The world of insurance

Car Insurance - Driver's Education Now Turbocharged

2007-11-22T11:17:00.000+07:00

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

2007-11-22T11:15:00.000+07:00

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

2007-11-22T11:14:00.000+07:00

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

2007-11-22T11:01:00.000+07:00

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?

2007-11-22T11:00:00.000+07:00

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

Travel insurance - to claim or not to claim

2007-11-22T10:53:00.000+07:00

by Chris Rowlands

Travel insurance is an extra that the majority of us purchase, or a least give careful consideration to, in preparation for our holiday. There is clear benefit to having this type of policy and each and every year it saves UK holiday makers millions of pounds that would have otherwise been spent on medical fees, lost or stolen baggage and holiday cancellation, to name but a few.
Even so, a survey carried out by the Post Office highlights - perhaps worryingly - that many of us are neglecting to claim for incidents and mishaps that happen whilst we are on holiday.
According to the survey, over 70% of UK travellers are losing out on an estimated £13.5bn in claims that they would be covered under their travel insurance policies.
It seems the biggest reason for this is lack of knowledge, perhaps caused by failure to read through the policy at the time of receiving it. This suggests it really is worth checking beyond the key features of your policy to discover the extra cover you are entitled to.
The survey highlighted the age group most likely to neglect a claim for a holiday mishap as those between 25 and 44 years of age. It is not known why this age group carries a higher risk - perhaps they are the key demographic when it comes to holiday insurance take-up?
Of the incidents that occur on the average holiday a whopping seven out of 10 go unclaimed for despite cover having being taken out for this very purpose. The most common occurrences include flight delays, lost or damaged luggage and personal injury.
When traveling abroad in your car you should ensure you are covered. This may either be included in your car insurance policy or be a feature of your travel insurance policy. A minimum level of third party cover is required in all European community member countries.
If you want to find cheap travel insurance it is best to spend a little time looking round for a quote - the use of a comparison site can speed things up a little. The golden rule when looking for a good deal is to choose your policy depending on features and not just price.

Insurance Agent Marketing - Creating a Sustainable Lead Generation Pool

2007-11-22T10:51:00.000+07:00

by Craig Lutz-Priefert

Successful producers know that quality, local insurance leads are vital to ongoing success.
Funny how the pen that writes up an order for new business is always tethered to the phone.
And today that phone is tied more and more to the internet.
The internet is rapidly changing. Insurance agents thirsting for relevant insurance leads need a competitive advantage. While a competitive advantage based on paying for every lead on a per lead basis can be effective, it means you are tied to:
1. Your own cost outlay (and budget) for each and every lead
2. The number of leads any given vendor can supply.
But, an alternate strategy for successful insurance agency marketing exists. No, not alternate--parallel. No insurance agent carries just one line; it would cripple the agency's income. Multiple lines mean multiple chances to connect with customers.
Lead generation should work the same way. Your insurance marketing efforts should combine more than one tactic to put you in front of your customers.
And this is where search marketing comes in. Local search.
A recent stat shows that Google will soon account for 30% of all online advertising. Why? Because companies will pay good money to be in front of the right prospective client at the right time. And, they'll pay even more money to get in front of that prospect with the right message at the magic moment in time.
That's what you can do with successful search marketing It's not easy, but it can be sustainable. Unlike pay per lead, a strong natural search campaign, coupled with thoughtfully placed paid search efforts can send your agency sales soaring.

What You Need To Know on Boat Insurance

2007-11-22T10:37:00.000+07:00

by Jerald Man

This article hopes to give you the knowledge you need, to feel that you have a firm grasp on the subject.
Got insurance? I would like to originate by stating that I am an insurance agent/dealer certified only in the kingdom of California. I am not soliciting for dealings or making any consolations as to a particular guests or invention. This article is for informational purposes only. Laws, boating regulations and insurance policies fluctuate from kingdom to kingdom and guests to guests. I counsel contacting an upright carter and agent who is memorable with the laws, regulations and carters of the region in which you reside.
It's important to write that insurance is not a maintenance strategy and will not shelter erode and tear, deterioration, etc. sort, wet and dry rot, and fleas are also expelled from most policies. Then, floor panels, upholstery, picture, foam packing, etc. will not be sheltered in most bags. Many companies will suggest mechanical shelter age on new boats for an additional premium.
When shopping for nautical insurance, one desires to understand strategy kinds, shelter age frontiers and frontierations. Never, never, never cover your boat on your homeland lord's strategy. Forever buy a freestanding boat strategy regard minus of rate. Then, if you should you experience a liability or health passing connected to the boat, it won't shape your home. A boat is just a toy, but we all need a home. If the boat premium goes up or the strategy is lost after a passing, so be it. Moreover pay it or advertise the boat. Don't gamble the passing of your homeland lord's insurance strategy.
Ask yourself a few simple questions to determine if you fully understand the concepts that we have went over so far.

Plan Types

Arranged value or endorsed value
With this kind of strategy, both the covered and the insurance carter kingdom and allow on the merit of the hull and friendly hardware. Normally, merit is uncovered by dealer grip allotment on new boats and by NADA escort merits or dealer grip allotments for worn boats.
What is important with this kind of strategy is to start and detail merit proceeding to passing and pay the needed premiums. The hull and all friendly hardware have a track shelter age frontier. Should you add towers, bikini tops high-end stereo, weight logic or other accessories that are permanently affixed, it is important to make certain your hull shelter age comprises the merit of that substance.

Actual money value
With this kind of strategy, the insurance guests pays what the boat is value at the time of the passing. This means depreciation is an issue. The guests have the selection of replacing it with "like kind and home" or paying you the coins equivalent. This means that if they locate a sapient on the Internet, they have the selection of trade it for you or suggesting you an alike dough total.
Of the two, I rather an allowed merit or kingdom merit strategy is basis, in the answer of a passing, there is no arguing about the merit of the passing.

Exclusions and Deductibles
Got insurance? It is important to read the strategy tenderly to guarantee that you have all the shelter ages for which you are paying. Many companies prohibit certain indemnity such as injury from underwater articles or injury as an answer of freezing. Then, you want to get an "all gambles" strategy with the least exclusions potential.
Deductibles are regularly 2% of the hull merit, but can be raised to diminish the premium. A good nautical strategy has the preview planned separately with its own abstractedly, which can be as low as $100. Again, endorse that the shelter age is sufficient enough to swap any passing with like kind and home. This is especially loyal if you have a high-end preview.

Liability Types
Liability shelters home injury and special injury to everybody excluding the named covered and pressing family members. It defends the named covered and pays on behalf only if named covered is found prone. Opening control
Opening frontier liability shelter age follows the kind of shelter age you regularly see with vehicle mobile liability insurance. Few covers effusive understand this kind of liability.
For example, if your liability frontiers are 100/300/100, that means you have $100,000 in shelter age per qualities, $300,000 in shelter age per occurrence and $100,000 in shelter age for home injury. So if you have five passengers in the boat, you only have $300,000 in shelter age to gash between those five passengers. That's only $60,000 each. So the more passengers on panel, the reduce the shelter age per qualities.

Protection and cover
P&I is the most everyday and regularly the cheapest kind of liability shelter age unfilled. P&I shelter age provides a track dough frontier for both liability and home injury pooled, which the carter will pay on your behalf. It comprises apology rates as well. Then, it doesn't relevant how many passengers are occupied. The shelter age frontier can operate to one passenger or 10.

Towing Liability
Towing liability shelters something being pulled or towed behind a stirring vessel. For any strategy, towing liability is a must have. Be surely to endorse that this shelter age is comprised in your strategy. Never imagine that it's comprised in the strategy be basis many companies prohibit this shelter age or dash more to comprise it.

Disaster military
Disaster military shelter age is comprised on many policies. This shelters reseller of immersed vessels or pranswerion of passing. It also shelters towing on the water and/or on the preview. Make surely this shelter age allows for towing help if on the preview. This is important in the answer of a vehicle accident or hinge or impact evils.

Pollution Liability
Pollution liability shelters shipshape up of fuel or oil in the answer of impulsive and accidental disease. This is fitting more important as many governmental agencies will invoice for shipshape up military after an accident.

Umbrellas
Got insurance? An umbrella strategy provides overkill liability shelter age. It will pay, on your behalf, for an occurrence for which you are deemed prone after all underlying strategy frontiers are exhausted. Every boat landlord should believe one. If you can present a "toy," then you maybe have assets that need protection, such as a home, retirement procedure, impending inheritances, etc. Umbrella policies are inexpensive, regularly around $150-$400 per million dough's of shelter age.

Health Coverage
Health shelter age pays for injuries to any qualities injured while on or in the covered vessel regard minus of omission or basis. The senior the shelter age, the better. I would counsel no minus than $5,000.

Navigation controls
Read the strategy tenderly and make surely you understand the navigation frontiers proceeding to signing it. Some everyday language are bronzed water (minus than five miles from coast and national) and desolate water (over five miles from land). Use of this language is regularly inside restrictions that are usually for vessel and sport fishing boats that journey into international (non-U.S.) waters. Most preview boat navigation frontiers are definite as "national lakes and waterways."
Survey for kingdom and region frontierations as well. These are restrictions on where the vessel is sheltered. This is important if, for example, you live in California, but take your boat to Lake Powell in Arizona/Utah.

Lay Up time
The lay up phase is the phase of time in which you will lay the vessel up and not use it. This is regularly iciness. Many companies suggest discounts if you accept a lay up phase, but you need to be chary about intended your lay up phase time scaffold and make surely you don't use the boat during that time. If you do, you may be lacking shelter age.

Commercial Use
A special boat insurance strategy is right that, special use. You cannot use it for dealings promotion, answers, instruction or charter whether or not a fee is dashed. If you abstract it from your taxes as a dealings article, then you usually need a commercial strategy.

Operators
Most policies name the hands of the vessel. However, the vessel is what is covered for liability, regard minus of who is working it. Companies just want driver names and experience for rating purposes. This is where the insurance guests use relevant information about the hand to uncover a premium.

Endorsements and Certificate Holders
Got insurance? Many people belong to exclusive lakes and ski strikes and, then, are necessary to name the strike, lake clout, sponsor or other unit as an additional covered. If this is something you need or something you prophesy needing in the impending, ask if it is potential to name an additional covered. Be surely to ask what the additional premium would be.
Ownership
If you own an attract in a boat, be surely your name is on the label. You cannot cover or hoard your impart in the answer of a passing if you are not a registered landlord. You can be sued, however, as an unknown or silent landlord and have no apology shelter age under the strategy be basis you're not planned.
When we begin to bring this information together, it starts to form the main idea of what this subject is about.

Mexico Car Insurance - Saving Your Bacon

2007-11-22T10:35:00.001+07:00

by Lee MacRae

If you are someone who likes to take your vacation traveling by vehicle and you are planning to go to Mexico, there is something you should keep in mind. Your regular auto insurance will not cover you in Mexico!
Many people do not realize this. There are a number of people who have traveled along many of the states bordering Mexico and thought they would simply take a sojourn across the border. But your American or Canadian automobile insurance and coverage is not valid once you cross the border into Mexico itself. If you get in an accident, even if you are not at fault, you could still be put into jail for failure to have valid liability insurance coverage for Mexico itself. And just imagine the problems you would have with the Policia if someone is injured in an accident where you don't have any coverage! More than likely you would be arrested on the spot and I don't think anyone wants to spend time in a Mexican jail.
Another problem can occur if you damage your vehicle, or it is lost or stolen, and you need to either replace it or repair it while in Mexico. Once again, your Canadian or American policy will likely not cover it and you will need to find some way [probably inexpensive] to get back across the border into the United States to take care of your problem. You're much better off having insurance that will cover these types of expenses within Mexico. Good Mexican car insurance will keep you from spending a lot of time dealing with Mexican authorities in many cases.
And always get an insurance policy that can quickly and be easily renewed or expanded beyond the cut off date if you want to or need to spend a few more days in Mexico. Of course, you should always make sure your insurance extends at least a little bit of time beyond your expected stay, but you should always be prepared for the unexpected, like Montezuma's revenge! You never know what can happen and you should always be able to call and get a quick extension if necessary.
Another important aspect in getting Mexican insurance is getting a policy with a company who will have claims officers who will take your phone call and can speak in your language. Usually these phone operators are bilingual but you have to make sure before you need to. And you will have to make sure that the claims adjusters who are sent out to visit you are bilingual as well. It can save you a lot of headaches.
Before driving into Mexico, always check with your insurance agent to see what coverage you have and what you will need. Sometimes, Americans can find they do have some coverage and they simply need to buy more. Canadians on the other hand rarely have any kind of insurance that covers them for Mexico. And quite often the Mexican authorities will only recognize auto insurance written through Mexican insurance companies. Always make sure you know exactly what you have what you need before you leave home.

How To Of Become A Commercial Insurance Broker

2007-11-22T10:25:00.000+07:00

By: James kochran

First, we need to make a distinction between an insurance “broker” and an insurance “agent.” In the insurance business, an agent is in partnership with one or more insurance companies. A dedicated agent has a contract with a single company, normally an insurance business that prefers exclusivity, and can only sell the insurance products of that company. An independent agent may work with a large number of companies, including AIG, CHUBB, and The Hartford, to name only a few. A broker does not work for an insurance business but instead for a client in the market to obtain insurance. So if a new business owner wanted to purchase commercial liability insurance, a broker would not be restricted to only those insurance products sold by his or her partners as an agent would be, but could check with any commercial liability insurance provider. Brokers tend to work with non-standard, “excess and surplus” line insurance providers. These firms specialize in unusual coverage, often for emerging technologies, and generally do not enter into agreements with agents. For example, if XYZ company created a new kind of communication equipment where the potential liability risks were unknown, XYZ would most likely need to approach a broker in order to buy commercial liability insurance.The best way to get started as a broker in the insurance business is to get a job with an established broker. There are many classes you can take on commercial liability insurance and a great deal of research you can do on the existing excess and surplus carriers, but having theoretical knowledge isn't enough to make you a successful broker. An established broker can introduce you to the people in the insurance business. After all, it is a surprisingly small world and your future success depends on the associations you make. Additionally, an established broker can steer you past the many pitfalls inherent to the industry, mistakes that could cost a client his business. It is best to make these mistakes with someone experienced at your side to catch them and instruct you as to how to avoid them. And, more importantly, you don't want to make these mistakes when you're the one paying for the errors and omissions policy, because once you are on your own, the first thing you’ll need to do is get your own errors and omissions coverage. After all, even people in the insurance business need to have insurance. Any broker you work for will probably ask you to sign a limited term non-competition contract, but these usually only apply to businesses within the same state. A broker, like an agent, is licensed by the state, with the assumption that the broker resides in the same state they do business in. Each state has its own requirements, which generally include a fee and a specified minimum level of education. An insurance business license must be renewed regularly, and continuing education courses may be required as part of the renewal requirements. You may apply for a non-resident license, but do keep in mind that other states may have different licensure qualifications. Licensing information can be found on most states' insurance department websites. Additionally, if you intend to work in a different state, you will find it useful to have an agreement with an in-state brokerage firm for tax purposes. And if you move to a new state, you will need to get a certificate of license status from your previous state where you were licensed in order to prove that you were a broker in good standing.

A solution to the insurance crisis?

2007-11-22T10:19:00.000+07:00

Fed up with soaring premiums, canceled coverage and random underwriting rules, small companies are banding together to self-insure.

By Jeanne Lee, with Brandi Stewart
August 22 2007: 1:37 PM EDT

(FSB Magazine) -- As Louisiana insurance commissioner, Jim Donelon has heard it all - the stories of quadrupling premiums, abrupt cancellations, disappearing carriers, denied claims। Consumers and business owners in this hurricane-battered region can recite all the reasons they want him to make property coverage more affordable, more available, and more effective। Donelon favors solutions that encourage competition, including adding Louisiana to the growing list of states that permit businesses to band together to create their own locally based "captive" insurance companies. Louisiana's enabling legislation is scheduled to be introduced next spring.

Across the nation, small-business owners are already finding captive insurance an attractive alternative to the commercial market। You don't have to run a company in Hurricane Alley to understand why: For manufacturers, contractors, and professional-service firms, property and liability insurance has become a pricey and uncontrollable variable - a wild card that can break a small business. Since 2000, when the captive business was mostly geared to self-insuring Fortune 500 companies, the industry has expanded to 27 states and the District of Columbia, and the number of captive insurance companies has more than doubled, to nearly 1,100.

