INSURANCE

Auto Insurance

2008-08-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

I’ll stand in line for the latest Harry Potter book. You can probably convince me that I “need” the latest Dior volumizing mascara and yes, I have eaten turtle cheesecake for supper before. I have several guilty pleasures. Buying auto insurance is not one of them, but it’s a necessity. Read on to learn why, in addition to being a legal stipulation, auto insurance is important to you and your assets.

First things first – While penalties vary state to state, you can guarantee that driving without coverage will take some clank out of your bank. Uninsured drivers can face a myriad of punishments for merely being stopped and not being able to prove coverage. This fact alone should be enough to convince you to start researching reasonable insurance coverages for your vehicle.

Not persuasive enough? Consider your possible liability in the event of an accident…

Your vehicle collides with Mrs. Baker’s vehicle. Mrs. Baker is a fourth grade teacher at the local elementary school and is now facing $80,000 in medical bills, $65,000 in lost wages and is requesting $200,000 for pain and suffering. That’s a $345,000 claim that, unless you have adequate coverage for, you will be pulling out of your pocket. Certainly in this case, as the too familiar adage wisely states, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

So, you know you need auto insurance. While it’s not sinfully delicious or nearly as enjoyable as turtle cheesecake, lack of adequate coverage will definitely leave you with a bellyache in the event of an automobile accident. It is possible to find insurance you can afford.

Remember! Your car insurance rate is based on your insurance risk assessment. If an insurance company determines you are a high-risk driver, your monthly cost will be higher than that of the average driver. You CAN remedy this! Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to reduce your auto insurance risk which, in turn, could lessen your auto insurance cost…

1) Purchase home/renter’s insurance from the same carrier as your auto insurance. Some insurance companies offer multi-policy discounts.

2) Always obey traffic laws, specifically the speed limit. Insurance companies take note of your driving record. More speeding tickets = higher risk driver = increased auto insurance cost

3) Study hard. Insurance companies often reward students with good grades with a student discount.

4) Purchase a vehicle that receives notability for low damageability and increased passenger safety.

5) When given the option, purchase additional safety features for your vehicle. (Air bags, antilock brakes, etc.)

6) Take a driver safety course. A defensive driving class could possibly reduce your insurance rate. If not, it would at least make you more aware of the importance of being a defensive driver.

Other things to keep in mind…

1) To the insurance company, plain and simple, you are a set of risks. Anything you can do to decrease your “risk factor” might affect your cost of coverage.
2) Always ask for discounts. Many insurance companies offer deals for safe drivers. If you’re considered less of a risk, they’ll likely reward you.
3) Always comparison shop. You can always find a bargain if you know where to look. Insurance is such a commodity.

How to Find Car Insurance Discounts

2008-08-28T00:18:00.001-07:00

Saving money wherever you can is important to us all. Car Insurance should be no different. Do not assume that your insurance agent knows everything about you and your car. At HometownQuotes we go out of our way to find all the possible car insurance discounts that are available to each customer.

Drivers should take advantage of all discounts that many providers offer, that can significantly reduce the cost of car insurance. Understanding discounts and how they can affect car insurance premiums can help smart shoppers make better decisions about their coverage and possibly save themselves some money in the process.

Read below to identify possible discounts that could help you save money on car insurance this year. Other than discounts, there may be some other ways for you to save on your insurance premiums. We will go over several discounts that can help with your current situation.

First, there are discounts for Car Safety features. Certain states will give you discounts for anti-lock breaks. Make sure you know if it is two or four wheel anti-lock break vehicle. Automatic seatbelts and airbags are frequently discounted on your insurance premiums. In most states, a defensive driver class discount may apply. If the principal driver usually 55 years old or older has completed an approved defensive driving class a discount could apply. Keep in mind that most states will only approve this class if it is voluntary meaning that it was not the result of a violation or infraction.

Some insurers will give you a discount for having multiple cars. In some cases, this will only apply if you have two or more drivers. If you have a clean driving record, meaning you do not have any tickets, accidents or suspensions in the last three years (some companies require five years) then you could be eligible for a safe driver's discount.

Many insurance companies will reward you with staying with the same insurance company for many years without any accidents reported. They will offer you a renewal discount. It makes sense, you have carried insurance with a company for several years, and have not had an accident, your insurance company likes you and wants to reward and keep your business. Some companies honor you with a discount if you had prior limits on your previous policy. They discount you because they understand you are a better risk.

Conversely, if you do decided to change insurers a proof of prior insurance discount may apply. Most insurers request at least 6 months of consecutive insurance from the previous insurer. If you are a full-time student who meets certain grade requirements and are unmarried and usually under 25 years of age (some states the age is 21) you could be eligible for a good student discount. If you own a home, including condominium, town home, or mobile home, which is used as a principal residence, a discount could apply. Military personnel either currently active or retired from any branch of the US military a discount could apply. If your vehicle is equipped with an anti-theft device, a discount could apply.

You could lower the cost of your car insurance in other ways as well.

For people who own older cars, it may not be necessary or cost-effective to protect them with collision and comprehensive coverage. By comparing the book value of your vehicle and the premium that the insurer has offered, you may find that it cost as much for the insurance as it does for the vehicle. If the car is worth less than $2,000, you will probably spend more insuring it than it is worth. The whole idea of driving an older car is to save money, so why not get what is coming to you.

In addition, keep in mind that the type of vehicle you buy could greatly affect your premium. A flashy red sports car is usually going to cost more to insure than a mid sized sedan. This is also true of vehicles that are on the list of most stolen. There are many ways that policyholders can save on their insurance. Knowing more about auto policies and premiums can help consumers take advantage of less obvious discounts while ensuring that they have the appropriate protection for their vehicles. The last way to save is to assume more risk. If you chose higher deductible on your Personal Injury Protection or Comprehensive and collision coverage will lower your premium as well. The deductible is the amount of money you have to pay before your insurance company begins paying the rest.

Understanding how discounts affect your car insurance rates is important to save you money.

Auto Insurance Buying Tips

2008-08-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

Consolidate Insurance Policies

Insuring two or more vehicles with the same insurance company can save you between 10 - 15% on your premiums. Covering your home through the same company that you have auto insurance with can reduce your premiums by another 10-15%.

Increase Your Deductible

One rule of thumb is to carry the highest deductible you can afford. By increasing your deductible from $100 to $1,000, you could save up to 25%. Keep in mind, though, that your lender might not agree to a higher deductible.

Install Anti-Theft And Safety Devices

Installing a vehicle recovery system such as Lo-Jack or Teletracer could save you up to 7-10% per year. There are other relatively inexpensive anti-theft devices such as "The Club", which locks the steering wheel in place, as well as having your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etched on each window.

Safety features such as air bags, traction control and anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are viewed positively by insurance companies which, in turn, is reflected in your premiums. Although these systems may not reduce injury during an accident, they will reduce your premiums.

Clean Driving Record And Safety Courses

While traffic tickets and auto accidents will increase your premiums, most insurance companies offer discounts to drivers with clean records. Also, some insurance companies will offer a discount if you attend a Driver Training School Program, and your employer might even pay the cost if you use a company vehicle for your job. Training school discounts may vary between 7-10%.

Reduce Coverage On Older Vehicles

If you have an older car worth between $1,000 - $2,000, you might be better off dropping the collision coverage. Check to see if your collision premium is more than the value of the car.

Non-Smoker Or Early Retiree Discounts

Yes, some companies provide discounts for Non-smokers and Early Retirees. Insurers consider smoking a dangerous driving activity.

Park In A Garage

Sometimes the difference between getting auto insurance and going uninsured is where you keep your vehicle at night. Most thefts do not involve a garaged car and this is reflected in premium discounts. If you have a winter home with no garage, try putting the vehicle in storage. Let your insurance company know that your car is in storage, and you could receive a partial premium reduction.

Carpool With A Co-Worker

Most insurers surcharge premiums if the commute to work exceeds 3 miles. Carpooling with a co-worker may result in a discount for low-mileage use.

Drive A Conservative Car

Before buying a car you might want to find out how much your insurance will cost annually. Insurance companies consider certain cars easily damaged and expensive to repair, and other cars the target of thieves. You could end up paying a premium surcharge between 10 - 20%. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established the Auto Safety Hotline at 1-800-424-9393 to report safety defects or to obtain information on cars, trucks, child seats, highway or traffic safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety provides information on death rates by car make and model as well as the standard safety equipment available. The Institute can be reached at 703-247-1500.

Teenage And College Bound Drivers

You may want to consider letting your teenager drive the family car instead of buying his/her own vehicle. This will very likely lower your cost to cover them. Students in school and living away from home can reduce their premiums by 30 - 50%, depending on the insurer.

Conclusion

After reviewing all of the savings tips, you may have determined that if you added up all your credits you could receive a 70 - 90% reduction in your premium. Well, unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Certain measures that you take may qualify you for being placed with the "preferred" company of a particular insurance group. This "preferred" company will be able to give you additional premium credits.

Changing Auto Insurance Companies

2008-08-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons why you may choose to change your auto insurance coverage to another company. Perhaps you’ve found another company that offers you the same amount of coverage for considerably less money. You might have changed jobs and are eligible for a group discount through another insurer, or maybe you’re unhappy with the service that your present company provides. With the growth of the internet and quote comparison sites, investigating your options has never been easier!

Why change to a new Auto insurance carrier?

You need to regularly review your auto insurance coverage to make sure that you are receiving the best insurance value for your money. You will discover that it pays to shop around. In some states, premiums for identical policies vary widely among different auto insurance companies. The reasons for this price variation can be very complicated, but they boil down to a company's claims experience with policyholders in a coverage group (e.g. people of similar age, number of accidents, type of vehicle). For example, if a large number of people in a coverage group files claims during a given year, their rates will likely rise. When this happens, better discounts and lower overall premiums may be available at other insurance companies. When you decide to switch your auto insurance to another company, you’ll find that it's fairly easy to do so.

How to cancel your old Auto Insurance policy

Generally, all you need to do to cancel your auto insurance policy is to inform your insurance company in writing, specifying the date you want the policy canceled. In some states, the new agent must notify the previous agent of the policy change. Some auto insurance companies ask the policyholder send back the actual printed policy. The insurance company will send a cancellation request form that will need to be signed and returned. Examine the form carefully to make sure that all information regarding the policy is correct. If the form is not received within two weeks of sending the letter, call the agent or company immediately to check on the status of the cancellation. Don't just walk away from the old policy without formally canceling it. Each state requires that auto Insurance policies be cancelled with notice, thus the insurance company might assume one wished to continue the coverage, and it might eventually terminate the policy for failure to pay premiums and report the lack of coverage to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. This can hurt your credit rating and ability to get a new policy. Be sure to get a new Auto Insurance policy first

Always have a new policy in place before canceling the old auto insurance coverage. Otherwise you might have a gap in protection for a day or more! Most states require all drivers to carry a minimum level of auto insurance and most insurance companies require policyholders to present proof of new coverage before they will cancel an active policy. The new company will be able to time the beginning of the new policy to coincide with the cancellation of the prior coverage.

When to Change Auto Insurance policies

At Renewal

Renewal is a convenient time to change auto insurance policies, as you don’t have to wait for a refund from your current carrier. A renewal notice will be sent to you approximately 30 days before a new policy begins, depending on the regulations in your state. Should you decide to switch companies, you’ll need to have a new policy by the time the current policy renews. Though a company might say there is 10-30 days to get your payment in before a policy terminates, you do not have coverage until the carrier receives the payment. If you have an accident during this time period you most likely will have no coverage since the premium wasn’t paid!

Anytime:

All Auto insurance policies contain a provision allowing you to cancel your policy with proper notice at any time. In a few states auto insurance companies “short rate” the policy that means one pays a penalty for canceling before the policy renews. Most insurance companies pro-rate their policies so there is no penalty. The advantage of switching before the renewal date can save you a lot of money. For example if you have a policy that runs from Jan 15th to Aug 15th and you have an accident or ticket that will be over 36 months on March 15th. By switching Auto insurance companies on March 16th, you get a discount for having a clean driving record. Your current carrier won’t apply this discount until the policy renews on August 15th! This can save you Hundreds of dollars immediately!

Cheap Auto Insurance for Teens

2008-08-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

Prom dresses. Football camp. School uniforms. Cell phone bills. Birthdays. Specifically, 16th birthdays. The upkeep of teenagers’ expenses can be financially disheartening. Fortunately, quality auto insurance is one purchase that parents can find in the bargain bin. Yes, it is possible to find cheap auto insurance if the shopper is looking in the right places. Today’s consumer has many online options to find whatever he or she is looking for, including auto insurance, and can comparison shop with the click of a button.

“But my son JUST turned sixteen. He’s still learning the rules of the road.
Is it possible to find cheap insurance for my young, inexperienced driver?”

Because young drivers are considered “at risk” drivers, you might think cheap insurance isn’t an option. If you know where to shop, however, you may find a perfectly reasonable price for auto insurance. There are several insurance comparison web sites that allow you to quickly get an insurance quote – whether you’re looking for health, life, home owner’s or auto coverage. In this case, there are a few things you might consider while shopping for auto insurance at a reduced rate:

1) While you’re on the lookout for your perfect policy, keep in mind that you can probably add your teenager to YOUR auto insurance policy. This will be much cheaper than having your child purchase his or her own policy.

2) Encourage your child to do well in school. Many insurance companies will offer a good student discount on auto insurance. Whether the student is in college or high school, often if he or she is making at least a B average, makes honor roll or is on the Dean’s list, the student will be eligible for a discount. Companies base this reduction on the idea that good students are better drivers.

3) Most importantly, let your teenager observe your good driving habits – they learn by example. If your teenager sees your seatbelt dangling next to the car door, you are giving him or her a reason to ignore it when he or she gets behind the wheel.

While you are bargain hunting for auto insurance, remember to think about the price AND the package. Do not strictly base your purchase on the price tag alone. You want your young driver covered in the event of an accident. It is important to know what you are paying for and you want to be sure the policy contains all the coverage you want or need. Consider the amount of coverage you’re paying for. You will be financially responsible for your young driver’s wreck if the policy limit is too low – meaning you will have to pay for damages out-of-pocket.

Homeowners Insurance & Keeping Track of Your Goods

2008-08-28T00:14:00.001-07:00

Homeowner’s insurance is an invaluable investment for every homeowner. If your house went up in flames and you lost everything, would you be able to recall everything you owned, including the items’ values? If you came home from work to find someone burglarized your home, would you be able to account for everything that had been taken or destroyed? While some items are priceless and/or likely have sentimental value, memories unfortunately are not sufficient for filing a homeowner’s insurance claim in the wake of a disaster.

In times of distress, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether your possessions are covered or not. If you purchase homeowner’s insurance, it is important to know what your policy covers. Not sure what’s in your homeowner’s policy? That topic will be covered in a future article.

Your homeowner’s insurance, ideally, will replace the cost of what you lose in a disaster. More importantly, however, is the fact that you will only be compensated for what you can account for. In other words, fond memories are heartwarming, but they will not reimburse your losses in a catastrophe.

“But how will I account for everything I lose in such an event?”

Well, the most accurate way to keep track of your items would be to take an inventory of everything you own. While this is a process that could take months to complete, it is your most worthwhile strategy should you experience misfortune.

“What do I need to put in this inventory?”

Put simply. EVERYTHING. The more you can account for in your homeowner’s insurance claim, the more likely you will be reimbursed. The list should be as detailed as possible and should include appliances, carpets, jewelry, furniture, linens, antiques, furniture, and the list goes on. To get your money’s worth, go from room to room and be sure you are as descriptive and detailed as possible. Include:

a description of the item (including the quantity)
the manufacturer or brand
any model or serial numbers
a description of where or how the item was attained
the date of purchase or age of the item
receipt or other proof of purchase that shows the cost
the current value
the replacement cost
photocopies of appraisals

“I’ll never complete this process!”

Keep in mind that while this documentation process may be time-consuming, it is certainly easier than remembering everything you own. Don’t let this task discourage you. Take photos. Even better, make a night out of it. Grab your video camera and go from room to room to create a visual and verbal description of your items. It might take you an hour to document your entire house. Regardless of how you complete your inventory, remember that your compensation rests on the quality of your documentation.

“I’ve made the inventory, now what?”

It is likely you invested a good amount of time to document your items. Whatever you do, keep that homeowner’s insurance inventory safe! If an unfortunate event comes your way, you certainly do not want your hard work to go to waste. Store it in a relative’s home, in a lockbox, a safety deposit box or keep it tucked away in your office desk. While memories and keepsakes can rarely be replaced, it’s comforting to know your homeowner’s insurance will keep you financially secure should you properly document your items.

Your Homeowner’s Insurance Policy – Dissected: Part 1 of 5

If your homeowner’s insurance policy has been stuck in a drawer, cabinet or just tucked mindlessly away somewhere, it is probably about time to pull it out, shake off the dust and make sure it’s still up-to-date. This article is the first in a series of five articles that will help you decipher your homeowner’s insurance policy.

Who has time to labor through deciphering an insurance policy when the house needs cleaning, the fence needs mending, Fido needs a feeding and the kids need to be driven to soccer practice?

Let’s face it. At the end of the day, the only thing a person wants to read is the newspaper or a good book. Reading one’s insurance policy is surely the last thing on the list of “hot reads.”

While keeping your homeowner’s insurance updated is a dismal task, it is of utmost importance. As discussed in a previous article, not only is it important to purchase homeowner’s insurance, it is just as important to know what that policy covers.

Homeowner’s insurance policies contain several different coverage areas.
This article, and some of the next few that follow, will help you make sense of the different sections within your homeowner’s insurance policy.

RESIDENTIAL COVERAGE

The most obvious coverage is protection against damage to or destruction of your residential structure. In other words, if your home is destroyed by a tornado, fire, or whatever your policy covers, the insurance company completely replaces or repairs your home.

In this section of coverage, the most important reason to keep your homeowner’s insurance policy updated is because, in the event of disaster, the insurance company will only reimburse you for what your home is insured for.

For example, you purchased your home and homeowner’s insurance five years ago. It is very likely the value of your home has increased since the purchase date. If you purchased the home insurance policy five years ago and have not updated the policy to the home’s current cost to rebuild, the insurance company will only reimburse you for the price you paid five years ago. So, if you purchased the home for $300,000 and the value has increased to $500,000, you’re losing $200,000 – quite a large sum.

In the end, it is essential to keep your homeowner’s insurance policy updated because you want to be sure your home is insured for 100 percent of the replacement cost. (Some policies automatically update to your home’s current value. Does yours?) While it is easy to let that dust settle over your policy from year to year, keep in mind that putting it aside could cost you much more in the end. Your homeowner’s insurance policy may make heavy reading, but it will be even more burdensome should it be out-of-date.

Ways To Keep Your Home Insurance Costs Low

2008-08-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

All homeowners are looking for ways to reduce our home insurance costs. Costs continue to rise and budgets get tighter and tighter with each passing year. Here are 8 tips to reduce your home insurance costs.

1. Increased Home Security

Most homes are fitted with some sort of security device. To make the most of your Home Security Discount make sure that you home is fitted with: dead bolt locks, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and a burglar and fire alarm that are monitored. You do not have to have all of these to receive a discount on your home insurance so even if you only have one or two make sure that you ask for the savings.

2. Keep your credit score as high as possible.

While it would seem that a good credit score would have nothing to do with insurance rates, it is a fact that they do. Home Insurance companies are using your credit score as an indicator of responsibility. The theory is the more responsible the individual the less claims they will have. So, insurance companies are giving lower rates to those individuals with a better credit score.

3. Consolidate your policies.

Most, if not all companies that sell home insurance, offer discounts for insuring your autos with them. These discounts can sometimes save you up to 30% off of your total insurance bill. Plus, you get the added convenience of having one agent for both your home and auto insurances.

4. Protect your home with updates.

Discuss with your agent about the possibilities of receiving home insurance discounts for keeping your home in good repair. Some home insurance companies will offer savings for a anew roof, electrical, HVAC, plumbing updates. The discounts are generally not enough to warrant the replacement but if you needed it anyway, be sure to get the discounts if applicable.

