Golden Protection. An Insurance Story.

Imagine it’s late at night and you hear noise downstairs. You are frightened so you call the police. Unfortunately, they cannot help you as your “police insurance policy” is a “catastrophic situation only” policy designed to save you money. As such, they do not answer calls after midnight. They advise you to lock your bedroom doors and wait till 8:00 AM to call again.

Luckily the noise turns out to be nothing. But the stress of the situation has upset your elderly mother, who develops chest pain. You call the fire department to take her to the local hospital, where her doctor works. The ambulance arrives, but tells you that the local hospital is out of network for your “Golden Protection” fire and EMS policy. However, if you get prior authorization they can take you there. This takes only 48 to 72 hours.

This seems far too long. Your mother’s health is complicated and you want her to see her own doctor. So, you decide to take her yourself. Driving towards the throughway, you see traffic is at a standstill due to construction. Thinking quickly, you take a shortcut to the state parkway only to be stopped by a state trooper. He asks to see your “road use policy” to check if you have access to state roads. Sadly, this is also a Golden Protection policy and you do not have this access.