It's the new year. New beginnings, new hopes, and massive increases in our various insurances.
Is this the price to pay for middle class, middle age arrival or simply a scam mandated by law?
My husband's cost of living raise this year did not cover the cost of maintaining our health insurance. His salary went up $110 a month, our health insurance premium jumped $150.
Mandatory flood insurance is up $100 a year in spite of drought conditions, while our home insurance is up $600 for the year due to the "increase in the contruction costs in the area." The statement could have just as easily said "because we said so" and we'd pay it just the same.
Increases have been minimal for auto insurance on our four cars. (Before you fire off that email reminding me of my environmental obligations and failures, let me apologize and explain that it's difficult for our daughters to car pool with each other while attending colleges separated by seven states). Apparently it's OK with our auto insurer for us to send them only about $350 a month as long as we make only one three-figure claim in the last eight years.
Throw in the life insurance premiums and we're paying more monthly for insurance than I made at any of my first several full-time jobs out of college. We're paying big bucks for the possibility of something happening that we hope won't happen.
It's a reverse lottery sucker bet that makes me miss the surety of playing a Pick Six at the race track.
Friends of ours recently bragged of their foresight in purchasing pet health insurance before their dog went in for a complicated surgery. With an aging Lab and three cats that don't jump nearly as high has they used to, it may well be something we should consider.
But with our luck, they'd stay healthy.