5. Make sure you are not over insured.

Your home insurance coverage should not necessarily be what you paid for them home. Land values are calculated into the final sales price and should be considered when insuring the structure. In others words you cannot hurt the dirt. A good idea is to call local builders and ask them what new home construction cost per square foot is going for. Take that number, multiply that times your square footage and that is the amount that your home should be insured for. Companies will not pay more than what it is going to cost to rebuild the home anyway, so make sure you are insured correctly.

6. Stay away from low deductibles.

The deductible is your portion of the claim that must be paid before the insurance company pays for the claim. The lower your deductible, the higher your premium will be. Deductibles can range anywhere from $100-$5000 or more. The majority of homeowners will carry a $500 deductible, but the savings one can receive by raising your deductible to $1000 can be significant, up to 20%. It doesn’t take too many claim free years to make up the difference between the two deductibles, but remember you should never raise your deductible to a level that you could not afford to pay.

7. Ask your home insurance agent.

Most of the time, an agent will make sure that you are receiving 100% of the home insurance discounts that you qualify for, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some insurance companies have discounts that others do not. Some offer discounts that most would never dream as being a discount such as 55 and retired, non smoking, military service, law enforcement, single parent discounts, etc.

8. Don’t be afraid to shop around.

Home insurance shopping is easy. Insurance shopping online is even easier.(yes, I am biased) have given you the ability to get multiple home insurance quotes by filling out a form that takes about five minutes to complete. Also be aware that not all insurance companies are created equal. There are some bad ones out there but most, at worst, are pretty good.

10. home insurance tips

2008-08-28T00:12:00.001-07:00

1. Safeguard your home

Take action to make your home theft-resistant. "Case" your home as if you were a burglar.

Burglars look for easy targets - make sure your home isn't one of them.

Install exterior lights that are out of reach and triggered by motion.
Trim trees and shrubs near doors and windows.
Don't hide house keys outside - burglars know where to look.
Consider investing in a security system. Not only does this make your home safer, it can lower your home insurance premiums.

When you're on vacation:

Have mail and newspapers picked up.
Leave blinds in normal positions.
Arrange to have your lawn mowed or your driveway shoveled.
Tell police and neighbors that you will be away and ask them to watch your home.

2. Be a responsible dog owner

The numbers speak for themselves: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of Americans homes have a dog. There are 4 million dog bites per year, and dog bites create 33% of all homeowners liability claims - resulting in more than $1 billion in claims per year. Consider these tips to avoid having a claim brought against you:

Pick a dog breed that's covered by your home insurance. Ask your insurance agent for details.
Have your dog spayed or neutered.
Train your dog.
Keep your dog on a leash when walking.

3. Protect your home business

Home businesses are generally not covered under your home insurance policy. You may have only limited property coverage and no liability coverage for your business under your homeowners policy. Research the coverage that you have for property and equipment damage or theft, loss of income, and general liability for customer and supplier injuries.

4. Cover your domestic help

Check with your state Department of Insurance regarding whether you need a workers' compensation policy for your housekeeper, gardener, nanny, cook, or other domestic employees. In addition, if someone else occasionally runs errands for you and drives your car, have that driver listed on your auto insurance. Confirm that you have adequate liability and medical coverage on your Home Insurance. Consider purchasing a personal umbrella policy.

Tips for Buying a New Home

2008-08-28T00:12:00.000-07:00

1. Use all of the online resources available.

Almost every state and local government has a website where you can research real estate information. The data on home sales, taxes, and neighborhoods is invaluable when you are shopping for a home. We were able to find out the most recent sale prices in the neighborhood we selected, and we didn't have to rely on a real estate agent to get the data for us. Doing the research yourself will make you more knowledgeable about the market, which is key to making a good purchase.

2. Be realistic about how much you can spend.

Try to buy a home in a price range that allows you to put down 20%. If you put down less than this, you will have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) to protect the lender in case you default on the loan. I know that 20% is a lot, but it's not unrealistic. You may not be able to do it on your first home, but hopefully you can on your second home. The profits from the sale of my condo enabled my husband and me to have more than enough for the 20% down payment on our home. But we didn't put it all down on the home - we saved some of the profits for the unexpected expenses that come with buying a home. We suggest that you do the same.

3. Shop for a home in the winter, preferably around the holidays.

Since most people just aren't interested in buying a home when they are trying to deal with the holidays, you can pretty much be one of the few buyers out there. We bought our home right before Christmas, and it was definitely a buyers market. We had our pick of homes and were able to underbid on the asking price, even though we live in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

4. Use a smaller mortgage company that can offer personal service.

People tend to go with large, well-known mortgage companies, since that's all they know. But the smaller, regional companies provide excellent customer service, and can often give you better rates than the big companies. Since they don't advertise and instead rely on word-of-mouth, they have to be good in order to get your service. We started off with a big-name company, but in the end, we went with a regional company because they had better rates and better customer service.

5. Always have a home inspection.

I think most people know this fact already, but it is really important in areas with a hot real estate market. It can be easy to get caught up in bidding wars, and to want to get a house at all costs. Some friends of ours wanted a house so badly that not only did they overbid, but they also waived the home inspection. They got the house - and right along with it they got several thousand dollars worth of damage that would have been found in an inspection.

As a final note, try to remember that buying a home doesn't have to be scary. It's very exciting to own your own home, so think of all the good things that will come once you have made it through the home-buying process. If you follow the advice above, then you should be well-equipped to make it through unscathed.

6. Save money and shop for your home insurance the easy way !!!

Life Insurance Buyer's Guide

2008-08-28T00:11:00.000-07:00

Prepared by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Buying Life Insurance
How much do you need?
What is the Right Kind?
Finding a Low Cost Policy
Things to Remember

Buying Life Insurance

When you buy life insurance, you want coverage that fits your needs and doesn't cost too much. First, decide how much you need - and for how long - and what you can afford to pay. Next, find out what kinds of policies are available to meet your needs and pick the one that best suits you. Then, find out what different companies charge for that kind of policy for the amount of insurance you want. You can find important cost differences between life insurance policies by using cost comparison indexes as described in this guide.

It makes good sense to ask a life insurance agent or company to help you. An agent can be particularly useful in reviewing your insurance needs and in giving you information about the kinds of policies that are available. If one kind doesn't seem to fit your needs, ask about others. This guide provides only basic information. You can get more facts from a life insurance agent or company or at your public library.

How much do you need?

To decide how much life insurance you need, figure out what your dependents would have if you were to die now, and what they would actually need. Your new policy should come as close to making up the difference as you can afford.

In figuring what you have, count your present insurance - including any group insurance where you work, social security or veteran's insurance. Add other assets you have - saving, investments, real estate, and personal property.

In figuring what you need, think of income for you dependents - for family living expenses, educational costs and any other future needs. Think also of cash needs - for the expenses of a final illness and for paying taxes, mortgage or other debts

What is the Right Kind?

All life insurance policies agree to pay an amount of money when you die. But all policies are not the same. Some provide permanent coverage and others temporary coverage. Some build up cash values and others do not. Some policies combine different kinds of insurance, and others let you change from one kind of insurance to another. Your choice should be based on your needs and what you can afford. A wide variety of plans is being offered today. Here is a brief description of two basic kinds - term and whole life - and some combinations and variations. You can get detailed information from a life insurance agent or company.

Term insurance covers you for a term of one or more years. It pays a death benefit only if you die in that term. Term insurance generally provides the largest immediate death protection for your premium dollar.

Most term insurance policies are renewable for one or more additional terms even if your health has changed. Each time you renew the policy for a new term, premiums will be higher. Check the premiums at older ages and how long the policy can be continued.

Many term insurance are renewable for one ore more additional terms even if your health has changed. Each time you renew the policy for a new term, premiums will be higher. Check the premiums at older ages and how long the policy can be continued.

Many term insurance policies can be traded before the end of a conversion period of a whole life policy-even if you are not in good health. Premiums for the new policy will be higher than you have been paying for the term insurance.

Whole Life Insurance covers you for as long as you live. The common type is called straight life or ordinary life insurance - you pay the same premiums for as long as you live. These premiums can be several times higher than you would pay at first for the same amount of term insurance. But they are smaller than the premiums you would eventually pay if you were to keep renewing a term policy until your later years.

Some whole life policies let you pay premiums for a shorter period such as 20 years, or until age 65. Premiums for these policies are higher than for ordinary life insurance since the premium payments are squeezed into a shorter period.

Whole life policies develop cash values. If you stop paying premiums, you can take the cash - or you can use the cash value to buy continuing insurance protection for a limited time or a reduced amount. (Some term policies that provide coverage for a long period also have cash values).

You may borrow against the cash values by taking a policy loan. Any loan and interest on the loan that you do not pay back will be deducted from the benefits if you die, or from the cash value if you stop paying premiums.

Combinations and Variations. You can combine different kinds of insurance. For example, you can buy whole life insurance for lifetime coverage and add term insurance for the period of your greatest insurance need. Usually the term insurance is on your life - but it can also be bought for your spouse or children.

Endowment insurance policies pay a sum or income to you if you live to a certain age. If you die before then, the death benefit is paid to the person you named as beneficiary.

Other policies may have special features which allow flexibility as to premiums and coverage. Some let you choose the death benefit you want and the premium amount you can pay. The kind of insurance and coverage period are determined by these choices.

One kind of flexible premium policy, often called universal life, lets you vary your premium payments every year, and even skip a payment if you wish. The premiums you pay (less expense charges) go into a policy account that earns interest and charges for the insurance are deducted from the account. Here, insurance continues as long as there is enough money in the account to pay the insurance charges.

Variable life is a special kind of insurance where the death benefits and cash values depend upon investment performance of one or more separate accounts. Be sure to get the prospectus provided by the company when buying this kind of policy. The method of cost comparison outlined in this Guide does not apply to policies of this kind.

A simple comparison of the premiums is often not enough. There are other things to consider. For example:

Do premiums or benefits vary from year to year?
How much cash value builds up under the policy?
What part of the premiums or benefits is not guaranteed?
What is the effect of interest on money paid and received at different times on the policy?

Finding a Low Cost Policy

After you have decided which kind of life insurance is best for you, compare similar policies from different companies to find which one is likely to give you the best value for your money.

Comparison Index numbers, which you get from your life insurance agents or companies, take these sorts of items into account and can point the way to better buys.

Comparison Indexes. There are two types of comparison index numbers. Both assume you will live and pay premiums for the period of index.

Yield Comparison Index . The Life Insurance Yield Comparison Index is a measure of cash value growth over the Index period which takes into account the interest credited, the estimated value of the death protection provided, and the expenses charged. A higher yield index number generally indicates a better buy. Since this index reflects items other than interest earnings, it may differ from the credited interest rate advertised or guaranteed in your policy. For the same reasons, the Yield Index may differ from the return on a pure investment like a savings account. Keep this in mind if you attempt to compare Yield Indexes with investment returns.

The Net Payment Cost Comparison Index helps you compare costs over the Index period assuming you will continue to pay premiums on your policy and do not take its cash value. It is useful if your main concern is the benefits that are to be paid at your death.

Guaranteed an Illustrated Figures. Many policies provide benefits on a more favorable basis than the minimum guaranteed basis in the policy. They may do this by paying dividends, or by charging less than the maximum premium specified. Or they may do this in other ways, such as by providing higher cash values or death benefits than the minimums guaranteed in the policy. The "currently illustrated basis" reflects the company's current scale of dividends, premiums or benefits. These scales can be changed after the policy is issued, so that the actual dividends, premiums or benefits over the years can be higher of lower than those assumed in the Indexes on the currently illustrated basis.

Some policies are sold only on a guaranteed or fixed cost basis. These policies do not pay dividends; the premiums and benefits are fixed at the time you buy the policy and will not change.

Using Comparison Indexes. The most important thing to remember is that, when using the Net Payment Cost Comparison Index, a policy with smaller index numbers is generally a better buy than a similar policy with larger index numbers. When using the Life Insurance Yield Comparison Index, the opposite is true: a policy with larger Yield Comparison Index numbers is generally a better buy than one with smaller Yield Comparison Index numbers.

Compare index numbers only for similar policies - those which provide essentially the same benefits, with premiums payable for the same length of time. Where possible the same amount of planned premium should be used. Make sure they are for your age, and for the kind of policy and amount you intend to buy. Remember than no one company offers the lowest cost at all ages for all kinds and amounts of insurance.

Small differences in index number should be disregarded, particularly where there are dividends or non guaranteed premiums or benefits. Also, small differences could easily be offset by other policy features, or differences in the quality of service from the agent or company or differences in the strength of companies. When you find small differences in the indexes, your choice should be based on something other than cost.

Finally keep in mind that index numbers cannot tell you the whole story. You should consider:

The level and quality of service from the agent or company, the strength and reputation of the company, the history (track record) of how the company treats carious classes of policyholders e. g. longtime policyholders versus current purchasers.

The pattern of policy benefits. Some policies have low cash values in the early years that build rapidly later on. Other policies have a more level cash value buildup. A year-by-year display of values and benefits can be very helpful. (The agent or company will give you a Policy Summary that will show benefits and premiums for selected years).

Any special policy features that may be particularly suited to your needs.

The methods by which non guaranteed values are calculated. For example, interest rates are an important factor in determining policy dividends. In some companies dividends reflect the average interest earnings on all policies whenever issued. In others, the dividends for policies issued in a recent year, or a group of years, reflect the interest earnings on those policies; in this case, dividends are likely to change more rapidly when interest rates change.

Things to Remember

Review your particular insurance needs and circumstances. Choose the kind of policy with benefits that most closely fit your needs. Ask an agent or company to help you.
Be sure that the premiums are within your ability to pay. Don't look only at the initial premiums, but take account of any later premium increase.
Don't buy life insurance unless you intend to stick with it. It can be very costly if you quit during the early years of the policy.
Read your policy carefully. Ask your agent or company about anything that is not clear to you.

Review your life insurance program with your agent or company every few years to keep up with changes in your income and your needs.

Do I Really need Disability Insurance Coverage?

2008-08-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Many individuals struggle to understand what disability insurance covers. There are two basic forms of disability insurance, short-term and long-term disability. Short-term as its name implies is for a short period of time usually less than a year. Group short-term disability is more prevalent in the work place than long-term. One of the failures that individuals make is assuming that their policy covers 100% of their income. The policy usually covers up to 66 2/3%, it may be only be 50% for 13 weeks only. (Check your employee handbook) Uncle Sam allows you to get the benefit tax free, but you cannot get more in benefit than your pre-tax salary. It is very important that people read their employee benefits carefully.

The two main definitions used to define if benefits under a disability insurance policy are paid include own occupation and any occupation. Own occupation disability means you are unable to perform the substantial duties of your current position in a nutshell. Any occupation includes the duties of a job that you have been trained for through education, training, or experience.

Individual disability policies cover a percentage of your income based on your occupation, the hazard of your responsibilities, and your income. The elimination periods for disability policies usually range from 30-365 days. If you become sick or disabled, exceed the elimination period, and become certified by a physician as unable to work, you may receive a tax free benefit except in rare cases (your employer pays for the policy). The policy is coordinated with any group disability benefits you may be receiving as well as Social Security Disability Insurance if you qualify.

Things to consider when thinking about Disability Insurance:

Can I get sick?

Do accidents occur?

Can I afford to self-fund?

Can I live off my savings?

Does my coverage at work cover short-term & long-term disability?

Top 7 tips When Considering Renters Insurance

2008-03-07T09:30:00.001-08:00

Below are 7 tips to help you make sense out of needing to buy renters insurance or not:

1. Your landlord's insurance policy does not cover your personal belongings when they are damaged or stolen Consider what if all of your clothes, your laptop, stereo, IPOD, your TV, bike, and furniture are destroyed in a fire. Could you replace them, immediately, out of pocket? If you answered "No" then you need renters insurance.

2. You may be liable for any damage done to the apartment or house you're renting as a result of fire due to you negligence

3. If someone is hurt or injured while on the property you are renting, you may be legally responsible for that person's medical expenses, not mention attorney fees if there's a dispute.

4. When renting a car you need to check your auto insurance policy to see if it covers rental car insurance, quite often most do offer some rental car insurance coverage.

5. Review Your Credit Cards. Quite often, your credit card will pay for damages to a rental car in the event of an wreck. To be eligible, you most likely would have to refuse to acknowledge the collision aggravate waiver and charge the full amount of the rental car on your credit card.

6. You May Need to Purchase Collision Damage Wavier for your rental car. If you aren't covered under your own insurance or credit card then you may consider purchasing the collision damage waiver. It's a better option to pay about $7 to $13 a day than $10,000 to $30,000 to replace the rental car

7. Don't take the decision to by renters insurance lightly; the peace of mind of knowing you're covered in the event of a mishap is worth the small price of renters insurance.

A Few Different Categories In Home Insurance

2008-03-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Home insurance is among the most important policies that you need to protect your precious possessions. The dangers are many that your house faces, such as hostile climactic conditions that can strike without warning. Not only your house structure, you need to look toward covering your personal belongings as well.

When you get your belongings insured, you are paid the actual cash value of the item at the time of claim which means that when you claim your insurance, you will be paid the replacement cost of whatever you lost but it will be minus depreciation. This generally includes the estimated loss in value of an item because of time and usage. To reduce on your premiums, you can consider deductibles. This is the part of the payment you pay which is exempt of coverage by the insurance company. Bigger the deductible, lower the premium. There are different subcategories under home insurance. Some of the them are mentioned below.

Liability Protection provides coverage if you have to pay damages for causing bodily injury to others or for damage to their property. This is covered by the insurance for you. Personal Property Protection provides protection against loss to movable property like portable electronic items, furniture or clothing. There is often a special coverage limit for movable personal property. You can also go for
protection of other structures which gives coverage to your property which is separated from your main residence by a clear space. Under such property, you can consider structures like a detached garage, storage house such as barn, etc. In replacement cost coverage, you can be reimbursed for the cost you incur to replace your damaged items with new ones.

But of course, all of this is subject to the terms and conditions of the home insurance policy that you avail of. Check out your applicable deductibles and coverage limits to make more judicious decisions.

Choosing Dental Insurance - What to Consider

2008-03-07T09:28:00.004-08:00

Are you in need of dental insurance? If you are unemployed or if your employer currently does not offer dental insurance, you will need to buy your own insurance. When doing so, you will find that you have a number of different options. In addition to having a number of insurance companies to choose from, you will also find that many give you access to numerous dental plans.

When getting started, it is important to remember, as previously stated, that you have a number of options, in terms of insurance companies. When choosing an insurance agency it is important to examine reputation. You will want to focus on costs after you find an insurance company that you feel you can trust. It is important to do business with an insurance company that has a good reputation, namely one who is known for going out of their way to help their clients.

Once you have found an insurance company that meets or exceeds your expectations, you will then want to focus on costs. Cost should have a significant impact on the dental plan that you choose. It is important to choose a dental insurance plan that you can afford. Often times, you are provided with a free insurance quote. In fact, these quotes are often easy to obtain online. Although cost should play an important role, when examining dental insurance, you will also want to focus on quality. The perfect plan should be one that is not only affordable, but one that also provides you with needed coverage.

As previously stated, coverage is important when selecting an insurance plan. What you will want to do is take a close look at your teeth. Although this may seem a bit silly, it is a great way to determine how much dental insurance coverage you need. What dental procedures do you need to undergo or what dental procedures would you like to have performed? If you have any wants and needs, it is important to ensure that each procedure and their costs would be covered under the plan of your choice. Of course, any dental insurance plan is better than nothing, but why not take a few minutes to ensure that the plan you choose is the perfect match for you?

The above mentioned factors are just a few of the many factors that you will want to take into consideration if you need dental insurance. As a reminder, it is important that you thoroughly examine both dental insurance companies and plans as they both go hand in hand.

8 Tips To Get A Cheap Home Insurance

2008-03-07T09:28:00.003-08:00

No one likes paying for home insurance, but it's a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn't mean you have to pay through the nose for it though - try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.

1. Shop Around
By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you'll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.

2. Buy online
If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

3. Combine your buildings and contents policies
Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.

4. Pay upfront
Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly instalments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year's premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.

5. Don't claim for small amounts
Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you're entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.

