|
Your
Wedding & Your Money: Better Safe Than Sorry.
If the wedding of your dreams
involves a June ceremony with a dozen attendants, a sit-down dinner for 400
guests and an open bar, perhaps you should consider one extra detail for your
celebration: wedding insurance.
Wedding insurance will cover your
losses if bad weather, airport delays, a military call-up or a sudden illness
prevents you or your intended from getting to the church on time. If your
caterer is shut down by the local health department, most insurance policies
will cover the extra cost of finding a last-minute vendor to feed your guests.
Travelers Insurance added wedding
insurance to its product line in the past year. Many other insurance companies
have also announced plans to expand their existing policies to include weddings
and other special events.
The growth of these policies reflects
the rising cost of weddings. The average amount spent on a wedding in 2007 was
well over $27,000. Nearly a third of couples pay the entire cost of their
wedding, and 36% end up spending more than they had planned. Premiums range
from $95 to more than $1,000, depending on the size of your wedding and the
level of coverage you buy.
Every insurance policy and every
wedding scenario is different. Take the time to talk to your insurance agent --
and have him or her explain the contract details to you. You want to make sure
you have a clear understanding of every detail of your policy before any
disasters strike.
Some
costs that wedding insurance will cover:
• Liability. Liability coverage will
protect you from lawsuits if an exuberant guest slips and falls while dancing.
Some reception venues include liability in the rental cost, but many of them
require you to have your own coverage.
• Sudden death or illness. If the groom has
an appendicitis attack the day before the wedding, wedding insurance will cover
the cost of non-refundable deposits. Likewise, insurance will cover your
expenses if a parent's death or illness forces you to postpone the wedding.
• Lost or damaged formalwear. If the bridal store files for bankruptcy before
you pick up your gown, wedding insurance will cover the cost of a new dress.
Lost or damaged wedding dresses are the most common types of wedding insurance
claims.
• Photography mishaps. Your wedding photos
are supposed to provide a lifetime of memories, but what if they're all out of
focus? Or the photographer simply disappears? Wedding insurance policies will
cover the cost of reassembling your wedding party and retaking the photos or
videos.
• Stolen or damaged wedding gifts.
There
are also some things wedding insurance won't cover, including:• Change of heart. Traditionally, wedding insurance has excluded deposits
forfeited because of runaway brides or reluctant grooms. Wedding insurance is
intended to cover events that are out of your control, such as a hurricane that
makes your wedding site inaccessible. Insurance companies say the exclusion is
also necessary to prevent fraud. There are a few insurers that will provide
"change of heart" coverage under certain circumstances. To qualify, a
policyholder would have to show that he or she was an innocent party.
• Existing medical conditions. If your
mother, for example, has a chronic health condition that worsens before the
wedding, your policy probably won't cover the costs of postponing the event.
Limiting
losses
Even if you don't buy wedding insurance, there are other ways to
protect your investment:
• Research vendors thoroughly. Check
up on references provided by vendors and obtain a reliability report on
prospective vendors from the BBB.
• Keep your deposit small. Because
most deposits are non-refundable, limiting the size of your deposit will
protect you from a large loss if you cancel or reschedule your wedding.
• Use a credit card. for as many
expenses as possible. That way, you can dispute charges for unsatisfactory
service. When you pay with a check, getting your money back is much harder.
Save your receipts so you'll have documentation to support your case. v
|
|