Dudley Miles is among the converts. Miles, 61, is CEO of J.D. Miles & Sons (jdmilesroofing.com) in Chesapeake, Va., a firm founded by his grandfather in 1910. Wildly fluctuating premiums were throwing off his ability to cost his bids. "Once we quote a job, it may not start for six or nine months," he says. "If a carrier decided they'd had a bad year and had to raise rates, we lost money - we had no control." Miles also was finding it difficult to obtain coverage for mold and pollution claims resulting from harmful fumes.
Miles turned to Roof Connect (roofconnect.com), an alliance of about 75 firms with annual revenues ranging from $2 million to $90 million. By banding together and creating their own insurance company, these business owners hoped to bring predictability back to their profit statements, secure special coverage, and make certain that their insurance would not suddenly disappear.
How does it work? A group creates an insurance company, providing enough capital to cover a set amount of risk. The company then purchases reinsurance to cover losses beyond that amount. Day-to-day management is usually outsourced to a specialized company, called a captive manager. Over time, if there are no large losses, excess reserves can come back to the owners as dividends. "When you take in more premiums than your maximum loss, the profits go back to your own company," explains Walter Bell, Alabama's insurance commissioner.
Small insurers to the rescue?
The roofing contractors started by auditioning captive managers, listening to their pitches to get a handle on capital requirements and other details. Once it was selected, the manager hired an actuary to perform a feasibility study. Next the contractors consulted lawyers on the structure of the captive and where it should be located: Captives can be domiciled in offshore locations such as the Bahamas or Cayman Islands, which can offer tax advantages, and in 28 U.S. jurisdictions that regulate captives. Of those, 19 have active captive markets. (See complete state list here.) A business operating in a place without the enabling legislation can join a group captive established in another jurisdiction. A company can establish a "single-parent captive" in any of the 28 jurisdictions that permit it. And captive managers can cross state lines to offer their services.
For the contractors, the best solution seemed to be a "rent-a-captive," which appeals to businesses trying to conserve capital. In this setup a financial institution funds the captive, so members don't have to. They pay a fee to join plus annual premiums, and they must provide some form of collateral, such as a letter of credit.
A group of 25 Roof Connect contractors signed with a rent-a-captive in 2004. In the first year the plan took in more money than it paid out, so it enjoyed a net profit. But the contractors did not like the lack of direct control and thought the rent-a-captive had selected an investment advisor that charged too much (like all insurance companies, captives try to generate returns on invested premiums). The contractors terminated the rent-a-captive in 2006 and formed their own company, funding it largely with capital that had accumulated in the rent-a-captive account. They self-insured the first $500,000 of risk and bought reinsurance to cover larger losses.
To control premiums, members agreed to adopt practices to limit claims, such as quarterly safety inspections and employee drug testing. Big insurers typically offer those services to business customers, but there's a key difference: When it's your own insurance company, the results tend to be better. "It's getting employees to understand that if there's an accident, it's us that's paying, not the insurance company," says Miles. Thanks to improved safety records and lower claims, the captive has been able to reduce premiums. If that continues, the members can expect a dividend - prorated partly according to each firm's loss record.
When should a business consider a captive? Generally, when its risks are not properly understood by commercial carriers. That's why Landscape Structures of Delano, Minn. (playlsi.com), a $50-million-a-year manufacturer of playground equipment, sought an alternative, says CFO Fred Caslavka. While playground spills prompt a predictable number of product-liability claims every year, serious injuries have been rare, Caslavka says. The commercial insurer overlooked that in setting rates, then caused premiums to swell by racing to settle routine small claims, offering excessive payouts, he says.
After setting up a captive to self-insure the first $500,000 of claims, a process that cost about $60,000, Caslavka says he is saving money by taking a harder line on payouts. "Now we manage claims the way we want to," he says. "We decide whether to defend them vigorously or not."
Four states that are working to improve insurance
Superior risk management is a key advantage for captives - and the path to lower rates, says Henry Witmer, assistant vice president of A.M. Best, an insurance rating agency (ambest.com). "Captives offer much stronger risk management, because they can really focus on issues of the group," he says. "That leads to reduced losses and reduced costs and therefore lower rates."
The question remains how well captives perform when risks can't be controlled, such as with hurricanes. "Captives are used when coverage is hard to find or unavailable or too costly," says Leonard D. Crouse, deputy commissioner of captive insurance in Vermont (vermontcaptive.com), the state with the largest captive industry. That certainly describes the situation along the Gulf Coast. But he is skeptical that captives will be a big factor there. Because of the nature of the risks involved, he says, businesses will have to pay in large amounts of capital to get started and will face high reinsurance rates. That may limit the appeal.
Louisiana's Donelon says the biggest benefits of captives may come indirectly. By encouraging self-insurers - and welcoming other new entrants - Louisiana hopes to create an alternative market for businesses that can't find adequate coverage from traditional commercial carriers. Eventually that should help make insurance more available and affordable across the state.
Captives are not for every business. In many ways they're like buying rather than renting, says Dennis Harwick, president of the Captive Insurance Companies Association (cicaworld.com), a captive trade association. "You have to put money down, you have the headaches of maintenance, but if it goes right, you have the benefits of equity," he says.
Clearly the captive phenomenon is gaining momentum - from South Carolina, where captives are a popular alternative to traditional property and casualty insurance, to Arizona, where doctors are self-insuring for medical malpractice. "Small companies are going to be driving this market," predicts Crouse.

Facing up to the costs of long-term care

2007-11-22T09:56:00.000+07:00

No matter how well you plan your retirement, the catastrophic expense of long-term care could ruin it all. Insurance looks like the obvious solution. Turns out it's anything but.

By Amanda Gengler and Pat Regnier
October 22 2007: 3:08 PM

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- Some insurance decisions are easy. Take life insurance. You know you need it to replace the income your spouse and kids would lose if you died. Insurers don't have much leeway to dispute claims for death benefits because "deceased" is a pretty definite condition.
After you decide how much to buy, you can compare various term policies, see which are the cheapest and most practical, and buy the least expensive one that fits your needs।

Long-term-care insurance seems just as simple - at first। Its purpose is to protect you from a very real, very scary possibility - that one day you might be unable to take care of yourself. If you wind up in a nursing home or need extensive assistance at home, you will face catastrophic costs that could eat up every dollar you ever earned.

The average daily rate now for a stay in a nursing home is $183, or nearly $67,000 annually, an expense that after a few years would sink all but the very well-off. And prices will go up. If they rise a bit faster than inflation, by 2026 the daily rate could hit $486 a day, or $177,000 a year.
Insurance looks like the solution - the customary mechanism for sharing a potentially devastating financial risk with thousands of other policyholders। And it can work.

Teetering on the edge of insurance
Take the case of David and Kristi Schubbe of suburban Minneapolis. Starting in 2002, when she was only 61, Kristi became forgetful and had difficulty performing routine tasks such as following familiar recipes. After three years David became unable to care for her, even with a home aide. He found a nearby nursing facility that specializes in Alzheimer's patients.
"I knew when I saw it, this is where I want my Kristi," he says. The bill is $5,400 a month, but their long-term-care policy, which the Schubbes bought in 2001, covers the entire expense. Insurance helped make the tragedy manageable.
Says David: "It took the financial element out of when to go [into a home], where to go and how to do it."
What if the Schubbes had not purchased insurance? Medicare would not have helped because it doesn't pay for long nursing-home stays. Medicaid might have paid - about 43 percent of nursing home residents eventually qualify - but only after David had exhausted much of the couple's assets. (Transferring assets to relatives is almost impossible because the government penalizes you for having given money to others within the previous five years.)
States set strict limits on how much money the spouse not in care can retain. In Minnesota, for example, the spouse can keep half of the couple's assets up to about $100,000, plus their home (with as much as $500,000 in equity).
Finally, some nursing homes will not accept Medicaid, so relying on it would have diminished the Schubbes' options. Long-term-care insurance, however, has plenty of catches.
First, you may pay thousands of dollars in annual premiums, possibly for decades, even after retirement when you have a smaller income; if you stop paying, you can lose your coverage and everything you put in.
Second, you have to look far into the future and guess what kind of care you will need and how much it will cost. Most disturbing, perhaps, some insurers' business practices have recently cast doubt on how much you can trust them to hold up their end of the deal.
In the past few years many policyholders have faced exorbitant rate increases - sometimes 40 percent or more। And a rash of lawsuits complain that insurers are delaying or unfairly denying the claims of some of their most vulnerable policyholders.

A Chinese menu of benefits
Decent health insurance will pay for anything from a flu shot to triple-bypass surgery. Long-term-care insurance offers no such blank check.
"You have to define long-term care the way your contract defines it, not by the way you might actually need it," says Robert Friedland of the Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project.
A policy pays a set daily rate for a nursing home stay or other care, say $100 or $150. The higher the rate you select, the higher your premium. And if the day rate increases to $250 by the time you need care and your policy specifies $100, you're on the hook for the rest.
Some policies will raise the benefit with inflation, some won't, and the formula differs from policy to policy. How long will the policy pay? For your lifetime, if you can afford such coverage, or for the number of years you select.
To qualify for coverage, you must typically be cognitively impaired or unable to perform a certain number of activities of daily living (ADLs), usually two. Some policies offer coverage only for home care; others cover nursing home stays plus adult day care or assisted living. Some policies waive premiums while you're in care; others keep charging you.
To choose a policy, buyers must sort through enough permutations and combinations - each with its own price tag - to do a Chinese restaurant proud।

The risk of rate hikes
The Schubbes were in good health when they bought, so they were able to get coverage for themselves for a $3,000 annual premium. Those who have health problems like diabetes, cancer or arthritis will pay higher premiums. Or in the worst case, they might not qualify at all.
Insurance sales people point out that you can lessen that risk by purchasing a policy when you're young. The premiums would likely be low, and most insurers promise that they will not hike your rates because of age or health problems. But insurers can still raise rates for other reasons and often do. They may have to pay more claims than they expected, for example.
Lester Watts, 72, and his wife Judy, 61, of Clive, Iowa bought a long-term-care policy from Equitable Life & Casualty two years ago. Their premium was $280 a month. Within the year, however, the insurer won the right from the state to raise its rates. The couple's premium would rise to about $360 a month. "It all smacks to me of a bait and switch," says an angry Lester Watts.
The insurer says that new policyholders like the Wattses were notified at least a year before the rate increase went into effect, giving them time to cancel. Rather than do that, however, the Wattses have decided to reduce their benefits to keep their premium level.
Prices that keep heading skyward could eventually force you to drop the policy. At that point you may lose your coverage and all the money you paid. You'll be hard put to find a cheaper policy elsewhere, since you are older now than when you first bought, and a worse insurance risk.
"You are more or less married to an insurer and you can't really change," says John Rother, director of policy and strategy for AARP, the retirees' lobby. (AARP also markets a long term-care policy from MetLife.)
Rate hikes may slow। Regulation is improving, and Jesse Slome of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance argues that insurers have learned from experience how to price policies more accurately from the start. That's plausible. But you may not know for decades whether they're right. [

Will you get paid?
If you buy long-term-care insurance, you are trusting that your benefits will be paid at some point long into the future. But this year news began to surface, both in the New York Times and the Des Moines Register, that seniors around the country were having difficulty collecting claims.
Consumer advocates and plaintiffs attorneys argue that long-term-care insurers have an even stronger financial incentive to take a hard line with their customers than, say, auto or life carriers.
"Old people don't last long; sick people don't fight hard," says Frank Darras, a California lawyer who has sued insurers over unpaid long-term-care claims. A claim, of course, is a judgment call, but it's almost everybody's judgment but yours.
In September, Louis Heldenbrand turned out for a public meeting of insurance regulators in Des Moines to tell of his unsuccessful efforts to help longtime neighbor Dorothy Parker, 88. Five years ago she bought $100-a-day coverage from Bankers Life & Casualty. After breaking her pelvis in December 2006, Parker, who weighed just 88 pounds at the time, checked into a nursing home.
Despite her condition, Bankers Life denied payment in June, saying she did not meet the policy's definition of "chronically ill." According to a claim document from Parker's nursing home, signed by her doctor, Roger Hansen, she was incapable of performing only one ADL. Her policy requires her to be deficient in two.
With help from a lawyer, Parker has appealed. Hansen, who says he has since looked more closely at her medical records, states that he believes she is in fact limited in three ADLs. Parker can amble down the hallway with her walker but often gets dizzy. "I feel I need to be here," she says.
In early August, Hansen wrote to the insurer itemizing Parker's three ADLs in specific detail. "She's a fall waiting to happen," he says. Bankers asked for more documents, and while Parker awaits a decision, she's paying $3,700 a month for nursing-home care, as well as premiums, which the insurer hiked by $100 to $390 a month in May.
John Wells, who runs the long-term care business for Conseco, Bankers' parent company, told MONEY that for privacy reasons he couldn't discuss Parker's case। He said that Conseco pays 98 percent of claims and that if the company didn't scrutinize them, other policyholders could have to pay higher rates.

To buy or not
With so many risks to weigh, how do you decide whether you need long-term-care insurance - and if you do, what to buy? To start, you think of the big picture.
Remember: This is ultimately a question about your financial security. Imagining yourself so frail and vulnerable that you need to live in an institution or rely on a stranger's help is deeply unsettling. If you let an insurance agent frame the decision in those terms, you'll buy a policy in five seconds.
Instead of freaking out, you should focus on the potential financial need. Georgetown's Friedland says that even people only in their forties and fifties should recognize that they may have to pay for at least some long-term care.
So when calculating how much you'll need to save for retirement, you may want to add in enough to pay for several months of long-term care. That way you'll have some assets standing between yourself and Medicaid - and therefore more options. And the more you save, the easier it will be to pay for insurance if you want it when you are older.
If you are already in retirement or close to it, you have to ask yourself whether you have enough assets to bother protecting - and enough to live on in retirement. If you are scraping by, you may be so pinched you'll have to drop a long-term-care policy before you need to use it.
After all, you'll be facing medical expenses besides long-term care. Finally, you may have other assets to tap: You might be able to take out a reverse mortgage or sell your home.
Two guidelines to help you decide whether you can afford long-term-care insurance: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) suggests that you spend no more than 7 percent of your income on premiums, and Bonnie Burns of California Health Advocates advises that you shouldn't buy a policy unless you can withstand a premium hike of 10 percent to 20 percent.
Before you meet with an agent, talk to your kids. Many people buy long term- care insurance at least partly to avoid being a burden to their children. But when you need help, they will be involved no matter what your arrangements. And talking to your kids can help you decide how much and what kind of coverage you need.
For example, you may learn that your children aren't counting on an inheritance, which means you don't need as much insurance to protect assets. If they want to preserve a bequest and you need a larger policy, then you can ask them to help pay premiums, says Richard Kaplan, a University of Illinois law professor and an expert on elder law.
If your kids expect you to leave your home in Indiana and move near them in Boston, you'll need a policy geared to costs there, not the Midwest. If your family lives nearby, you may be able to delay going into a nursing home. A few hours each day from a home health aide and help from your kids may be enough for a while.
You may have no children or close relatives। "If there's no one, you should face that up front," says Kaplan. In that case you'll want to choose a policy with a bigger nursing-home benefit. If, in the end, you opt for long-term-care insurance, follow these steps:

Pick a rock-solid insurer।

You'll have to live with the policy you buy for decades, so you must choose a financially strong company. Above we list the six strongest among the largest carriers of long-term-care insurance, based on their financial grades from TheStreet.com Ratings, formerly Weiss Ratings, which accepts no fees from companies it evaluates.
When comparing policies, you should find out how many customer complaints an insurer has received. To check, phone your state insurance department or visit the Web site of the NAIC at naic.org/cis.
Some state regulators can also tell you about an insurer's history of premium hikes। The fact that an insurer has imposed many price increases in the past, however, does not necessarily mean that it won't raise prices again. And one that hasn't raised rates still might.

Get specifics।

You should learn exactly what your policy will and will not buy. Little words can mean a lot. Say your policy requires you to pay for the first 90 days of care yourself. Are those calendar days? Or just "service days" (those days on which you get care)?
Other questions to ask: If you buy coverage for home care, will you have to use a special agency or can you hire an independent caregiver? If the policy covers assisted living, does it cover the cost of housing or only the care you receive? Also, ask the agent which facilities in your area the policy would cover - and which it wouldn't.
Amy Bach of United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group, recommends that you keep detailed notes of your conversation with the agent and file them with your policy.

Insist on flexibility.

Right now you don't know what your long-term-care needs will be, so you should buy the most flexible policy you can afford. The best provide a flat cash benefit you can use as needed once you qualify, says Alfred Clapp, an independent agent in New York City.
But such coverage can add 70 percent to 100 percent to the cost of your premium. You may decide to trade off the number of years to boost the daily benefit. Consider a policy with only three to five years' coverage. Just 8 percent of nursing-home claims run more than four years, according to Milliman Consultants & Actuaries.
You can also ramp up your daily benefit by choosing a long elimination period. Patricia Hurley, 66, of San Francisco bought a policy which won't start paying until 90 days after the insurer approves benefits. "I intend to use this as a supplement to my own savings," she says. Her policy also covers her for four years or until she exhausts her maximum benefit of $248,200.
Another money-saving option offered in some states: a partnership policy. It allows you to go on Medicaid after benefits run out but lets you and your family keep more assets than Medicaid normally permits.

Hedge against inflation।

A $200-a-day policy will cover a lot if you need it today, but inflation in nursing-home costs could turn that benefit into a pittance in a decade. To protect yourself, buy a policy with a benefit that increases by 5 percent compounded a year, says Joshua Wiener, a long-term-care expert at RTI International, a nonprofit research group.
Don't go for "simple" interest. Inflation grows at a compounded rate. In 20 years a $100 daily benefit would turn into $200 with 5 percent simple interest. Compounded, the benefit would be $265.

Don't rush।

Insurers want you to buy when you're young. The policy will cost much less then than when you're older. But if you buy at age 40, you could be paying premiums for as long as 60 years. It's hard to know whether your insurer will still be strong, whether the way people get long-term care will change or how prices will rise.
Unless you have a family history of a chronic medical condition or of Alzheimer's, you can probably wait until you are near 60 to buy। You should still have a good chance of qualifying for coverage, and you'll have a clearer picture of the overall landscape.

