Most of us can conjure up the sound of that Vietnam-era hit, “War (What Is It Good For?)”; the soulful song was supposedly one of the most successful political tunes in history, so aptly capturing the mood of a generation in one compact catchphrase. If I could spin-off that catchy refrain, I might also successfully capture a mood prevalent among a generation of insurance buyers: “Insurance–huh–good god; what is it good for?” The reply would undoubtedly be a resounding, “Absolutely nothing!”

That is, of course, until you have a claim. But therein lies one of the biggest hurdles in talking to people about the importance of adequate insurance. Those folks who have experienced a fire or a theft of significant proportion, and furthermore have experienced a proper payout of said claim, would have no problem attesting to the benefits of insuring their home or their business. But for every one policyholder that has a claim, there might be another five of us who don’t. (According to a study reported on by Claims Journal, only 8 percent of homeowners in the U.S. filed a property claim.) The general sentiment I all to often hear is this: if we’ve spending all this money on insurance–for our home, auto, boat, business–but we never have any claims. What is it good for? (Absolutely nothing?)

Is it true, then, that if you buy insurance but never file a claim that you’ve not gotten anything in return for your premiums? Have you bought without any real benefit? Has the insurance company played the numbers, won the bet, and ran off with your hard-earned money? It may feel that way, but the answer is most assuredly no.

While even an insurance salesman can empathize with the fact that the only tangible thing a buyer holds in their hand after paying premiums is a piece of paper, that piece of paper is a whopper of a promise. That piece of paper is a binding contract. And in this contract between a policyholder and an insurance company, the insurance company agrees to completely restore the policyholder’s financial health in the event of financial calamity. To put it differently, if you take a hit you can’t get up from on your own, this contract is a legal guarantee that someone will be there to put you back on your feet.

Consider how you might fare protecting your assets on your own. Say you want to own a $200,000 home. Well, if you want to be able to replace that asset if it were to accidentally burn to the ground, then you’d better save up $400,000 before you purchase. Or you could just pay $700 a year for a homeowner’s policy and have that same capability. That’s the kind of power the insurance policy affords. You get to own the home and you get to ability to replace it. And you get to do them both now (not years and years later, after you’ve managed to save up a fortune).

One speaker I heard put it this way. To a client who lamented that they’d bought insurance from him for years and never got any use from it, the speaker replied, “Well, if you’ve got a gas can and a lighter, I could remedy that right now–I know right where you live.” I can’t recall how the speaker said his client took that reply, but needless to say, it was a pithy way of proving a point. Like a handgun purchased for home defense, insurance is something we buy hoping we don’t have to use it. Nobody really wants to put their home defense weapon to the test. But even if you never have to shoot an intruder, the fact remains by purchasing the gun, you now have to capacity to do so. And that capacity–huh–is what insurance is good for. Say it again, ya’ll!