National Underwriter - October 17, 2011

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EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 33-41 Newark St., Hoboken, NJ 07030 (201) 526-1230, Fax (201) 526-1260 Web Site: PropertyCasualty360.com

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CTO David MacDonald EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT MEDIA DIVISION John Whelan

Confessions Of An Uninsured Man

ONE OF THE many aspects that I love about covering the P&C indus- try is that it touches just about everyone—anyone, that is, who owns a car or a home, which covers a vast percentage of America.

But not quite everyone has purchased P&C insurance—including, for example, your NU editor-in-chief. As a New Yorker, I have no need to own a car. And I rent in an apartment building that doesn’t require its residents to have insurance.

(Being insurance-less at the helm of a magazine called National Underwriter perhaps isn’t quite as awkward as another situation I was in: the editorial leader of Multi-Housing News, a magazine for apartment owners—and living at the time (shhh!) in a rent-stabilized apartment, paying far below market rate...)

However, assigning and editing stories every day about risk has got me thinking—and I decided today to get a quote for renter’s insurance. (I swear the looming deadline for an editorial topic had nothing to do with my decision.)

Where to turn? (The answer might be especially interesting to any carrier marketing executives reading this.)

I have had a USAA credit card for decades, and I know, from the promotions slipped frequently into my monthly statements, that they offer renter’s insurance. And I actually have positive brand feelings toward the company (and let’s just say “positive” does not accurately reflect my sentiments toward any of the other credit-card companies with which I deal).

I called the number on the back of my
card, said “renter’s insurance” into the
phone and was immediately connected
with an agent. She had my address
already and asked only four questions
(one of which was why I was calling
today, and I was upfront about writing
about the experience for NU). The other
questions had to do with my fire-alarm
situation (basic); how much coverage I
wanted ($25,000) and if I had any valu-
able objects I wanted to single out (yes,
two paintings x $2,500 each).