Car Insurance - Driver's Education Now Turbocharged

by Marie Wakefield

Driver's education is advantageous when looking to lower rates for car insurance. Today's driver's education is very different. Originally taught in schools in the 1950s- it was a result of the great highway building boom.
Originally driver's education was just to teach kids how to pass a driver's test, now there is a whole new generation of driver's education classes that stress safety and real life practice. The old classes that consisted mostly of safety videos from the 1970s that put students to sleep combined with a few lectures on drinking and driving are gone. In some of those classes students only spent six hours behind the wheel.

However states are reconsidering the education of teenage drivers. Urged by an increasing partnership of public school instructors and safety groups, new forms of driver's safety classes are coming into being. Some are experimenting with extended training. A pilot program combines initial driver's ed courses, six months behind the wheel under certain licensing restrictions and a second round of driver training.

The marketplace has also jumped in to rapidly fill the empty space. Safe Smart Women, a non-profit group in Silver Spring, MD.,has classes for women drivers in 12 cities. Florida-based New Driver Car Control Clinics located in 10 states has half-day seminars which situate teen drivers and one parent inside an auto while experts radio over directions on how to brake at the car's limit and veer while retaining control. Even the AARP has an 8-hour classroom refresher Driver Safety Program to teach the effects of aging on driving and how you can adjust your driving.

At the Skip Barber School's $600+, one-day program for teenagers, drivers speed through an obstacle course -- the champagne slalom -- as fast as they can while trying to balance a tennis ball in an oversized cup on the hood of the car, an exercise designed to demonstrate the relationship of braking,cornering and acceleration.

Other classes have a radical new approach to traditional driver's education: using hip young instructors to guide teens through hair-raising maneuvers on a track so they can survive the unexpected on the road. Students learn safe driving techniques and get plenty of behind-the-wheel training.
Drivers Education has a green side too- By training in hybrids, students complete thousands of miles of training but use less fuel and create fewer carbon emissions. More and more programs are using these vehicles with great success. High school students in Leon County , Florida's driver education programs are using hybrid vehicles to practice their skills behind the wheel. Six Toyota Prius' were bought by the Leon County Board of Commissioners for the programs; funded in part by traffic fines.
There is even fun driving class. Comedy Guys Entertainment combining a bunch of professional comedians and a defensive driving school. Approved by Texas Department of Public Safety, instruction is in-class work, done in fine restaurants with meals and refreshments included.

Meanwhile, many car insurance companies charge lower rates for teen drivers who have taken driver's education. That's one more reason it matters to make driver's education a significant part of a teen's coming of age.

Need Coverage? Compare Liability Insurance

by kausik dutta

Business owners know that they need liability insurance. There are several types of liability insurance and depending on the type of business you have, you may need more than one kind.

For businesses in the construction-related industry, you are legally required to have Employer Liability Insurance. But there are other policies as well such as Public Liability Insurance, Contractor Insurance and Professional Insurance that may be in your best interest to have as well.
Below are some insurance policies that are important for a business owner in the construction industry to have. Once you determine which policies are best for your business, you should shop around and compare insurance companies to make sure you get the best policy with the lowest coverage cost available. Comparing liability insurance can save your company thousands in the long run.

Employer Liability Insurance: In the UK, a business is legally required to cover an Employer Liability Insurance policy. This policy will protect yourself and your company against claims of negligence brought by an employee.

Public Liability Insurance: As an employer in the construction company, it's essential to have Public Liability Insurance cover to protect yourself against claims of negligence resulting in injury to a member of the public or damage to property. Most clients insist on you having this policy before you begin work, so it's best to have it in place so as to not delay a project or lose a client.

Contractor Insurance: Working in the construction industry puts your business at risk associated with contractual work. Whether it's you or your employees working at a third-party site, you will be responsible for ensuring that you have sufficient Contractor Liability Insurance.
Professional Liability Insurance: This type of insurance protects you and your business against financial losses suffered by your clients as a result of breach of professional duty. This policy covers the cost of defending allegations and protects the assets and reputation of your business. If the claim is proved, the policy will pay the third party for resulting financial losses, which you would be responsible for.

No one wants to think about the possibility of a situation where one of these polices would be needed, and yet it's impossible to protect a company from any and all risk. Having insurance policies in place will protect your business and give you peace of mind to run the business knowing that you are protected if the worst occurs. When considering insurance policies, you should always compare liability insurance by looking at the policies offered from several different providers. When you compare liability insurance, you are ensuring that you are getting the best policy at the lowest cost which is always a smart business move.

Home Insurance Prevents The Axe of Heavy Expenses To Fall On You

by Allan Elvin

Your house is what you have for yourself and is what you have earned with your hard labour. But what about a time when a disaster, man-made or otherwise, razes to the ground your house of dreams and everything you so cherish. Such an occurrence cannot be ruled out. If you have a house constructed, you also have forces to cause destruction to it. These can be the forces of nature such as thunder and lightning, floods and hurricanes, storms and cyclones etc. After all, your house is forever exposed to the vagaries of nature, and it holds out its umbrella for you to protect you from inclemency.

