Chapter 10 Insurance
INS Insurance By law, insurance is a state run
monopoly here in Costa Rica. The only legal insurance company is the state
run Instito Nacional de Seguros. This
monopoly is due to be broken if the CAFTA Free Trade
Agreement is passed in a referendum this Fall. However, for now, this bloated, inefficient,
unresponsive bureaucratic mess is the only game in town for most types of
insurance.
Property and Casualty insurance, including Auto, come to mind
as the main categories where they still have an almost absolute monopoly. While outside companies have entered here a
little in these categories, you are on your own if they don’t pay a claim. So, despite the problems in dealing with
INS, if you want these types of policies, it’s better to deal with them.
Other types of insurance, though, like health, disability,
and life (which include IRA’s, self directed annuities, regular annuities,
etc.) are easy to obtain and manage from outside the country. We recommend these types of policies unless
for some over riding reason you just have to deal with INS. But be warned, INS has many traps set so that
they don’t have to pay all or any of your claims. And they don’t necessarily advise you of the
rules in advance, which is why it is advisable to buy your INS insurance
through an egent you can trust and who speaks
English. You should ask the agent to
explain everything in detail.
To add an extra layer of protection, you might consider
taking any contracts or policy forms to a knowledgeable, trustworthy lawyer
before you hand over any money. The
lawyer just might explain to you some “surprises” the agent “forgot” to
mention.
International policies
You can sign up for some insurance with companies outside the
country perfectly legally, because the paperwork is officially “executed” from
outside the country. We have located a
good broker working out of Miami to
work with, and he can help you with most of your needs below. He can get you both US
(domestic) policies or the offshore/international ones. We generally recommend the non US based
policies as they usually have lower premiums, and, especially with the
investment types of annuities and other such products, you can get them
denominated in either British Pounds or Euros, which are both doing better than
the dollar giving you more bang for your buck.
Below are some sample offerings:
International
Health Insurance. Must reside outside home country for at least 6 month out of the
year. Major medical plan has
worldwide coverage and protection.
Available for individuals and groups (above 3; discount amount depends
on size of group). Business
coverage available outside Costa Rica. Doesn’t
generally require a full physical or exam. These policies are much cheaper than the US
variety, and backed by a major Global insurance company. Clients have reported no problems whatsoever
using this policy around the world.
International
Travel Health Insurance. Has limits starting at
50K to 1 M. Can
be bought on a daily, monthly, up to yearly basis. Very good policy for
those who are out of their home country less than 6 months and thus don’t
qualify for the above plan.
Life Insurance Individual insurance and even
mortgage insurance.
Term Life Return of premium policies are available.
Investment policies Equity index annuities –
participate in the gains, but no losses.
Mutual fund like products, most are annuities. Same guarantee against loss. Variable annuity does participate in gains
and losses of the funds.
IRA Rollovers are
available.
Disability
policy. Individuals and groups
and coverage for an entire business.
Specialty Products such
as kidnap and ransom. Inquire for
special needs.
All of the above and
more are available from a reliable broker working out of Miami. For more information, please email us at our
Customer Service email address, explaining something about your situation and
what type of insurance you would like.
We will then explain to you your options for getting the kind of
coverage you need at the best possible price from a reputable company with a
solid track record and a reputation for doing what it says it will do.