Designate an advocate।

One family member should know you have a policy, what its terms are and where you keep it। And you should require the insurer to inform this person if you stop paying the premium.

You don't want to lose the policy because you have become cognitively impaired। If disputes about payment arise, this person will be well equipped to speak on your behalf.

Keep it simple।

The insurance industry is splendid at inventing new ways to package long-term-care insurance with items such as annuities or life insurance. But at least for now, you should steer clear of such multipurpose products.
"I once bought an answering machine that was also a photocopier and a scanner, and it didn't do any of those things well," says Deena Katz, a financial planner who teaches at Texas Tech.
As a general rule, you should buy your long-term-care insurance straight up. It's complicated enough as it is.

Low Auto Insurance Rates In America

2007-11-18T21:18:00.000+07:00

by M.C.

Most people want to pay as little as possible for their car insurance and there are a variety of different ways that you can work to lower the amount you are paying for your car insurance in America. Of course being a good driver with an excellent driving record is going to help, but this is not the only thing you can do to keep your insurance premiums affordable. The following are a few tips that can help you get low cost online car insurance quotes in the United States.

Tip #1: Compare Prices
Taking the time to shop around and compare prices is always important. The price of car insurance is going to vary depending on what company you go with, so it can definitely pay off to spend some time comparing the prices. Find out what other insurance companies charge for the same coverage that you already have. Chances are that you can find better low car insurance quotes.

Tip #2: Go With A Higher Deductible
A deductible is the amount of money that you have to pay out before your insurance will pay. When you go with a higher deductible, you can lower the amount that you have to pay each month for your car insurance. Just raising the deductible amount up a couple hundred dollars can really pay off. You may be able to lower your premium by 15-40% if you just decide to go with a deductible that is a bit higher than the one you have now.

Tip #3: Don't Over Cover Your Car
Some people carry expensive coverage on old cars that are not really worth it. If you have an older car, then you may want to drop the expensive comprehensive or collision coverage that you have on it. Many people find that they can save a huge amount of money by going with simple liability coverage for cars that are older and not worth much to them.

Tip #4: Keep Your Credit Looking Good
Believe it or not, your credit history can actually affect how much you are paying for your car insurance. If you keep your credit history in good shape, more than likely you will have to pay less on your premiums. Remember, car insurance companies take a look at your credit, so keep it looking as great as possible.

Tip #5: Ask About Discounts
There are many companies that offer auto insurance discounts; however, you may have to ask about them. Some companies offer low mileage discounts to those who don't drive very many miles each year. There are other companies that offer discounts to people who purchase homeowners or life insurance with the same company. Even good grades, or just being a good driver could get you a discount, so be sure to ask about the discounts you may be eligible for.
Lowering your car insurance is important and these are just a few tips to help you out. Start using all these tips together to get low car insurance rates in America. Before you know it, you'll be saving hundreds of dollars a year on your car insurance premiums.

If you are looking for low car insurance rates in america, please visit our website: www.htquotes.com

Tips on choosing Insurance Company.

2007-11-18T21:12:00.000+07:00

by Randel Smith

Tips on choosing Insurance Company.
The best way to kick off your research is by doing a little investigation insurance Web sites. A good site will list companies available in your area, prices for both individual and family plans, and any lower-cost options offered if you meet certain income requirements. Make sure your insurer should offer both fair prices and excellent service. These tips will help you find the right insurer for you:

Write out your priorities
Make a list of the important things to you, and bring them up to the broker or insurance company.

Compare the brokers
The next step is to compare the insurance quotes to determine which one is the best for you. Consider cost, coverage offered, and quality of service available. Confirm that your insurance agent is selling you a licensed insurance product. Then select your insurer.

Meet with potential insurance agents
Make a few appointments, bring your personal insurance profile with you, and ask questions. You want a fair price and quality service. Ask about available discounts, higher deductibles, service options and claims procedures after accidents. Take notes.

Read the insurer policy
Read the policy when you get it. The worst time to discover what is not covered is after you have a loss.

Keep your insurance information with you
Now you have decided, ask your insurer for a card, and keep it in your wallet, handbag or in your car.

Make sure the agent and company are legitimate before you pay for insurance

Never pay cash.
Get a receipt for all payments.
Make sure the receipt shows your policy number, date of payment, period of coverage, and name of insurance company providing the coverage.

Make sure you feel comfortable with the level of service provided as well as what you may need to handle yourself. If you are expected to be the insurance specialist at the time of the claim, know that ahead so you may elect to consider other options for your insurance.

How to Get Cheap Utah Auto Insurance

2007-11-18T21:11:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Need to get Utah auto insurance? Here's how to get a cheap Utah auto insurance rate with a reliable company.

Minimum Utah Auto Insurance Requirements
In order to drive your car in the state of Utah you need the following insurance coverage:
* $25,000 worth of bodily injury coverage per person for injuries you cause to others.
* $50,000 worth of bodily injury coverage for all injuries you cause.
* $15,000 worth of property damage coverage for damage you cause to the other person's car and property.
* PIP (personal injury protection) coverage to pay for your medical bills and lost wages, no matter who was at fault, when you're involved in an accident.
This is all the insurance you need to get yourself on the road. However, you may want to add the following insurance coverages to your policy:

Optional Auto Insurance Coverages
* Collision coverage pays for repairs to your car when you're involved in an accident no matter who was at fault.
* Comprehensive coverage pays for repairs to your car caused by vandalism, theft, fire, or storms.
* Uninsured motorist coverage pays for you and your family's medical bills plus repairs to your car and property caused by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit-and-run driver.

How to Get Cheap Utah Auto Insurance
Because auto insurance rates can vary dramatically from one company to the next, the first thing you need to do to get a cheap rate is to compare rates from various companies.
If you go online to an insurance comparison website it will only take you a few minutes to get rate quotes from a number of companies. The best of these these websites even have insurance experts on call to answer all of your insurance questions. (See link below.)
In order to get the cheapest rate you can, increase your deductible (the amount you pay toward a claim before your insurer will pay) to the highest amount you can afford. Increasing it from $200 to $1,000 can save you up to half on your insurance premium.
Also, be sure to ask your insurer about the discounts you qualify for and include them in your policy. Some of these discounts include:
* Safe driver discounts for being accident free for three or more years.
* Safety and security discounts for having a car alarm, anti theft device, anti-lock brakes, and air bags.
* Senior discounts for drivers over the age of 55.
* Multiple policy discounts for placing your homeowners and auto insurance policies with the same company.

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com or click on the following link to get Utah auto insurance rate quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section, and get answers to your questions from an insurance expert by using their online chat service.

Life Insurance UK : Financial Support For Your Dependents After Death

2007-11-18T21:08:00.000+07:00

by Allan Elvin

Life insurance is one insurance that takes care of the ones you leave behind after life reaches an end. When life is cut short by any reason, it is a tragedy all the same for the relatives and the ones dependent on the person. It is not just emotional attachment but also financial dependence that comes under threat. One needs to safeguard oneself against such situations for the sake of the ones s/he loves.
If you care for the well-being of those who would feel orphaned by your absence in the world, life insurance UK is one policy for you to consider. It helps your loved ones meet the financial hardships that could come up with the departure of the earner of the family. And especially, if a person has a young wife and young children, the situation can be pathetic. It could become very stressful to make ends meet, as to raise the children with proper schooling and higher education.
An insurance umbrella is for the rainy days when heavens are harsh in their downpour of troubles. Anyone would like to save his/her family this trauma with just a little investment in the form of yearly premiums. After all, the financial gap created after death needs filling. Life insurance is a policy which helps to normalise life for the nominees of the insured person after his/her departure. It helps them to carry on with their lives the normal way, marching on the path financially secured by the holder of the insurance policy.
This Life Insurance UK policy gives the financial protection which is so much of a desperate necessity for the ones who survive the bygone person. It ensures that the loved ones whom the insured person has nominated as beneficiaries, receive the financial support that can no longer be provided by the insured. So in a way a departed person continues to live on for his beneficiaries by this policy.

Get Cheap Car Insurance In Britain Online

2007-11-18T21:07:00.000+07:00

by Robert Mcleary

Numerous insurance agencies have emerged within the last couple of years as more and more people discovered the ease of online insurance shopping. But with so many advertisements and websites to choose from, how would you know which company will give you the best deal. First of all, you have to decide which coverage you want. You have to educate yourself with the different policies available for you because if you don't, you might end up paying for something you don't want or even need. When you've decided on what coverages you want and eliminated those that you don't need, you can start going through various websites and ask for quotes. Be sure to ask these online insurance companies for any discounts they offer or for ways to lessen your monthly insurance premium.
By learning about the different coverages, you will have a clearer picture of what you might need and what agencies have to offer you. As it is mandatory to have at least liability coverage, you will have to decide if you wish additional coverages. If you choose to avail of Collision and Comprehensive coverages; you will then need to come up with deductible amounts you'd like. The deductible amount if the amount that the insured is obligated to pay by the insurance policy. Usually, the higher the deductible amount is, the lower your monthly premium will be. Collision coverage will usually cover the amount to fix or replace your car after a collision accident. The Comprehensive Insurance will pay for losses resulting in car theft or fire or other losses that do not result from collisions. Other coverages you might be interested in obtaining are Emergency Roadside Service and Gap Insurance. But not all insurance companies offer the later, so you might want to check with your agent. If you have a 10 year old car, you might not actually need Gap Insurance since your vehicle's value has already depreciated a lot. Most agencies offer Emergency Roadside Service and ask for a minimal fee. Roadside service coverage is also called motor club or roadside assistance. However, it will only cover the fees from simple services like changing a flat tire, running out of gasoline, a jump start or getting a tow truck.
When you've decided on the kinds of coverages you want and need, that's the only time you have to begin searching for an insurance agency. Sometimes, searching too early will affect your decisions and make you end up with coverage that you don't really need. Don't just look at the rates of their products and services; you have to look at the company's financial strength, too. Take the time to research about the different companies you're interested to call. And when you have contacted them, do not be afraid to ask questions. If the agents fail to satisfy you with an answer, it's best that you move on to the next company as you do not want an agent who doesn't know the ropes in car insurance.

Robert Mcleary writes articles about Cheap Car Insurance and Free UK Car Insurance Information. Other information and articles published by the writer on the topic of Get Cheap Car Insurance in Britain Online can be obtained on the web.

Van Insurance : In The Interest Of Your Commercial Operations

2007-11-18T21:05:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

A van generally serves commercial purposes such as carrying passengers and goods. Being much bigger in size, with a larger carrying capacity, the van, as a rule, attracts higher premiums than a usual car. Premiums can also be affected by the model of your van as much as the purpose it serves. A commercial van is naturally put through more usage and requires more care and maintenance.
Within van insurance, you may opt for collision coverage which provides financial protection in case of collisions and the damages it can incur in such cases. Running on roads exposes your van to constant risk of wear and tear as well. Collision coverage covers the damage costs, regardless of whose fault it is. Having insurance gives you that much-required assurance that you do not have to spend a penny out of your pocket. You may also like to consider comprehensive coverage which gets you coverage even against natural calamities and hostile human actions as arson or robbery. Even though, comprehensive coverage naturally attracts higher premiums, it is a policy worth consideration as it is much more flexible.
Whether you drive the van yourself or you have a driver, it is essential that the driving record should be good, since then, low premiums can be negotiated upon without much trouble. Safe driving record of the driver reduces the risk on the insurance companies by way of the number of insurance claims that they would have to settle.
One of the important factors that matter to improve upon your credibility as a safe customer is the anti-theft devices and the other security devices that you install on your van. If you have a line of vans for your commercial operations, you can go in for fleet insurance. This type of van insurance policy covers the entire fleet of vans, which helps you to lower premiums costs when calculated per van.

The Beginnings of Auto Insurance

2007-11-18T21:03:00.000+07:00

by Joe Bella

In the United States and in the United Kingdom, auto insurance is needed before you can get on the road, and it is easy to see why. Even a minor accident can rack up thousands of dollars in car repair costs and injury, and auto insurance ensures that these costs will be taken care of. Insurance is often seen as a calculated risk, but in many places at least auto insurance is required while many people tend to put down more money for full coverage.
At its most basic form, something like auto insurance has existed since people started living and working cooperatively. When one person invests time and effort into a group, they are ensuring that the group will be there for them in the future. In this way, it can be seen that early human interaction had an implied responsibility. In form at least, it's not unlike paying an insurance premium to ensure that if and when something bad happens, there will be something to fall back on.
Even 3000 to 5000 years ago, Babylonian merchants had to pay an extra fee if they were loaning money from a third party. This fee essentially ensured that the if the shipment was stolen, the loan would be canceled. While this fee might have been pricey, it was still better than paying the full cost of the loan should the shipment meet with doom. As one might expect, there were investigations of insurance fraud around at this time!
In the United States, Benjamin Franklin created the first fire insurance available, going so far as to refuse to insure places that he felt were too much of a fire risk. As you can see, then as now, there are some things that an insurance company might refuse to cover, or refuse to cover completely. As auto insurance might not pay off if some conditions are not met, Benjamin Franklin also stated that if buildings were not kept up and proper precautions were not taken, then the policy holder lost the right to the insurance.
Automobile insurance essentially appeared with the first cars, especially due to the fact that they were, at first, mostly the province of the wealthy. It was seen originally as a form of protecting your investment at that point and then as more and more cars appeared on the road, it became a matter of necessity. When you take into account the fact there are so many cars on the road, it only make sense to demand at least minimal coverage. Auto insurance has a long history, and there's a reason that it has been around for as long as it has!

Check out the latest in auto insurance reviews and comparisons at: http://www.automobile-insurance.ws Automobile Insurance.

UK loan protection insurance can be found cheaply

2007-11-18T21:00:00.000+07:00

by Simon Burgess

UK loan protection can be found cheaply but you have to go with a specialist in payment protection insurance (PPI) if you want the cheapest premiums along with the advice needed to ensure that a policy is suitable for your needs. Payment protection or ASU insurance as the product is also sold under is taken out if you want to ensure that you would have the money each month to continue meeting your loan repayments and not get into debt should you become unable to work due to redundancy, long term sickness or accident.
However UK loan protection hasn't been without its faults which stem from an investigation in 2005 when the Office of Fair Trading received a super complaint from the Citizens Advice. The Financial Services Authority fined several high street names for wide spread mis-selling of the product due to sloppy sales practices and a lack of information given to many consumers at the point of sale.
Currently the whole protection insurance sector is in the hands of the Competition Commission who are conducting a review which is set to reach conclusion in February 2009. The mis-selling also ranged from not making the consumer aware of the exclusions which are in all policies, such as if you are self-employed, retired or only in part time work to charging way over the odds for the cover.
When bought correctly from a standalone specialist, UK loan protection insurance can give you a tax free income each and every month you are out of work for up to 12 months and with some policies, for up to 24 months. The cover would begin to provide you with a tax free income once you have been out of work for a set period of time which can be between one to three months' of being out of work and can give great peace of mind and security until you get back on your feet.
While UK loan protection insurance can be taken out alongside the loan and indeed is usually offered at the time of taking out borrowing, historically this is the dearest option for taking what can be invaluable protection. The premiums for loan protection can be very expensive when taken with the loan and it can almost double the cost of the loan. If you want the cover then it is essential that you decline it from a high street lender and shop around for it independently. High street lenders rely on high premiums to make up for offering cheap loans however the specialist standalone provider on the other hand puts the consumers best interest ahead of huge profits and can save you hundreds of pounds while providing quality UK loan insurance that is a far superior product.
If you want the protection and security that UK loan protection insurance can give then stick with the standalone specialist provider to make sure you don't fall prey to mis-selling of the cover. Mis-selling of payment protection has been wide spread and the majority of problems stemmed from a lack of information being given at the time of selling the product. All specialists will have the consumer's best interest at heart and make the cover available for the cheapest premiums while giving you excellent free honest advice

Car Insurance : There Are Ways To Reduce Premiums

2007-11-18T20:59:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

Car insurance is a necessary thing and yet expensive a proposition. Often it could be your driving record that could be at fault, but then very few people have a perfect driving profile. Applying for an insurance policy also requires you to submit your credit details. And it is understood that those with not-so-good a credit history have a harder time getting insurance at desirable rate of premiums.
Age also comes into play in a big way. Young drivers fall in the high-risk category group. And most insurer companies do not seem much interested in giving low insurance. But then, there are ways to getting cheap car insurance as well as to be eligible for discount car insurance rates.
If you join driving classes, many car insurance companies consider you for low insurance premiums after completion of the course. This is their way of placing their trust on you. But of course, better your grades there, better your chances of getting lower premium rates. If you have displayed good driving skills, insurance deals should come easy. An expensive car model, generally attracts higher premiums but then good maintenance of your car, such as installing anti-theft devices increases your reliability. If you have low budget, then you consider purchasing a used car since that always helps you to cheap car insurance.
After all is said, the thing that obviously makes the biggest difference to your premiums is your safe driving on your roads. If you follow the traffic rules, and take care of your speed limit and never face speeding fines, you are helping yourself stand in good stead. When you plan on car insurance, it is forever advisable to do a good amount of research, preferably on the Internet to collect as many quotes as possible and to compare them to understand which one will suit you best.