It is up to you to provide financial protection to your house by getting home insurance. It provides a cover against damages to your home that surely do not come with a calling. It becomes impossible to prevent those damages as they come without a clear warning, and yet it is you who has to bear the brunt of it.

Home insurance ensures that you are not the one at the receiving end as losses become insurmountable. This policy is meant to protect your precious possessions. So, when you go for this policy, you protect your valuables inside the house as well, besides physical structure of your property, which can include your garage, storehouse, garden and other buildings separated from your main house.

Purchasing Home Insurance policy in UK requires you to pay premiums at regular periods just like other insurance policies; otherwise, it could render your policy invalid. It is also worthwhile to consider deductibles which are the initial payment that is not covered or is deducted by the insurance company from the total premium to be paid. Deductibles are beneficial for the policy holder because the higher the deductible, the lower the premiums to be paid thereafter.

Car insurance - careless driving

by Chris Rowlands

Young drivers have long been made scapegoats when it comes to pinning the blame for motor accidents and driving-related offences on a particular group.
To narrow it down further, the majority of the blame is placed at the feet of young male drivers under the age of 25 and in particular, those under 21.
In fact drivers in this age group were said to be responsible for 15% of all driving convictions, according to a recent survey. As a result car insurance premiums have risen dramatically in the last few years to match the increasing cost of young drivers for insurers.
The problem, it seems, comes down to irresponsibility on the part of some of the aforementioned drivers - with many magazines and websites encouraging performance modification to vehicles, the situation has become much worse.

Here are some damning statistics:
* One in 3 young male drivers will write off their cars within the first year of driving, compared to half this amount in the case of young female drivers.
* A quarter of "death by dangerous driving" convictions are of drivers under 20 years of age, even though this group accounts for only 3% of all drivers on the road.
* Each year over half of those found guilty of driving without insurance were in the under-25's age group.
Unfortunately, insurers can only calculate the cost of car insurance premiums based on risk factor. As a result, the high accident rate of this age group means all young drivers are faced with similarly high premiums.
To ensure your policy is as cheap as possible you should look to buy a small car with an equally small engine, such as a Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa or similar. It is best to avoid older cars with larger engines. They may cheap at the outset but to find young drivers car insurance on these vehicles will prove extremely costly as they are much heavier, less safe and cause more damage to other vehicles.
When looking for insurance online you may want to search for manufacturer specific insurance such as "ford car insurance" as this may help narrow things down a bit and increase your chances of finding a better deal.

What is Personal Accident Insurance?

by keystone

Personal Accident Insurance, also known as Accident insurance, provides an income if you are unable to work as the result of an accident. In Ireland it is estimated that one in six Irish workers will be unable to work for more than six months over their lifetime while according to the Office for National Statistics in the UK more than 2 million people are permanently unable to work due to accident or sickness. Available to almost all occupations. Personal Accident insurance is particularly popular with the construction industry as it provides an income after only one month's inability to work as the result of an accident. The cover provided is 24 hour and not limited to work related accidents. All payments are tax free and the policy can be tailored to your exact needs. There are three distinct benefits to personal accident Insurance, namely: A Monthly Tax Free Income - The monthly tax free amount is paid after one month and you choose the duration that the benefit is payable for, 12, 18 or 24 Months. This means that a policyholder will receive an income every month until they either return to work or the benefit period selected [12/18/24 months] has elapsed. Hospital Cash cover provides a fixed amount, usually €100 for every night that you spend in hospital. Capital Benefits are provided to the policyholder which provides a lump sum depending on the nature of your injury. For example, the loss of sight, a hand, foot etc result in a €100,000 lump sum while relatively minor incidents such as a broken leg result in a €1,000 along with the selected monthly benefit. Although cover on a personal Accident policy provides cover for 'Accidents Only' a Sickness & Accident package can be arranged which provides all the benefits of a Personal Accident policy and also includes cover if you are unable to work as the result of illness. This package is equally popular with both the construction and non construction sectors and is tailored to your needs. Also known as Income Protection Insurance, Permanent Health Insurance is the most comprehensive product available on the market today. Unlike Personal Accident policies where payments are limited to a maximum of 2 years, payments from a permanent health insurance policy last until your selected retirement age or until you return to work. Claims can potentially last for decades although the deferred period is longer - the normal deferred period is 13 weeks as opposed to one month with a personal accident policy. In the event of a claim the insurer effectively becomes your employer and the cover available protects your income if you are unable to work for longer than the deferred period as the result of any illness, injury, disability or accident. Keystone Insurance is Irelands leading supplier of Personal Accident, Sickness & Accident and Permanent Health Insurance. For more information please visit www.keystone.ie