Why is it important to be in touch with your insurance agent?

When I meet new clients who decide to take me on as their agent, I always hope that we can stay active in communication with one another.

We can have yearly checkups to see if there is anything that needs to be added or updated but I think that it is much more than that.

From my experience I've noticed that in many cases people tend to forget the guidelines I mentioned to them in our meeting and especially in cases where they need some kind of medical service or treatment, they rush off without consulting me first.

For example:

A woman needs urgent surgery, and she rushes to schedule the surgery. In today's market most policies allow surgery with a surgeon listed r in agreement with the specific insurance company and with agreement with the specific hospital.

Rushing into a surgery without checking this before the surgery could prove costly.

In another example a child needs treatment with an OT specialist or a psychologist or physiotherapist. Before starting treatments, a referral from a certain doctor is needed and sometimes a family doctor is not sufficient. Also, the referral needs to show that there is a valid medical need for the treatment.

Starting treatments without a referral could prove problematic when claiming reimbursement.

Or as I mentioned to a client of mine "No referral – No money"

In other cases, sometimes people are convinced that they have coverage for the specific medical device or medicine or treatment they need, and it is not the case.

I have a very sweet client who needed special insoles for her shoes. She bought and paid for them (they were tailored made) and then called me to find out there is no coverage for this but if she had gone to the specific supplier for her HMO she would have gotten full funding for them.

I really hate being the bearer of bad news in these kinds of cases…

And the opposite scenario can happen too, meaning a client is sure that they have no coverage for something and not checking it, remembering it years later when it's too late (statute of limitations applies 3-5 years usually).

My solution is very simple:

Have a good agent who is available to you with quick response time and in any medical issue that comes up and, in any pension, related or insurance related question send them a message or call them.