Yes

by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: August 24, 2011

This has to be ‘standard, in that all insurance companies should make it absolutely clear about their terms and conditions. Transparency should be the byword for all insurance companies who offer their services to the general public.  Insurance companies should make it known to customers that their credit score will be adversely affected if they are late in paying their bills, such as credit cards, mortgages and higher purchase payments. 

A potential customer will be able to obtain insurance if their credit score is affected - negatively. However, their premiums will be much higher than normal. In other words, depending upon their credt score, depends upon whether or not their premiums will be set to a high rate.  Insurance companies should make it absolutely clear within their policies, that customers - or potential customers premiums will be affected by their bad credit score.  

All too often insurance companies leave customers in the lurch, by not making it clear to their customers what they are covered for. But this cover can be affected by how often, or how little you pay your bills on time. However, it is not just in credit scoring that insurance companies should inform their potenital customers that they will not be accepted.  They should also inform them that their policy will be ineffective following certain natural disasters too.

For too long insurance companies have been able to literally get away with murder by making certain terms and conditions nigh on impossible to understand. This in turn confuses the public who, in many cases, do not even read the full terms and conditions because they are simply too hard to make out.  It seems that if a reasonable claim is made, then insurance companies complicate things. Again, it seems that many make up the rules as they go along. They always seem to find some way of not paying out, when a certain event arises.

The thing is this, when signing a contract with an insurance company, do you really know what you are getting? The fact is, the smaller the print, the less likely you are to read it. Insurance companies know this, and they play on it - to the detriment of you - the policy holder.

For example, the volcanic eruption that took place in Iceland, not so long ago, leaving thousands stranded at airports - or missing their holiday completely - is a case in point. People suddenly realised that their travel insurance policies were absolutely useless.  All the money that they had been paying out toward their travel insurance costs, counted for nothing. Travel insurance companies made excuse after excuse, in order not to pay out what would have amounted to millions of dollars, euros, and pounds.

Furious policy holders were left seething with rage, as their insurance companies simply refused to compensate them for lost holidays. With many insurance companies, their policies simply did not account for volcanic eruptions. It seemed that volcanic eruptions were not on the list of ‘natural disasters’ - as would be an earthquake, tidal wave or hurricane.

With certain governments making the decision to close certain airports, this too was not ‘covered’ by insurance companies. This meant that people were left, uncompensated, furious and stranded, their holidays ruined by the excuses that travel insurance companies came up with.

Countless thousands of policy holders, were left confused and bemused as to why their insurance companies were not paying out. The standard line being that customers 'should have read the small print’. Yet, insurance companies should be there to cover the ‘unexpected’ - especially in this day and age of natural disasters. Yet, there is an awful lot of small print that insurance companies use that simply confuse and befuddle customers.

Insurance companies, should cover for earthquakes, riots, floods, volcanic eruptions, and the rest. In this ever-changing world of ours, a world of upheaval and natural disasters, travel insurance companies must make it absolutely clear that such events WILL be covered within their policies. Their customer service, when a natural disaster such as the Icelandic volcano eruption occurs, leaves a lot to be desired - and left thousands of their customers seething with rage and confusion due to their stance on payouts.

There is simply not enough clarity, and common sense when travel insurance companies write up their policies. What customers find, instead, is nothing but excuse after excuse from insurance companies not willing to ’pay out’ when a major incident occurs. Indeed, travel insurance companies are quick to take our money, quick to raise premiums if our credit is bad, but not so quick in paying out when we, the customer, needs it the most. 

The rule to any potential customer who is thinking about taking out a policy, is to check the small print. Read the policy from beginning to end and see if it covers ‘all the bases’. Does it cover for riots, strikes by airport staff, floods, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions?  Does it cover for unexpected death in the family, or unexpected health problems with yourself? And also will your insurance company take you on if you have a bad credit score, and if so how high will your premiums be if you do have 'bad credit'?  Go through everything, and then decide whether or not that policy, and that company, will be the one you go with. 

It is only by reading everything within the policy, that you will save yourself a major problem when it comes to insurance companies paying out. And if you are thinking about taking on an insurance then you must make sure that everything is above board - in reference to your credit scoring. 

If your credit is affected insurance companies will take you on as a customer, but your premiums will be higher. However, in order for the customer to know this, insurance companies - as explained earlier within this article - should make it absolutely clear that this is the case, within their policy rules.

However, insurance companies very rarely make themselves understood to the 'layman' and woman, and much confusion among customers in trying to read polcies that are - quite frankly - impossible to understand, happens daily. Again, as explained above, insurance companies seem to hide everything within the small print. This is because they know that people will not bother reading the small print of a policy and so will sign on the dotted line, not realising what they are really signing for, and how high their premiums will be if they have bad credit.  

Too many times things are buried/hidden, deep within the 'small print' of a policy, making it nigh on impossible to read, let alone understand.  Insurance companies must break out of this habit, and make clear their policies to all of their customers. and potential customers.

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