# Ask the Insurance guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022 "2003-01-06T21:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/1 "2003-01-06T21:28:36Z")
I’m an insurance broker for a small firm in Toronto, and have experience with commercial and personal insurance, so fire away. I’ve also worked for a large insurance company as an underwriter, so I have an idea of their philosophy too (essentially, guard the treasury…). FYI, insurance is very different from province to province, state to state. I’m well versed in Ontario rules and regulations, but I’ll do my best to find the answer if I don’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/2 "2003-01-06T23:06:18Z")
Do I need insurance? ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/3 "2003-01-07T01:17:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ShibbOleth \* > \*\*Do I need insurance? \*\* Is that “Do I _need_ insurance?” Technically, no. But your state or province may require you to have minimum liability coverage before allowing you on the road in your car. Your lessor or mortgage company may also wish you to purchase insurance to protect any real property in which they have a financial interest. Then again, in Shell Beach, who knows what tomorrow brings… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/4 "2003-01-07T01:46:24Z")
Why is health insurance so much more expensive for self employed folks? I’ve checked into some of those “group rates for individuals” programs and the coverages are pretty small for the price. Are there just not enough people signing up for those things? And dental is virtually non-existant in those plans. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/5 "2003-01-07T05:09:19Z")
Can you get me a job? 13 years on commercial lines for the largest independant firm in Alberta. Oh, wait. I live in the states, now. **No Clue Boy** , he’s not a health insurance guy. In Canada, health insurance is handled by Crown corporations. If you need an American health insurance guy, you need to talk to Weirddave. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/6 "2003-01-07T05:14:43Z")
…Who also just so happens to specialize in H.I. for the self employeed. What state are you in, NCB, that will effect the answer to your question. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/7 "2003-01-07T06:28:59Z")
Let’s talk auto insurance (I’ll try to keep my claws retracted) Country: USA State: CA Q: What percentage of the INITIAL premium (for the first x months) is commission for the broker/agent? Is this higher/lower/same as the split for home and/or health and/or life coverage? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/8 "2003-01-07T06:55:59Z")
Dumb question, probably, but hey, I’m a dumb guy. '95 Jeep Cherokee, in good condition all over, crashes into the center divide, no one else involved, no injuries. [Front right corner is smashed up](http://fathom.org/jjtm/_temp/000_0349.JPG), but all the essential components are OK. How come so little real damage adds up to a totalled car? The estimated worth of the car was at least $5,000. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/9 "2003-01-07T12:17:43Z")
I’ve been involved with the medical-office billing and insurance claims side of health insurance; I can help out there. Can’t answer much about premiums, though. Robin ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/10 "2003-01-07T12:52:26Z")
**happyheathen** - he’s in Ontario, Canada. I doubt he will know what it is in California. I know what they were for in Canada, but I will leave it for **Dante**. **Troy** , he’s not an adjuster, or appraiser. That’s also not something a broker or underwriter would know. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/11 "2003-01-07T17:43:31Z")
**happyheathen** , in Ontario, a specific percentage of your premium goes to the broker (anywhere from 10-20% usually), but the amount of time a policy is in force is not a factor, unless you are subject to minimum premiums (not usual for personal policies). For example, if your premium (auto or home) is $1,000 for the year, and the broker’s commission is 12.5%, the broker gets $125. Home insurance commission is generally higher than auto insurance commission. Unfortunately, I know virtually nothing of life insurance (our brokerage handles about 95% commercial business, and about 5% personal (mostly the owners of the commercial businesses we insure)). **Troy McClure SF** , Ginger is right, I’m not that familiar with appraiser and adjuster work, but I can tell you that the insurance company has three options when settling a claim. Repair, Replace, or Repay. And they will _always_ do the one that’s the least expensive for them. And I do know that auto adjusters rely heavily on red-green-blue-black book values. That doesn’t appear to be a lot of damage, but again, I’m not an adjuster, so I can’t really say. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/12 "2003-01-07T18:04:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by happyheathen \* > \*\*Let’s talk auto insurance (I’ll try to keep my claws retracted) > > Country: USA > State: CA > > Q: What percentage of the INITIAL premium (for the first x months) is commission for the broker/agent? > > Is this higher/lower/same as the split for home and/or health and/or life coverage? \*\* That is going to vary from company to company, and differ for agents and brokers, for both parts of your question. Sorry that’s not more helpful. ---
**Author:** ![rubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@rubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rubes)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/13 "2003-01-07T19:19:35Z")
I do not own a car but have a valid driver’s license. Is it possible for me to take out an insurance policy that will cover liability and damages strictly to rental cars. The rental agencies’ prices are pretty steep. ---
**Author:** ![FallFast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FallFast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallFast)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/14 "2003-01-07T21:18:14Z")
Dante, Why would I ever want to buy wholelife, when I can buy the same amount of term and invest the rest and avoid any fees? ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/15 "2003-01-08T03:17:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dante \* > \ **Unfortunately, I know virtually nothing of life insurance** \ **Fallfast** , I suspect that **Weirddave** could answer this much better than I could. I’ll leave it to him. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/16 "2003-01-08T03:22:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rubes \* > \*\*I do not own a car but have a valid driver’s license. Is it possible for me to take out an insurance policy that will cover liability and damages strictly to rental cars. The rental agencies’ prices are pretty steep. \*\* Some credit cards cover auto insurance for rentals. Also, if you travel, check out companies online like Travel Guard. I’m not the Insurance Guy, but this is FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/17 "2003-01-08T04:03:14Z")
**rubes** , I don’t know about the US, but in Canada you could buy a driver’s policy. I believe it was SPF 1. **Dante** , hope you don’t mind the intrusion. After selling BI&I to Inuit, I figure I’m just the cat’s pjs with insurance. (that’s a joke. you should all laugh, now). ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/18 "2003-01-08T13:27:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rubes \* > \*\*I do not own a car but have a valid driver’s license. Is it possible for me to take out an insurance policy that will cover liability and damages strictly to rental cars. The rental agencies’ prices are pretty steep. \*\* In the U.S. this is called a “Named Non-owner” policy. The company I work for only writes liability coverage on such a policy, which may be the industry standard. I don’t know whether or not the liability coverage would extend to a rental car, or whether other provisions in the contract would cover rental cars for physical damage. If you’re truly interested in getting this type of policy any insurance agent should be able to help you sort that out. Jane ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-insurance-guy/147022/19 "2003-01-08T13:48:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rubes \* > \*\*I do not own a car but have a valid driver’s license. Is it possible for me to take out an insurance policy that will cover liability and damages strictly to rental cars. The rental agencies’ prices are pretty steep. \*\* You can purchase an **SPF 2** , which is known as a _Driver’s Automobile Policy_. The basic coverage provided is Liability, but the policy may be extended by endorsement to cover legal liability for damage to non-owned automobiles in the care, custody or control of the insured. - Automobile Insurance, Part I, IIC. Basically, call a broker and ask for an SPF 2 with an OPCF 27a (if you’re in Ontario) or an SEF 27 (if you’re in Canada, but outside Ontario). This will give you Third Party Liability coverage and physical damage coverage for non-owned automobiles. I’ve never written one of these and have NO idea what they would cost. I assume it would be cheaper than a standard auto policy, but don’t know that it would be cheaper than the rental insurance. I’d also look into **Violet’s** suggestion about your credit card covering your rental. I would never have thought of that…