The First Amendment guarantees everyone in America certain freedoms: the freedom to speak freely, the right to peaceably assemble and, my personal favorite, freedom of the press. But, thanks to the State of Wisconsin, I’m realizing that the freedom to choose a reasonable automobile insurance policy should have been included on that list. If only our forefathers would have known.
While I am required to carry full vehicle insurance for my truck due to my lienholder agreement, I am extremely happy that I have the freedom to decide how much insurance I have and which insurance company I have my policy through. So long as the insurance is legit, the lienholder is OK with it. However, when I went through the process of picking a new insurance policy recently, my parents suggested I shop locally. But seeing as how I don’t have a spotless driving record, I was quoted some pretty hefty numbers by two or three different agents. Thus, I went a different route.
But while I was shopping around, I was a bit put off when the insurance agents tried to tell me how much coverage I should have on my vehicle. Sure, they do this type of thing for a living and know what minimum levels the state expects drivers to carry, but I was not sold on letting someone who doesn’t even know me try to sell me something I didn’t really need. But that’s exactly what insurance agents are trained to do ... after all, they’re salespeople (nice attempt at being politically correct, eh?) In my experience, most salespeople don’t make the consumers’ needs their number one concern; the main priority is selling something in order to make a profit.
In the end, these agents are no different than any other salesperson trying to sell their product - in this case, insurance policies. But insurance agents already have an edge - most people already want or need to have their vehicles insured. Now, all the agent has to do is convince the client to upgrade to a pricier policy and add unnecessary things like roadside assistance.
And in Wisconsin, the insurance agent’s job just got a whole lot easier. With the state easing into mandating that all Wisconsin drivers carry automobile insurance, some requirements have already taken effect. The state government has taken it upon itself to decide what levels of coverage drivers within Wisconsin have to carry for liability, uninsured and under-insured motorists.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not the best driver on the face of the earth and have never claimed to be. However, given my experience behind the wheel, I think I know how much insurance I need, while keeping in mind that accidents do happen and I should expect the unexpected. But sometimes money comes to the forefront of making these kinds of decisions. While I don’t have as much insurance as the state wants me to have, I truthfully can’t afford that kind of coverage ... which brings me to my point. The state, along with the entire country, has just recently started recovering from one of the worst recessions in history. So why are Wisconsin officials creating laws that will only bring about more economic issues for residents? And, if the state is in charge of mandating the amount of coverage we must have, shouldn’t they be helping us out with the added expense we incur? Seems only fair to me.
Jennie Oemig
Editor
Arcadia News-Leader
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