Working in a bank has many benefits. Not only do I collect a paycheck every two weeks, but I also get benefits and the ability to network with our clients. So when one of the insurance agents came into the bank one day and asked me about my homeowners and car insurance, I was open to discussing it with him because he did business with us. He seems trustworthy, and I like him.  I gave him our drivers license numbers, the make and model of our cars, and he went back to the office to get me a quote.  The next day, he gave me a call. For six months, our 2005 Ford Freestyle is $240.35, and our 2002 Ford Mustang is $287.24.  Total that is going to cost us $527.59.  We were paying $727.39, so of course I was ecstatic!  Of course I’d like to save $200 for six months!  I made sure that the coverage was the same limits (it’s actually better!), plus the deductible was the same.  The quote he gave us included a $500 deductible versus [...]

The other day my car insurance came due and I decided to call to see if I would get a discount for paying in full for six months versus paying monthly. We’ve always had our auto insurance automatically deducted from our checking account, and I recently noticed that they’ve been charging us a $2 fee to do so. I thought that was stupid, considering we could pull the six months of car insurance out of savings if we needed to and then just pay it in full. When I talked with the customer service representative, I was informed that my new premium for six months would be $846.82. We had been paying $744 for six months. Our insurance went up over $100 for no reason! I was so mad. I asked her why that had happened, because we have had no tickets, accidents, etc. (Knock on wood) She said something about the state we live in and blah blah blah and I told her that I would hate to have to switch insurance companies because I really liked them, but [...]

Yesterday I received an “explanation of benefits” from my health insurance company in the mail for my surgery I had a couple weeks ago.  I ripped open the envelope and my heart stopped.  $10,375.25.  My surgery cost over $10,000!  I have been awaiting the hospital bill for awhile because I knew it was going to take a chunk out of our budget.  I was assuming that the surgery would cost $5,000 on the high end, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw that it was twice what I had estimated! I had planned on paying about $1250 for my co insurance since I have met my deductible this year.  That was really worrying me.  I pay 20% for surgery after my deductible is met.  20% of $10,000 is $2,000, $750 more than I had anticipated!  I looked over the letter and discovered that after the discounts the hospital gave my insurance company, I’m going to be paying about $250.  I can’t tell you how happy I am!  The rest of that money can sit comfortably in our emergency [...]