Whether same sex or heterosexual, unmarried couples often face excessive costs when trying to put proper risk management policies in place.  In the past, to ensure adequate protection financial professionals would recommend that couples living together buy separate policies for home, auto and umbrella coverage.  This could cost up to double that of legally married couples, according to Joshua T. Hatfield Smith, CFP®, CHFC, CLU, CLTC of SPC Financial, Rockville, Md., a financial planner with a large client base of gay and lesbian clients.
      The excessive cost created a hesitation to buy appropriate policies with often unexpected consequences.  Couples would buy one auto policy for the car owner, for instance, and put the other partner on as a "driver."  This did not insure the "driver" and left that partner "bare" when using a rental auto where generally, an insurance policy covers only the policy owner.  Likewise, the couple could not take advantage of multi-car discounts available to legally married couples.
      "That's changing," says Tim Schaefer, Schaefer Insurance Services, LC, Germantown, MD. who provides for the insurance needs of many of Hatfield Smith's financial planning clients.  "Activist, gay financial professionals are working diligently to make vendor companies aware of the needs of unmarried couples and the demographics of this market."  Schaefer particularly commends Erie Insurance (Erie PA, www.erieinsurance.com.)  for offering joint home, auto and umbrella policies for domestic partners in eleven states and the District of Columbia. Some others have followed suit because the market is too large to ignore.
     "Meanwhile, unmarried couples should consult the Gay Yellow Pages available in most metropolitan areas or www.gay.com to find financial professionals and insurance agents who care about and are committed to serving this market and have up to date information on products that solve the financial needs of this community," says Hatfield Smith.
     "Even if a person lived three hours from a gay agent, since they can conduct business via phone, email and web, the time and effort may pay off in reduced costs and better risk management," says Schaefer.

Joshua T. Hatfield Smith, CFP®, CHFC, CLU, CLTC, is a financial advisor with SPC Financial Services, Inc., Rockville, MD -- jhatfieldsmith@spcfinancial.com -- 800-987-1901.  JT is co-chair of the Fourth Bi-Annual Pride Planners Conference upcoming in Washington, D.C., September 27-29, a unique educational opportunity for  financial professionals with interest in the LGBT, same sex and unmarried couple market segment.

 Timothy D. Schaefer, CIC, LUTCF, Schaefer Insurance Services LC, Germantown, MD. -- serving the insurance needs of individuals, families and businesses in the Washington DC metropolitan area. 301.428.0282 x110,   tim@schaeferinsurance.com