Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Insurance And The End Of The World

As I'm writing this, the end of the world is just a few days away...IF you believe the Mayan calendar. And IF you're like most folks out there, I'm sure you're asking the rather obvious question on most people's minds, "will my insurance cover my cars and house if they're destroyed by the end of the world"? You may also be concerned that your life insurance wont' pay a death benefit if you don't make it through the end of the world events. Here are a few things to put your mind at ease when it comes to your insurance:

  1. Most insurance policies specifically list things that are excluded from coverage and the list can be easily found in every policy that you buy. Check you policy and you'll most likely find that the end of the world is NOT listed as an exclusion of coverage. I know what you may be thinking, it's the stuff leading up to the end of the world that you'll need to have coverage for, such as meteors, sun flares and super volcanoes that erupt in Yellowstone National Park. Don't worry, you probably won't find any of those disasters listed as an exclusion either.
  2. Even things that ARE excluded can still be protected if you're willing to spend a few extra dollars. Earthquakes and floods, two real possibilities for the upcoming doomsday, are typically not covered by home insurance policies. However, you can usually add an earthquake endorsement to your home insurance and buy flood insurance through the National Flood Service.
  3. If your neighbor also survives the apocalypse but then breaks into your house to steal your survival gear, your insurance company will replace it under your policy. If they steal your 4x4 in order to get to higher ground, that's covered to as long as you carry comprehensive coverage. Insurance companies don't ask why something was stolen or refuse to replace the item just because the theft had to do with the end of the world.
  4. If a zombie attack makes your home unliveable, your home insurance should have coverage for "additional living expenses" that will pay to put you up in a zombie free hotel until your home can be repaired. Most home insurance policies cover vandalism, even if caused by the walking dead.
  5. If your house isn't damaged but an EMP blast has knocked out power to 1/2 the continent, don't worry about the hundreds of pounds of food you've placed in the freezer in preparation. Most home insurance policies have coverage for loss of power resulting in food spoiling. Simply eat your freeze dried food and the fruit from your sustainable garden until power is restored. Then, call your insurance company and file your claim. Your home insurance should provide you with the needed money to restock the freezer in you underground bunker (minus your deductible).
  6. If you purchase the right type of life insurance (non accidental death), about the only two types of death that may forfeit the payment to your family are suicide (within the first year or two, depending on the state you live in) and fraud. If it's pestilence, being swallowed hole by the ground beneath you, a falling asteroid or even a falling plane that was hit by a falling asteroid, your policy will pay your beneficiary the death benefit so they'll have plenty of money to stock the underground bunker they plan on living in.
The chances of the end of the world taking out your home or car may be increasing, but there's not much need to worry about your insurance policy not covering the damage. And if that doesn't help put your mind at ease, you can always forget your car and house and settle for living on the personal ark you built for your family in preparation for the floods.