, estimates that about 85% of payments from insurance companies related to jewelry are for theft, or what is referred to as “mysterious disappearance.” Yes you are covered for that item that just seemed to vanish.
It is important to know that insurance companies sell extra protection for your valuables. Jeff Moore, the director of specialty lines, with Allstate insurance, estimates that only 7 to 8% of policy holders actually buy the protection. A lot of people assume they are already covered or believe they will never need the additional protection. Also many people feel it is too much trouble to make a list of their valuable items and have them appraised.
If you have valuables don’t take the gamble. According to Mario Morales, director of corporate underwriting with Met life, jewelry insurance typically costs about $10.00 to $15.00 per $1,000 of coverage.
If you’re earn $50,000 to $80,000 per year and bought your wife a pair of earrings for $12,000 and they get stolen or she looses them, it’s a big deal. Think of the extra protection like you would a warranty on an expensive purchase. For a small price, if something should go wrong, you are protected.
One last note: Keep your coverage up to date with inflation. Increase your coverage as the value goes up.