6. Voluntary excess
This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as 'excess', which basically means that the policy won't pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.

7. Increase your home security
Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.

8. Reduce your cover
Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or 'free' legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need - by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.

Home Owner Insurance Online: Grab It Quickly To Avail Safety

2008-03-07T09:28:00.001-08:00

In present scenario nobody have time to go individually to the insurance company and ask for the appropriate policy of home owner insurance. Mostly home owners now prefer to get home owner insurance online. Home owner insurance online consumes very less time in providing the information you require before buying the policy of home owner insurance. Online within just a click of mouse you can access all the information about home owner insurance. The important benefit with taking the home owner insurance online is that you can fill all the needed information right from your home without making a single physical visit to the insurance company.

Online with the policy of home owner insurance you get cover for your home against any disaster and calamity that might be dangerous for your home if you do not take cover at the right time. Generally home owner insurance policy provides for cover against any impending danger like fire, flood, riots, earthquake, theft, burglary and any other ill happening causing harm to your home. Online if you want to get home owner insurance at low cost then you will be supposed to install some safety measures like good quality lock on your doors and windows, sophisticated fire alarms etc. in your home to maintain safety. Online the quotes for home owner insurance are available free of cost and so you can get the advantage of collecting as many quotes as per your choice as you want without spending anything on your part. These quotes for home owner insurance online are put online by the insurance companies on their websites. Insurance companies do amendments in these various quotes for online home owner insurance from time to time so that you could access to the current information without any hassle.

Websites of insurance companies contains all the information related to home owner insurance so you will not have to wonder here and there for getting the information you might need in regard of buying home owner insurance online. But the cost for home owner insurance online may vary depending upon the location of the home. if you are residing in a home which is in a safest area then you can have no problem in getting the home owner insurance policy online while if it is contrary then you can have problem in getting it. Hence home owner insurance online is one of the easiest mode of acquiring safety for your precious home.

Long Term Care - The Cost of Long Term Care Insurance?

2008-03-07T09:27:00.002-08:00

Just a year in nursing home can wipe out $77,745 of savings, so it is no surprise that more and more Americans are buying long term care insurance. Long term care insurance pays for nursing home care, but it can also cover assisted living care, a service that now costs $35,628 a year. The benefits are obvious, but what are the costs? Does it make sense to have it? When should you get it?

Four factors affect the cost of long term care insurance: the daily rate of the benefit, the duration of the benefit, the waiting period before the benefits take effect (also known as the elimination period), and the age of the insured.

Long term care insurance is a contract under which an insurer agrees to pay certain amount per day for long term care, an amount known as the daily rate. The higher the daily rate, the higher the premiums will be. To cover the current average cost of a nursing home, the insured would need $213 a day. An assisted living care facility, by contrast, costs about $97 a day. Obviously the premiums would be different for the two amounts.

The insured can also specify how long the coverage should last. According to a study by The Lewen Group, the average length of stay in a nursing home is 876 days, or 2.4 years. More than 25% stay in a nursing home more than years, and 12% stay more than five years. To keep premiums low, some people limit the time period. Others are worried that a long stay would decimate their savings.

The longer a person pays into the insurance pool, the more time the insurance company has to earn income from those premiums. If a person takes out a policy right before needing the care, the insurance company has no way to recoup the cost of benefits. As a result, the sooner a person takes out a policy, the less he or she will pay. For example, a person who takes out a four-year, $150-a-day policy at age 50 will pay about $1000 a year in premiums. A person fifteen years older, at age 65, would pay about $2200 a year in premiums. A person 30 years older, at age 80, would pay at least $7500 a year in premiums.

One way to lower premiums is to decrease the daily rate. This can be risky, however. For example, lowering the daily rate from $150 to $100 would leave the insured responsible for all charges above $100 a day. After just one year, a $50-a-day shortfall would total $18,250. A better way of reducing premiums is to keep the daily rate sufficient to cover costs but to increase the elimination period. For example, by increasing the elimination period for $150-a-day facility from 30 days to 90 days, the insured would be responsible for an additional $9000 in out-of-pocket expense. However, the financial responsibility would be capped there. The goal of long term care insurance is not to maximize how much insurance pays, but to minimize the risk to the bulk of a person’s assets. It is better to sacrifice a set amount upfront than to expose assets to the open-ended cost of long term care.

Low Cost Health Insurance - How To Access It Now

2008-03-07T09:27:00.001-08:00

The average American by the age of 30 will soon begin to understand the necessity of having a health insurance policy. Depending upon the path that their life has taken, and the financial situation that they are in, having a health insurance policy may come very cheaply through their workplace or it may cost quite a bit if they are seeking and individual policy through a private provider. Here are a few ways that you can find low cost health insurance even if you are not affiliated with someone who will provide the health insurance for you or if you have a large family.

If you have ever been in a major accident and did not have health insurance coverage, this could be one of the largest nightmares that could ever be fall a human being in our modern age. I remember a friend of mine that was in the Army and decided to take his wife who was in labor at the time to the regular hospital opposed to the military one. Had he made a choice to take her to the veterans hospital, he would have had no out-of-pocket expenses. However, in a split second decision, he chose to spend what he thought would only be a $6,000 bill at the regular hospital, which turned out to be a $200,000 bill after all was said and done.

Due to the complications that occurred, his baby ended up staying in the hospital for over 30 days. This cost, along with being in intensive care and having a team of medical people looking after his child which was born early, this debt was accrued based upon a split second decision that could have saved him nearly a quarter of $1 million.

The point I am trying to make here is you never know what can happen in life especially when it comes to your house or the health of a family member. Therefore, make a quick decision to find a health-insurance provider that you can afford and do it now so that you will not suffer in a similar way that my friend did. Although he loves his family and his child very much, much financial heartache could have been averted if he had had a health-insurance policy that would have covered his misdirection at the time of his child's birth.

Low cost health insurance is not that hard to find. There are a variety of companies that do all of the research for you and make it very easy so that you do not have to compare on your own all of the possible policies and premiums that you'll have to pay each and every month. The trick is to find a provider that will fit your needs and your pocketbook at the same time and that is what these comparison companies will do for you.

Comparison companies are not the only choice you have to make. You must also consider who they are comparing and what exactly these companies reputations are in regard to providing health insurance for consumers nationwide. A quick check at their business record will show you if there are any complaints that have been filed and if so you will know not to do business with them. Most companies that are very large have an immaculate record and can be trusted in regard to fulfilling premiums that need to be paid to hospitals and his you make your monthly payments.

The problem with most health insurance companies is that the staggering cost of most procedures today forces them to charge higher and higher premiums as the years go on. Inflation does not stop and neither will the cost of medical procedures or the salaries that doctors receive for their jobs. Therefore, if you can find a low cost health insurance policy that will stay at a certain rate for a fixed period of time you will probably be lucky enough to find a way to maintain this health insurance policy with even the smallest amount of income and protect you and your family.

You must also consider the type of coverage that you get with a low cost health insurance policy. For instance, you may only be paying $30 a month for you and your family, but more than likely this policy does not cover office visits or any kind of prescription medication which over time can cost you thousands of dollars each year. Therefore, be sure to look at all of the possible policies and nature that you are making a wise choice in the ones that you choose to use as they could save you money in the long run if you pay just a little more in your monthly premium.

Low cost health insurance is a must find and our society where gas prices climb and incomes remained virtually the same each year. It is time to do your homework and go out there and find health insurance coverage that is right for you and affordable at the same time. With a little research, and the help of friends or even the Internet, you will be able to find a low cost health insurance policy in no time at all.

Apply Online For Life Insurance No Medical Exam Policies

2008-03-07T09:26:00.003-08:00

Of late, there has been an overwhelming demand for life insurances no exam policies across the globe. Numerous people do not want to go through the hassles of facing a medical exam both as you do not want to run to the doctor or pay him handsome fees.

Senior citizens, who have some medical problems and were hitherto hard to insure cases, are now getting the facilities of no medical life insurance from many providers. In fact such policies are now open to persons in the age group of 25 to 80.

Numerous options will be available before you when you decide to go for an Insurance Policy. However, there are a number of pitfalls on the way. There are some unscrupulous and dishonest traders who are lurking in the wings to lure you into their traps. Such malicious people will come up to you with the offer of a policy that promises a lot. Since the plan seems quite attractive initially, you fell for it and enroll under it. At real times you find to your utter dismay that the plan that promised so much offers almost nothing.

Thus simply obtaining a life insurance no medical exam would not solve your problem unless and until it delivers. This is why many people prefer to have their enrollments under the insurance plans as a first hand delivery from an agency physically instead of going for the online enrollment.

It is true that there are risks in your obtaining an online whole life insurance without medical examination because there are possibilities of the policy being a fake. However, Internet has shrunk the globe and you are able to access the farthest corners of the world with ease and convenience with a mouse click or a key stroke of your computer. The Internet is a repository of information and there is hardly a subject on which you fail to find information on the nets.

You will not only find multiple options to choose from on the nets but also a host of information on the policy as well as the provider agency from it by simply surfing the websites. But you must make sure that you have carefully gone through all the terms and conditions relating to the policies like term life insurance no medical exam so that there are no hidden expenses involved and you are not in for any unpleasant surprises at the end of it.

Obtaining a life insurance no exam has become so easy now a day that you can obtain insurance in just five minutes time from a provider online. You may like to see a few life insurance quotes before going for one. Since the rates of term life and other life insurances are on the decline including the survivor’s life insurance plan, such quotes would help you to compare and choose the real beneficial insurance policy.

When you are spared of the medical examination you will have to choose a plan. The option for younger people with a lot of financial commitments and liabilities are likely to choose term life insurance owing to the lower premium rates while senior citizens would prefer the whole life insurance plan because they have limited life to live.

Car Insurance : Sooner The Better

2008-03-07T09:26:00.001-08:00

One of the vehicles appreciated and craved for in the world are cars. Supreme utility vehicles, they serve people on various fronts. Not only do they relieve people from the irritation of waiting for buses and taxis, hassles of commuting and jostling for seats in overcrowded buses but also add gloriously to one's status symbol as well. No wonder there has always been a strong craze for these wonderful machines across the world. However, in spite of having so many utility values attached to them cars have one big negative aspect as well. Their price, which comes between plenty of car admirers and cars. Imagine, therefore, what happens if such an expensive thing faces some damage. Needless to say that for people with average income it can prove to be disastrous. It is here that car insurance comes into picture and ensures that people are spared from the trauma of arranging money for the repair of their cars as insurance companies do that for their clients.

Its a big respite because expense on the repair of the car at times can be quite ruinous. Much more than what a middle class family can afford such a service is the biggest help on such occasions.

However, to gain from car insurance people would do well to take care of a few points. Firstly they must ensure that the policy comes to life as soon as it is signed, secondly they must ensure that the car is priced fairly. People would also do well to ensure that no wrong information is paid to the insurance company as well as the fact that there is no default on monthly premiums.

Efforts like these would go a long way in ensuring that car insurance actually help you combat such a critical time when your car has faced some damage.

Speciality Insurance - Is It Worth Having?

2008-03-07T09:25:00.002-08:00

Insurance marketers become creative geniuses when it comes to thinking up policies to pitch to consumers. Here is the lowdown on some newer types - and if they are worthwhile...

POLICIES WORTH HAVING

*Trip insurance. Many people don't realize that their health insurance may not cover them if they become ill when traveling overseas. Trip insurance reimburses you for emergency medical expenses and a medical evacuation. It also covers cancellation or interruption of a trip due to your illness or bad weather, such as a hurricane or tornado, as well as luggage that is lost or damaged in transit.

Coverage typically runs between $100 and $200 per trip, depending on the destination and the traveler's age.

*Pet health insurance. This insurance is becoming cost-effective as more advanced and expensive treatments are made available for pets. A pacemaker for a dog could cost several thousand dollars.

Ask your veterinarian about the best policies. You can obtain coverage for dogs, cats and other critters. Premiums can run $200 to $1,000, depending on the pet's age and breed and where you live.

*Credit card surveillance. Although it isn't really insurance, credit card monitoring protection through your bank card issuer ensures that you are notified of any change in your credit profile - unusual spending, card applications or changes of address.

Cost: $30 to $75 a year.

New trend: Identity theft insurance. A credit card company will protect you against phony charges - you are liable for only up to $50. But they won't help you fix the mess that identity theft often creates. Identity theft insurance reimburses you for expenses such as lost pay while you are straightening things out.

According to industry research, the average ID theft victim spends hundreds of hours restoring his/her financial reputation. If you have credit card surveillance, you probably don't need personal identity theft coverage unless you have many cardholders in your household or business. Annual coverage costs vary. Check with your credit card issuer or insurance company. A growing number of employers also are offering identity theft insurance as a perk.

POLICIES TO AVOID

*Terrorism insurance. This insurance started to appear after 9/11 to play into Americans' fears of a terrorist attack. Insurance that focuses strictly on terrorism is geared toward businesses and covers such costs as relocating a firm or replacing damaged equipment. Even then, business-interruption insurance is a better option - it also covers fires, floods, etc.

*Water line protection. Very few people need this niche coverage, which pays for damage caused by leaks in the water service line that runs from the curb valve into the home in towns that have public water. The coverage is worth considering only if your neighbors have experienced problems due to age of the pipes or geological issues.

Also: Check for duplicate coverage.

Exampk: One of my friends had to have his house jacked up to replace the water pipes below it, but he didn't need water line insurance because the $11,000 cost was partially covered by his homeowner's insurance.

*Accidental death and dismemberment insurance. This insurance pays out if you are killed accidentally. Don't waste your money on it. Regular life insurance covers you when you die.

*Disease-specific coverage, such as cancer insurance, also should be avoided.

What Do You Know About Life Insurance Benefits?

2008-03-07T09:25:00.001-08:00

Life insurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurance company, where the company agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the death of the insured. In return, the policy owner agrees to make regular premium payments.

Insured events that may be covered include: death, diagnosis of a terminal illness, diagnosis of a critical illness, disability due to ill health, permanent disability, accidental death, or requirement for long term care.

Not only can life insurance benefit your family in the event of your death, but it can also benefit you as an investment. Your life insurance can provide benefits to your children, emergency loans to you while you are still alive, and some other benefits as well. For the remainder of this article, we will outline each of the benefits available to you and your family under a typical life insurance policy so that you can decide if life insurance might be right for you, or if you need to make changes to your already existing life insurance policy.

The most well known feature of a life insurance contract is the designation of a beneficiary. In the event of your death, benefits can be distributed to one or more beneficiaries of your choosing. There are many different types of beneficiaries that you can establish, so we need to review each one and weigh the pros and cons of each.

You can specify multiple beneficiaries if you choose to do so. For example, you might want to have your spouse as well as all of your children listed as beneficiaries. You can also stipulate the percentage of the proceeds that each beneficiary is to receive. Most people list their wife as the sole beneficiary while the kids are still young, and then as the kids get older, they modify their policy to include their children for a certain percentage of the death benefit. A guardian or trustee needs to be appointed to administer the payout of the proceeds to any beneficiaries that are still a minor.

It is also common to name a contingent beneficiary. If your primary beneficiary dies, then the contingent beneficiary is next in line to receive the proceeds of your life insurance when you die. Also, your beneficiary designation can be revocable or irrevocable. If it is revocable, you can change it any time without permission to do so. If the designation is irrevocable, you can not appoint a new beneficiary without the consent of the current beneficiary.

There are a few different types of life insurance. For our purposes here, we are only going to make a distinction between those types of policies that provide you with money while you are still living and those that do not because we want to hold our focus on the benefits of life insurance, not the different types of coverage.

Term life insurance does not give you the potential for income while you are still living. It only pays a benefit in the event you die during the covered term. Other types of coverage, such as variable life, universal life, and whole life, do have a cash surrender value because a portion of each premium payment you make is invested in a separate account. That money can accrue over time, depending upon what the money is being invested in. You have the option of investing the money in fixed income or variable investment funds.

You can terminate your policy while you are still alive. If you choose to do, you will receive the amount that has been invested, minus the surrender charges that the insurance company will assess on the money for early withdrawal.

You can also take a loan against the cash value of your policy. The interest rates for these types of loans are typically small, and you can pay back the loan in a lump sum or installments. If you default on the loan, the insurance company will pay off the loan using the accumulated cash value that you borrowed against.

Also, it is possible to buy a participating policy. The insurance company pays the holder of a participating policy a dividend, much like a normal corporation pays dividends to its stockholders. A non-participating policy does not pay a dividend. Term life policies are always non-participating.

I hope this information will help you weigh all your options when you decide to buy a life insurance policy. If you already have a policy, review it carefully to make sure you have a policy that suits your needs. Call your agent and ask questions if there is something that is not clear. You may not have an individual agent assigned to your policy. If that is the case, call the customer service center for the insurance company, and they will be able to answer any questions you might have.

Cheap Car Insurance: Top Security At Minimum Price

2008-03-07T09:24:00.004-08:00

One of the vehicles that is liked by people around the world are cars. A position that they have been elevated to from decades. And why not, cars are one machine that relieves one from the hassles of commuting and also add tremendously to ones status symbol as well. However, there is one problem with cars. They come at extremely high price. It is because of this that for most people the dream of owning a car can materialise only if they opt for loans. Imagine, therefore, what happens if one's dream possession faces some damage. Needless to say that people would have to cough up huge amount to get the car repaired. It can be to the extent that a middle class household can actually get shaken by this sudden expense. It is here that cheap car insurance steps in and ensures that people are relieved from spending a single penny for the repair as insurance companies do that for their clients.

It is a wonderful thinking on part of insurance companies as in this era of rising prices it is not easy to tackle any expense which arises without notice. All that people need to do is to get their car insured to reap the benefits.

However, to gain from cheap car insurance people would do well to take care of a few things. First of all they must ensure that the policy comes to life as soon as it is signed, secondly it should also be seen whether the car is priced fairly. In addition to it people must also see that they do not provide any wrong information to the insurance company as well as the fact that there is no default from their side on monthly premiums.

A slight observance of these points on part of people would ensure that cheap car insurance goes a long way in helping people fight such a calamity as car damage as and when it takes place.

Home Insurance - Tips On Reducing Costs

2008-03-07T09:24:00.003-08:00

Home insurance in the United Kingdom is divided into two categories: Buildings Insurance and Contents Insurance. If your home is mortgage, it is required to have a policy on each type of protection.

It is important to understand the differences between the two. Buildings insurance generally covers the structure of the building itself as well as bathtubs, toilets, and fitted kitchens. Your policy should also cover structures outside the home such as garages and sheds. Depending on the terms of your policy, you might also be covered for external walls, gates, driveways, swimming pools, or other building related extension.

Buildings insurance can cover your home in the event of fire, flooding, subsidence, burglary, or any number of domestic disasters. Your insurer will base the policy on the maximum amount it would cost to rebuild your home. It is important, therefore, that you have a proper survey done to ensure your home is not under-insured, especially when
it comes time to make a claim.

Home contents insurance, on the other hand, covers your home's contents in the event of theft, loss, or damage. Items including furniture, electrical goods, and portable possessions such as cameras, jewellery, and luggage will be covered. Your personal items can be replaced as new or new-for-old however, read the fine print so you understand exactly what items are covered as insurers will vary what they replace.

When the time comes to insuring your contents it is often a good idea to walk through your home and to create a list of your possessions, including the monetary value of each item, to help ensure they are covered in your policy. If you are unsure of the value of any item, especially when it comes to antiques or family heirlooms, do your best to give an honest estimate as to what it may cost to replace such items.

Tips on how to keep home insurance costs down:

Compare Online: Shop for deals online or contact a qualified insurance broker who can help guide you through the best policies relative to your needs.

Understand the policy: Read the fine print! A cheaper policy does not mean a better policy. Cost is very important to you but the cheapest policy may not provide all coverage you need.

Avoid being under-insured: You do not want to be left paying out of pocket because of an appropriate level of cover. Often times people do not realize they are under-insured and it can cost you dearly if you are not properly insured.

Do what you can: Discourage thieves by installing burglar alarms and safety locks on your doors and windows. Let your insurer know about the safety measures in place.

