Getting Proper Protection: Insurance for Unemployed

Insurance for unemployed people can often seem like an unnecessary expenditure. When you’re poor, everything seems to cost more in the first place, from your bank account (which accrues fees if you don’t keep a high enough balance), to your rent (which accrues late fees if you can’t pay it all on time) — it’s like there’s an unspoken ‘unemployment tax’ just for the people who got smacked around by the recession. But it’s when you don’t have any resources to cope with an unexpected disaster that you need insurance most in the first place.

Depending on the specific kind of insurance protection you’re talking about, collecting unemployment checks can have negative, neutral, or in rare cases even a beneficial effect on your ability to get insured. Some communities have local groups that offer help for the unemployed, and they tend to favor responsible folks like the ones who would seek out insurance in the first place. Ask around; you never know who might be willing to supplement your unemployment insurance benefits if it means you can get yourself some protection.

Here’s a short rundown of the various ways that you can go about getting — or getting cheaper — insurance for unemployed people, divided by industry:

Health Insurance for Unemployed Folks
Getting health insurance without an employer supporting of the cost can be a financially painful sacrifice to make. It’s out there; the question is how to get it at a reasonable price. Start by contacting an insurance broker or an advocacy group, or in a pinch, your State insurance commissioner. Don’t let your coverage lapse for more than three months, or it will be very difficult to get coverage in the future. If you need to, get a ‘Gap’ or short-term plan to cover you for a year of your unemployment — protection is better than not — and look for better options in the meantime.

Auto Insurance for Unemployed People
As soon as you start collecting unemployment checks, switch to a cheaper provider. Knowing that you won’t be commuting any more, you can often negotiate for a lower rate based on the reduced use of your vehicle — one of the few ways in which unemployment appeals to an insurance agency. That’s about the sum total of auto insurance help for the unemployed.

A Different Kind of Auto Insurance for Unemployed Men and Women: Extended Warranties
Extended Warranties are, as one popular commercial puts it, the “other half” of auto insurance — the half that pays for normal car repair if your car breaks down. Unfortunately, there’s exactly zero help for the unemployed who want an extended warranty — it has to come out of pocket — but it’s nonetheless a good idea to have it if you can get it; otherwise, a sudden car breakdown can leave you choosing between driving to your next interview and eating for a few weeks.

Mortgage Insurance for Unemployed Americans
Of course, once you’re unemployed, it’s too late to look for unemployment mortgage protection insurance — but if you already have it, you’ll be grateful; it’ll help a lot. If you’re not that lucky, you might still be able to utilize HAUP – the Home Affordable Unemployment Program — to get your mortgage bills reduced as one of your supplementary unemployment insurance ‘benefits’.

Renters/Home Insurance for Unemployed Guys and Gals
For renters and home insurance, in most cases, if you’re unemployed, insurance like this isn’t really any worse off to acquire than not. As long as you agree to pay the relatively small premiums for this type of insurance, they’ll insure you whether you’re paying from an unemployment check or a paycheck.

The takeaway lesson here is pretty simple: it’s the times when you have no savings — like when you’re unemployed — insurance matters most. If it’s possible to scrounge together the money, it’s not only possible but wise to get insurance for unemployed folks.

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