Car Insurance : Precaution Against High Repair Costs

2007-11-18T20:58:00.002+07:00

by Smith James

Every car owner must think about having a car insurance. For many people, the price may be a cause of concern. But then not taking it means a big risk. A car needs maintenance, and the maintenance costs increases as the car gets older. This is the usual wear and tear that incurs a lot of expenditure. And in case there is a damage to the car either out of collision or other reason, the repair charges can touch the sky. Heavy as it is upon you to bear, it is also a bad headache to take care of it, wasting time out of your busy car schedule.
Car insurance policy ensures that your car is restored to good condition without you having to loosen your purse strings. You can rest assured that when it comes to it, your car will find an able mechanic to repair it and return it to you safely from the workshop. Needless to say, such a good policy gives you that essential peace of mind. Once you take the policy, you can rest assured about your car because now it is protected, slated to pass into safe hands. The costs become bearable because all that you have to pay are the periodic, usually yearly premiums. A car insurance is all for you to save the unforeseen costs that when they come, come down rolling heavily. It is essential to be insured thus to avoid the risk of financial hardships that can confront when you have to get your car repaired and without which, your car could be put out of action.
At the same time, who does not want cheap car insurance? Perhaps the factor that matters the most is your driver profile. The safer it is even after years of driving experience, the better your chances of being offered cheaper premiums. The negotiability for low premiums rests on this major condition.

Different Car Insurance Policies for Different Driving Habits

2007-11-18T20:58:00.001+07:00

by Smith James

It is pointless to tell a car owner how precious his or her car is and that he or she should protect it and care for it. However, it is worth mentioning that since your car is so precious to you and since you have invested so much money in it, it is important for you to get a car insurance to protect yourself from any kind of mishap.
This message particularly goes out to the young drivers in UK. Many young adults, who have just acquired the age and the car to drive around their city and probably go out too, love to control the wheels. But have you ever thought about how you could control a messy situation when your car receives damages due to unprecedented collisions? A car insurance is a very helpful tool in such times.
Now let us shift our focus on women drivers. Women drivers are different from their male counterparts when it comes to driving habits. They are more cautious and drive carefully, while following all the road rules. They drive with eyes wide open lest they collide with another car. And therefore they need special kind of car insurance policy that would help them both financially as well as would be beneficial to them.
The car insurance policies should be different for women drivers and not similar to those which are meant for mature men. This is because there is a big difference in the driving habits of both of them. And many insurance lending institutes do understand this difference in the need of both kinds of drivers.
Now, it is quite a daunting task to compare car insurance policies of different kinds of insurance companies. But you have a ready reckoner in your favourite web browser. Just go for compare car insurance and find a list of sites who would give you unbiased research results and comparison of various car insurance policies.

Car Insurance - The Guardian for your Car

2007-11-18T20:53:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

Holding on to a car insurance not only assures that the financial value of your car is intact in spite of disastrous events, it also keeps you in the good books of the law. The absence of this insurance, as it is illegal in most countries of the world, can land you in an unfortunate spot. If you happen to lose your car to a burglar or witness it suffer damages at the hands of some accident, you are bound to incur a substantial amount of financial loss. It is in an effort to rid you off this financial burden that car insurances have been introduced in the insurance industry.
Your car insurance policy has been designed to lift the financial burden off your shoulders when it comes to shelling out money to repair those costly damages by reimbursing the amount. Even if your car is stolen, your insurance policy removes the cloud of disaster from your head by coughing up the complete value of your car, provided your policy is applicable for the condition.
Usually, your car insurance policy can be anyone between a first party insurance policy and a third party insurance policy, with the difference being the amount of premiums you pay. If you have a good driving history, which is determined by such factors as the make and model of the car, the number of people who drive it, the purpose of its use and the place where it is parked, then you are free from paying huge premiums.
A car insurance policy is the safest way to ensure safety of your car and the freedom from financial worries for you. With a great number of insurance companies providing their unique offers in this category, it isn't difficult to get hold of a deal that suits your needs ideally.

Car Insurance: A Ritual Not To Be Forgotten

2007-11-18T20:52:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

Cars have always allured humans. It has always featured on top of the wish list of people for years. There is something utterly romantic about driving a machine as glorious as cars. Indeed cars have always been one expense people don't think twice before indulging in. It, however, has always been a difficult dream to fulfill. Not anymore though, for the emergence of several financial institutions have ensured that one is never short of finances to fulfill the dream of his to lay his hand on this most glorious of all machines. However, one must not forget that once a car has been bought it needs to be protected as well and therefore car insurance do become very important.
Especially in today's times when there are accidents galore. Yes, it is not an overstatement but a fact, a harsh reality of modern times. Even the statistics attest this fact. Last ten years have seen the rate of accidents increase in leaps in bounds around the world. Particularly in UK the regularity with which they take place is really scary. This, however, is only expected. In an era which is facing extreme scarcity of time, the desire to do everything fast is not uncommon to creep in and it is this desire that is the root cause of all disaster for this encourages a man to jump traffic signals with grave consequences.
Had one not got his car insured then he can be rest assured that he would have to spend on two fronts - on loan repayment as well as on the expenses required to get the damages fixed. However, car insurance on such occasions prove to be no less than a boon, for it ensures that one would not have to spend a single penny for repair as it would be the insurance company that would bear all the expenses. The value of car insurance, thus, can easily be understood. It can safely be said that it would be in the best interest of the car owners to get their cars insured.

Lowest Ohio Car Insurance Quotes

2007-11-18T20:50:00.000+07:00

by M.C.

It is important when you buy a car to make sure that you get some low car insurance quotes because whenever you are driving in the state of Ohio you are required to have proof of insurance and financial responsibility.
If anyone else drives your car, they must have coverage for it as well. When you are registering your car you must sign a document that says you will not drive the car without coverage and that coverage must be enough to cover at least all of the following three things.
You must cover $12,500 for bodily injuries per person, $25,000 goes to injuries to the body for two or more people and then finally there is $7, 500 that goes towards property damage. However you must remember that these amounts are just Ohio's minimum and most people believe that having more coverage than this would be a good idea.
Anytime you receive a ticket, go through a vehicle inspection stop, have a traffic court appearance, or have a random check by the Registrar of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles you are required to show proof of insurance. Also recently a ruling was made in Ohio so that insurance companies might have to include the loss of value to a damaged vehicle and also the costs to repair it. The big question is, who will pay the extra money? And the answer to that is most likely the insurance companies will probably raise their premiums to make up for the loss or possible loss of money.

If you want free instant ohio car insurance quotes, you can get the lowest quotes from the nations top companies in just minutes on our website: www.HtQuotes.com

How to Buy Cheap Renters Insurance Online

2007-11-18T20:49:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Looking to buy cheap renters insurance online? Here's how to do it the easy way and get the best rate possible.

Where can I buy cheap renters insurance online?
The best place to find cheap renters insurance online is at an insurance comparison website. These sites let you compare renters insurance quotes from a number of different companies so you can choose the cheapest rate.
The best insurance comparison websites have an Articles section where you can get money saving tips. They also feature a chat service so you can get answers to your renters insurance questions from an insurance expert, and make sure you're getting the best rate possible. (See link below.)

How can I get the cheapest possible rate?
Here are seven tips that will help you get the cheapest renters insurance rate:
1. Consolidate Your Policies - By purchasing your renters insurance and your auto insurance through the same company you can save up to 15%.
2. Raise Your Deductible - Raising your deductible - the amount you pay toward a claim before your insurance company pays - can save you 15% to 40% on your insurance, depending on how high you raise it.
3. Install Safety and Security Devices - Insurance companies offer good-sized discounts for installing safety devices like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, and for installing security devices like dead-bolt locks, window locks, and burglar alarms.
4. Quit Smoking - Because smoking accounts for more than 20,000 home fires every year, insurance companies will give you a discount on your renters insurance if you don't smoke.
5. Maintain a Good Credit Rating - Many insurers now base your renters insurance premiums on your credit rating, so maintaining a good credit rating can significantly lower you renters insurance premium.
6. Get a Senior Discount - If you're retired and 55 or older, most insurance companies will discount your renters insurance premium by up to 10%.
7. Ask About Other Discounts - Renters insurance companies give discounts for a number of reasons. Ask your insurer about the discounts they offer and get all the ones you're eligible for.

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/renters-insurance.html or click on the following link to get cheap renters insurance quotes online from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section.

Life Insurance UK - Proven Ways to Gain the Most

2007-11-18T20:47:00.000+07:00

by Allan Elvin

The insurance industry in the UK is one thriving arena that is bustling with the activities of numerous insurance companies offering their unique services under varied categories of the arena. The life insurance segment is one of these categories, which is quite popular among a huge user base, owing to a string of benefits up for grabs. The insurance scenario in the UK is known for comprising some of the most wisely acclaimed life insurance companies in the world who offer their valued service for the seekers.
One of the biggest advantages of a life insurance UK is ensuring the financial security of your family members through a periodical premiums that finally mature to enshroud your loved ones in a blanket of safety. Most of the life insurance policies come equipped with additional perks like healthcare cover, critical illness cover and even cash backs. Moreover, your insurance policy also aids you in getting a loan for the education of your children, mortgages and other purposes. If that's not all, even your demise doesn't stop you from ensuring the safety of your family, as the matured amount is inherited by your loved ones.
However, getting hold of an ideal life insurance UK policy would require you to follow some simple steps without putting the wrong step forward. Retrieve several insurance quotes from various companies and filter out the most profitable for the purpose. You need to furnish necessary personal details about yourself, taking care that the information is completely authentic and can be vouched for. Your health details, in particular need to be precise.
Once you have completed these steps, you can be rest assured that your Life Insurance UK policy is bound to bring a whole lot of goodies your way. The Internet is usually the best place to survey through all the insurance companies existing in the country.

Where to Get Low Cost Montana Health Insurance

2007-11-18T20:44:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens
Looking for health insurance in Montana? Here's how to get low cost health insurance in Montana with a reliable health insurance company.

State Sponsored Health Insurance
In 1985 Montana created the Montana Comprehensive Health Association program to help Montana residents who cannot get private health insurance due to a pre-existing medical condition. In order to qualify for the MCHA program you must:
* Be a Montana resident
* Have been rejected by two insurance companies or have been offered a restrictive health insurance rider
* Have a particular type of illness as specified by the MCHA program
* Not be eligible for private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid
For more information on the MCHA program, visit the MCHA website at: mthealth.org.

Private Health Insurance
There are two types of private health insurance plans available to individuals, families, businesses, and groups in Montana:
* FFS (fee-for-service) plans, also known as indemnity plans, provide health care coverage that allows you to use your own doctor and hospital. Basic FFS plans cover doctor visits, hospital fees, and prescription drugs. These are the most expensive health insurance plans.
* Managed health care plans (HMOs, PPOs, and POSs) assign you to a network of doctors, specialists, and hospitals that you must use for your medical care. These plans cover doctor visits, hospital fees, prescription drugs, and may even include preventive care options such as health education classes and discounted health club memberships.

Where to Get Low Cost Health Insurance
The best place to get low cost health insurance in Montana is at an insurance comparison website where you can get quotes from a number of companies on one site. The best comparison websites feature an online chat service where you can get answers to all your health insurance questions from an insurance expert, and an Article section where you can get money-saving tips and information (see link below).

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html or click on the following link to get low cost Montana health insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save.

Cheap Home Insurance

2007-11-18T20:43:00.000+07:00

by John Burford

If you own your own home or if you are thiking about purchasing a home, then you want to protect your real estate investment. The best way is with home insurance. A home insurance policy protects your home from fire, theft and liability. Home insurance is a major expense in the yearly cost of owning a home, but today you can easily find a cheap home insurance and save money on it.

Inexpernsive home insurance isn't about cutting back on the insurance quality. Instead, it's a smart way to purchase good home owners insurance at deep discounts. How is it possible? Well, let's talk about how we traditionally purchase a home owner insurance policy.
We used to buy home owners insurance visiting one or two insurance agents in your local area and get home insurance quotes. You could then choose the best rate that the local agents were offering and buy your home owner insurance policy. You had to trust the agent that they were giving you a really good quote. No doubt the quote included a huge commission for the agent. With only a few competing agents, it was definitely an agent's market.
You can still buy insurance this way, but fortunately computers have changed the way we purchase many services, including insurance. Now you can easily go online to find cheap home insurance, it will take you a fraction of the time and you know you'll get the best quote available on the market.
Now, instead of just a few agents, you can choose from many different companies and agents. Using sophisticated automated systems that search among all the available quotes, you know you will get cheap home insurance.
With a cheap homeowners insurance you can have peace of mind knowing your home is protected and that you have saved money for anything else. Saving money with cheap home insurance is just a click away.
Get a free, no obligation home insurance quote now.

Where to Get Cheap Online Car Insurance Quotes

2007-11-18T20:40:00.002+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Cheap online car insurance quotes are easy to find when you use an insurance comparison website. If you're in the market for car insurance - or just comparison shopping to find out if you're paying too much - then you definitely need to spend a little time visiting an insurance comparison website.

What is an Insurance Comparison Website?
Insurance comparison websites offer you the ability to quickly and easily get quotes from multiple insurance companies. Comparison shopping is very important when you're buying car insurance because premiums from different companies can vary by hundreds of dollars for the same coverage.
Insurance comparison websites partner with insurance companies to make it possible for you to get quotes online. Instead of having to call or visit individual insurance agents or websites to get quotes to compare, you can go to an insurance comparison website and receive quotes from all the companies that website partners with.

How do Insurance Comparison Websites Work?
When you go to an insurance comparison website to get a quote for car insurance, you'll first complete a form with information about yourself and your insurance needs. This is the same type of information an insurance agent would ask you, including:
* Your name and address
* Your vehicle make and model
* The number of miles you drive each year
* Any safety features on your vehicle
* The coverage limits and deductibles you want
If you have any questions while you're filling out the form, the best insurance comparison websites have an online chat feature that allows you to talk with insurance experts (see link below). With this feature they can answer your questions and guide you through the process.
Once you complete this form and submit your information you'll begin to receive quotes from multiple A-rated car insurance companies. All that's left is for you to compare the quotes and choose the one that's best for you.
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com or click on the following link to get cheap online car insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more auto insurance tips in their Articles section.

For the cheapest life insurance deals stick with an online specialist

2007-11-18T20:40:00.001+07:00

by David Thomson

There are many different factors which can alter how much you are asked to pay for your life insurance, some of the most common are your health at the time of taking out the policy, your family history, whether you are a smoker and your age. Shopping around for the cheapest life insurance deals is essential and better yet letting a specialist shop around on your behalf.
A specialist will be able to conduct a search with the top UK insurers which mean that you get the best deal possible for your life insurance. While you have to be totally honest when it comes to answering questions regarding the state of your health and it can boost up the premiums, this does vary and while one lender might add up to 50% onto the cost of the insurance even if you only have mild or seasonal asthma, there are some insurers that don't penalise.
Finding the best deal for your circumstances is all about shopping around and while you could do this yourself it takes time and unless you have the contacts and know where to look for the best deals to suit your circumstances then you could end up paying way over the odds for your life insurance. even those people who are currently fit and healthy but who have had family members diagnosed with a serious illness can suffer and pay over the odds for cover with some insurers, so again it is essential not to just take the first plan that's offered to you but to check to see if you could get the cover for cheaper premiums elsewhere.
Along with getting you the cheapest life insurance deals the specialist will be able to give you all the information and advice you need to make sure that you understand the terms and conditions in a policy and of course should make sure you are given the key facts of the policy and it is essential that you don't overlook these but read through them as this is what could stop your family from getting what should be peace of mind and security.

Life assurance is best taken out with a specialist

2007-11-18T20:38:00.000+07:00

by David Thomson

Life assurance is taken out to give you and your family peace of mind that those left behind wouldn't have to worry financially. If you have a family then a life assurance policy should be considered essential but you have to know what a policy entails and if you want a quality policy then life assurance is best taken with a specialist website.
There are many terms and conditions when it comes to a life cover and there are certain factors which determine how much you will pay for insuring your life. Some of the main factors include whether or not you smoke, how much you weigh and your age and it seems that even if you do get reasonable premiums offered, these aren't guaranteed and premiums can end up rising by up to 200%.
Around 40% of all people who take out life assurance find that they end up paying over the odds for cover and get in what has been termed as the "dirty book" of lenders. One specialist website said that people were being charged up to 200% more for premiums just because of simple issues such as having a minor illness or a change in weight.
When applying for life assurance the consumer is given a "base" estimate for the cover but the actual cover can end costing a lot more than the original quote. If you want the peace of mind and security for your family that life assurance can bring then stick with a specialist website, take their advice and make sure that you know what a policy entails before you buy the cover. The specialist will be able to shop around on your behalf and get you quotes so that you can make a comparison and find the best deal on life assurance.