Flood preparation: If your home is at risk, try to install non-return valves on drains and cover air-bricks if you feel a flood may occur. If you live in a flood zone, do what you can to keep rates as low as possible.

Fire protection: Install smoke alarms in designated locations such as hallways, loft areas, and landings. You may consider a fire extinguisher, ideally near the kitchen, to provide peace of mind as well as lower your premium.

Do not encourage theft: Be sure your valuables are not in clear view or easily accessible to thieves. Lock doors and shut windows when your home is unattended.

Save with no claims: Most providers offer no claims discounts. Ask your insurer if they offer a no claims discount when renewing your policy. Many insurers will offer no-claims incentives that can save you money. If not, consider switching to a better deal.

By comparing building and contents insurance you are one step closer to finding an affordable deal that provides the full coverage you need. Be sure to ask questions with any potential insurer. You must feel satisfied that your home and contents are covered at an affordable rate. Ask about discounts whilst mentioning some of the steps you have taken to help keep your property secure.

Shopping for the best deal does not have to be painful. There are many competitive offers available to you right now. If you are unsure where to start, using the free service offered at the MoneyOutlet.co.uk can help you to compare the top 20 home insurers quickly and hassle free.

Save Big On Your Car Insurance

2008-03-07T09:24:00.001-08:00

Getting good car insurance can be one of the biggest hassles you come across. The fact that you have to have it makes it even more of an issue if you are a young driver just starting out. Most experienced and seasoned drivers however, usually just pick what is available at the moment without shopping around for a better priced car insurance. This article is meant to help you, and guide you to making good choices when searching for that right type of car insurance out there.

One of the first things that you want to do when you are looking for a good type of car insurance is to have insurance already. You can purchase insurance freshly without anything previous, but you will usually get a better rate if you have previous and current car insurance. Make sure to have all the papers an agent will need to verify your address as well as your VIN number of the car and your current insurance papers.

Most people think that getting insurance from the larger companies will get them the best rate. This is not always the case, but many online companies which are growing large, have very little overhead and can many times spare the extra you might pay from a brick and mortar car insurance business. I think progressive is a pretty good company to go with and have used them for a while. More recently however I found that a smaller company could offer me a bit more so I switched over for a rate cut.

Getting insurance and then holding it for about a year is your best bet. When you go in to meet with an insurance agent, you will find that they may make a pretty decent commission on signing you up for extra stuff. Be aware of what you are purchasing. If you have an old car that has seen better days and you are not going to be getting full coverage on it, you will want to tell the agent that you just need the basics required by law. Make sure to tell them this several times, otherwise you may be paying more than you want to.

If you are a new driver, and you are just getting car insurance for the first time, then you will want to spend an extra amount of time finding something that is cheap and affordable unless mom and dad is paying for it. Most companies realize that young drivers are a higher risk to them, and often charge quite a bit more than you would believe. When you see the cost comparison, don't freak out. It may be good to even be on a parents insurance if they do not mind for a period of time, then as you get older you can get something affordable.

Once again, car insurance can be a pain at finding, but if you take your time in searching, you can find a good price that is best for your budget, while still giving you the safe coverage you need.

Cheap Home Insurance Rates

2008-03-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

People who understand the right steps to take don't find it difficult attracting the cheapest rates without compromise to the quality of coverage they get. This write-up will show you steps you can take to affordable rates without compromising the level of coverage you get...

1. A home without fire escapes is NOT really safe as a home should be. Does yours have them? If your answer is "yes" then make sure your agent is aware of it as it should get you a small discount. Don't fail to inform your agent even if all your home has as fire escapes are rope ladders. People who don't have these will attract cheaper rates if they put in place the right kind and number for their home. Ask your agent to know what qualifies you for such a discount.

2. You do NOT necessarily need to insure your house against every peril. There are perils that will never happen in certain places. You can almost say with confidence that some perils aren't possible in certain states going by their past record.

It's really a good financial advice to buy coverage for any peril that has a reasonable possibility of happening. Buying insurance for a peril that has never occurred in a state can be rightly seen as financial waste. You will only buy needed coverage if you protect yourself against real potential losses and damages. This will help you pay NOT a dime more than you should.

3. For those who have older heating, electrical and plumbing systems, upgrade them to modern standards and your rates should be lowered by up to fifteen percent. For example, the old school fire place may be more romantic but it's however not as safe as a modern heating system. Your home is safer if you maintain modern systems. You will in addition to being a lesser home insurance risk, often make your house worth more in the marketplace.

4. A group policy attracts more affordable rates. You should already know if your employer gives such. Some associations have also arranged discounts for their members with home insurers so find out if yours has such.

But before you buy check if you can get a lower home insurance rate with another company than that given by your association. You can find an insurance company that your association has no form of affiliations with that gives your profile a far lower rate. There is stiff competition in the home insurance industry and you can take advantage of this to get lower rates if you take your time to do thorough shopping and comparisons.

5. There are things that may be excluded from home insurance policy. Do you know them? Be well informed that you'll NOT get compensated for things that are excluded from your policy.

Therefore, before you settle for a great rate make sure the insurer does not exclude something that might compromise you down the line. No matter how inexpensive a policy is, it is NOT worth much if it doesn't provide the right level of coverage. Do NOT wait until you file a claim to find out that you actually did NOT have the coverage you intended.

6. You could save some hundreds of dollars by just obtaining and comparing quotes from about five quotes sites. And, it will take you just a total of 25 minutes.

Life Insurance Policies - Protecting Your Future Today

2008-02-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

Negotiating the life insurance jungle can be a nightmare. It does not have to be and though there may be a raft of new ideas and terms to come to grips with, you need to remember you have to get this decision right for your loved ones as by the time you claim, you will be gone and cannot come back to correct any mistakes.

Term life and whole of life insurance policies are the two most common insurance policies on the market. Less well known are variable universal life insurance policies.

Whole of life policies actually combine a life insurance with an investment fund that is built up over time and is held for the benefit of the policy holder. The level of cover and premiums are reviewed at regular intervals and if, in later years, the level of cover cannot be maintained by the premiums being charged then the investment fund can be used to supplement the cost of cover and maintain protection until death.

Whole of life policies are very long term policies and frequently are the longest lived insurance contract that there can possibly be. They are very flexible and are commonly used to protect estates from the ravages of inheritance taxes that are levied upon death.

Term life insurance policies last for a set period of time: the term. There is no investment element and the premium tends to be cheaper than whole of life policies as a result. The entire premium is used to purchase life coverage and so once the term expires there is no return of monies to the policy holder.

Typically, term life insurance policies are used to insure mortgages which last a known length of time so the term can easily be calculated. They also are often used for young families who have a desperate need for financial protection but are subjected to very tight budgetary constraints.

Variable universal life insurance policies combine an investment element with life insurance and to this end they are similar in nature to whole of life policies. They are flexible in receiving premiums both in terms of when and how much.

Variable universal life insurance policies are as much a part of an investment portfolio as your insurance coverage. Being insurance policies they benefit from attractive taxation benefits that are peculiar to insurance policies. Being flexible as to how and when they receive premiums, this allows for their use to shelter capital gains that otherwise are taxable within them.

The Essential Guide To Insurance

2008-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

Insurance can at times be somewhat of a minefield for many people; with so many different products available, choosing the right one and making sure that we are properly covered can be a challenge. Although this may be the case, it is also an essential part of our everyday living.

Buildings Insurance

Your home is likely to be your most valuable possession so it is important to ensure that adequate buildings insurance cover is set in place.

Buildings insurance covers the structure of the building plus anything you would normally leave behind when you move. This will include things like patios, drives, fences, walls and permanent fixtures like kitchens and bathrooms. Accidental damage caused by fire, storms, or burst pipes, for example will also be covered.

Having buildings insurance cover in place is not if fact a legal requirement although nearly every mortgage lender will insist that cover is taken out as they look to protect what is their asset too, albeit temporarily.

Many lenders will offer a block building insurance policy arrangement. The cover provided and premium rate are agreed between the lender and insurer, but instead of issuing each borrower with an individual policy number a master policy is set up, with both the lender and insurer having copies.

These premiums are not always the most competitive in price so it is advisable to shop around for quotes also.

The amount that each property will need to be insured for will of course vary. The valuer will provide a figure for the re-instatement value of the property, ie the cost of rebuilding in the event of total destruction. There is no specific link between this figure and that for the valuation for mortgage purposes, or the price that the purchaser has agreed to pay.

Contents Insurance

Contents insurance offers cover on the household goods and possessions inside your property and will often include the garden too if applicable. In other words, contents can be defined as everything that you would normally take with you when you move.

The lender will not insist that you take out a contents insurance policy however in many cases it is advisable. Not doing so could see you unable to replace your belongings in the event of disasters such as fire, flooding or burglary.

Many policies offer cover on a new for old basis which means should anything happen to your possessions such as the TV or washing machine; you should be able to replace the damaged goods for a new model.

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI)

Mortgage Payment Protection insurance (MPPI) is also known as accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU) insurance and, as the name suggests, it covers your mortgage repayments if you have an accident, fall ill or lose your job.

Most policies will provide cover for a period of 12 months. Your policy should cover the full amount of your mortgage and linked expenses such as other insurance policies and pension plans.

Many providers of payment protection insurance will offer modular coverage. For example, you can choose unemployment only option if job loss is your main concern or an accident & sickness only module depending on what you feel is more important to you.

You will not be able to claim money against your policy immediately after you make a claim. Typically, you have to wait three or four months - what is known as the deferral period before you begin to receive insurance payouts.

Often however, for an additional charge, some insurers will provide back-to-day-one cover that covers you from the first day you make a claim.

Payment is made 30 days after you made your claim and you need to have been off work for at least a month. In addition most policies have an excess period, usually 30, 60 or more days that is excluded from the payout should you make a claim.

Life Insurance

Life cover pays out a lump sum when you die, or earlier if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness. This lump sum payment may be used to pay off an outstanding mortgage or simply passed on as part of an inheritance.

There are two types of life insurance: Level term and decreasing term.

Level term insurance will often run alongside an interest only mortgage. It lasts for a set period and pays out the set amount you chose at the outset in case of death during the term.

Decreasing term insurance often run alongside a capital repayment mortgage. It offers a smaller payout year on year as the outstanding mortgage debt falls.

With both types of insurance there are many factors that the provider will take into account when calculating the premium. These factors will include; your age, weight, whether you a smoker or non a smoker and your medical history amongst other things.

A Five Point Plan When Taking Out Insurance

1. By speaking to a specialist adviser before you buy insurance could pay off. Ensure that you adviser is able to offer a range of policies from a variety of different providers.

2. Shop around for mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI). Dont just agree to take out the policy offered by your lender without doing some research of your own. Policies offered by the lenders are not always the most competitive in the marketplace.

3. Dont forget to budget for your monthly insurance payments. For MPPI & Life insurance, the younger & healthier you are, the lower your costs, however payments can still easily add up to over 50 per month.

4. Never forget to find out what your excess is, or how much you need to pay before your insurance will pay out. Many policies have exclusions so dont forget to find out what these are too.

5. Many people fail to adjust their insurance policies accordingly when their circumstances change. If you insurance policies are not reflecting your current commitments then you could find that you and your dependents are underinsured.

How Insurance Can Make Life Easier

2008-02-09T10:47:00.001-08:00

Many a time, an event that we did not predict can drop into our paths and hurt us financially. Similarly, insurance can be an absolute blessing that lets you get on with life smoothly during both the immediate and the long term time frames afterwards. One of the main problems with a large portion of the population is debating whether or not they need to take out insurance for something that they view as being unlikely to happen, is that they'll never really know if it would have been useful except by looking back in retrospect.

We may well say that an insurance could have saved us from all the trouble. But that would only be in hindsight. Reasonably, you shouldn't have to take out an insurance policy to cover absolutely every event that's even vaguely possible, and it wouldn't make financial sense to do so. Covering yourself against key, high-cost causes for an insurance claim only makes itself worthwhile if they end up being used. At the same time, avoid getting into lower payout plans as well. These would not help you too much. After all, this means that the compensation for a particular claim really doesn't have much of an impact on how well you can deal with the cost.

The insurance markets are full of huge varieties of options. But you can't avail of all of them. But achieving that balance between a low level of cover against a broad range of risks and the sort of compensation that can really make a difference should it be needed is a hard task indeed. Bearing in mind that, reasonably, you neither plan nor hope for any of the risks that you cover against to actually happen, often people realize far too late that it would have been worthwhile to get insured against a certain liability.

Just ask anybody who has actually had the opportunity to file a claim. (S)he will tell you that an insurance policy offers a wide range of advantages. As an example, let us say that the area that you live in is flooded one year, and you took out flood insurance to cover against damage to both your home and the property inside it while those around you didn't. Initially you would have to pay a lot more to actually keep up the premiums. Yet, at least you would be in a better position if the flood does hit and cause devastation in your area. However, the coverage that you get will be a limited one. I doubt if you will be able to pick up the pieces too quickly after the flood, despite your insurance plan. But there is joy in being able to carry on with life almost as per normal shortly after the claim stops the crippling bill for whatever it was that you could have covered against.

Top 10 life insurance shopping tips

2008-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

1. Who should buy life insurance? If you can answer yes to any of the following questions, then you should consider buying life insurance.

• Does anyone rely on you for financial support? If so, life insurance will help to protect their financial well being.
• Do you have a mortgage, car loan or any other outstanding debts? If so, a life insurance policy can provide a way to take care of these outstanding bills, along with any others like funeral expenses, legal fees, taxes, and medical expenses.
• Do you own a business? If so, you are liable for the debts your business owes. Your personal assets could be liquidated to pay these debts, which could leave little left for your family. Plus, if you have a partner, life insurance could help them buy out your portion of the business.
• Do you want to leave money to a charity? You can use life insurance to leave money to your favourite charity.

2. Who you would like to insure? You can get a policy on your own life, for other members of your family, or a joint one for you and your spouse.

3. What would you like your life insurance policy to achieve?Some of the things a life insurance policy can take care of include: pay funeral expenses, pay outstanding balances on your mortgage and other debts, offset the loss of your income for a period of time, and/or contribute to the future education of your children.

4. How much life insurance do you need? Well that will depend on what you would like your life insurance to accomplish. As a result, there is no one-size fits all answer. However, there are online life insurance calculator tools that can help. Life insurance calculators will help you find out roughly how much life insurance you'll need to have in order to ensure that your family, loved ones and your debts are looked after in the event of your death.

5. How long will you need life insurance for? Again, this is often determined by what you would like your life insurance to achieve. You can estimate the timing of your life insurance needs by asking yourself questions like: When will my mortgage be paid off, when will my children be finished school, and when will I retire? Also, there are online tools that after asking a few short questions will analyze your life insurance needs and offer guidance.

6. What type of life insurance do you need? There are two kinds of life insurance: term and permanent. Term life insurance offers protection for a set period of time, usually 10 to 20 years; while permanent insurance provides a lifetime of protection. Term insurance is more affordable than permanent insurance, offering you an opportunity to get a large amount of coverage at a lower cost. Permanent life insurance on the other hand is more expensive than term, as it offers lifetime coverage along with possible savings and investment options. The good news is if you want a permanent-style policy without the savings or investment options, you can go for a Term to 100 policy which offers coverage until age 100.

7. What medical information will you need to provide to obtain your policy? Typically, the more medical information you provide, the better the price. A life insurance policy that asks few or no medical questions will likely be far more expensive then a policy that asks for your medical information. Plus, depending on the insurer, your age, and the amount of coverage you want, you could be asked to provide blood or urine samples. For these, a nurse will visit, at no cost to you.

8. What are the renewal options and requirements of the policy? Most term policies are renewable until you reach the age of 70 or 75. Questions to ask your broker: will I have to take a medical to renew, is the renewal premium guaranteed, and if not how much can I expect my rate to increase at the time of renewal?

9. What are the conversion options and restrictions of the policy? As your life changes, you may want to convert your life insurance from term to permanent. When you purchase your policy, find out if there are any limitations for conversion, like age or into what type of permanent policy you can convert to – the fewer limitations the better.

10. What will the cost be? Well that depends on the individual. The best way to get the cheapest rate is to shop around. Thanks to the Internet, it is fast, free and easy to go to life insurance shopping comparison websites like Canada’s own www.kanetix.ca, to compare rates. By shopping online, you are sure to find the best deal on life insurance from many of Canada’s best-known life insurance carriers.

Principle of Insurance

2008-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Principles of insuranceCommercially insurable risks typically share seven common characteristics.

Insurance---A large number of homogeneous exposure units
The vast majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of very large classes.
Automobile insurance, for example, covered about 175 million automobiles in the United States in 2004.
The existence of a large number of homogeneous exposure units allows insurers to benefit from the so-called “law of large numbers,” which in effect states that as the number of exposure units increases, the actual results are increasingly likely to become close to expected results. There are exceptions to this criterion. Lloyds of London is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, actresses and sports figures. Satellite Launch insurance covers events that are infrequent.
Large commercial property policies may insure exceptional properties for which there are no ‘homogeneous’ exposure units. Despite failing on this criterion, many exposures like these are generally considered to be insurable.

Insurance---Definite Loss
The event that gives rise to the loss that is subject to insurance should, at least in principle, take place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause.
The classic example is death of an insured on a life insurance policy.
Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion.
Other types of losses may only be definite in theory.
Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable.
Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements.

Insurance---Accidental Loss
The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance.
The loss should be ‘pure,’ in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost.
Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks, are generally not considered insurable.

Insurance---Large Loss
The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured.
Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims.
For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses.
There is little point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer.

Insurance---Affordable Premium
If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer.
Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer.
If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance.

Insurance---Calculable Loss
There are two elements that must be at least estimatable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost.
Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim.

Insurance---Limited risk of catastrophically large losses
The essential risk is often aggregation.
If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed.
Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5%.
Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurers appetite for additional policyholders.
The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten.
Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon.
In extreme cases, the aggregation can effect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk.
In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint.
Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.

Types of Insurance

2008-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Types of insurance

Any risk that can be quantified can potentially be insured. Among the different types of commercially available insurance are:

Types of insurance--Automobile insurance
known in the UK as motor insurance, is probably the most common form of insurance and may cover both legal liability claims against the driver and loss of or damage to the insured's vehicle itself.
Throughout most of the United States an auto insurance policy is required to legally operate a motor vehicle on public roads.
In some jurisdictions, bodily injury compensation for automobile accident victims has been changed to a no fault system, which reduces or eliminates the ability to sue for compensation but provides automatic eligibility for benefits.

Types of insurance--Aviation insurance
insures against hull, spares, deductible, hull war and liability risks.

Types of insurance--Boiler insurance
(also known as boiler and machinery insurance or equipment breakdown insurance) insures against accidental physical damage to equipment or machinery.
Builder's risk insurance insures against the risk of physical loss or damage to property during construction.
Builder's risk insurance is typically written on an "all risk" basis covering damage due to any cause (including the negligence of the insured) not otherwise expressly excluded.

Types of insurance--Casualty insurance
insures against accidents, not necessarily tied to any specific property.

Types of insurance--Credit insurance
repays some or all of a loan back when certain things happen to the borrower such as unemployment, disability, or death.

Types of insurance--Crime insurance
insures the policyholder against losses arising from the criminal acts of third parties. For example, a company can obtain crime insurance to cover losses arising from theft or embezzlement.

Types of insurance--Crop insurance
Farmers use crop insurance to reduce or manage various risks associated with growing crops.
Such risks include crop loss or damage caused by weather, hail, drought, frost damage, insects, or disease, for instance."

Types of insurance--Defense Base Act
Workers' compensation or DBA Insurance provides coverage for civilian workers hired by the government to perform contracts outside the US and Canada.
DBA is required for all US citizens, US residents, US Green Card holders, and all employees or subcontractors hired on overseas government contracts.
Depending on the country, Foreign Nationals must also be covered under DBA.
This coverage typically includes expenses related to medical treatment and loss of wages, as well as disability and death benefits.

Types of insurance--Directors and officers liability insurance
protects an organization (usually a corporation) from costs associated with litigation resulting from mistakes incurred by directors and officers for which they are liable.
In the industry, it is usually called "D&O" for short.

