How to disable overtype function in MS-Outlook 2003?

I realize you hit the “insert” button to turn this off—but for some reason in Outlook there is no bar at the bottom that indicates with an OVR button that shows whether it is turned on or off. This is driving me insane and has caused me to lose a large amount of data. I am able to turn on MS-Word as my e-mail editor but for some reason cannot activate that bar at the bottom with the OVR button. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!