Insurance Agent Marketing - Creating a Sustainable Lead Generation Pool

2007-11-18T20:34:00.000+07:00

Car Insurance : Monetary Benefits In Times Of Need Plus Convenience

2007-11-18T20:28:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

Car insurance is something every car insurance has to take care of. It is difficult to make do without this insurance. However, the fact is that high car insurance premiums can be a cause of worry for many people desirous of availing to this policy. This however points to the fact that they may have been lagging behind in proper research about this insurance policy because cheap car insurance is actually there for the taking. You may think it is costly but then you will be surprised to know how well this policy would serve you in times of need.
And in any case, notwithstanding the high premium rates, you would feel thankful for availing to this policy because of the convenience you get such as complementary services, apart from the monetary benefits. With this policy, you can get insured for the usual wear and tear that your car goes through as it runs on the roads. But then, also comes the risk of collision and the heavy-duty repair charges that comes along with it and sits on your head. You need to be prepared against such unforeseen circumstances which can being a lot of tensions on your head, much as it feeds on your pocket.
Car insurance policy sees off the high repair and maintenance costs to keep your car in good running condition. It is incumbent upon you to take care that these costs do not become a problem for you.
If you are looking for cheap car insurance, one major factor that comes into play is your driving profile and your driving experience. If it is a safe profile with years of an accident-free record, you need not worry because you would be eligible for a insurance policy at low premiums. Your credit history is also important as one ideally free from defaults helps cast a good impression.

Something the insurance policy

2007-11-18T20:27:00.000+07:00

by mahasamut

Something the insurance policy .= With regard to insurance policy company agree will compensate amount of money to the the assured , gain receiver or a heir by the the assured will must send the insurance premium to insurance policy company follows the period of time that at fix . Money saving fully receive life protection . which money saving aforementioned . can specify the amount of money and the period of time of insurance insurance policy contract according to can want . something how is the insurance policy valuable ? = assure financial the strong-hold may give with oneself and a family . Build the discipline in money saving to insurance policy inventor , because of the inventor guarantees must deposit the insurance premium , continuously for the insurance contract is in force , the character then resemble money kind entrustment deposits permanent , with the commercial bank , moreover , insurance some kind contract still give a result to compensate that better , money entrustment with the bank as well . can lead insurance premium money that pay go to break reduce yearly income has arrived at 50,000 a baht ( must be the insurance contract where have period of protection time since 10 year go up ) reward rate that receive to have the stability , because of the condition in the insurance contract where fixes to don't modify . easy like money entrustment and commercial general bank there are various formats . who take an interest can choose buy insurance straight contract with way of life format and the requirement of oneself such as something the insurance policy , health insurance , guaranteeeing accident , etc. be money saving that have the safety most because the every insurance contract is like must change checking and approve from the Department of Insurance beneath the care of Ministry of Commerce .
read more http://insurance-forlife.blogspot.com

Where to Get Low Cost Health Insurance in Washington

2007-11-18T20:25:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Is it possible to get low cost health insurance in Washington? The numbers seem to say no. Health insurance premiums increased by 19-24 percent each year from 1997-2001. However, you can still find low cost health insurance if you know where to look.

Explore State Sponsored Programs
Washington offers several state-sponsored programs to help low-income residents afford health insurance:
* Washington Basic Health program, which provides reduced-cost health care coverage through private health plans to Washington state residents who don't qualify for Medicare, but meet the Basic Health program financial guidelines. Monthly premiums for this program are based on age, income, family size, and health plan chosen.
For more information on this program go to: basichealth.hca.wa.gov
* Washington State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides free or low-cost health insurance for children.
For more information on this program go to: fortress.wa.gov/dshs/maa/chip
* Washington State Health Insurance Pool provides health insurance to Washington residents who have been denied coverage through private health insurance companies.
For more information on this program go to: www.wship.org

Do Some Comparison Shopping
If you don't qualify for any of these state-sponsored health plans, you'll need to explore private health insurance. The best way to find an affordable private health insurance plan is to use an insurance comparison website to compare rates. You'll find that insurance companies have different prices for similar insurance policies. Therefore, you can save hundreds of dollars a year by comparison shopping.
On an insurance comparison website you'll fill out a simple form with information about yourself and your health insurance needs. Then you'll receive quotes from multiple A-rated insurance companies.
You may have questions about your health insurance options, so look for an insurance comparison website that offers an online chat feature. With this feature, you can talk with insurance professionals and get answers to all your health insurance questions (see link below).

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html or click on the following link to get low cost Washington health insurance quotes and see how much you can save. You can also get more insurance tips there.

Buying Travel Insurance Online

2007-11-18T20:24:00.000+07:00

by Josh Harrison

Many travelers take the easy option when buying travel insurance for their holiday, and often buy it from their travel provider such as their travel agent or tour operator. But that isnÕt always the best option. Travel insurance bought through travel agents is still expensive whereas you can now get much better deals from a wide range of companies directly, cutting out the middleman Ð many of which are online. There are many benefits to buying travel insurance online Ð one of which is the ability to visit a shopping site to compare the prices of similar travel insurance policies without the need to trawl through loads of sites individually. You will usually get more detailed quotes if you visit each site separately however, so itÕs best to use the first method to narrow your choices down to half a dozen or so, and then investigate each insurer in more detail. There are a growing number of dedicated travel insurance specialists who only operate over the internet, meaning you can usually get a lower price as they have lower overheads. Full details of all the policies they offer should be made available to you to read before you actually buy any cover. If you have any questions or any requirements that donÕt seem to be covered, itÕs worth emailing or phoning the company to iron these out first. Also make sure that the policy is underwritten by a reputable underwriter. Once you have bought your policy you will be able to print it out immediately. This is another benefit of buying online Ð no queues, no waiting and no problems. You can buy at anytime, day or night. Simply choose your cover, pay online and print out your documents. One thing to bear in mind however is how important it is to read through everything thoroughly after you have bought your cover, because if there are any errors these need to be corrected straightaway. If you donÕt check your policy and you need to make a claim, any errors may invalidate your cover.

Car Insurance : Safe Driver Profile Is The Major Consideration

2007-11-18T20:23:00.000+07:00

by Smith James

Car insurance is an important security cover for your car. It helps you take care of the high repair and maintenance charges. There are certain ways to go about to cheap car insurance. Certain factors seem to be constant as for consideration by the insurance provider. Your driver profile is the single most important factor that determines the car insurance premiums that the insurance company may settle upon. Many other factors come into play as well.
If you have a bad credit history, it can raise your premium payments. The insurance company for one thing, does not feel much safe with credit defaulters. This means that if they offer you car insurance, you are likely to find heavy premium quotes. Another interesting fact that supports their evident bias toward the defaulters is that the people with bad credit file 40% more insurance claims than those with good credit.
The younger age group also falls in the risk category as such they are usually found to be involved in more accidents. And thus they have a higher record of insurance claims which the insurance companies are loathe to settle. Thus the younger drivers have a more difficult time looking around for car insurance at desirably low premium rates. They however, can work out different way to cheap car insurance, such as joining a safe driver's club. They may also join safe driving classes and by the end of which they should be eligible for cheap car insurance. At the same time, they would require to score good grades to improve upon their credibility.
These days, car insurance is a fairly easy deal as you have a lot of insurance companies offering it online. The quotes can be collected from different websites just by filling out application form online. You can choose the one with terms and conditions that you feel would suit you best.

How to Find Cheap Car Insurance

2007-11-18T20:20:00.000+07:00

by Jeff Kimball

With the rising costs of fuel and just about every other good or service we purchase, many of us are looking for cheap car insurance. When it comes to cheap car insurance most of us are clueless as to how to go about getting a low cost car insurance policy. There are many factors that influence your car insurance costs drastically.
For example, did you know that the type of car you drive will influence the cheap car insurance you're looking for? Or did you know that using anti theft devices will help reduce your over all car insurance costs? A good driving record will allow you to get cheap car insurance?
The deductible is the amount you pay first out of any claim for an accident. The car insurance policy's cost is directly related to your deductible. A lot of people, especially those with a good driving record, who have had their insurance policy for a long time, have never considered varying their deductible. If you have a clean driving record and are prepared for the risk of paying a larger amount in the event of a claim you can save money by increasing your deductible.
Many times you can get cheap car insurance by combining policies with you existing insurance company. For example if you have a home owners insurance policy contact them and ask for discounts for switching your car insurance to them. If you don't own a home perhaps you have renters insurance or life insurance, contact these companies about the savings you could get by switching your car insurance over to them. Most insurance companies are very accommodating to these requests.
It also pays to shop online for your cheap car insurance; many of the big companies offer a comparison of their coverage versus other companies. As you are requesting cheap car insurance quote online be sure to be completely truthful in answering the questionnaire. Additionally, you should know when you get your online quote you will need to follow up with actual paper work.
Whatever your motivation, with a little work you too can find the cheap car insurance you're looking for.
Jeff Kimball is an independent business writer and the author of A1 Cheap Car Insurance.com

Where to Buy Cheap Georgia Auto Insurance Online

2007-11-18T20:17:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Car thefts and accident rates in Georgia have increased dramatically in the last few years. Consequently, auto insurance rates are at an all-time high. But you can still buy cheap Georgia auto insurance online. Here's where to get it.
Minimum Georgia Auto Insurance Requirements
The following insurance coverages are required for you to drive your car in the state of Georgia:
* Bodily injury liability coverage ($25,000 for one person, and $50,000 for all persons) to pay for judgments and legal fees when you're found liable for injuring or killing other people in an auto accident.
* Property damage liability coverage ($25,000) to repair or replace another person's car or personal property when your found liable for causing an accident.
That's all the insurance you need to get on the road. But it doesn't protect you or your car, so you may want to add the following coverages to your auto insurance policy:

Optional Insurance Coverages
* Collision coverage, which pays to repair or replace your car after it's been damaged in an accident.
* Comprehensive coverage, which pays to repair or replace your car after it's been damaged by vandalism, fire, flooding, or acts of nature.
* Medical payment coverage, which pays your and your passengers medical expenses when you're involved in an accident.
* Uninsured motorist coverage, which pays your or your passengers medical expenses, plus damage to your car or property, caused by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit-and-run driver.

Where to Get Cheap Auto Insurance With a Reliable Company
Because auto insurance rates can vary dramatically from one company to another, the way to save the most money on your auto insurance is to compare rates from different insurance companies. The easiest and fastest way to do that is to go to an insurance comparison site (see link below).
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com or click on the following link to get cheap Georgia auto insurance rate quotes online from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section, and get answers to your questions from an insurance expert by using their online chat service.

Ways To Get Cheap Car Insurance

2007-11-18T20:16:00.000+07:00

by Allan Elvin

Car insurance is a necessity to give financial protection to our beloved cars. This is because the car repair charges can be extremely heavy. But then, an insurance policy need not cost you a fortune. There are numerous ways to get around cheap car insurance.
One thing crucial enough to get cheap car insurance is the driving record you have. This profile is the major determinant in the amount of discount you can be considered for in a car insurance deal. It ensures you desirably low-premium insurance deals. And even if this does not come to you by default, there are other ways to be considered for low premium rates such as scoring good grades in car driving tests or by showing your performance and testimonials after joining a safe car driving club.
Car safety devices are equally important because when you install them, you are seen as a responsible car owner who is safe enough for the insurance company as one who would not come running in for insurance claims. You may consider deductibles as well, because higher the deductibles lower the premiums subsequently.
If you want Cheap Car Insurance, you need to take a little time out to research on it. 'Knowledge is power' here as you get to know your negotiating points as well as the scope of different kinds of insurance deals being offered in the market. At the same time, you can compare the quotes that you collect from the different websites. This is advisable since it gives you the platform to go for the best deals. You can choose the one that suits you best, that is your individual conditions and requirements as well as gives you good coverage. This is not only wise but also an easy thing to do. All you do is fill in the application form available online and send it across to be furnished with quotes.

Multiple Car Insurance Quotes - How to Get the Best Rate

2007-11-18T20:10:00.000+07:00

by Brian Stevens

Getting multiple car insurance policies through the same insurance company can save you a lot of money on your insurance. Here's how to get the cheapest multiple car insurance quotes with a reputable company.
Why Get Multiple Car Insurance?
Having one or more cars insured with the same company can save you up to 15% on your auto insurance. Another benefit is that you have only one insurance company to deal with, and only one bill to pay.
How to Get the Cheapest Multiple Car Insurance Quote
The easiest and quickest way to get the cheapest multiple car insurance quote is to go online to an insurance comparison website (see link below). The advantages of using one of these sites are:
* You get quotes from multiple insurance companies, not just one, so you can compare those quotes and choose the cheapest one.
* It only takes a few minutes of your time, saving you hours of visiting insurance company websites or calling local insurance agencies.
* Most insurance comparison websites only affiliate with A-rated companies, so if you choose to purchase your insurance through them you know you'll be dealing with a solid, reliable company.

How to Lower Your Premium
Increase your deductible - Increasing the deductible (what you pay toward insurance claims before your insurer will pay) can save you up to half on your insurance bill. This will also prevent you from making too many small claims which could cause your insurer to cancel your policy.
Request discounts - Auto insurance companies offer all kinds of discounts and taking advantage of them can save you a lot of money. Some of these discounts include:
* Multiple policy discounts for having both your homeowners policy and your auto insurance policy with the same company.
* Safety discounts for having airbags, anti-lock brakes, or other safety features installed on your car.
* Security discounts for having an auto alarm or an anti-theft device installed on your car.
* Senior discounts if you are over the age of 50.
* Safe driver discounts if you have an accident-free driving record for three or more years.
* Low mileage discounts for driving less than the average driver.
* Professional discounts if you're in the military, law enforcement, or other designated professions.

Visit http://www.lowerratequotes.com/ or click on the following link to get multiple car insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section, and get answers to your questions from an insurance expert by using their online chat service.

Protecting Your Assets With Umbrella Insurance

2007-11-18T20:09:00.000+07:00

Protecting Your Assets With Umbrella Insurance
by Jim Pretin

At some point, you have probably heard of umbrella insurance, but have no idea what it is. Well, first off, it does not cover the umbrella you protect yourself from the rain. It is a figure of speech. An umbrella policy is designed to shield you from almost everything that your home and auto insurance does not, as well as fill in gaps in coverage when the limits of your regular policy are exhausted.
Every day, there are personal lawsuits filed against ordinary citizens, with the reasons ranging from the frivolous to the justified. When and if this happens to you, you need to be prepared. More often than not, people are sued and have no extra protection to block the plaintiff from going after their personal assets in the lawsuit. To protect yourself from such a quandary, you need to have umbrella insurance.
An umbrella is often referred to as excess liability. This excess liability coverage kicks in when the underlying limits on your home or auto policy have been exhausted, or if you are sued personally for something that neither your home nor your auto insurance covers. Depending on the company, you can purchase anywhere from 1 to 5 million dollars worth of excess coverage, sometimes as high as 10 million.
The amount of coverage you select really depends on how much you are worth. If you have 5 million dollars worth of personal assets, you should get a 5 million dollar umbrella. It is not uncommon for someone to buy a 5 or 10 million dollar umbrella policy even if that number far exceeds their net worth, because the coverage is so cheap to buy.
Most insurance companies will not offer you the coverage unless you have both your home and auto already insured with them. Also, the insurer will require that you maintain a certain level of liability on the home and auto policies in order to qualify for the excess policy. Usually, you must maintain at least $250,000 of bodily injury liability per person, $500,000 per accident, and $100,000 for property damage for your autos, and $500,000 of liability for your home.
The coverage is cheap. It is possible to obtain 1 million dollars worth of excess liability for as little as $120 dollars. The more cars and homes you have, the higher the price for the insurance, but the cost is still low. In addition to your home and cars, liability associated with any other conveyances you may have, such as boats, motorcycles, and other recreational vehicles, may also qualify for coverage under the umbrella, depending on the insurance company.
You are probably wondering when the umbrella would actually come into play. Here is an example: If you are involved in an auto accident where you crashed into a pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk, resulting in medical expenses for that person that costed more than what your auto policy covered, the umbrella would be used. Or, if that pedestrian then decides to sue you for negligence and seeks punitive damages, your umbrella can be utilized to cover your legal expenses and to pay any judgements levied against you.
It is also important to understand that the excess liability covers you for all sorts of things that have nothing to do with your cars or homes. Things such as personal injury protection are covered. This includes false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation, invasion of privacy, wrongful entry, or eviction.
Also, some umbrella policies provide coverage for you if you are sued in connection with any charitable boards or organizations of which you are a member. You may have to contact your insurance company and pay an extra premium for this type of coverage.
I hope this has helped illuminate to you the importance of having umbrella insurance. Without it, your personal assets are totally vulnerable in any lawsuit or legal action. Talk to your agent about it and ask how much it costs. Even though multi-million dollar lawsuits are not common, they can happen. So, an umbrella is probably worth it.