Types of insurance--Expatriate insurance
provides individuals and organizations operating outside of their home country with protection for automobiles, property, health, liability and business pursuits.

Types of insurance--Financial loss insurance
protects individuals and companies against various financial risks.
For example, a business might purchase cover to protect it from loss of sales if a fire in a factory prevented it from carrying out its business for a time.
Insurance might also cover the failure of a creditor to pay money it owes to the insured. This type of insurance is frequently referred to as "business interruption insurance."
Fidelity bonds and surety bonds are included in this category, although these products provide a benefit to a third party (the "obligee") in the event the insured party (usually referred to as the "obligor") fails to perform its obligations under a contract with the obligee.

Types of insurance--Health insurance policies
will often cover the cost of private medical treatments if the National Health Service in the UK (NHS) or other publicly-funded health programs do not pay for them.
It will often result in quicker health care where better facilities are available.

Types of insurance--Disability insurance policies
provide financial support in the event the policyholder is unable to work because of disabling illness or injury.
It provides monthly support to help pay such obligations as mortgages and credit cards.

Types of insurance--Liability insurance
covers legal claims against the insured.
For example, a homeowner's insurance policy will normally include liability coverage which will protect the insured in the event of a claim brought by someone who slips and falls on the property, and brings a lawsuit for her injuries.
Similarly, a doctor may purchase liability insurance to cover any legal claims against him if his negligence (carelessness) in treating a patient caused the patient injury and monetary harm.
The protection offered by a liability insurance policy is two fold:
-a legal defense in the event of a lawsuit commenced against the policyholder
-indemnification (payment on behalf of the insured) with respect to a settlement or court verdict.
Liability policies typically cover only the negligence of the insured, and will not apply to results of willful or intentional acts by the insured.

Types of insurance--Marine cargo insurance
covers physical loss or damage to property while in transit via sea or inland waterways.
Marine insurance typically refers to coverage of physical damage to the transporting vessel.
Many marine insurance underwriters will include "time element" coverage in such policies, which extends the indemnity to cover loss of profit and other business expenses attributable to the delay caused by a covered loss.

Types of insurance--Purchase insurance
is aimed at providing protection on the products people purchase.
Purchase insurance can cover individual purchase protection, warranties, guarantees, care plans and even mobile phone insurance.
Such insurance is normally very limited in the scope of problems that are covered by the policy.

Types of insurance--Life insurance
provides a monetary benefit to a decedent's family or other designated beneficiary, and may specifically provide for burial, funeral and other final expenses.
Life insurance policies often allow the option of having the proceeds paid to the beneficiary either in a lump sum cash payment or an annuity.

Types of insurance--Annuities
provide a stream of payments and are generally classified as insurance because they are issued by insurance companies and regulated as insurance and require the same kinds of actuarial and investment management expertise that life insurance requires.
Annuities and pensions that pay a benefit for life are sometimes regarded as insurance against the possibility that a retiree will outlive his or her financial resources.
In that sense, they are the complement of life insurance and, from an underwriting perspective, are the mirror image of life insurance.

Types of insurance--Total permanent disability insurance
provides benefits when a person is permanently disabled and can no longer work in their profession, often taken as an adjunct to life insurance.

Types of insurance--Locked funds insurance
is a little-known hybrid insurance policy jointly issued by governments and banks.
It is used to protect public funds from tamper by unauthorized parties.
In special cases, a government may authorise its use in protecting semi-private funds which are liable to tamper.
The terms of this type of insurance are usually very strict.
Therefore it is used only in extreme cases where maximum security of funds is required.

Types of insurance--Marine insurance
covers the loss or damage of goods at sea.
Marine insurance typically compensates the owner of merchandise for losses sustained from fire, shipwreck, etc., but excludes losses that can be recovered from the carrier.

Types of insurance--Nuclear incident insurance
covers damages resulting from an incident involving radio activated materials and is generally arranged at the national level.
(For the United States, see the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act.)

Types of insurance--Environmental liability insurance
protects the insured from bodily injury, property damage and cleanup costs as a result of the dispersal, release or escape of pollutants.

Types of insurance--Pet insurance
insures pets against accidents and illnesses - some companies cover routine/wellness care and burial, as well.

Types of insurance--Political risk insurance
can be taken out by businesses with operations in countries in which there is a risk that revolution or other political conditions will result in a loss.

Types of insurance--Professional indemnity insurance
is normally a mandatory requirement for professional practitioners such as architects, lawyers, doctors and accountants to provide insurance cover against potential negligence claims.
Non-licensed professionals may also purchase malpractice insurance, in which case it is commonly called errors and omissions insurance and covers a service provider for claims made against him that arise out of the performance of specified professional services.
For instance, a web site designer can obtain E&O insurance to cover her for certain claims made by third parties that arise out of negligent performance of web site development services.

Types of insurance--Property insurance
provides protection against risks to property, such as fire, theft or weather damage.
This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, inland marine insurance or boiler insurance.

Types of insurance--Terrorism insurance
provides protection against any loss or damage caused by terrorist activities.

Types of insurance--Title insurance
provides a guarantee that title to real property is vested in the purchaser and/or mortgagee, free and clear of liens or encumbrances. It is usually issued in conjunction with a search of the public records performed at the time of a real estate transaction.

Types of insurance--Travel insurance
is an insurance cover taken by those who travel abroad, which covers certain losses such as medical expenses, lost of personal belongings, travel delay, personal liabilities, etc.

Types of insurance--Workers' compensation insurance
replaces all or part of a worker's wages lost and accompanying medical expense incurred because of a job-related injury.
A single policy may cover risks in one or more of the categories set forth above. For example, auto insurance would typically cover both property risk (covering the risk of theft or damage to the car) and liability risk (covering legal claims from causing an accident). A homeowner's insurance policy in the U.S. typically includes property insurance covering damage to the home and the owner's belongings, liability insurance covering certain legal claims against the owner, and even a small amount of health insurance for medical expenses of guests who are injured on the owner's property.
Potential sources of risk that may give rise to claims are known as "perils". Examples of perils might be fire, theft, earthquake, and hurricane, among many others. An insurance policy will set out in detail which perils are covered by the policy and which are not.

Insurance Business

2008-02-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Insurers make money in two ways:
1-through underwriting, the process by which insurers select the risks to insure and decide how much in premiums to charge for accepting those risks
2-by investing the premiums they collect from insureds.

The most difficult aspect of the insurance business is the underwriting of policies.
Using a wide assortment of data, insurers predict the likelihood that a claim will be made against their policies and price products accordingly.
To this end, insurers use actuarial science to quantify the risks they are willing to assume and the premium they will charge to assume them.
Data is analyzed to fairly accurately project the rate of future claims based on a given risk.
Actuarial science uses statistics and probability to analyze the risks associated with the range of perils covered, and these scientific principles are used to determine an insurer's overall exposure.
Upon termination of a given policy, the amount of premium collected and the investment gains thereon minus the amount paid out in claims is the insurer's underwriting profit on that policy.
Of course, from the insurer's perspective, some policies are winners (i.e., the insurer pays out less in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income) and some are losers (i.e., the insurer pays out more in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income).
An insurer's underwriting performance is measured in its combined ratio.
The loss ratio (incurred losses and loss-adjustment expenses divided by net earned premium) is added to the expense ratio (underwriting expenses divided by net premium written) to determine the company's combined ratio.
The combined ratio is a reflection of the company's overall underwriting profitability.
A combined ratio of less than 100 percent indicates profitability, while anything over 100 indicates a loss.

Insurance companies also earn investment profits on “float”.
“Float” or available reserve is the amount of money, at hand at any given moment, that an insurer has collected in insurance premiums but has not been paid out in claims.
Insurers start investing insurance premiums as soon as they are collected and continue to earn interest on them until claims are paid out.
In the United States, the underwriting loss of property and casualty insurance companies was $142.3 billion in the five years ending 2003.
But overall profit for the same period was $68.4 billion, as the result of float.
Some insurance industry insiders, most notably Hank Greenberg, do not believe that it is forever possible to sustain a profit from float without an underwriting profit as well, but this opinion is not universally held.
Naturally, the “float” method is difficult to carry out in an economically depressed period.
Bear markets do cause insurers to shift away from investments and to toughen up their underwriting standards.
So a poor economy generally means high insurance premiums.
This tendency to swing between profitable and unprofitable periods over time is commonly known as the "underwriting" or "insurance" cycle.
Property and casualty insurers currently make the most money from their auto insurance line of business.
Generally better statistics are available on auto losses and underwriting on this line of business has benefited greatly from advances in computing.
Additionally, property losses in the US, due to natural catastrophes, have exacerbated this trend.
Finally, claims and loss handling is the materialized utility of insurance.
In managing the claims-handling function, insurers seek to balance the elements of customer satisfaction, administrative handling expenses, and claims overpayment leakages.
As part of this balancing act, insurance fraud is a major business risk that must be managed and overcome.

Online Insurance Quotes Are the Best Way to Go

2008-02-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

When it was time to get car insurance for my first car there were no insurance quotes to compare; there was nothing to think about. It was my parents’ policy and they went with the company they had used for years.

After getting married, there were still no insurance quotes to look at. When I took my husband’s last name, the insurance company came with it. Because of the relationship established with the local agent, we use the same company for all of out insurance needs.

Was this the best way to go about getting insurance? It worked out for us, but getting insurance quotes is always the best route to go – especially starting out. It could be that the company that works for you didn’t work for your parents. Most likely, the needs that you have today will be completely different from those of your parents (both then and now) and your unique requirements could require a unique insurance company.

Getting insurance quotes is easier than you might think; the trick comes with deciding just what you will put the highest value on – savings or availability. There are numerous online sites that will not only give you insurance quotes but will compare them to other insurance companies. This is easier (and more efficient) than calling numerous companies because it ensures that you will have the same information (discounts, deductibles, etc.) on all of the quotes.

How Long Term Care Insurance

2008-02-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

Most insurance companies say they will pay out long-term health payments when a person can no longer perform two of several basic activities. There is bathing, eating, dressing, and be able to move about, be confident and be able to use the toilet. As a person ages, usually the first thing to go is being able to bathe themselves. Dressing usually follows closely behind that so obviously those two combined would require long-term health care. However, if someone is not able to eat or use the toilet, then they usually can't last very long and you probably won't get a very long pay out on your insurance policy. Becoming incontinent is not far removed from not being able to use the toilet that most of the notes a severe downgrading your health. So the fact that the majority of these symptoms required to start your long-term health payout means the person is near the end also means you won't see much of a payout in the long run. This may be a harsh way to look at it but it helps you to appreciate the need to look very soberly at long-term health care insurance. Spending a lot of money on large premiums may not be the wisest thing unless you are positive the insurance company won't balk at a payout and hold you up for some time. You then end up paying out-of-pocket expenses to care for a loved one even though you've already put out money supposedly to take care of that. Another area where long-term healthcare kicks in is when a person suffers from dementia or other cognitive impairment.

When you take out long-term health insurance make sure you understand fully all the requirements that must be met before payments start. Whose doctor will have the last say when it comes to determining the medical payout threshold is met. Is it strictly up to the insurance company? Is there a waiting period before you begin to collect payments? People with dementia usually live no more than four years in a nursing home. Life expectancy for those who can't eat or use the toilet is fairly short because of the surrounding health problems. A waiting period of six months to a year severely cuts into your payout from the insurance company. Will it also pay for health care over a number of months after a serious operation or to recover from a serious illness in old age?

The Importance of Life Insurance

2008-02-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Life insurance makes it a little easier for the surviving
family. It means getting one's self-insured so that, the
family or the nominees of the policyholder become entitled
to compensation in the wake of the death of the policy-
holder. However, the insurer has to pay premiums for a
certain period of time for this. The amount and the interval
of paying premiums differ from policy to policy and company
to company. It also varies from person to person.

There are two main types life insurance: term life and whole
life insurance. Term Life insurance is for a given period of
time. It means that the company will compensate if anything
happens within the given period. The policy may be of two,
five, ten years or whatever the company policy is. When the
period gets over, the company would pay some part of your
total premium as maturity amount. Whole Life Insurance
covers for whole life. The premium is higher for this type.
Just because, you are healthy now, does not ensure anything
for the future, as no one knows when a disease may strike.
So the company bears the risk for that and charges a higher
premium in this case.

Whether we need life insurance or not is becoming a hot
debate. Many say that there is no need of life insurance if
nobody is dependent on your earning. They also opine that
the children and senior citizens don't need insurance at
all. However, other group argues that it is a kind of
saving, thus they don't see anything wrong in increasing
their savings with the life insurance.

However, insuring children and newborn babies involve
certain emotions. To some people, insuring children means
to have intent to get back some part of the amount you have
already spent for your beloved son or daughter. Others are
of the opinion that we are living in a very trying and
expensive days; anybody can imagine how costly childcare
is these days. In case, your insured children grow up strong
and healthy, it can provide some financial back up to their
further studies or business. It can also make it easier for
them to get their life insured in the later part of their
life.

Getting life insurance is not for everyone. If you are
unfit or unhealthy you may experience problems obtaining
life insurance. Chain smokers, heavy drinkers and over-
weight people are the worst affected of the lot. Giving up
smoking and drinking is the only advice to them. It is
advisable for the obese people to lose some weight. They
should also take an account of their blood pressure and take
medicines to control that in time. The buck does not stop
here, they need to do some workout, control blood sugar and
check up their bodies regularly.

INSURANCES GUIDE

2008-01-31T10:10:00.001-08:00

All to often we speak with insurance consumers that don't fully understand the industry or the products that are available. Consumers understand deductibles and generally co insurance percentages if they have any and the rest is somewhat of a mystery.

We fully understand that insurance can be a confusing and frustrating experience and that's exactly why we've put together this website. To educate and give you non biased information on Life, Auto, and Homeowners Insurance. Hopefully, we will shed some light on some questions you may have and give you information you didn't even know you needed.

LIFE INSURANCE

2008-01-31T10:09:00.001-08:00

If you have only yourself to worry about, even insurance agents admit that you may be better off putting your money back into your business than investing it in life insurance. If you have a family or other people depending on you, life insurance is recommended.

As a business owner, you may also want to look at how your life insurance policy can be used for your business. For example, you may be able to use it as collateral for a business expansion loan from your bank. Only cash-value policies (which build up in tax-deferred investment accounts) can be put to business use.

WORKERS' COMPENSATION INSURANCE

2008-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

This insurance covers employees in case of work-related accidents. Most states require you to have workers' compensation insurance for any employees, even part-timers. Some states only require workers' comp insurance for companies with three or more employees.

To keep the cost of your workers' compensation as low as possible, be sure your employees are classified properly. If you do not inquire about this, all your workers may be lumped into the highest - and most expensive - category of coverage. Some states also require you to purchase disability insurance that covers employees in case of any accident regardless of where it happens.

Small Business Insurances

2008-01-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

It can be difficult to determine which kind of insurance you need for your small business. Different types of insurance have confusingly similar names; your state, town, or county may have its own insurance requirements; and many industries have coverage specific to them.
Insurance is one of the most neglected small business responsibilities. Not having the appropriate insurance for your small business is a mistake because a disaster can shut down your company permanently, or at least wreak havoc on your assets.
The Insurance Information Institute (III) in New York City estimates that about 40 percent of small business owners have no insurance at all, because many falsely believe they can't afford coverage. The truth is a small business can't afford not to have adequate insurance. Without insurance, you're unnecessarily putting your livelihood at risk. That's also why many landlords, suppliers, and other entities you work with will probably require you to have coverage.

If you're having difficulty determining which kind of insurance your business should have, you might want to check with the following agencies:

The county or city clerk

A local chapter of your industry association

The state insurance office

CAR RENTAL INSURANCE

2008-01-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

In most states, car rental companies are prohibited from refusing to rent you a car unless you purchase the additional insurance, but many companies still try to do it. The coverage's that you can get are all optional. Combined, they can add up to $30 per day to the rental bill. Each coverage protects against a different risk, but your car, home, life, or health insurance policies, or your credit card, may provide all or part of the protection you need, particularly when they are combined with the minimum insurance the car rental company is required by law to provide as a part of every rental.

There are four different types of insurance and insurance-like coverage's the companies try to sell to consumers at the rental counters: Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), Supplemental Liability Protection (SLP), Personal Accident Insurance (PAI), and Personal Effects Coverage (PEC). While this coverage may make sense for some renters, in most states you already have this coverage for a rental vehicle as part of your primary auto insurance, unless you declined to accept it when you purchased that policy.

SLP usually provides $1 million of liability protection, considerably more coverage than most consumers have under their own automobile insurance policies. So if there is a reason that you want more coverage for the rental than you ordinarily carries for your own car or you do not have an automobile insurance policy, buying the SLP may make sense. However PAI coverage, usually costing about $3 per day, provides medical, ambulance and death benefits for the renter and passengers of the rental car in the event of an accident. The medical coverage is usually around $3,500 and the ambulance benefit $150 and REC coverage typically costs $2 per day, usually provides $500 per person of insurance coverage, with a $1,500 maximum, for theft of personal effects of the renter and his or her family. The motto here is that before you buy into rental car insurance, you should check to see if your own car policy covers you already.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION

2008-01-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Not all medical facilities were created equal. Depending on the plan, Emergency Medical Evacuation insurance covers the cost of transporting a seriously injured or ill person to one of the following locations:

The nearest adequate medical facility
A hospital near home
Or the hospital of his/her choice

Emergency Medical Evacuation insurance is usually included with both Travel Medical insurance plans and Trip Protection plans. However, unlike baggage insurance and trip cancellation insurance, it is also sold separately. Sufficient Emergency Medical Evacuation coverage is recommended, especially for long-distance trips abroad.

Why you need a Travel Insurance?

2008-01-31T10:04:00.001-08:00

Travel insurance covers a number of possible mishaps that can occur on the road. Peace of mind comes from knowing that if one experiences terrorism, a need for medical attention, emergency evacuation, or bankruptcy of a trip organizer, there will be recourse. Travel should be about wonder and delight, not anxiety and lost funds.
Travel insurance is much more affordable than people think, whether they buy it for one trip or for unlimited annual use. Some of the travel insurance types available include flight accident insurance, trip cancellation insurance, travel medical insurance, and even custom insurance products. Nearly every conceivable mishap can be insured against, to ensure against financial loss.

What Insurance Do You Need?

2008-01-31T10:03:00.000-08:00

Many people who thoughtfully protect their families against the loss of income from a breadwinner's death fail to think about what would happen if that breadwinner were unable to earn a living because of a disability. In fact, long-term disability may worsen a family's financial situation more than a wage earner's death because income stops, but expenses continue.

Consider Bob and Ann Jackson. Bob and Ann, who live in a Midwestern city, are parents of a 6-year-old girl. Bob, 31, earns $32,000 selling computers. His monthly take-home pay is $1,994. After staying home several years to care for their daughter, Ann is now a part-time saleswoman in a local boutique. She brings home $338 a month.

Life is uneventful for the Jacksons, until Bob becomes so ill that he can no longer work. Suddenly there is a dramatic reduction inn the Jacksons' income. Because they live in a rental apartment, they have no mortgage disability insurance to cover basic housing costs. Bob isn't eligible for Social Security disability. (To be eligible, Bob would have to demonstrate that he is unable to engage in any gainful work that exists in the national economy, regardless of whether such a job exists in the area in which he and Ann live.) Bob has no prior military or civil service that might qualify him for other government disability programs. He does not qualify for workers' compensation benefits because his illness is not job-related.

The specifics of what happens next depend greatly on whether or not Bob's employer offers group disability benefits, whether these benefits are short term (STD) or long-term (LTD), whether the policy includes a cost-of-living adjustment, and how the group policy defines disability.

If Bob's employer does provide Group LTD, Bob would be entitled to benefits under his employer's policy--probably 60 percent of his gross salary, or $1,600 a month. Of this amount, he would have to pay $193 in federal income taxes and $100 in state income taxes. To continue his family's group medical policy, he will have to pay the portion of his health insurance premium that was previously paid by his employer. Under this scenario, the Jacksons' monthly income (including Ann's current salary) would be almost 30 percent less than their former income. Will this be adequate or not? The Jacksons may save money with Bob staying at home (he is no longer commuting to work, for example), and Ann may adjust to the situation by becoming the principal wage earner. Thus, the employer-provided group disability policy may well be enough.

