THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
Women are Smarter than Men - Insurance Edition
Need more proof that women are the savvier gender? Check out the result of this survey. insure.com asked 2,000 adults, half men and half women, whether ten statements about insurance were true or false. Each of the statements in the survey (insure.com calls them "myths") were false. Not surprisingly a substantial number of the persons surveyed considered many of the "myths" to be true. After all, most of us are not educated in the details of the insurance market, even if most of us do have strong opinions one way or another. What is surprising, at least to many of my male colleagues, is that for eight statements out of ten, men were more likely to fall victim to the myth than women.
For example, here is the statement that the fewest number of respondents got wrong: "Out-of-state speeding tickets can't follow you home." Only thirteen percent of the persons in the survey fell for this myth, but of that mis-guided group, two-thirds were men and only one-third were women. (According to insure.com, out-of-state tickets can follow the driver home, and can lead to an increase in insurance rates, depending on the insurance company).
Here are the five insurance myths that the most people got wrong, according to the insure.com survey:
Myth 1: I should buy insurance coverage for my house based on its real estate market value.
52% think this is true (45% women, 55% men).
Reality: Buy coverage based on a home's cost to reconstruct (materials and labor).
Myth 2: Red cars cost more to insure because they get pulled over for speeding more.
46% think this is true (52% women, 48% men).
Reality: Car color doesn't affect insurance rates.
Myth 3: If I cause a crash with extensive damages to others, my auto insurance company can cancel me immediately.
44% think this is true (50% women, 50% men).
Reality: If an insurer wants to drop a customer due to claims, it generally has to wait until the policy period is up.
Myth 4: Small cars are the cheapest to insure.
4% think this is true (42% women, 58% men).
Reality: Small and mid-sized SUVs and minivans are generally the cheapest to insure. Small cars are not, often because they are chosen by more inexperienced drivers who tend to make more claims, and because passengers incur more expensive injury claims.
Myth 5: The Affordable Care Act (also called Obamacare) allows health insurance companies to base rates on medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.
36% think this is true (42% women, 58% men).
Reality: Just the opposite is true -- the Affordable Care Act prohibits health insurers from basing rates on pre-existing conditions.
For the rest of the survey, see the article at insurancejournal.com.
And for real answers -- not myths -- to your insurance questions, contact Alex Pfeifer of Pfeifer Insurance Brokers at 650 762-8070 or alex@pfeiferins.com.