การประกันภัยสินเชื่อเพื่อการค้า (Trade Credit Insurance)

2007-11-15T16:11:00.000+07:00

เรื่องการประกันภัยสินเชื่อเพื่อการค้า (Trade Credit Insurance)

การประกันภัยคือการรองรับความเสี่ยงของชีวิตและทรัพย์สินของประชาชนและธุรกิจ ซึ่งสามารถเลือกซื้อได้ตามต้องการโดยแบ่งออกเป็น 2 ประเภทใหญ่ๆคือ
1. การประกันชีวิต หมายถึงการที่ผู้รับประกันตกลงจะชดใช้เงินจำนวนหนึ่งให้แก่ผู้รับผลประโยชน์หรือทายาท ในกรณีที่ผู้เอาประกันภัยเสียชีวิต หรือชดใช้ให้แก่ผู้เอาประกันภัยเองในกรณีที่ผู้เอาประกันภัยยังมีชีวิตจนถึงวันที่ตกลงไว้ในสัญญา
2. การประกันวินาศภัย หมายถึงการที่ผู้รับประกันตกลงจะชดใชเค่าสินไหมทดแทนหากเกิดความสูญเสียหรือเสียหายจากภัยต่างๆ ซึ่งความเสียหายนั้นๆสามารถประเมินเป็นตัวเงินได้ โดยสามรถแบ่งออกเป็น 4 ประเภท ได้แก่
1. การประกันอัคคีภัย
2. การประกันภัยรถยนต์
3. การประกันภัยทางทะเลและขนส่ง
4. การประกันภัยเบ็ดเตล็ด

การประกันภัยสินเชื่อทางการค้า เป็นการประกันภัยประเภทหนึ่งที่อยู่ในประเภทการรับประกันภัยเบ็ดเตล็ด การประกันภัยสินเชื่อทางการค้า เป็นการประกันภัยที่มีความสำคัญและเหมาะสมกับผู้ประกอบธุรกิจการค้าทั้งผู้ประกอบการค้าภายในประเทศและผู้ประกอบการค้าต่างประเทศ การประกันภัยประเภทนี้ให้ความมั่นใจในการทำธุรกิจมากขึ้นและเป็นการโอนความเสี่งของการเกิดหนี้สูญไปให้บริษัทที่รับประกันรับภาระความเสี่ยงไว้แทน

ความคุ้มครอง
การประกันภัยสินเชื่อทางการค้าให้ความคุ้มครองแก่ผู้ขาย ผู้ส่งออก (ผู้เอาประกันภัย) ในกรณีที่ส่งสินค้าไปยังผู้ซื้อแล้วไม่ได้รับชำระค่าสินค้าของตนจากผู้ซื้อสินค้า อันเนื่องมาจากความเสี่ยงทางการค้าเช่นผู้ซื้อล้มละลาย ผู้ซื้อปฏิเสธการชำระเงิน เป็นต้น หรือความเสี่ยงทางการเมือง เช่น การควบคุม การโอนเงิน การห้ามนำสินค้าเข้า เป็นต้นซึ่งบริษัทประกันภัยจะเป็นผู้จ่ายค่าสินไหมทดแทนสำหรับค่าสินค้าที่ไม่ได้รับการชำระแก่ผู้เอาประกันภัย

ภัยทางการค้า (Commercial Risks) มีดังนี้
1. ผู้ซื้อล้มละลาย
2. ผู้ซื้อไม่ยอมชำระเงินหลังจากได้รับสินค้าแล้ว
3. ผู้ซื้อไม่ยอมรับสินค้าหลังจากผู้ส่งออกได้ส่งไปให้แล้ว
4. ความบกพร่องของผู้ซื้อไม่ได้ขออนุญาตนำสินค้าเข้าล่วงหน้า (หากสินค้าที่นำเข้าเป็นสินค้าควบคุม) หรือไม่ได้ขออนุญาตส่งเงินตราออกนอกประเทศเพื่อชำระค่าสินค้า (หากมีการควบคุมการส่งเงินตราออกนอก)
5. เกิดกรณีพิพาทระหว่างผู้ซื้อและผู้ขาย
6. ไม่สามารถติดต่อผู้ซื้อได้

ภัยทางการเมือง (Political Risks)
1. รัฐบาลในประเทศผู้ซื้อระงับการชำระหนี้ต่างประเทศหรือบังคับให้ผู้ซื้อระงับการทำตามสัญญาเป็นการชั่วคราว
2. การกระทำการใดๆของรัฐบาลของประเทศผู้ซื้อเป็นผลให้ผู้ซื้อไม่สามารถทำตามสัญญาได้
3. การควบคุมจำกัดเงินตราต่างประเทศทำให้ผู้ซื้อไม่สามารถส่งเงินออกนอกประเทศได้
4. รัฐบาลของประเทศผู้ซื้อบังคับให้ผู้ซื้อชำระหนี้โดยสกุลเงินประเทศผู้ซื้อแทนที่จะเป็นสกุลเงินที่ระบุไว้ในสัญญา เช่น ดอลล่าห์ หรืกปอนด์เสตอร์ลิงค์ จนเป็นเหตุที่ทำให้ผู้ส่งออกได้รับความเสียหาย
5. เกิดสงครามกลางเมือง ปฏิวัติรัฐประหาร ฯลฯ ภายนอกประเทศผู้ขาย
6. เกิดมีการห้ามนำเข้าในประเทศผู้ซื้อ ก่อนสินค้าลงเรือ

การพิจารณารับประกันภัยและวงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครอง
ผู้ขอเอาประกันภัยจะต้องแจ้งรายละเอียดต่างๆเกี่ยวกับสินค้าตน เช่นประเภทธุรกิจ ประเภทสินค้าที่ขาย ประเทศที่ขายสินค้าไปให้ รายชื่อผู้ซื้อสินค้าทุกราย เป็นต้น เพื่อให้ผู้รับประกันภัยจะนำข้อมูลทั้งหมดไปประมวลและเสนอความคุ้มครอง วงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองและเบี้ยประกันภัยที่เหมาะสมแก่ผู้ขอเอาประกันภัย ผู้รับประกันภัยจะพิจารณาสัดส่วนและปริมาณการขายสินค้า โดยเฉพาะพิจารณากลุ่มลูกค้าของผู้เอาประกันภัย หากพบว่าผู้เอาประกันภัยมีการขายสินค้าไปให้กับผู้ซื้อที่มีความน่าเชื่อถือสูงและมีระบบการพิจารณาวงเงินสินเชื่อที่ดีแล้ว จะมีผลทำให้เบี้ยประกันภัยที่บริษัทประกันภัยเสนอต่ำลงได้ นอกจากนี้แล้ว ผู้เอาประกันภัยมีหน้าที่ในการแจ้งรายละเอียดเกี่ยวกับผู้ซื้อทุกๆรายให้ผู้รับประกันภัยทราบล่วงหน้า เพื่อที่ผู้รับประกันภัยจะได้ตรวจสอบความสามารถในการชำระเงินของผู้ซื้อแต่ละรายและพิจารณาวงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองที่เหมาะสมสำหรับการขนส่งสินค้าเที่ยวนั้นๆหรือการขนส่งสินค้าให้กับผู้ซื้อสินค้ารายนั้นๆได้ วงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองซึ่งผู้รับประกันภัยเสนอให้นั้นจะสะท้อนความน่าเชื่อถือของผู้ซื้อแต่ละรายได้เป็นอย่างดี นั่นคือหากผู้ซื้อมีความน่าเชื่อถือสูง ก็จะได้รับวงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองสูง ในขณะที่หากผู้ซื้อมีความน่าเชื่อถือต่ำ ก็จะได้รับวงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองต่ำ โดยที่ผู้รับประกันภัยจะจ่ายค่าสินไหมทดแทนสูงสุดไม่เกินวงเงินจำกัดความคุ้มครองที่กำหนดไว้สำหรับการขายสินค้าแต่ละครั้ง

อัตราเบี้ยประกันภัย
อัตราเบี้ยประกันภัยต่อปีอยู่ระหว่าง 0.1%-2.5% ของจำนวนเงินที่เอาประกัน เช่นเบี้ยประกันภัยต่อจำนวนเงินที่เอาประกันภัย 1 ล้านบาทอยู่ระหว่าง 1,000-25,000 บาท
การกำหนดอัตราเบี้ยประกันสำหรับสินเชื่อเพื่อการค้านั้นจะมีอัตราที่ไม่ทำให้เกิดภาระมากนักทั้งแก่ผู้ส่งออกจนขาดความสนใจในการทำประกันภัย ตลอดจนเกิดการไม่สอดคล้องกับนโยบายการส่งออก ส่วนใหญ่จะอาศัยหลักการ “ไม่กำไร-ไม่ขาดทุน” (no profit – no loss) เป็นแนวทางการดำเนินงาน ตัวอย่างเช่น หลักการใหญ่ๆที่ผู้บริหารนำมาคิดมีดังนี้1. หลีกเลี่ยงไม่ให้เกิดการขาดทุน โดยถัวเฉลี่ยจากรายได้-รายจ่ายหลายๆปีด้วยกัน2. ต้องเลี่ยงไม่ให้มีกำไรมากเกินความจำเป็นที่ต้องทีทุนสำรองเพียงพอสำหรับการดำเนินธุรกิจโดยเฉลี่ยหลายๆปี3. ให้ความเป็นธรรมแก่ผู้ส่งออกทุกคน โดยไม่ให้ผู้ส่งออกที่มีประวัติการส่งออกที่ดี (ไม่มีการเรียกร้องค่าสินไหม) ต้องเสียเบี้ยประกันมากกว่าผู้ส่งออกคนอื่นๆ

ในการคิดเบี้ยประกันสำหรับกรณีการส่งออก โดยทั่วไปจะพิจารณาปัจจัยต่างๆดังนี้
1. ลักษณะการค้าของผู้ส่งออก
2. ประวัติการค้าของผู้ส่งออก
3. จำนวนผู้ซื้อ
4. ประเทศผู้ซื้อและจำนวนประเทศที่ส่งสินค้าออกไปขาย
5. ปริมาณและมูลค่าสินค้า
6. ระยะเวลาสินเชื่อ
7. ประสพการณ์ของบริษัทรับประกันภัยกับผู้ส่งออก

การชำระค่าสินไหมทดแทน (Claims)แนวปฏิบัติมีดังนี้
1. ในกรณี ผู้ซื้อล้มละลาย: จะชำระค่าสินไหมทันทีเมื่อพิสูจน์การล้มละลายของผู้ซื้อได้
2. ในกรณี ผู้ซื้อไม่ยอมชำระเงินหลังจากได้รับสินค้าแล้ว: จะชำระค่าสินไหมทดแทนให้แก่ผู้ส่งออก 6 เดือนหลังจากครบกำหนดชำระ
3. ในกรณี ผู้ซื้อไม่ยอมรับสินค้าหลังจากผู้ส่งออกได้ส่งไปให้แล้ว: จะชำระค่าสินไหมทดแทนให้แก่ผู้ส่งออก 1 เดือนหลังจากได้ขายสินค้าต่อให้ผู้อื่น
4. ในกรณี ความเสียหายที่เกิดจากความล่าช้าในการส่งเงินออกนอกประเทศ (ผู้ซื้อ) หรือผู้ซื้อถูกบังคับให้ชำระเงินในสกุลเงินประเทศนั้นๆและผู้ขายประสพความเสียหาย: จะชำระค่าสินไหมทดแทนให้แก่ผู้ส่งออก 4 เดือนหลังจากวันครบกำหนดชำระหรือ 4 เดือนหลังจากผู้ซื้อได้ทำพิธีการส่งเงินออกเสร็จเรียบร้อยแล้วแต่กรณีใดจะช้ากว่ากัน
5. ในกรณี อื่นๆ: จะชำระค่าสินไหมให้แก่ผู้ส่งออก 4 เดือนหลังจากเหตุการที่ก่อให้เกิดความเสียหายหรือทันทีที่ความเสียหายได้เกิดขึ้น สุดแล้วแต่กรณีไหนจะเกิดช้ากว่ากัน
ก่อนที่จะมีการชำระค่าสินไหม ผู้ส่งออกจะต้องแสดงหลักฐาน เพื่อยืนยันว่าได้พยายามติดตามทวงถามหนี้จากผู้ซื้อหลังกำหนดวันชำระเงินแล้วแต่ไม่ได้ผล

ประโยชน์ของการทำประกันภัยสินเชื่อทางการค้า
1. ถ่ายโอนความเสี่ยงในการเกิดหนี้สูญจากการขายสินค้าของผู้เอาประกันภัยไปยังผู้รับประกันภัย
2. เพิ่มศักยภาพในการขยายตลาดในประเทศหรือภูมิภาคใหม่ที่ผู้ส่งออกไม่เคยดำเนินธุรกิจมาก่อน
3. ขยายตลาดในประเทศที่มีการขายอยู่แล้วให้มีปริมาณมากขึ้น
4. เพิ่มความสามารถในการแข่งขันของผู้ส่งออกในระดับประเทศ
5. ผู้ส่งออกจะได้รับบริการข้อมูลเครดิตของผู้ซื้อรายต่างๆจากระบบฐานข้อมูลของบริษัทประกันภัย
6. ช่วยบริหารสภาพคล่องและลดอัตราการเกิดหนี้สูญ

การประกันสังคมในประเทศไทย(Social Security Office )

2007-11-15T16:05:00.000+07:00

ข้อมูลจากสำนักงานประกันสังคม
หลักการ
การประกันสังคมที่ประเทศต่าง ๆ ใช้อยู่ในปัจจุบันจะมีหลักการที่ไม่แตกต่างกัน เนื่องจากการประกันสังคมเป็นโครงการการบริหารทาง สังคมในระยะยาวอีกระบบหนึ่งที่รัฐเป็นผู้ดำเนินการจัดขึ้น ด้วยการให้ประชาชนผู้มีรายได้แต่ละคนได้มีส่วนช่วยตนเองหรือครอบครัว โดยร่วมกันเสี่ยงภัยหรือช่วยเหลือบำบัดความทุกข์ยากเดือดร้อนซึ่งกันและกันระหว่างผู้มีรายได้ในสังคม ด้วยการออกเงินสมทบเข้ากองทุน เรียกว่า กองทุนประกันสังคม โดยมีนายจ้าง ลูกจ้างและในบางประเทศมีรัฐบาลร่วมออกเงินสมทบเข้ากองทุนนี้ด้วย กองทุนนี้จะจ่ายประโยชน์ทดแทนให้แก่ผู้ส่งเงินสมทบเมื่อเกิดความเดือนร้อน เช่น เจ็บป่วย คลอดบุตร ว่างงาน ชราภาพ เป็นต้น ดังนั้นการประกันสังคมจึงเป็นวิธีการหนึ่งที่ยึดหลักการพึ่งตนเองและช่วยเหลือซึ่งกันและกัน ของประชาชน โดยมีความมุ่งหมายที่จะเป็นหลักการพึ่งตนเองและช่วยเหลือซึ่งกันและกันของประชาชน โดยมีความมุ่งหมายที่จะเป็น หลักประกัน และคุ้มครองความเป็นอยู่ของประชาชน ให้มีความมั่นคงในการดำรงชีวิตแม้มีเหตุการณ์ที่ทำให้ต้องขาดแคลนรายได้ก็ สามารถดำรงชีวิตอยู่ได้อย่างปกติสุข
องค์การแรงงานระหว่างประเทศ หรือ ILO (1989) ได้กำหนดหลักการของการประกันสังคมของการประกันสังคม ไว้ดังนี้ 1. การประกันสังคมจะมีการบริหารทางการเงินโดยวิธีการจัดเก็บเงินสมทบ ซึ่งโดยปกติมักมาจากการสมทบของนายจ้างและลูกจ้าง ทั้งนี้รัฐจะเข้าไปมีส่วนร่วมในการจ่ายเงินสมทบหรือเงินอุดหนุนอื่น ๆ ด้วยหรือไม่ก็ได้
2. การเข้ามามีส่วนร่วมในการประกันสังคมนั้นจะเป็นลักษณะของการบังคับซึ่งมีข้อยกเว้นน้อยมาก
3. เงินสมทบที่จ่ายมานั้นจะจัดตั้งเป็นกองทุนพิเศษ ซึ่งต้องนำไปจ่ายเป็นประโยชน์ทดแทนตามที่กำหนด และนำไปใช้ในการบริหาร
4. ส่วนเกินของเงินสมทบจะนำไปลงทุนเพื่อให้กองทุนมีทรัพย์สินเพิ่มขึ้น
5. สิทธิในการรับประโยชน์ทดแทนของผู้ประกันตนขึ้นอยู่กับการได้จ่ายเงินสมทบ ที่เป็นไปตามเงื่อนไข โดยไม่ต้องมีการตรวจสอบความจำเป็น หรือการตรวจสอบรายได้แต่อย่าใด
6. อัตราเงินสมทบและอัตราประโยชน์ทดแทนจะมีความสัมพันธ์กับรายได้ของผู้ประกันตน
7. การประกันสังคมกรณีเจ็บป่วยจากการทำงานโดยทั่วไป จะมาจากการสนับสนุนทางการเงินจากนายจ้างแต่เพียงผู้เดียว โดยอาจมีรัฐช่วยจ่ายเงินอุดหนุน

ประเภทของการประกันสังคม
ในระบบประกันสังคมที่นานาประเทศถือเป็นหลักปฏิบัติกันอยู่ในปัจจุบัน จะมีประเภทของการประกันรวม 8 ประเภท คือ
1. การประกันการเจ็บป่วย
2. การประกันการคลอดบุตร
3. การประกันอุบัติเหตุและโรคอันเกิดจากการทำงาน
4. การประกันทุพพลภาพ
5. การประกันชราภาพ
6. การประกันการสงเคราะห์ครอบครัว
7. การประกันการเสียชีวิต
8. การประกันการว่างงาน