However, not all employers provide disability benefits. What if Bob is employed by a small firm that has no group disability benefits at all? Or what if the Jackson's situation is such that they need more than they would get under the group policy? Under such circumstances, an individual disability income insurance policy might be just the right answer.

Insurance Counseling

2008-01-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

This directory lists numbers to call for free insurance counseling in the United States. These offices are federally and state funded. Toll-free numbers are for in-state use only.

Alabama 800-243-5463
Alaska 800-478-6065 / 907-562-7249
Arizona 800-432-4040
Arkansas 800-852-5494 / 501-686-2940
California 800-927-4357 / 916-323-7315
Colorado 303-894-7499 ext. 356
Connecticut 800-443-9946
Delaware 800-366-9500
District of Columbia 202-994-7463
Florida 904-922-2073
Georgia 800-669-8387
Hawaii 800-586-0100
Idaho 800-247-4422
Illinois 800-252-8966
Indiana 800-452-4800
Iowa 515-281-5705
Kansas 800-432-3535
Kentucky 800-372-2991
Louisiana 800-259-5301 / 504-342-5301
Maine 800-750-5353 / 207-624-5335
Maryland 800-243-3425
Massachusetts 800-882-2003 / 617-727-7750
Michigan 517-373-8230
Minnesota 800-882-6262
Mississippi 800-948-3090
Missouri 800-390-3330
Montana 800-332-2272
Nebraska 402-471-4506
Nevada 800-307-4444 / 702-367-1218
New Hampshire 603-271-4642
New Jersey 800-792-8820
New Mexico 800-432-2080
New York 800-333-4114
North Carolina 800-443-9354
North Dakota 800-247-0560
Ohio 800-686-1578
Oklahoma 405-521-6628
Oregon 800-722-4134
Pennsylvania 717-783-8975
Puerto Rico 809-721-5710
Rhode Island 800-322-2880
South Carolina 800-868-9095
South Dakota 605-773-3656
Tennessee 800-525-2816
Texas 800-252-3439
Utah 801-538-3910
Vermont 800-642-5119
Virginia 800-552-4464
Virgin Islands 809-774-2991
Washington 800-397-4422
West Virginia 304-558-3317
Wisconsin 800-242-1060
Wyoming 800-438-5768

What Kind Of Business Protection Is Available In The Event Of Disability?

2008-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

Income replacement insurance is particularly important if you own a small business. In addition to standard disability policies, some polices have such special features as:

Recovery benefits that pay after you return to work full time, during the period in which you are reestablishing a customer or client base.
Overhead expense coverage that pays for certain office expenses, over and above the disability benefits that replace personal income.
For jointly owned businesses, a disability buy-out policy disburses funds for one partner, or the business entity, to buy a disabled partner's share of the business.
Key-person insurance, which protects a firm against the loss of income resulting from the disability of a key employee.

What About Social Security Disability Benefits?

2008-01-31T09:59:00.000-08:00

in the federal government's Social Security program. Social Security is best known for its retirement benefits. But the Social Security Administration also administers disability benefits. In 1992, 2.4 billion dollars in Social Security disability payments were sent to 4.8 million Americans.

Your salary and the number of years you have been covered under Social Security determine how much you can receive. In 1992, the average monthly payment for a disabled worker was $642; the average monthly payment for a family consisting of a disabled worker, spouse, and one or more children was $1093.

Here are some important points to remember:

Eligibility is based on being unable to perform any gainful employment, not just the job you were performing at the time the disability began.
You are eligible for benefits after you have been disabled for 5 months and if the disability is expected to last 12 months. Claim processing may take up to 3 months, so file as soon as possible.
Social Security payments may be reduced by disability entitlements under other government programs. Why? Because total combined payments under Social Security, workers' compensation, civil service, and military programs generally cannot exceed 80 percent of average predisability earnings. A government pension also may reduce Social Security disability payments.
After 24 months of benefits, recipients qualify for Medicare. If you want the medical insurance portion of Medicare, in addition to hospital coverage, you must enroll and pay a monthly premium.
Social Security disability payments are subject to federal income tax if your adjusted gross income plus any nontaxable interest income and half of you Social Security benefits exceed a total of $25,000 (if you file tax returns individually) or $32,000 (if you file jointly). For taxable years 1994 on, up to 85 percent of Social Security disability payments are subject to federal income tax if the total--as calculated above--exceeds $34,000 (individually) or $44,000 (jointly).
Social Security disability payments can be an important part of you income should you suffer a disabling illness or injury. Contact your local Social Security office for an estimate of the disability benefits to which you would be entitled.

What Is Disability Insurance?

2008-01-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

Disability income insurance provides you with an income should you become sick or injured and unable to work. It helps protect against family financial catastrophe by giving you an income to meet daily expenses.

Disability income insurance comes in two major forms:

A variety of employer-paid and government sponsored programs, generally cost-free to the recipient, covering certain categories of workers.
Private policies (paid for by individuals) that protect income when there are no applicable employer or government programs or when those programs do not adequately meet income needs.

As with all insurance, disability income insurance operates on the principle that many people pool small sums of money to benefit those who need help. The beneficiaries are people who need adequate income should they become disabled.

What is a Health Insurance?

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It's a fact of life — you need health insurance — and the time to get it is before you have an accident, suffer a serious illness, or discover you're pregnant. Insurance doesn't cover health care for medical problems or conditions that start before the moment you have your policy. Finding adequate coverage may seem overwhelming, but knowing the basics can help make your search less stressful.

Finding solutions for your retirement gap

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To get a more accurate idea of what your gap in retirement funds may be, talk with your financial representative as soon as possible. They will help you:

Verify your actual Social Security benefits from the Social Security Administration.
Estimate what your present retirement funding vehicles will be worth at retirement, assuming various rates of interest.
Develop a computerized retirement analysis, employing inflation factors and other sophisticated calculations to help forecast your estimated retirement income needs.
Set up a plan designed to achieve your retirement goals within your current means.
Update your retirement plan annually to reflect any changes in your objectives or present situation.

Estate planning

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Concepts included on this site dealing with federal estate tax issues may not be the most acceptable or best solutions to your situation. You should consult your attorney for advice on your particular situation.

On June 7, 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act was signed by President Bush, bringing many changes over the next decade. Effective January 1, 2002, federal estate taxes will be steadily reduced and eventually abolished in 2010. Without further congressional action, however, the law as it existed in 2001 comes back into effect for 2011 and thereafter.

Estate Planning involves developing a "plan" that will accomplish the goals and objectives of an estate owner while living and at death. These goals and objectives could include:

Providing cash payment of estate expenses including federal estate tax.
Providing income to family members after the estate owner's death.
Providing for the disposition of a business at death.
Distributing assets to family members and other heirs with the least amount of shrinkage possible.

It is an ongoing process that involves the creation, conservation, and distribution of property. The "plan" could be as simple as having a will or could require the use of life insurance, trusts, business continuation plans, or charitable arrangements.

Why should you consider a Rollover?

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Compare your options
Expand your investment selection. The wide range of choices for a Traditional IRA, for example, provides investment flexibility to diversify your financial approach.
Adapt to new circumstances. A rollover is one way to adjust your investment mix to reflect changes in your investment goals, time frame, or performance expectations. And there is no limit to the amount of money that may be rolled into a qualified retirement account.
Stay open to future possibilities. With a rollover, you may retain the option of moving your money into a future employer’s qualified retirement plan.
One provider for multiple financial solutions. A rollover lets you consolidate your savings with your agent, so you can continue working with someone who’s already familiar with your needs.
Consolidate and manage your retirement assets. The more accounts you have, the more difficult it is to keep track of your money. Consolidating your assets into a single traditional IRA can make it simpler to track balances and monitor your withdrawals.

Potential Tax Benefits

No current income tax. With a rollover, you don't have to immediately pay federal income tax on the amount you've rolled over.
No tax on earnings. Your money can potentially grow tax-deferred until you begin to make withdrawals from your account. No tax withholding. You'll avoid the 20% federal withholding for federal income taxes, so the entire balance of your account continues to work for you.*
No penalty tax. Your rollover isn't considered a taxable distribution, so it doesn't trigger the 10% penalty tax for early withdrawals made prior to age 59 1/2.

What is a Rollover?

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A rollover occurs when you move your money from a qualified retirement plan, such as an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, into a Traditional IRA or another qualified retirement plan. Typically, you are eligible for a rollover only under the following circumstances:

Retiring. You’ve been saving for years and years...and now it’s finally time to enjoy your hard-earned savings. Many people find that consolidating their retirement assets into a Traditional IRA makes it easier to manage and monitor their money.

Changing jobs. When people change jobs, they often have money in a qualified retirement plan sponsored by their employer. A rollover lets them move this money into a Traditional IRA of their own choosing.

Between jobs or switching careers. Perhaps you’re taking advantage of opportunities to explore a new profession. Or maybe you’re simply spending time away from the work force to raise a family or go back to school. Whatever your situation, you may wish to simplify your finances by transferring the money from a previous employer’s plan to a Traditional IRA.

What is a Life Insurance?

2008-01-31T09:37:00.001-08:00

Life insurance is bought by someone in order to protect his or her family in case of death. This may be mainly bought by people who are the sole breadwinners of the family: without that money in the event of that person's death, the family couldn't survive. However, not many people truly know how life insurance policies work. Many people don't believe they can afford any life insurance and a few see it as an unneeded cost.

What is 'no-fault' insurance?

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No-fault insurance is a system adopted in some states that essentially bypasses the conventional legal procedure which finds fault in an accident. (This is the procedure by which you hire a lawyer, file suit and possibly go to court to prove the accident was the other guy's fault.) No-fault simply does away with the concept of one party or the other being at fault--no lawyers, no court, no judge, no jury, no lengthy lawsuits against the other party. This is considered beneficial to taxpayers, because it eliminates costly legal proceedings that the state must manage, and to insurance policyholders, because it helps keep rates down.

If you are insured in a no-fault state and have an accident, you don't go after the other driver. You contact your own insurer and file a claim. Your own insurance policy guarantees you immediate compensation for damages, medical expenses, lost wages, etc.

The type and range of no-fault coverage varies from state to state. What defines the limitations of no-fault policies can differ in two critical areas:
Threshold--The type of damage/injury or the cost of repair/recovery that triggers the need for legal action.
Mandated--Benefit Level--The package of benefits (medical, wage loss, replacement services and other expenses) your state requires you to carry.
The details of no-fault insurance can be complicated. Contact your agent or state's insurance department for further information.

Why do I need car insurance?

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Your car has two unique qualities. First, it is probably one of the most expensive things you own. Insurance protects your investment and guarantees you a way of coping with the expense of accidents, vandalism or theft, as well as securing your financial responsibility to the bank or other institution lending the money to buy your vehicle.

Second, when you drive, you are operating a powerful machine, weighing one ton or more and capable of moving at over 100 miles per hour. You are responsible for the safety of your passengers, your fellow drivers, other people's property, pedestrians and yourself. Insurance helps you live up to that responsibility by ensuring your ability to cover the costs of potential damages or injuries.

You are also required to be financially responsible by state laws, which are best satisfied through your insurance coverage. In fact, in most states insurance is a prerequisite to registering your car. So if you want to drive your own vehicle, you must be insured.

What is a Car Insurance?

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This is insurance which protects the insured against losses involving the use of automobiles. Various coverages may be bought depending on the desires of the insured. Such coverages include the liability coverages of bodily injury, property damage, and medical payments, and the physical damage coverages of collision and comprehensive.

You've worked hard to get your home. We’ll work hard to help you protect it

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Before you purchase a new home, make sure that you determine the appropriate amount of coverage needed. When you have the home appraised, ask if a replacement cost estimate is available. Or consult with your local builder association or a reputable builder for an estimate.

Be aware of any architectural details or unique building materials that may affect your estimated replacement cost, such as:

Upgraded bathrooms or kitchens (including cabinets)
Additional rooms
Custom molding or arched windows
Other unique features
A contractor or appraiser can help estimate your home's replacement cost

Building contractors or professional replacement cost appraisers are a good source for obtaining an estimated replacement cost of your home. Estimates from these sources should reflect your home’s features, like those mentioned above. If you are unable to obtain a detailed estimate from these sources, your State Farm agent can help provide one for you.

Review your policy annually to make sure that your coverage meets your needs
Have you recently remodeled or improved your home? When you upgrade or improve your home, you may increase your home’s estimated replacement cost.
Has the rate of inflation risen since your last appraisal? Your agent provides coverage that automatically adjusts each year in an effort to compensate for increases in construction costs in your area. However, certain conditions such as severe weather can increase the demand for labor and materials, and raise costs beyond normal inflation. It is important to update your coverage amount each year to keep up with the changing economy.
What influences the building costs in your area? Market conditions in your area may impact the amount it will cost to rebuild your home if you experience a loss. Replacement cost estimates are influenced by supply of labor, demand for labor, and cost of construction materials. Staying abreast of the current market conditions in your area, and changing your coverage amount accordingly, will help you maintain 100% estimated replacement cost coverage for your home.
Some important things to consider when determining your coverage amount: Your home’s estimated replacement cost is different than its market value (real estate cost)
Each time you remodel or improve your home, you should adjust your coverage amount accordingly.
If your home is made of unique building materials, make sure they are reflected in your replacement cost estimate.
Stay abreast of the fluctuating building costs in your area and update your coverage amount accordingly. Make sure that you maintain coverage at 100% of your home's estimated replacement cost at all times.
It is important to review your coverage annually and inform your agent of any changes you’d like to make.

Understand the difference between market value and replacement cost

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“Replacement cost” is the amount needed to repair the damage or to rebuild the home to its pre-loss condition. The replacement cost of a home is NOT the market value of the home, its purchase price or the outstanding amount of any mortgage loan. It does not include the value of the land, but is the cost of rebuilding your home. New improvements or required upgrades are also not accounted for in the replacement cost.

How to determine your homeowner's coverage

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Your first step in determining the right homeowners coverage is estimating the replacement cost of your home. The second step is selecting the coverage amount that best fits your needs. We recommend that you purchase an amount of coverage equal to the estimated replacement cost. But the choice is yours. Determining your home’s estimated replacement cost is important because this will ultimately determine which policy options are available to you. Since it is impossible to predict today what the exact cost will be to replace your home in the future, it’s important to have enough coverage to account for unforeseen circumstances.

Additional Living Expenses

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If it is necessary for you to move into a motel or apartment temporarily because of damage caused by a peril covered by your policy, your insurance company will pay reasonable and necessary additional living expenses. The typical policy will pay an amount up to 20% of the policy limit on your dwelling for these expenses. If you move in temporarily with a friend or relative and do not have any extra expenses, you will not be paid any additional living expenses by your insurance company.

Medical Payments Coverage

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Medical payments coverage pays if someone outside your family is injured at your home regardless of fault. This includes payment for reasonable medical expenses incurred within one year from the date of loss for a person who is injured in an accident in your home. The coverage does not apply to you and members of your household. The medical payments portion of your homeowner’s policy will also pay if you are involved in the injury of another person away from your home in some limited circumstances. Medical payments coverage limits are generally $1,000 for each person. Higher limits of medical payments coverage are available at additional cost.

Personal Liability Coverage

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Homeowner’s policies provide personal liability coverage that applies to nonauto accidents on and off your property if the injury or damage is caused by you, a member of your family, or your pet. The liability coverage in your policy pays both for the cost of defending you and paying for any damages the court rules you must pay. And unlike the other coverage in your policy, liability insurance does not have a deductible that you must meet before the insurer begins to pay losses. The basic limit for liability coverage is usually $100,000 for each occurrence. You can request higher limits that are available for an additional cost.

Personal Property Floater

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Your homeowner's insurance policy may provide only limited coverage for furs, jewelry, silver, and other valuables. It may be necessary to insure these valuables with a special addition to your homeowner's policy, such as a personal property floater. A personal property floater itemizes each article, gives a description of the article insured, and lists excluded perils. It often provides coverage that is broader than the coverage granted in the home insurance policy. You should discuss this with your insurance company or agent to determine the availability and cost of this additional coverage.

Your homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover your pets, your car, and any aircraft. Although your policy does not cover your pet or damage it does to your possessions, it will cover damage your pet does to others or their possessions.

Property Damage Coverage

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Property damage coverage helps pay for damage to your home and personal property. Other structures such as a detached garage, a tool shed, or any other building on your property are usually covered for 10% of the amount of coverage on your house.

Personal property coverage will pay for personal property including household furniture, clothing, and other personal belongings. The amount of insurance coverage is usually 50% of the policy limit on your dwelling. The coverage is also limited by the types of loss listed in the policy. The coverage only pays the current cash value of the item destroyed, unless you purchased replacement cost coverage.

Your homeowner’s policy also provides off-premises coverage. This means that the policy covers your belongings against theft even when they are not inside your home. Your insurer will reimburse you for the cost of replacing your suitcase and its contents if it were lost or stolen while you were on vacation, but only for replacing them with items of like kind and quality.

Basic Coverage included in Homeowner's insurance

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The homeowner’s insurance policy is a package policy that combines more than one type of insurance coverage in a single policy. There are four types of coverages that are contained in the homeowner’s policy: dwelling and personal property, personal liability, medical payments, and additional living expenses.

Why you need a Homeowner Insurance?

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The largest single investment most consumers make is in their home. The consumer can protect his or her home, possessions, and liability with a homeowner’s insurance policy.

In addition to its availability to homeowners, similar coverage is available to those who rent homes or apartments. These policies are referred to as tenants’ or renters’ homeowner’s policies. If you are a renter, you do not need protection against damage to the building itself, but you do need protection against damage to or theft of your personal property and liability in the event someone falls or gets hurt on the part of the premises you rent.

A condominium owner may purchase a condominium homeowner’s policy to insure personal property. Some policies may also include any additions or alterations not insured by the condominium association. It is important to check with your condominium association and your agent before buying a policy to make sure you are adequately covered.

What is homeowner insurance?

2008-01-31T09:19:00.000-08:00

Homeowners is one of the most popular forms of personal insurance on the market. The typical homeowners policy has two main sections: Section I covers your property, and Section II provides personal liability coverage (to cover you in case of lawsuits arising from things that happen on your property). Almost anyone who owns or leases property should have this type of insurance. Often, homeowners insurance is required by lenders as a requirement to obtain a mortgage.

Limited risk of catastrophically large losses

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The essential risk is often aggregation. If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed. Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5 percent. Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurers appetite for additional policyholders. The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten. Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon. In extreme cases, the aggregation can affect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.

Affordable Premium.

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If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards (See FAS 113 for example), the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance.

Insurance: Overview

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Did you know that some of the hottest jobs in finance aren't on Wall Street at all? These are jobs in insurance. Insurance is a trillion dollar business that employs more than 2.5 million people in the United States alone. As the population ages and wealth grows, the demand for insurance professionals will increase dramatically. This is great news for you if your thinking of going in to insurance. Jobs in insurance involve helping individuals and business manage risk to protect themselves from catastrophic losses and to anticipate potential risk problems. Work in this area is not only personally rewarding, but can be financially rewarding as well. You will help clients understand their insurance needs, explain their options to them and hopefully help them purchase appropriate insurance policies. You could work in a variety of areas in insurance including as an underwriter, a sales representative, an asset manager, a customer service rep or an actuary. A theme that is constantly emphasized by insurance professionals is that the industry is ultimately about helping people when they need it the most. The stereotype of a slick, sleazy, fast-talking insurance salesman is largely a figment of the past.

Short Term Medical Insurance

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Short Term Insurance
When health insurance is only needed for a short duration of time, which would be up to 12 months, then a short term medical insurance plan is what you're looking for. The short term plans are the perfect way to protect yourself during those times you are between medical plans.

We can find ourselves laid off from a job and faced with expensive COBRA insurance. Employers should really explain how much our health insurance benefit is costing him at our jobs. That would help us appre- ciate them more and not go into shock when it's our turn to pay the bill. Short term medical insurance costs considerably less than the group and individual plans.

