Sunday, March 14, 2010

Should YOU Get Wedding Insurance?

Should you get wedding insurance?  That is the big question.  And it all depends on your ability to stomach the risk of losing thousands upon thousands of dollars!  Every year, engaged couples put up to 300 hours of work into this one day.  Their financial investment averages close to $34,000 dollars in 2010.  How much is your car worth?  Do you insure it?  Just a thought.  I'll end this article with a story that will illustrate why getting insurance may be worth it.

First, here are some things wedding insurance should cover:
Change of heart Insurance:  "I'm sorry honey, but I just can't marry you."  Hearing those words 8 to 12 months before the nuptials would be manageable, but if those words are followed by these, "Now I'll turn around and tell all of our friends and family here at our ceremony," then you've got a problem!  If you're a runaway bride or a skittish groom, or perhaps you don't realize this yet, then I have some good news for you.  Fireman's Fund will provide "change of heart" coverage depending on your circumstances. To qualify, a policy holder would need to prove that they were an innocent party and that they were the one victimized.  What then happens is the bride's parents will most likely be able to get their deposits and such back, thereby saving enough money or the next wedding--if they are willing to roll the dice again, that is!

Existing Medical Conditions Insurance:  It turns out, if you have some kind of preexisting condition, you will be hard pressed to find a policy that will cover your wedding. Then again, if your grandmother has a stroke and you have to postpone everything until she gets her marbles back, then you should be covered.  If you happen to have some medical issue like chronic allergies, a heart murmur, or your crazy kidney stones, my advice to you is...shhhh!  They're not gonna know!  Shhhh. Obviously I'm joking...I am by no means advocating insurance fraud.

Liability Insurance:  Liability means it is not your fault!  If Joey the bachelor groomsman decides to play air guitar and do the splits and ends up pulling a groin or ripping himself in half, he can't sue you for it.  Well, he can, but he'd lose.  Most locations do provide some kind of liability insurance, so you might not need to foot the bill for this type of wedding insurance coverage.  If it turns out your Aunt Gabby tends to periodically burst into flames, I would recommend double coverage.

Lost or damaged formal wear Insurance: The most common claim made to wedding insurers isn't that the groom turned out to be a bum--I wanna refund.  No, lost, stolen, or damaged wedding gowns would take first place.  This surprised me, since guys are usually dumb as a box of rocks, I was sure "tuxedo sucked into the pool filter cleaner" would have been the most.
Photography Insurance: From my experience, most photographers are at least adequate so you'll end up with at least adequate photos.  If your photographer is an artiste of unparalleled ability, it won't matter one snapper if his digital flash cards get snatched.  I was at one wedding where someone walked in during dinner and took three camera bags full of $15,000 worth of camera equipment (yes, those lenses are mega-pricey).  This would have been okay if the photographer didn't leave the flash cards in the bag!  All the photos were lost, from the toasts and back through the first dance, grand entrance, post ceremony cocktail hour, recessional, vows...you get the picture (actually, you don't, since there were no pictures, lol!).  Most likely the photos will be fine, as long as they don't grow legs and walk out!  With wedding insurance, you can at least get everyone dressed up once again and fake your way through the day.

Stolen or damaged wedding gifts:  Just like the camera bags growing legs and walking out, so might your wedding gifts!  I've heard that some thieves will dress in nice suits and/or dresses and some even snatch employee clothes before loading up your gifts onto a luggage cart, pretending to take them to your honeymoon suite.  Even with the trend of wedding guests mailing your gifts to you, there's always a chance they will get damaged in the mail. Rather than deal with the post office, going directly through your wedding insurance carrier should save you time and headache.

Sudden death or illness:  You just never know in this day and age.  God forbid you, your future-to-be, a parent, etc. lose their life or ability to participate in the wedding day.  It could turn one of the happiest days of your life into the most tragic.  It would be so much better to have wedding insurance so you could reschedule to give yourself some time to cope and to recoup most of your losses. 

What else could go wrong? Plenty, but we don't need to go into those things, since these are the most common and biggest issues facing brides and grooms that insurance will cover.  Now, onto the story I mentioned earlier.  I was at a wedding reception with about 250 people where there were small candles on each table.  So, 250 tables, 10 people per table, 25 tables, what are the odds of the following happening?  Right before the grand entrance, an aunt decides to reach across the table to admire the centerpiece.  She was wearing a very sheer wrap that got a little too close to one of the table candles and WHOOSH! Up in flames went the wrap.  She didn't get the darn thing off quick enough and her blouses caught on fire, too.  She burned up pretty good, her previously covered skin now exposed, some of it red and raw and some charred black.  She was in agony.  They rushed her out to the foyer and waited a few minutes for an ambulance to arrive.  Now here comes the ridiculous part. She sued the bride (her neice) for medical costs and punitive damages! What a B--ad person, right?  Worse, she sued the location, which settled and decided to go after the same bride & groom to recoup.  This nightmare could have been averted if they spend $128 on wedding insurance.
 So I leave you with that.  If you don't get wedding insurance, do so at your own risk, but at least make sure all of your wedding vendors carry some kind of coverage.  If you don't want to have any kind of unsettling feelings on your wedding day, then wedding insurance may be the answer to all of your concerns.

1 comment:

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