ขอบข่ายความคุ้มครอง
การประกันสังคมในระยะเริ่มต้นดำเนินโครงการมักจะให้ความคุ้มครองกลุ่มเป้าหมายที่จำกัด เช่นครอบคลุมเฉพาะผู้ใช้แรงงานบางประเภท หรือผู้ใช้แรงงานที่อยู่ในสถานประกอบการที่มีลูกจ้างจำนวนมากกว่า 20 คน ฯลฯ หลังจากนั้นจึงจะค่อย ๆ ขยายความคุ้มครองออกไปให้กว้างขวางยิ่งขึ้นเพื่อให้ประชาชนได้รับความคุ้มครองจากการประกันสังคมมากขึ้นโดยลำดับ ทั้งนี้ โดยหลักการแล้ว การประกันสังคมมีวัตถุประสงค์ที่จะให้ประชาชนทุกคนที่อยู่ในวัยทำงานได้รับความคุ้มครองโดยทั่วถึง และคุ้มครองไปถึงครอบครัว ตลอดจนเมื่อไม่สามารถทำงานได้ หรือต้องออกจากงานเมื่อพ้นวัยทำงานดังกล่าวไปแล้ว
นอกจากนี้การประกันสังคมมักจะเริ่มด้วยโครงการบังคับกฎหมายและบังคับใช้กับลูกจ้างที่มีรายได้ประจำก่อน เมื่อโครงการประกันสังคมในรูปแบบบังคับได้ดำเนินการไปจนประสบผลดีและสามารถอำนวยประโยชน์ให้แก่ผู้ประกันตนได้เป็นอย่างดีแล้ว จึงจะสามารถขยายออกไปสู่โครงการประกันสังคมในรูปแบบสมัครใจซึ่งเท่ากับเป็นการให้ผู้ประกอบอาชีพอิสระเข้ามาร่วมอยู่ในโครงการประกันสังคมด้วย

การประกัน(insurance)

2007-11-15T14:38:00.000+07:00

จากวิกิพีเดีย สารานุกรมเสรี

การประกัน (Insurance) คือการบริหารจัดการความเสี่ยงรูปแบบหนึ่ง โดยมีองค์ประกอบสามส่วน คือ ผู้รับประกัน (Insurer), ผู้เอาประกัน (Insured), และผู้ถือกรมธรรม์ (Policy Holder)(อาจเป็นคนเดียวกับผู้เอาประกันหรือไม่ก็ได้)

การประกันจักต้องผ่านกระบวนการพิจารณารับประกัน (Underwriting) เพื่อผู้รับประกันจักประเมินความเสี่ยงล่วงหน้าของ บุคคล, กลุ่มบุคคล หรือ ทรัพทย์สิน นั้น ๆ พร้อมกำหนด รายละเอียดความคุ้มครอง และค่าเบี้ยประกัน ผู้รับประกันอาจรับประกัน โดยแบ่งความเสี่ยงมาส่วนหนึ่ง หรือ ปฏิเสธ หากความเสี่ยงนั้นไม่อาจรับได้ หรือ ผู้รับประกันอาจรับประกันโดยเพิ่มอัตราเบี้ยพิเศษ เพื่อให้สามารถครอบคลุมความเสียหายที่อาจเกิดขึ้นในอนาคต

การทำประกัน เป็นสัญญาต่างตอบแทนที่ถูกต้องตามกฎหมาย โดยคู่สัญญาต่างมีหน้าที่ ที่ต้องรับผิดชอบต่อกัน ผู้รับประกันจักต้องคุ้มครองผู้เอาประกันตามรายละเอียดในสัญญาเมื่อมีความสูญเสีย เสียหายเกิดขึ้น โดยชดเชยตามรายละเอียดความคุ้มครอง ผู้เอาประกันก็มีหน้าที่ชำระเบี้ยประกันตามที่ระบุในสัญญาเพื่อให้ความคุ้มครองเป็นไปอย่างต่อเนื่อง

การทำประกันจุดประสงค์แท้จริงเพื่อแบ่งเบาความเสี่ยง จากบุคคล, กลุ่มบุคคล หรือ ทรัพย์สินนั้น ๆ ออกเป็นส่วนโดยร่วมกันชดเชยเมื่อมีความสูญเสีย เสียหายเกิดขึ้น โดยยึดหลักสุจริตเป็นสำคัญ และการทำประกันมิใช่สัญญาเพื่อค้ากำไร

แบบประกันมาตรฐาน แบ่งออกเป็นสองสายหลัก
1.การประกันชีวิต (Life Assurance) การประกันชีวิต หมายรวมถึง การประกันต่อความสูญเสีย เสียหายอันจะเกิดแก่บุคคล หรือ กลุ่มบุคคล โดยสัญญาจักชดเชยเมื่อมีการเสียชีวิต และอาจมีความคุ้มครองอื่น ๆ เพิ่มเติมเช่น การประกันอุบัติเหตุและสูญเสียอวัยวะ (Accident and dismemberment), การประกันกรณีทุพพลภาพ (Total Disability) , หรือ การประกันสุขภาพ (Health Insurance)
2.การประกันสิ่งของ (Non Life Insurance) การประกันสิ่งของแบ่งออกเป็นสี่ประเภท คือการประกันอัคคีภัย (Fire Insurance), การประกันรถยนต์ (Motor Insurance), การประกันทางทะเล (Marine Insurance), และ การประกันเบ็ดเตล็ด (Miscellaneous)

Should you file a claim?

2007-11-12T22:17:00.000+07:00

When to pay for a loss out of your own pocket or make an insurance claim and risk higher premiums.
February 4, 2005: 7:53 AM EST By Sarah Max, CNN/Money senior writer

SALEM, Ore. (CNN/Money) – A couple of months ago, my husband drove into our garage - with an expensive bicycle still on the roof of the car. The house and the car were undamaged, but the bike was beyond repair.
Like many insurance customers, I had opted for a policy with a high deductible of $1,000 because I knew it wouldn't pay to file small claims anyway. You risk paying higher premiums, or worse, getting dropped completely.
"Each company has different procedures, but generally if you file a lot of small claims that can be problematic," said Jeanne Salvatore, vice president of consumer affairs for Insurance Information Institute. "Statistically, most people only file a claim every 8 to 10 years, so if you're filing more than that you stand out."
The statistics were already stacked against me. Three years ago I filed a claim in New York after my mountain bike was stolen. I'm still paying for that claim via higher premiums on my homeowners insurance in Oregon.
Still, I decided to take what was left of my bike to a local bike shop to see what the mangled steel and carbon was worth.

What's it worth to you?
Insurance companies tell customers to inform them of a loss as soon as possible, but that window of time is usually about 30 days, according to John Bailey, an independent agent with George B. Bailey Agency in New York and former president of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York.
Though you want to act quickly, it's usually a good idea to find out what the value of the damage is before you talk to the insurance company or your agent.
"We've had instances where people are penalized for inquiring about a claim, even if they don't make a claim," said Bailey, who recommends not filing a claim if it's worth less than $1,000 over your deductible.
But, if the claim involves another party and there is potential for a lawsuit, it's wise to let your insurance company know right away.
"You might think your dog's bite or a fender bender was minor but that could lead to something major," said Bailey. You want your insurer on your side in a lawsuit, even if it means paying higher premiums down the road.
If the loss is related to a maintenance issue, such as a chronic leak or a few missing shingles, you probably don't want to file that claim, said Mari McQueen, senior editor for Consumer Reports.
A final consideration is your recent history of claims. "What gets people into trouble are small claims several times a year," said Salvatore. "It indicates there's a pattern there."

Who can you trust?
It would cost $3,000 to $4,000 to replace my entire bike, I was told by my bike dealer. "But you still might not want to claim this," he warned, not knowing that I write about personal finance for a living. "Your insurance company might drop you."
I called my insurance agent for a second opinion.
Before you confide in your agent, said Bailey, find out whether they are obligated report all inquiries to the insurance company.
"Each circumstance is going to be different," he said, explaining that it depends on the company's policy, the nature of the claim and the agent's allegiance with the insurer. Independent agents working for several companies, for example, may be in a better position to give advice than captive agents working with one company.
My agent told me she would have to report the inquiry if water damage or liability were a factor but, I gathered, it was safe to give her the details of my run in with the garage.
Would this claim raise my premiums? I asked.
"That depends," she said. On the one hand, my last bike claim did raise my premium about $50 a year, she said, but the formula for calculating a premium is based on so many factors that there is no way to know for sure.
Will I be paid the value of the entire bike or just the damaged parts? I asked.
"I'm not an adjuster," she said. "There's really no way to know until you file the claim."
With so many uncertainties, I decided to take my bike dealer's advice and not file the claim.
In practice, it was probably the right move. In principle, maybe not.
"There are a lot of people who will not make a claim even if the loss isn't their fault and is well over the deductible," said Mark Savage, a senior attorney with Consumers Union. "What's disturbing is that you're paying a premium that is calculated to cover the risk that you actually use the policy."

Insurance: On the job

2007-11-12T22:13:00.000+07:00

You may be better protected than you think, when it comes to losing your job or changing employers.
November 1, 2002: 2:05 PM EST
By Ellen McGirt, Money Staff Writer

Money Magazine (New York) - Worried about losing your job? You're hardly alone.

Some 4.5 million individuals lost their jobs this year, according to the latest survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And of course, for many, losing their jobs meant losing valuable health care coverage, too.

That's because under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986), if your company employs 20 or more people, it is required to offer you insurance for up to 18 months. But there is a downside: You may have to pay up to 102 percent of the premiums rather than the approximately 27 percent you paid, on average, while you were employed. (The extra 2 percent covers administrative costs.)

A smart idea: Determine what your premiums would be while you still have your job. "If budget is going to be an issue, it's better not to be surprised by the bill," advises Jennifer Ridley-Hanson, a Madison, Wis. financial planner. You may prefer to save for the extra expense or simply to choose a cheaper plan now, while you have the chance.

If you are married and your spouse also works, you now have a real incentive to scour both open-enrollment packages. "Pick the plan of the spouse most likely to stay employed," Ridley-Hanson suggests. While you're at it, see if your spouse can add you to his or her policy at any time, or just during open-enrollment periods.

A new boss
Many others are less worried about losing their job than they are about changing employers - which would force them to choose a new health plan.

But if you or a family member is hard to insure owing to a pre-existing health condition, you've got rights you may not know about. HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), which goes into full effect this year, is a series of health insurance market reforms enacted by Congress in response to, among other things, fears that the people who most need their coverage wouldn't be able to keep it.

Previously, a new insurer was allowed to deny coverage for any condition, such as diabetes, that had been diagnosed before you joined the plan. Now, HIPAA guarantees that you or your dependents cannot be denied coverage in a new group plan based on prior health experience.

If you've had insurance in a group or individual plan for 12 straight months, with no lapses in coverage of 63 days or more, then all of your medical needs must be addressed as soon as you enroll in any new group plan. If you do not have the required 12 months of coverage, your new insurer can refuse to pay for any of your pre-existing medical problems, but only for a maximum of 12 months.

Unfortunately, HIPAA will not help people moving from a group to an individual plan. And it doesn't eliminate the normal waiting period (often 30 to 90 days) that many health plans require. To maintain your eligibility for future group health benefits, be sure to purchase COBRA coverage if you expect to be out of work for any length of time.

The great insurance crisis

2007-11-12T22:08:00.000+07:00

Real estate deals are falling through. Rates are surging. And policyholders are getting dumped.
January 14, 2003: 11:35 AM EST By Sarah Max, CNN/Money Staff Writer

New York (CNN/Money) - Once upon a time, the stock market made money, mold was not considered a health hazard and homeowners insurance was something most of us simply took for granted.

But today we are in the midst of what many are calling an insurance crisis. Companies are raising homeowners' premiums across the board, and in some cases even tripling their rates. In many parts of the country issuers have completely shut their doors to new policies. Customers, meanwhile, are being scrutinized like never before and dropped if they file too many claims.
"It's gotten so that people will not use their insurance except in the most dire circumstances or are only buying insurance because their lenders are requiring it," said Doug Heller, senior consumer advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights , a nonpartisan organization in California.
Insurance has even become a deal-breaker in real estate transactions. Without homeowners insurance, remember, it's virtually impossible to get a loan. Not only are insurers more picky about the risks posed by would-be buyers based on their record of prior claims and their credit history, they are looking closely at past claims made on the property itself. "I've heard from a lot of Realtors who have either seen transactions fall through or have had to really scramble to find their clients an insurer," said Marcia Salkin, who heads an insurance task force created by the National Association of Realtors in August.
"We're advising people to start shopping for an insurance policy the day they enter a contract," said Benny McMahan, CEO of the Texas Association of Realtors.
Insurers say escalating repair costs and the increase in mold-related claims (especially in warm, wet climates) among other things, are to blame for higher prices and more conservative underwriting practices. Of course, their sagging investment portfolios haven't helped matters either.
"For 19 years the homeowners market was a loser for the property and casualty companies, but they weren't increasing premiums because they were making up for it in other places, namely the stock market," said Madelyn Flannagan, vice president of education and research for Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, an industry association. "Consumers are seeing price increases that should have been gradual over the last 10 years handed to them all at once."

We'll protect you -- for a price
In 2002, the average annual cost of homeowners insurance rose 8 percent to $553, according to the Insurance Information Institute, and in 2003 that number is expected to rise 9 percent to $603.
But in many parts of the country premiums are rising off the charts.
"Some people have really been hammered," said Lee Jones, spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance. "We have heard from people whose premiums have increased 100, 200 -- even 300 percent."
Homeowners insurance is regulated on the state level, though to what extent varies greatly. In more than half of all states insurers are merely required to file their rate changes with the insurance commissioner. In other states, insurance companies need approval from commissioners before they can raise their prices.
Regulation helps but offers no guarantee against higher prices.
At the end of 2002, for example, State Farm Insurance asked the Mississippi insurance commissioner for permission to increase homeowners' premiums an average of 42.5 percent, with an increase of 79 percent in some areas. In early January, the commissioner gave the company, which is the nation's largest issuer of homeowners policies, permission to raise rates an average of 19.9 percent.
"The majority of people in this state and probably across the country purchase a home for the most amount of money they can afford, so when you tack on this additional insurance money that can be too much to take," said Quentin Whitwell, director of governmental affairs for the Mississippi Association of Realtors. In extreme cases, he says, spiraling insurance costs have forced people into foreclosure.
"While we understand that rate increases affect policyholders, we need to be financially sound to cover our policyholders," said Kip Diggs, a spokesperson for State Farm.

We dare you to file a claim
It's reached a point, in fact, that some insurance companies have begun dropping long-time customers who file even the smallest of claims. Worse yet, Heller said consumers don't even have to actually file a claim to put their insurance in jeopardy.
"You so much as ask about your coverage and you can get dropped," he said, citing an example of someone who was dropped by his insurer after inquiring – but never filing – about coverage for a lost ring.
State Farm acknowledges that it has a company policy to make note of such inquiries, and that policyholders are in fact obligated to report all losses, regardless of whether or not they file a claim. "Even if you did not file a claim, the property did suffer a loss, and because we underwrite the policy we need to take that into consideration," said company spokesperson Diggs.
Recently, conventional wisdom has been that consumers should opt for a higher deductible and consider not filing smaller claims, even if they've already met their deductible. There is still some wisdom in this advice. But Heller says consumers with legitimate claims should not hold back simply because they're scared of losing coverage.
"That's like going to a restaurant and getting double-charged for eating the food," he said.
The best thing consumers can do to protect themselves, Heller notes, is to complain to their state legislatures and insurance commissioners.
"Public policy makers are on the verge of addressing these issues," he said. "We need to continue to ring the bell and let lawmakers know we're not going to put up with what's going on."

Flood insuranceFrom assessing risk and acting quickly to the limits of the government--what you need to know.

2007-11-12T22:02:00.000+07:00

September 2, 2005: 4:42 PM EDT By Gerri Willis, CNN/Money contributing columnist

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Images of people and debris floating in the streets of New Orleans seem so unreal you may think it could never happen to you. Think again.

Seventy percent of Americans live on the coast and may be vulnerable to flooding. In fact homeowners are 26 times more likely to be affected by a flood than a fire according to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.

In today's 5 tips we're going to tell you what you need to know about buying flood insurance.

Assess your risk
Flooding is the most costly natural disaster in the U.S., but only about 1 in 4 homes in high risk areas carry this kind of insurance.
Just because you may not live near a body of water, doesn't mean you can escape the risk of flooding. "One-third of claims we see come from people who live outside flood zones," says Sue Nestor of the IIAB.
To assess your risk, check out the National Flood Insurance Program's Web site at http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/index.jsp or call (888) 379-9531.
If you plug in some information on your home, Floodsmart will give you a flood insurance quote. While you can buy flood insurance through the same insurance agent that sold your homeowners insurance policy, you may want to find out some flooding estimates on your own.
This Web site will also give you a list of flood insurance agents in your area. Keep in mind that if you are moving to a high risk flood zone, like beachfront property, getting flood insurance may be mandatory in order to get a mortgage.

Know the limits
The National Flood Insurance Program has its limits. You can get up to $250,000 for the house and $100,000 for what's inside it.
Some homeowners may find that the National Flood Insurance is just not enough. If you want more coverage, you can get extra flood insurance through private companies.
American International Group for example lets policyholders insure their property up to its full value. Premiums start at $1,200 for $1 million in coverage in an excess flood policy, but could vary widely. Check out http://www.aig.com/gateway/home.
Chubb Insurance offers excess flood insurance at premiums of $1,000 for $1 million in coverage. Go to http://www.chubb.com/ for more information.
Remember that flood insurance covers damage resulting from rising water from outside the house. So a leaky bathtub, broken pipes or sewer back-ups won't be covered.
Keep in mind that finished basements including carpeting, wallpaper or personal belongings are not insured by the government, nor are they insured with an excess flood insurance policy.