$100,000 Medical Bill
It’s also uncomfortable to be without insurance while waiting for eligibility at a new job. What if something happens while I have no insurance ? What is that saying? “Life happens while we are making other plans.” It does indeed, been there done that, $100,000 medical claim. The only thing that saved my bacon is someone bought insurance for me before
it happened.I wasn’t smart enough to protect myself and they could see that.Fortunately they cared enough about me to make this difference in my life. That was 15 years ago and I’m still grateful today.

Short Term Medical Insurance
If you are without medical insurance for any reason. Get into a short term
medical insurance plan now. It will buy you some time while you figure out
a more permanent option. The cost of these policies are nothing compared to crushing medical bills.

Insurance Information

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The Internet was created to decimate information. It is the perfect place to find insurance information on a variety of insurance types.You can get a complete picture of the benefits offered and determine the value of those benefits. Insurance, being intangible in nature, requires a study of available information and an idea of what is desired for coverage. The more research you do the better idea you will have of what you want. As you know, we often want maximum benefits, but often can only afford what is truly needed. Insurance is defined as " a transfer of risk ”. The insurance companies are agreeing to accept your risk in return for a specified amount of funds. This is called the premium. The richer the benefits are, the greater the risk will be to the insurance company, so
the higher the premium.

This site is designed with you in mind. You are just like us, while doing research for a desired product or service, we want good information that will help us be informed and feel confident about our decisions. The insurance information on this site is the best we can find and we hope it properly serves your needs.

Do your research there's a lot of information here. Be sure to read the
plan outlines and descriptions, match up benefits and quotes and if the
company offering your desired plan is solid, you're set. We have also
worked hard to provide the best recommendations for insurance
providers and brokers. May they serve you well.

AUTO INSURANCE INFORMATION

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Auto insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy.Auto insurance provides property, liability and medical coverage:
Property coverage pays for damage to or theft of your car.
Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for bodily injury or property damage.
Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages and funeral expenses.An auto insurance policy is comprised of six different kinds of coverage. Most states require you to buy some, but not all, of these coverages. If you're financing a car, your lender may also have requirements.Most auto policies are for six months to a year. Your insurance company should notify you by mail when it’s time to renew the policy and to pay your premium.

Foundation Research Programs

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Research is the key to the future for people with hard to control seizures -- as many as 600,000 Americans of all ages.
Each year the Foundation invites research investigators to apply for one-year grants to test new ideas and follow new research leads. The applications, more than a hundred in an average year, are ranked according to merit by a blue ribbon panel of research scientists, and funded according to available resources.
Research Fellowships
The future of epilepsy research depends on attracting the best scientific minds to the study of seizures and seizure disorders. To do just that, the Epilepsy Foundation offers a series of training fellowships in basic, clinical and behavioral science to scientists at the start of their careers.
These one year fellowships, awarded to young people at the nation's leading research institutes, have in many cases been the first steps on a lifetime commitment to solving the medical and scientific puzzle of why epilepsy develops and how it can be treated or prevented.
The Epilepsy Foundation’s William Gowers Clinical Research Fellowships have been supported by grants from Abbott Laboratories since 1986. The Gowers Fellowship is awarded annually to a physician/scientist who is embarking on a career in academic clinical medicine and who wishes to undertake a specific project in epilepsy research. Find out more about the Gowers Fellowships.
View the complete list of Epilepsy Foundation grant awards.
Gene Discovery Project
The race is on to discover the genetic causes of some forms of epilepsy. With these discoveries will come new therapies, possibly even a true cure. So far, several specific genes have been identified, but many, many more remain to be discovered.
One of the challenges of this type of research is identifying families in which several members across generations have experienced seizures. When a number of such families can be found, blood tests may reveal genetic traits associated with a greater susceptibility to seizures.
As part of its commitment to research and a cure, the Epilepsy Foundation is sponsoring a Gene Discovery Project on the Internet. This program invites people with a family history to provide confidential details through this web site. The information will then be added to a coded database and, at some point in the future, the families have an opportunity to participate in research.
Special Research Initiatives
The Epilepsy Foundation periodically offers funding opportunities for special research initiatives.
All of the Epilepsy Foundation's special initiatives are unique in terms of their program parameters, goals, and funding cycles, but what is common among all is that they are thematic fast track programs announced at the time that funds become available.
The Epilepsy Foundation periodically offers funding opportunities for special research initiatives. All of the Epilepsy Foundation's special initiatives are unique in terms of their program parameters, goals, and funding cycles, but what is common among all is that they are thematic fast track programs announced at the time that funds become available. Past initiatives have included studies on genetics, quality of life for children with epilepsy, neurocysticercosis and epilepsy. Current targeted initiatives include Mood Disorders and Partnership for Pediatric Epilepsy Research, a consortium of dedicated organizations and individuals working to increase knowledge of causes of and promoting innovative treatment approaches and a cure for epilepsies that begin in infancy and childhood. Over the next few years the foundation will focus on additional targeted areas of research including Epilepsy and Aging, Models of Care, Youth, Women and Reproductive Health and Catastrophic Epilepsies.

A Special Role Among Funding Organizations

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Many of today’s educators, senior investigators, and thought leaders in epilepsy were encouraged in their early careers with financial assistance from the Epilepsy Foundation. Training and assistance grants and fellowships for young investigators remain the core of the Foundation’s research support today. But the program focus has expanded and now serves the following objectives.
Arousing the interest of medical students in neuroscience and epilepsy research.
Training young investigators in the conduct of advanced epilepsy research.
Seeding new concepts and ideas, thus allowing for their development to attract grant support from government and other sources.
Promoting a global research agenda through support of international research training.
Stimulating scientific interest in vital target areas in which there is little current research.
Speeding work on promising new discoveries that have high potential for breakthrough results in the treatment, prevention and management of epilepsy
In support of the Epilepsy Foundation's goals within the strategic plan to increase the number of qualified scientists conducting epilepsy research; invest in targeted research areas, as well as research that will improve diagnosis and clinical care for people with epilepsy, the Research Committee and Professional Advisory Board (PAB) have identified priority areas of research for the future.

blessed with kids

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At this stage in your life you have financial security in terms of a good salary and comfortable savings in various financial instruments, but there is also responsibility in terms of a family, children whose education, marriage and upbringing have to be provided for.
The emotional loss they would face, would be irreplaceable, but the least you can do is secure their dreams.....make sure that their education, marriage etc. happen the way you wanted it to happen.
This can be ensured by getting the correct life insurance policy, of the right value.
So what are you waiting for? Identify your needs from the list and choose the best policy for your family.

newly weds

2007-11-13T10:19:00.001-08:00

Married couples with no children and both spouses contributing equally to the household income may need very little life insurance. Though the death of either of them would be emotionally catastrophic; the other can presumably survive on his or her own income. Still, there could be a strain on the purse. It could become difficult to bear bigger expenses like mortgage or rent payments.
And what if the survivor is not working? In such a scenario, insurance money can provide the much needed support. The emotional loss would be massive but uncompensatable, least you can do is ensure that the one you love doesnot have to worry about the finances.
Therefore, each of you should probably buy a modest amount of life insurance to protect your better half. Think of it as an investment, which can provide support to your family incase of any unforeseen event.

Weighing the Different Health Insurance Plans

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Some employers offer their employees health insurance at a reduced cost or for free. If you're not lucky enough to have an employer who will pay for your health insurance plan, then it is a good idea to search the many available health insurance plans to find one that fits your budget and your needs. Healthcare plans may not be something that we like paying for, but they can literally be a lifesaver if you're involved in a bad accident or if you come down with a threatening ailment.
There are lots of different medical insurance plans. You can be sure that they are not all the same. Affordable health insurance plans can be found, but you will want to make sure that you know what you're getting when you agree to a discount health plan with a provider. Try finding an HMO health plan that will give you good benefits at a reduced rate.
If your employer doesn't offer any health insurance, then you may need to purchase an individual health insurance plan. Individual health insurance plans tend to be more expensive than those that are part of a group, but that doesn't mean that you have to be denied of all medical coverage just because you aren't part of a group health care plan. You might want to check out California Health Insurance plans to see if they have something that fits into your budget.
If you run or work for a small business, then you should always do some research on small business health plans. This will allow you and your employees to get an affordable health insurance plan that is cheaper than everyone getting their own discount health plans individually. Remember that if you can be a part of a group then you will always save money in the health care insurance world. When you're looking at small business health care plans, you always want to compare health insurance plans just as you would with any other deal that you make with a company. You'll always want to get the most out of every dollar that you spend.
The Internet has helped make comparing the costs of health insurance plans much easier. Now you don't have to spend lots of time looking up the phone numbers for each provider and then calling them to get the information. Hearing someone talk to you over the phone isn't nearly as convenient as being able to browse information online. When you look at the information online you'll be able to immediately disregard any information that doesn't apply to you and you'll be able to go over the details more carefully to make sure that you fully understand them. It's very important that you do this- that you fully understand the terms of your medical insurance plan. Not all plans are the same. Some are more expensive and thus give you more options. Just because a plan is inexpensive doesn't mean that it won't offer you quality service, but you need to be aware of exactly what services your insurance package covers for you.
When you're looking at health insurance plans you should always pay attention to, first, what portion of any bills will you be responsible for, second, what kind of medical care does the plan cover for you, and, third, how much the insurance costs. By weighing these three factors you'll be able to find the insurance plan from a discount medical insurance company that will fit right into your budget and will allow you to have the medical coverage that you need to feel secure in the knowledge that you will be cared for.

Whole Life Insurance Policies

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Whole life insurance is insurance that pays a lump sum at the time of a person's death. They are advantageous for some people because they are underwritten for life. If a person gets sick with a serious illness, the terms of the whole life insurance will not be effected. Premium insurance will always hold to the terms of the agreement between the company and the insured. It is similar to life insurance universal because it pays at the time of death. The money that is received from a whole life insurance taxable payment may be taxable, so the insured should always consider that the amount of money the family will be paid in the event of death will effectively be lower than the amount of the term. Universal life insurance differs from whole life insurance in that it allows you to change the terms of the agreement over the course of your life. You might also consider getting a standard life insurance policy that will help you as you get older.
A whole life insurance quote can be obtained by contacting an insurance company. If you are already insured through one company, you might want to check with them to see if you can get a reduced combined rate on multiple policies. If you don't have a whole life insurance policy, then you might want to check companies like Globe Life Insurance, Medical Life Insurance, and Group Life Insurance to see what they can do for you.
When deciding what type of whole life insurance you want to get you will have to make up your mind about what kind of life insurance annuity you would like. Do you want your family to be paid in one lump sump or a changing amount over time? You will also need to decide on the life insurance general to be provided.
There are many people who have life insurance jobs that can help you answer any questions that you have. First, check the Internet for information. If you'd rather talk to someone, then contact several companies and talk to them about the services that they have available to their clients. You will have questions about life insurance medical and the life insurance settlement that will need to be answered. By speaking to someone who is involved in the insurance business daily, you can get the correct answers to the questions that you have. This will give you greater peace of mind and let you know exactly how your family will be taken care of when you are gone.
Knowing more about the whole life insurance plans that are available can only be a good thing for you. While talking to people in the insurance business and reading insurance company websites is a good way to gather information, you may want to read a book on whole life insurance before you begin gathering this information. Having some knowledge could be highly advantageous. After all, what's the point of talking to an insurance company employee if you don't know what they're talking about. If you find that the terms that insurance company employees use leave you confused, you're not alone. There are lots of books available that will help guide you through the meanings of insurance terminology. You can buy them at many bookstores, or you can check them out from the library.
It's important that you know what questions to ask your insurance company and that you understand the answers they give you. Be sure to communicate the terms of your policy with your family so that they will know what is supposed to happen when you die.

Finding Good, Inexpensive Term Life Insurance

2007-11-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

We all want to protect our families. And we want them to be provided for in the event of our deaths and after. Term life insurance is one of the easiest and cheapest ways that we can provide for them after we're gone from this world. But in order for us to get the term life insurance policies that work best, and least expensively, for us, we need to get term life insurance quotes and pick the low cost term life insurance that offers us the best return on our money and the best service possible.
Affordable term life insurance isn't impossible to find. It isn't even difficult to find cheap term life insurance. One of the best ways to compare the prices and services of term life insurance providers is to go online and conduct some research on what you can get for the amount of money you have to spend. The best term life insurance will be the one with the best term life insurance rate that offers you the best service in return. By going online to do your research, you can quickly and easily compare the cost of term life insurance to find which one is the best term life insurance for you. The best is the one that is an affordable term life insurance with rates that you will be able to continue to pay throughout your life.
You can contact many term life insurance online companies to get instant term life insurance. This will begin protecting you as soon as you have signed up for the service.
Life insurance term life can be available to you and you can get an instant term life insurance quote that makes finding the term life insurance rates that are right for you. Term life insurance online is an invaluable tool for all people who are looking to get their primary term life insurance or to get term life insurance that will help supplement the life insurance that they already get through their employers or some other organization that they are members of. You may also want to get a term life insurance quote to see if it is less expensive than any fees that you're paying your employer or organization.
Life insurance term life can help your family after you are gone, but may not also help if you fall ill or are involved in an accident. Long term care insurance is available if you'd like to further protect them from the financial responsibilities that quickly accumulate when long term medical care is needed. By covering the costs of some of your medical bills, long term care insurance can ease the financial burden that will fall on you and your family if you are seriously sick. Imagine if you got cancer, but the only insurance that you had was term life insurance. Depending on the program that you have, you could end up shouldering the burden all by yourself. This could greatly reduce the economic viability of everyone in your family. You may at some point realize that you are monetarily worth more dead than alive. But imagine that situation if you have long term care insurance. Now you have more fight in you because you know that you are able to pay all the bills.
Having the insurance that's right for you can be a lifesaver. Look into the types of insurance that several companies offer and see which one best suits your needs. In the end you will get the best return for as little money as possible; both you and your family will have better lives for it.

Life Insurance Costs Depend on You Current Health

2007-11-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

It's important to have life insurance so that your family will be provided for in the event of your death. Life insurance will help them pay for the costs incurred by your death, such as funeral fees, and may also provide them with money to help support them after you're gone. If you're looking for new life insurance, you'll want to investigate the life insurance cost of several companies and the services that they offer so that you can pick the company that will give you the best deal and the most return. You may even be able to find discount life insurance companies that will help you pay for health care costs in the event that you get sick.
When you're applying for a life insurance policy, you'll need to get a life insurance quote so that you'll know how much the company expect you to pay them per year. Life insurance companies are in intense competition with each other, so you can often find a free life insurance quote that will help you determine the provider you want to go with. Life insurance quotes are often determined by factors such as your age and your lifestyle (i.e., are you a smoker? Are you overweight? Do you have diabetes?). If it is determined that you are an insurance risk because of your lifestyle or pre-existing conditions, then low cost life insurance providers may not want to insure you, or they may ask for more money. The life insurance price you pay could have a lot to do with your current health.
You want to get the cheapest life insurance that you can that will provide you with good service. The Internet can be a great resource for finding low cost life insurance. You can get life insurance quotes online from many companies. When you get a life insurance quote, compare it to the others that you've gotten. Be sure to think about the services and the return on your investment. You want to get discount life insurance, but you don't want to deal with a company that won't pay your family when they need it. For many people the cost insurance life low is compared to the amount of money they will spend in the event of death. Compare the life insurance quotes that you get online and see which the cheapest life insurance is. If you're a significant insurance risk, then you should expect to pay more money.
You might wonder why you should pay more money just because you have a pre-existing condition. You're the same as everyone. You have the same risk of getting hit by a bus today as anyone else, right? While having a pre-existing condition does not mean that you will necessarily lead a shorter or less fulfilling life than someone who is considered healthy, it does make you a more risky investment. Life insurance companies are looking to make money just like every other company in the world. If you have a condition that could potentially cause your death at an earlier age than someone with the condition, then the company must assume that you might have a shorter amount of time to pay them your monthly or yearly insurance fees. The insurance company is going to end up paying your family regardless of whether you die today or fifty years from now. But if you die sooner, then they make less money from you. Life quotes insurance that are low would mean that the company makes less money. They could even lose money if you die young.
Take your time to find the life insurance policy that's right for you. You'll want to compare the quotes and services from many companies so that you can be sure that your family will get the best return on your investment.

Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You Get What You Deserve

2007-11-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

We've all seen advertisements on the television about personal injury. A personal injury lawyer claims that he or she will be able to sue your insurance company so that you can get the amount of money that you'll need to pay for any bodily harm that you have that should be covered under the insurance you have. Lots of automobile insurance companies offer you personal injury insurance as part of your auto coverage. If the car insurance company isn't willing to pay for the damages you receive while you were driving your car, then you might want think about consulting a personal injury attorney to talk about what your options are.
A lot of times, personal injury lawyers will say in their advertisements that they can help you get a personal injury settlement. If personal injury attorneys tell you this, what they really mean is that they are going to try to settle out of court. The personal injury law firm hope that by intimidating the insurance company with a lawsuit, then the company will back off and pay you the amount of money you deserve rather than force you to actually file a lawsuit against the company. Personal injury law has a big market today. This is in part because a lot of people don't trust their insurance companies. They worry that if they file a personal injury claim with their insurance company, then their claim will get filed right along with all of the other personal injury claims and they will never get the coverage that they need. If you've suffered personal injuries, and you have personal injury insurance, then consulting a lawyer who works with personal injury cases could give you the leverage you need to get the insurance company to really pay attention to your claim. People who suffer a personal injury accident need to be certain that they're getting all of the care that they can get, and they need to be certain that they are getting the money from their personal injury insurance company to help pay for the medical care.
But is it really necessary to hire a personal injury lawyer? Many people thank that it is. You may feel that your insurance company has treated you well after you've been involved in an accident that is covered by your insurance program. But, then again, some people may feel like the insurance company is trying to give them the run around instead of actually coming through with the money that the injured person must get in his or her time of need.
If you've been involved in an accident and you feel like you're not getting the attention or care from your insurance company that you deserve, then you'll want to be certain to contact a personal injury law firm or a personal injury lawyer in the area that you had the accident. Not all laws are the same. Even if we take the case of one person and one company in Connecticut who are involved in a personal injury insurance dispute, and then we move that accident to New York, the person and the company may not have the exact same legal rights as they would in Connecticut. So if you're involved in an accident while you're vacationing in Florida, then contact a personal injury Florida law firm. You need to have people working for you who are familiar with the local and state laws. It's the best way to get what you deserve from your insurance company.
Hopefully, you'll never have to file a personal injury insurance claim at all. And if you do, then hopefully your insurance company will be responsible and pay you in a proper, timely manner.

Insurance Options for Various Vehicles

2007-11-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

If you're looking into getting new vehicle insurance, then you have lots of options out there. Having car insurance coverage is not only a good idea, but it also might be required by law in the place you live. Be sure to stay compliant with the law and get the best service at the cheapest rates possible and you'll never regret having auto insurance coverage or coverage for any of your other vehicles.
There's lots of different vehicle insurance out there. Even if you don't need auto insurance coverage for a car, you may still need, or want, to get insurance for your other vehicles. Lots of companies offer you plans that will cover your needs at prices that you will find affordable. Be sure to shop around so that you can be certain to find the right insurance company that will give you great service at inexpensive price. Companies like Progressive insurance and sellers of National auto insurance have websites that can help you find the right insurance for all of your vehicles.
While most of us think of vehicle insurance as car insurance, many car insurance com also deal in not only auto ins, but also insurance for smaller vehicles too. You may need or want to look into different companies to see what kinds of rates they can offer you on motorcycle insurance or scooter insurance. Having motorbike insurance will help you if you are ever involved in an accident while driving your motorcycle. Bike insurance works the same as driver insurance. When you're involved in an accident while driving a motorcycle covered by an insurance company, you can receive money to help pay for the damages caused to your bike and the other vehicle involved in the accident. It may also provide you with money to help pay for any medical care that you'll need as a result of the accident.
If you drive a truck, then you should look into getting truck insurance. If you already have car insurance, then you should contact the company you get it from to see if they will offer you a discount rate by having both your car insurance and your truck insurance through them.
If you only have a car, then you still have many options when talking to your insurance company. There's not just one kind of car insurance out there. There are lots of different plans. Perhaps it would best suit your needs just to have accident insurance or driver insurance. With car insurance drivers will be covered if they are involved in an accident. The level of compensation that the driver and/or passengers receive depends on the level of insurance that you pay for. Be sure to ask your company about the options that they have available.
Many companies also offer car insurance that's different for younger drivers. Ask different companies about young driver car insurance and see what kinds of options they have. A lot of times we expect young drivers to pay much more money for auto insurance than we expect older, more experienced drivers to pay. But that may not be the case with all companies. Ask the insurance companies if they offer a program that will give young drivers reduced rates for getting good grade or for going certain amounts of time without receive tickets or being involved in accidents. Young drivers can end up saving a lot of money by asking the right questions.
If you're diligent about finding the insurance that's right for the kind of vehicle that you drive, then you'll know that you'll be covered and taken care of when you're involved in an accident. And by having the right kind of coverage that you want you won't be paying more money than you need to be paying.

