Insurance Law Lesson 10: Why You Have Multiple Policies

Baggage used to be free with airfare. Now we pay per bag.

Here’s another way to look at it.

Airlines used to charge everybody for 2 bags. Now only those who need it pay, and only for however many bags they need. It was never really free.

Insurance is about risk. But, if a policy covered every kind of risk, then everybody would have to pay premium to account for every kind of risk. People without cars would be paying premium for auto risks. People without property would be paying for property risk. Everybody would be paying for medical, legal, and accounting malpractice risk.

It would be like airlines charging everybody for 100 bags.

By limiting policies, we are afforded the choice to buy policies with the coverage that we want, and to not pay for other coverages. The caveat is that if you don’t buy a particular coverage, you are left exposed in the event of a loss.

Note: Purchased bags still have size and weight limitations. The same goes for insurance. Buying a policy does not mean unlimited coverage within that category. That’s where coverage grants, exclusions, conditions, and definitions come in to play. Stay tuned.

Leave a Reply