Doing Some Research Can Get You Great Discount Auto Insurance

2007-11-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

All automobile drivers around the world want car insurance that is affordable and will give them the best service possible. We all want car insurance cheap, but just because we're looking for cheap car insurance doesn't mean that we can't have the services that we need from companies that will be there for us when we need them to be. Cheap auto insurance can be found with just a little bit of research. The research you do finding a cheap car insurance rate will let you know that you're getting the best deal available to you and that you're getting the services you deserve as a valued customer.
Some car retailers will offer you free car insurance for a specified amount of time after you purchase your car. This is great because not only does it help insure you while you drive the car home from the lot, but it will also give you the time you need finding the cheapest car insurance available without sacrificing good service from a reputable company.
To find affordable car insurance, you should contact many different discount auto insurance providers. Ask them what services they provide. They may have several different packages that you can choose from. Pick the one that best fits your needs. Ask the companies if they offer an auto insurance discount for things like level of education or if the offer discounts to employees of the company you work for. You may be surprised that by asking these questions you can end up saving yourself lots of money every year. A car insurance discount may not seem like a whole lot when you first look at it, but anything that can reduce your monthly expenses will eventually add up to quite a bit saved at the end of the year.
The Internet is a great resource for finding discount car insurance. When you use the Internet a cheap car insurance rate is just a click away. If you want to buy cheap car insurance, the Internet will be invaluable to you. Low rate insurance is available to anyone who's willing to put just a little bit of time into finding it. The Internet and the websites of many, many automobile insurance companies will help you save time while you look for the cheapest car insurance quote, and will also help ensure that you're getting the services that you require also.
Discount automobile companies know that if they don't give you a good price and good service, then you'll just move on to one of the hundreds of other discount car insurance companies that are willing to give you better products at cheaper prices. Because of this, lots of car insurance companies are slashing prices and reducing the amount of money that it takes them to run their business. That means that these days you don't have to be suckered into high car insurance costs with services that will leave you stranded on the side of the road when you need to find safety and begin the process of handling the details of your accident and paying for the damages caused by the automobile accident that you've been involved in. The Internet has made this information so readily available to virtually everyone that insurance companies know that they can't hide the facts from you anymore. If they're not the best deal out there, they know it. And until the availability of the Internet and so many websites that will let you know what you should be paying for the services you receive, now you will know it too. Finding discount car insurance isn't hard, and it'll definitely be worth the time you spend doing it.

Comparing Auto Insurance Costs Gets You Good Deals

2007-11-13T10:10:00.002-08:00

When you're buying car insurance you're going to want to compare the auto insurance quotes from many companies so that you can be sure to get the car insurance at a low cost. A car insurance quote will let you know how much money you?re going to have to pay for the services that the auto insurance company can offer you. But not all car insurance quotes are going to be the same. To get low cost insurance, you're going to want to do a little bit of investigating so that you can get the auto insurance quote that fits your budget but also will provide you with the services that you need to feel comfortable driving your car and to keep you compliant with any laws in your area.
Online car insurance quotes are a great place to start comparing insurance companies. You can get free car insurance quotes from most companies these days because car insurance companies want to let you know how cheaply you can have their services. They want you as a customer and they know that you have lots of options out there to find a cheap auto insurance quote, so don't think that you have to sacrifice quality for inexpensive rates. An auto insurance online quote will let you compare the cost of service from many different companies so that you'll be able to find the one that's just right for you.
Online car insurance quotes will often provide you not only with the car insurance cost from the company you're looking into. Many companies will not only give you car insurance low cost, but will show the auto insurance cost from a competitor. If you're looking for the best car insurance price, this can be very helpful to you because it can let you know that you're getting the best online car insurance quotes in a timely manner.
Car insurance companies around the world have online websites to help you compare costs and find the services you need. If you want to compare car insurance quote UK, then all you have to do is go online and research the popular car insurance companies in the UK. You will find that some offer you very cheap rates, but you'll want to also investigate the services that are provided with these low cost rates.
The maxim "you get what you pay for" can often apply to car insurance companies just as much as they apply to any other product that you buy from any company. You don't want to find yourself in an accident and then discover that your car insurance company will do very little to help you. But don't think that just because you don't have much money that you can't get good services from a reputable company. Because car insurance companies all over the world know that they have lots of competitors who are willing to offer you cheap prices on your auto insurance cost, they are cutting prices left and right to provide you with the best services possible at the prices that anyone can afford. Some companies will even offer you roadside assistance at a very low rate so that you can get help even if you're not in a car accident.
Now that you know that you can go online to research the best car insurance quotes at low costs, you have no excuse to be dealing with a company that won't treat you like the important customer that you are. Pay attention to what the deals in your area are and go with the cheapest quote that offers the services you need and you'll know that you're getting the best deal available.

Where to Find Insurance

2007-11-13T10:10:00.001-08:00

If your employer doesn't offer paid insurance to you and your co-workers, then you're probably wondering where you can get coverage that won't cost you an arm and a leg but still is able to allow you see a doctor easily and with low co-pays. You're already used to paying for auto insurance without the assistance of your employer. But car insurance is advertised everywhere. You can't turn on the television without hearing an advertisement for cheap car insurance. And you certainly can't turn on the radio because the insurance companies know that most people only listen to the radio while they're driving their cars. What you really need to know is where you can get good life insurance, medical insurance, and dental insurance. And you'd like to get it at a group insurance rate so that less of your income will have to go towards paying it.
If you haven't had to look for an insurance provider before, you may not beware that there are a large amount of companies that want your business. Just because they don't advertise on the radio doesn't mean that they aren't just as readily available as the car insurance companies.
If you're looking for health insurance and dental insurance, you'll want to be sure to check out companies that have a longstanding record of good customer service. We've all heard horror stories before about people who've paid their insurance companies for years and when they get sick the insurance company isn't there to help them in their time of need. Don't let that happen to you. By doing some research you'll be able to find the insurance company that fits your needs.
One company that you might want to check out is Aetna. You can call them toll free or you can research and apply for insurance online at their website at www.aetna.com. What you're going to get at Aetna's website is a list of possibilities and a menu that will help you find the insurance plan that is right for you. Don't hesitate to contact the company if you have more companies. We always hope that we'll be healthy all of our lives, but one day you might get sick. Doing some research now into what different insurance companies offer, before you sign up for their services, could save you and big headache, and possibly even your life, one day.
But auto, health, and dental insurance aren't the only kinds of insurance that exist. Plenty of American insurance companies are out there that your business to help you insure many other things in your life. Whether you own or rent your home, you'll want to get insurance. Home insurance and rental insurance will help you protect the things that you've worked hard for. We keep most everything we own in our homes, so if something, like a fire or a tornado, were to destroy our homes and everything in it, where would we be? It would be a shame to have to go all the way back to the beginning when having a little bit of house insurance could put you right back where you are now.
If you are going on a trip you might want to look into getting travel insurance. Travel insurance is important when you're far away from home because the insurance company might be the only way that you can get yourself out of a bad situation, whether that situation is sickness or theft or loss of property. When you're in a country where no one speaks your language, who else are you going to turn to?
If you own a business, you'll need business insurance. Business insurance can protect you from damaged merchandise and protects you and your employees while you're driving on the clock. Getting sued by someone isn't any fun, having business insurance can help cover your costs and see that your business survives.

Why should I buy life insurance?

2007-11-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. It can be an important tool in the following situations:
Replace income for dependentsIf people depend on your income, life insurance can replace that income for them if you die. The most commonly recognized case of this is parents with young children. However, it can also apply to couples in which the survivor would be financially stricken by the income lost through the death of a partner, and to dependent adults, such as parents, siblings or adult children who continue to rely on you financially. Insurance to replace your income can be especially useful if the government- or employer-sponsored benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death.
Pay final expensesLife insurance can pay your funeral and burial costs, probate and other estate administration costs, debts and medical expenses not covered by health insurance.
Create an inheritance for your heirsEven if you have no other assets to pass to your heirs, you can create an inheritance by buying a life insurance policy and naming them as beneficiaries.
Pay federal “death” taxes and state “death” taxesLife insurance benefits can pay estate taxes so that your heirs will not have to liquidate other assets or take a smaller inheritance. Changes in the federal “death” tax rules between now and January 1, 2011 will likely lessen the impact of this tax on some people, but some states are offsetting those federal decreases with increases in their state-level “death” taxes.
Make significant charitable contributionsBy making a charity the beneficiary of your life insurance, you can make a much larger contribution than if you donated the cash equivalent of the policy’s premiums.
Create a source of savingsSome types of life insurance create a cash value that, if not paid out as a death benefit, can be borrowed or withdrawn on the owner’s request. Since most people make paying their life insurance policy premiums a high priority, buying a cash-value type policy can create a kind of “forced” savings plan. Furthermore, the interest credited is tax deferred (and tax exempt if the money is paid as a death claim).

How much life insurance do I need?

2007-11-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

In most cases, if you have no dependents and have enough money to pay your final expenses, you don’t need any life insurance.If you want to create an inheritance or make a charitable contribution, buy enough life insurance to achieve those goals.If you have dependents, buy enough life insurance so that, when combined with other sources of income, it will replace the income you now generate for them, plus enough to offset any additional expenses they will incur to replace services you provide (for a simple example, if you do your own taxes, the survivors might have to hire a professional tax preparer). Also, your family might need extra money to make some changes after you die. For example, they may want to relocate, or your spouse may need to go back to school to be in a better position to help support the family.You should also plan to replace “hidden income” that would be lost at death. Hidden income is income that you receive through your employment but that isn’t part of your gross wages. It includes things like your employer’s subsidy of your health insurance premium, the matching contribution to your 401(k) plan, and many other “perks,” large and small. This is an often-overlooked insurance need: the cost of replacing just your health insurance and retirement contributions could be the equivalent of $2,000 per month or more.Of course, you should also plan for expenses that arise at death. These include the funeral costs, taxes and administrative costs associated with “winding up” an estate and passing property to heirs. At a minimum, plan for $15,000.Other sources of incomeMost families have some sources of post-death income besides life insurance. The most common source is Social Security survivors’ benefits.Social Security survivors’ benefits can be substantial. For example, for a 35-year-old person who was earning a $36,000 salary at death, maximum Social Security survivors’ monthly income benefits for a spouse and two children under age 18 could be about $2,400 per month, and this amount would increase each year to match inflation. (It drops slightly when the survivors are a spouse and one child under 18, and stops completely when there are no children under 18. Also, the surviving spouse’s benefit would be reduced if he or she earns income over a certain limit.)Many also have life insurance through an employer plan, and some from another affiliation, such as through an association they belong to or a credit card. If you have a vested pension benefit, it might have a death component. Although these sources might provide a lot of income, they rarely provide enough. And it probably isn’t wise to count on death benefits that are connected with a particular job, since you might die after switching to a different job, or while you are unemployed.A multiple of salary?Many pundits recommend buying life insurance equal to a multiple of your salary. For example, one financial advice columnist recommends buying insurance equal to 20 times your salary before taxes. She chose 20 because, if the benefit is invested in bonds that pay 5 percent interest, it would produce an amount equal to your salary at death, so the survivors could live off the interest and wouldn’t have to “invade” the principal.However, this simplistic formula implicitly assumes no inflation and assumes that one could assemble a bond portfolio that, after expenses, would provide a 5 percent interest stream every year. But assuming inflation is 3 percent per year, the purchasing power of a gross income of $50,000 would drop to about $38,300 in the 10th year. To avoid this income drop-off, the survivors would have to “invade” the principal each year. And if they did, they would run out of money in the 16th year.The “multiple of salary” approach also ignores other sources of income, such as those mentioned previously.A simple exampleSuppose a surviving spouse didn’t work and had two children, ages 4 and 1, in her care. Suppose her deceased husband earned $36,000 at death and was covered by Social Security but had no other death benefits or life insurance. Assume the surviving spouse is 36.Assume that the deceased spent $6,000 from income on his own living expenses and the cost of working. Assume, for simplicity, that the deceased performed services for the family (such as property maintenance, income tax and other financial management, and occasional child care) for which the survivors will need to pay $6,000 per year. Assume that the survivors will have to buy health insurance to replace the coverage the deceased had at work, and that this will cost $12,000 per year.Taken together, the survivors will need to replace the equivalent of $48,000 of income, adjusted each year for an assumed 4 percent inflation.Thanks to Social Security, the survivors would need life insurance to replace only about $1,700 per month of lost wage income (adjusted for inflation) for 14 years until the older child reaches 18; Social Security would provide the rest. The survivors would need life insurance to replace about $2,100 per month (adjusted for inflation) for three more years when the non-working surviving spouse has only one child under 18 in her care.The life insurance amount needed today to provide the $1,700 and $2,100 monthly amounts is roughly $360,000. Adding $15,000 for funeral and other final expenses brings the minimum life insurance needed for the example to $375,000.What’s left out?The example leaves out some potentially significant unmet financial needs, such as
The surviving spouse will have no income from Social Security from age 53 until 60 unless the deceased buys additional life insurance to cover this period. It could be assumed that the surviving spouse will obtain a job at or before this time, but she could also become disabled or otherwise unable to work. If life insurance were bought for this period, the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $335,000.
Some people like to plan to use life insurance to pay off the home mortgage at the primary income earner’s death, so that the survivors are less likely to face the threat of losing their home. If life insurance were bought for this goal, the additional amount of insurance needed is the amount of the unpaid balance on the mortgage.
Some people like to provide money to pay to send their children to college out of their life insurance. We may assume that each child will attend a public college for four years and will need $15,000 per year. However, college costs have been rising faster than inflation for many decades, and this trend is unlikely to slow down. If life insurance were bought for this goal, the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $200,000.
In the example, no money is planned for the surviving spouse’s retirement, except for what the spouse would be entitled to receive from Social Security (about $1,200 per month). It could be assumed that the surviving spouse will obtain a job and will either participate in an employer’s retirement plan or save with an IRA, but she could also become disabled or otherwise unable to work. If life insurance were bought to provide the equivalent of $4000 per month starting at age 60 until 65 and $3,000 per month from 65 on (because at 65 Medicare will make carrying private health insurance unnecessary), the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $465,000.

What are the principal types of life insurance?

2007-11-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

There are two major types of life insurance—term and whole life. Whole life is sometimes called permanent life insurance, and it encompasses several subcategories, including traditional whole life, universal life, variable life and variable universal life. In 2003, about 6.4 million individual life insurance policies bought were term and about 7.1 million were whole life.Life insurance products for groups are different from life insurance sold to individuals. The information below focuses on life insurance sold to individuals.TermTerm Insurance is the simplest form of life insurance. It pays only if death occurs during the term of the policy, which is usually from one to 30 years. Most term policies have no other benefit provisions.There are two basic types of term life insurance policies—level term and decreasing term.
Level term means that the death benefit stays the same throughout the duration of the policy.
Decreasing term means that the death benefit drops, usually in one-year increments, over the course of the policy’s term.In 2003, virtually all (97 percent) of the term life insurance bought was level term. For more on the different types of term life insurance, click here.Whole Life/PermanentWhole life or permanent insurance pays a death benefit whenever you die—even if you live to 100! There are three major types of whole life or permanent life insurance—traditional whole life, universal life, and variable universal life, and there are variations within each type.In the case of traditional whole life, both the death benefit and the premium are designed to stay the same (level) throughout the life of the policy. The cost per $1,000 of benefit increases as the insured person ages, and it obviously gets very high when the insured lives to 80 and beyond. The insurance company could charge a premium that increases each year, but that would make it very hard for most people to afford life insurance at advanced ages. So the comapny keeps the premium level by charging a premium that, in the early years, is higher than what’s needed to pay claims, investing that money, and then using it to supplement the level premium to help pay the cost of life insurance for older people.By law, when these “overpayments” reach a certain amount, they must be available to the policyowner as a cash value if he or she decides not to continue with the original plan. The cash value is an alternative, not an additional, benefit under the policy.In the 1970s and 1980s, life insurance companies introduced two variations on the traditional whole life product—universal life insurance and variable universal life insurance.For more on the different types of whole life/permanent insurance, click here.

How is life insurance sold?

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You can buy life insurance either as an “individual” or as part of a “group” plan.

Individual Policy

When you buy an individual policy, you choose the company, the plan, and the benefits and features that are right for you and your family. You might be able to buy the policy from the same agent or company representative who sells you property and liability insurance for your home, auto or business. And although you won’t qualify for any discounts by buying your life insurance and other insurance from the same representative, working with a single advisor for all your insurance needs can make your financial life simpler.

Individual policies are typically sold through insurance agents or brokers. If you buy a policy through an agent or broker, you will pay a commission, also called a “load,” that is built into the premium rate. The commission compensates the agent or broker for the time spent advising you on how much and what type of life insurance to buy, for facilitating the application process, and for any further service that’s needed in future years to keep the policy up-to-date (such as changing beneficiary designations, arranging policy loans or coordinating your financial plans with your lawyer and accountant).

There are two other ways to buy individual life insurance. In Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, you can buy it from a savings bank. Or you can buy a policy directly from an insurance company or from a fee-only financial advisor—what’s known as a “no load” or “low load” policy. Although there is no sales commission on these policies, the company will still have charges built into the premium to cover its marketing expenses, application processing expenses and subsequent services. Finding an insurance company that will sell you a no-load policy isn’t easy; typing in “no load life insurance” on Internet search engines will in many cases lead you to an agent or broker.

Group Policy

You might have life insurance automatically from your employer; many large companies do this. Your employer also might offer you the chance to buy additional life insurance under a group policy. And you might be eligible to buy life insurance under a group policy from a union or trade association or other group you belong to (such as a college alumni association or an automobile club).

Compared to buying an individual life insurance policy, there are several advantages to buying life insurance under a group policy:
Group purchase can sometimes offer you a lower rate for a given death benefit either because the employer or other group sponsor subsidizes the premium or because the rates are averages weighted by people younger than you.
There are virtually no health qualifications for getting the group coverage.
Premium payment is usually by payroll deduction (for employer-based group coverage) or linked with other payments (e.g., credit card bills), lowering the chance of missing a payment.
Most employer group plans are term insurance, but if you leave that employer your state may require that you be allowed to convert the policy to a form of whole life insurance with the same insurance company that provides the group life insurance. You would then pay premiums directly to the company and keep the insurance in force. This can be an advantage if you are older, or have experienced deteriorating health, as it gives you the opportunity to qualify for whole life insurance without having a medical exam.

Credit Life Insurance

Credit cards and lending institutions may offer life insurance to pay off your outstanding loans in the event of your death. This is generally made available in two ways
As part of the loan at no extra charge. In this case the cost of the life insurance is borne by the lender and is included in its interest rate or other finance charges. If you have this type of credit life insurance, you don’t need separate life insurance to pay off that loan if you die.

As an option at an extra charge. In this case, you should usually reject the optional coverage, provided that you have some other life insurance (group or individual) that can be designated to pay off the loan if you die. If you’re under age 50 and you don’t have other insurance that could pay off this loan, consider buying individual life insurance for this purpose as the rates will probably be better. At 50 or over (or younger with health issues), if you have no other life insurance for this purpose, the optional credit life insurance is likely to be cheaper than individual life insurance.