Don't rely on government handouts
If your area has been declared a federal disaster by the president you will be able to get aid but this is simply a low-cost loan from the government.
"One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they think FEMA is going to bail them out," says Nestor.
But it's more like taking out a second mortgage on your home says Jeanne Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute.
If you use FEMA funds, you will also be required to purchase flood insurance before you pay the loan back.

Don't delay
If you've turned on the TV and you see a hurricane barreling toward your community, it may be too late to be covered by flood insurance.
While you can buy flood insurance at any time, there is a 30-day waiting period after you have already applied and paid the premium before coverage takes effect.
And let's remember the lessons we should learn. Less than half the buildings in Louisiana had flood insurance. In Mississippi, almost 80% went without coverage.

Beware of rising premium risk
Your flood insurance rate will likely rise, according the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. How much extra you'll be paying is still unclear.
Since Hurricane Andrew, there have been significant rate hikes of up to 6% according to the IIAB.
"I don't know how this program that's run by the government can bear the brunt of this burden," Nestor says.
Right now there is a flat-rate deductible of $500 or $1000. The typical premium is about $450 a year. If you live in a low-risk area, you could pay much less.
Take advantage of the NFIP's Preferred Risk Policy. You can get premiums for $85 a year. This policy is designed for properties located in low-to-moderate flood risk zones. Go to http://www.fema.gov/nfip/prphome.shtm for more information.

Talking to Your Parents About Insurance

2007-11-11T16:09:00.000+07:00

Are your parents adequately protected against financial loss? What if your parents' home burns down and there is insufficient insurance to cover the entire loss--can they come live with you? What if one of your parents is held liable for someone's injuries, but does not have liability insurance--will he or she be financially ruined? What if a parent becomes seriously ill and needs long-term care--will he or she have the financial resources to pay for this contingency? What if one of your parents dies unexpectedly--will the surviving parent have enough money to live on?

If you're a member of the baby-boom generation, your parents may be of an age where these concerns may be troubling you. The only way to get the answers and ease your worries is to have a heart-to-heart talk with your mother and father. This may not be easy for some people, but if you shy away from this topic, the consequences could be devastating. Your parents were there to talk to you about the tough issues--now you need to be there for them. How you choose to approach them will depend on the type of relationship you share (e.g. adversarial, open and warm). Here are some tips on how to break the ice:

Prepare for resistance
Your parents may find inquiries regarding insurance intrusive, regardless of the fact that you're trying to help. They may feel it's none of your business, or that it's demeaning for you to assume they haven't made the proper arrangements. Be prepared to explain that you're simply concerned about their well-being and don't mean to be nosy or presumptuous.

Keep it private
A discussion about insurance involves issues that are personal. Broaching the subject in a restaurant or other public setting is inappropriate. Keep the conversation private, and choose a setting where your parents feel comfortable--at their own kitchen table over a cup of coffee, for instance. Also, don't rush the conversation. Even though you shouldn't expect to finish or resolve anything during the initial exchange, be sure you've set aside enough time to comfortably address everyone's concerns.

There's safety in numbers
If you have siblings, encourage a group discussion. If your parents see that all of you feel bly, they may be more amenable to talking openly and considering your advice. If that's not possible, at least talk to your siblings about your parents' situation. Of course, if you have a sibling who is particularly good at rubbing your parents the wrong way, then perhaps you will want to exclude him or her from the discussion.

Be direct
Sometimes, the best approach is to put all your cards on the table from the get-go. If this is an option for you, find the right time and place, then just say, "Mom and Dad, we need to talk . . ."

The "I have a friend" approach
If a more subtle method is to your liking, you might describe an experience (real or hypothetical) that illustrates the consequences of not being adequately insured. For example, you could say something like: "Joe's father went into a nursing home a few years ago. His father didn't have long-term care insurance, so now Joe has to sell his father's house."

Discuss your own plans
Another indirect strategy is to talk about your own insurance needs or plans. Once the discussion is under way, you can steer the subject in the direction of your parents' insurance needs.

Ask for their advice
Parents are used to giving advice to their kids, not getting it from them. Start by asking them what they think you should do about a particular insurance issue. For example, you might ask if they think you should increase your life insurance now that a grandchild has been born, or drop the collision coverage on your 10-year-old car. From there, you can divert the topic to their own insurance needs.

Ask a simple question
Another "lead-in" approach involves asking a seemingly innocent question, such as: "Who is your insurance agent?" or "do you keep your insurance policies in case of an emergency?" Whatever answer your parents give will be an opening for you to ask other questions that are on your mind.

Bring in the big guns
Perhaps not during the first discussion, but at some point in time you may want to make an appointment with your (or your parents') insurance agent for an evaluation of your parents' insurance situation and needs.

Be patient
Realize that this process takes time. Your parents may need to think things over, and it may take several discussion sessions to work out all the details.

Follow your parents' wishes
Finally, remember that just because your parents have agreed to let you help doesn't mean that you can take charge and do things your own way. You should act only when and how your parents want you to.

Issues to talk about
Once you have successfully begun a dialogue with your parents about insurance, make sure you cover all the pertinent issues. Here are some you should not miss:

What policies do they currently have?
What policies do they have, but no longer need?
What policies don't they have, but need?
What are the details of their current policies?
Do their current policies provide adequate coverage? too much coverage?
How much can they afford to pay for premiums?
If there are beneficiaries, are the proper persons named? Have the proper designation forms been completed?
Who should be responsible for paying the premiums (you or your parents)?
Where are the policies kept?
Who is their insurance agent?

In addition, make sure you address each type of insurance that may be important for your parents, which may include:

Health insurance
Long-term care insurance
Life insurance
Homeowners insurance
Auto insurance
Disability insurance (though this may not be important if your parents do not have job earnings to replace)

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Protect Yourself by Conducting a Home Inventory

2007-11-11T16:05:00.000+07:00

When you live in the Snow Belt, the crisp air and brilliant colors of fall remind you that a snowy winter is just a breath away. And in the winter, bad weather conditions--or perhaps an untended fireplace--may wreak havoc on your property. If your household possessions are damaged or destroyed, you'll have a hard time recalling the price (and description) of every item unless you have a thorough home inventory on hand.

What is a home inventory?
A home inventory is a detailed list of the personal property located in your home. You should also include property that you have stored elsewhere, perhaps in a storage area or a garage on the premises.
Your list should include your furniture, jewelry, artwork, antiques, appliances, kitchen contents, clothes, carpets, drapes, computer equipment, television sets, CD players (and other audio or audiovisual equipment), musical instruments, clocks, mirrors, linens, lawn mowers, snow equipment, tools, sports equipment, and any other item of value.

Why do I need an inventory?
An inventory is especially important for insurance purposes. When you make an insurance claim for damaged, lost, or stolen property, your renters policy will require you to show the quantity, description, actual cash value (i.e., depreciated value), and amount of loss associated with each item. You'll also be asked to provide copies of bills, receipts, or other documentation to support your figures. If you omit some items or fail to include an adequate description of others, you may receive less than full compensation for your losses. Relying solely on your memory can be an expensive mistake. As an exercise, try to name every item in your kitchen junk drawer, and then imagine having to do that for the whole house!
A good time to conduct an inventory is when you're moving into a new apartment, condo, or other rental property. That way, if something is lost or damaged, you'll be prepared to file a claim against the moving insurance that you've purchased (or the insurance that the mover has provided).

Conducting the home inventory
Going room by room is perhaps the best way to conduct your home inventory. Make a list of each item in the room, opening drawers, closets, and storage boxes. Be as descriptive as possible. For example, don't simply note that a bed exists--describe the headboard, footboard, mattress, and bedding, writing down colors and dimensions. Don't forget the attic, hall closets, basement, and outbuildings. If possible, try to include the following information for each item:

Item description (and quantity)
Manufacturer or brand name
Model number or serial number
Description of where (or how) the item was obtained
Date of purchase or age of item
Receipt or other proof of purchase, showing cost
Current value
Replacement cost
Photocopies of any appraisals

A picture is worth a thousand words
It often helps to photograph or videotape your possessions, especially if the items are hard to adequately describe on paper or if you don't have a receipt. If you use a camera, label each photo with information about the item shown. If you use a camcorder, provide a commentary about each item in view. Date-stamp your video or take a shot of the date on that day's newspaper.

Safeguard and update your inventory
An inventory--whether it takes the form of a written list, a series of photographs, or a videocassette--will do you no good if it's lost in a fire or has otherwise vanished. Although you may want to have a copy of your inventory at home, you should also store a copy in a secure location, such as a safe-deposit box or your office at work. Include copies of your receipts and other supporting documentation. Finally, you should update your inventory at least annually to make sure that it accurately reflects your home's contents.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Top 10 Things to Know About Life Insurance

2007-11-11T16:02:00.000+07:00

We all recognize the importance of life insurance. After all, we want to make sure that our loved ones are taken care of when we die. But before you run out and purchase a policy, do some research ahead of time. That way, you'll be sure to get the best possible coverage at the right price. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:
1. Shop around
2. Never buy more coverage than you need
3. The healthier you are, the better the rates
4. Buy sooner rather than later
5. Realize the importance of periodically reviewing your coverage
6. You don't necessarily have to pay a commission
7. You may be paying more for monthly premium payments
8. Don't rely solely on the life insurance offered by your employer
9. Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
10. Buying more is sometimes cheaper

Shop around
When it comes to life insurance, it pays to shop around because premiums can vary widely. And thanks to the Internet, it's now easier than ever. Try out one of the many insurance websites that can provide you with instant quotes. Make sure the website you shop from takes into consideration the factors in your medical history that can affect the premiums.

Never buy more coverage than you need
The key to purchasing the right amount of life insurance is to have just enough coverage to meet your needs. If you have more life insurance than you need, you'll be paying unnecessarily for higher premiums. On the other hand, it's important not to have too little coverage, resulting in you being underinsured.

The healthier you are, the better the rates
It's true – healthy people get better rates on life insurance. You will be asked to pay a higher rate for anything that shortens your life expectancy (e.g., if you smoke, take medications regularly, are overweight, have a bad driving record).

Buy sooner rather than later
If you've been putting off purchasing life insurance because you don't want to pay the premiums, you may be doing yourself a disservice in the long run. The younger you are when you purchase life insurance, the lower your premiums will be.

Realize the importance of periodically reviewing your coverage
Any life change signals the need for a review of your overall financial plan. When it comes to life insurance coverage, you'll want to make sure that this major life event (e.g., birth of a child, children are grown) won't leave you underinsured or overinsured.

You don't necessarily have to pay a commission
One of the reasons for higher premiums is that most life insurance policies pay commissions to the agent/broker. However, you may be able to purchase a no-load policy through an insurer that sells no-load policies directly to consumers.

You may be paying more for monthly premium payments
You may not realize it, but you may be paying more for your life insurance if you pay your premium in monthly installments. Many insurance companies charge extra fees if you make monthly premium payments instead of paying the annual premium.

Don't rely solely on the life insurance offered by your employer
Many employers offer their employees some sort of group life insurance. But this amount of coverage is usually not enough to adequately meet your life insurance needs. In addition, group life insurance policies are not portable, meaning that if you leave your job, you can't take your life insurance coverage with you.

Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
If you're thinking about lying on your insurance application, think again. If your insurance company finds out that you lied about a health-related condition or your lifestyle (e.g., smoking habit), they may be able to terminate your coverage.

Buying more is sometimes cheaper
Life insurance usually costs less per thousand dollars once you get into higher coverage amounts (e.g., $250,000). If the numbers work out, you may be able to pay a lower premium while increasing your coverage.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

8 Things You Should Know About Auto Insurance

2007-11-11T16:00:00.000+07:00

Dealing with the ins and outs of auto insurance can be as tricky and confusing as trying to untie the Gordian knot. Although we can`t help you with the knotty Gordian problem, the following recommendations could help you figure out some of the more complicated points of auto insurance.
1) Determine appropriate coverage.
Help control the price you pay, just ask American Insurance Association executive Dave Snyder. For example, Snyder notes that half of your auto insurance bill covers liability and "that has to do with how you are going to use the vehicle, such as for commuting to work and your driving record. If you`ve got a clean driving record, you figure to pay less for insurance than you would if you had a speeding ticket on your record. You can control the other half of your premium which covers damage or loss to your vehicle, comprehensive and collision coverage."
2) Shop around for insurance.
"In most states," Snyder reports, "there are hundreds of insurers competing for business, so it`s possible to save hundreds of dollars by obtaining quotes from different auto insurance providers." Picking up on Snyder`s theme is his AIA colleague, Nicole Mahrt. Mahrt urges you to work with your insurance provider to get more than one quote. "It pays you to shop around, especially if you feel you`ve been paying too much."
3) Look for insurance discounts.
"Many insurers will give you a discount if you buy two or more types of insurance from them, for example auto and home insurance," confirms John Marchioni, senior vice president of Personal Lines for Selective Insurance, in Branchville, N.J. More cost-saving suggestions from Marchioni: "Ask about discounts for air bags, anti-lock brakes, daytime running lights and anti-theft devices."
4) Consider taking a higher deductible.
"You could lower your insurance bill by increasing your deductible," Mahrt says. "But just make sure you can pay the higher deductible if you file a claim."
5) Look into "stacking" coverages if you file an insurance claim.
Insurance trade group officer Daniel Kummer explains that stacking uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages means "you can collect from more than one of your auto insurance policies. Most states prohibit this practice, but there are about 19 states that either allow stacking or don't address the issue either through legislation or litigation," according to Kummer, director of personal insurance for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. "Be sure to check your auto insurance contract to see if it's allowed. "Be advised that you`ll likely pay a higher insurance premium if you have stacked coverage. "It could be 10% to 30% more depending on the litigious nature of the state in which you reside," says Kummer.
6) Check with your insurance provider BEFORE buying a car.
"Your premium is based in part on the car`s sticker price, the cost to repair it, its safety record and the likelihood of theft," answers Selective`s John Marchioni. Remember to avoid shopping by price alone. "You want an agent and a company that answer your questions and handle claims fairly and efficiently," emphasizes Marchioni, senior vice president of Personal Lines for Selective Insurance.
7) Notify your auto insurance company as soon as you change companies.
"Be sure to cancel your old policy," suggests PCI`s Dan Kummer. "Do it the same day, but don`t cancel your old policy until you`ve lined up a new contract. That`s important because some states like New York will fine you for the number of days you go without insurance." One last thought from Kummer on the subject: "Most auto insurers specify in your contract that you can terminate your policy any time you want by informing your company in writing about the date you wish that coverage be terminated or you can do that over the phone.
8) Pick the insurance payment option that best fits your budget.
"Generally, most companies will give you the ability to pay over time, but that comes at a price," says Kummer. "Your payment could increase a few dollars each time you pay by installment. Insurers can accept payments monthly, quarterly, or every six months, what ever is most convenient for you. Remember, though, that the more you break down your payments, the more the cost adds up."

Get the Home Insurance Facts

2007-11-11T15:53:00.000+07:00

Buying a home is one of the single largest investments that most people ever make. If you need to protect that investment, your main line of defense is homeowners insurance.
Just the basics
Most standard homeowners insurance policies will provide coverage for damage to your home (and many of the items in your home) caused by:

Theft
Fire and lightning
smoke
Frozen pipes
Ice and snow

Homeowners insurance also provides coverage for liability claims, medical payments to third parties, and legal costs if a lawsuit is brought against you. The most common amount of liability coverage included in a homeowners policy is $100,000, but you may need much more, depending on your circumstances.

What's not covered?
Read your homeowners insurance policy to find out exactly what is and is not covered. Do this before you suffer a loss, so you won't be surprised. Most insurers exclude damages caused by an act of war, nuclear accident, flood, earthquake, and terrorism, although you may be able to purchase special policies or endorsements that will cover these events.

A diamond is forever. Or is it?
Most homeowners insurance policies limit coverage for certain high-priced or hard-to-replace items. Additional endorsements or floaters will be necessary to protect items like engagement rings, watches, furs, antiques, and other valuables. You'll need to have each item appraised.

How much is enough?
Mortgage lenders require that borrowers purchase a minimum amount of homeowners insurance (typically equal to the appraised value or the purchase price of the home). But this is often not the amount of coverage you truly need. Instead, find out how much it would cost to rebuild your home, and consider insuring it for that amount.

You get what you pay for
Are you willing to pay more to have damaged personal property replaced? If so, consider purchasing replacement cost coverage with your homeowners insurance. When it comes to valuing property, insurers generally use one of two methods. The first, actual cash value, pays you an amount equal to the replacement value of the property, minus depreciation for the years you owned the item. The second, replacement cost, is more expensive, but it pays you the full value of the item today, so that you can replace the old item with a new one.

How deep are your pockets?
To save money, consider choosing a deductible of $250, $500, or even $1,000. In the event of a loss (e.g., water damage from a leaky roof), you'll be required to pay this amount out of your own pocket before your homeowners insurance takes over, but in the meantime, you'll save on premium charges.

Sound the alarm
Don't forget to tell your insurer if you have a home security system (e.g., fire, burglar, emergency). Most insurers offer discounts for such safety features. You may also qualify for a lower insurance premium if you live near a fire department or hydrant, own a newer home, own a home built out of fire-resistant materials, or get your auto insurance from the same company.

Shop around
Get quotes from several insurance companies when shopping for homeowners insurance. But remember, the lowest price does not always equal the best deal. Compare the coverage each policy offers, and check with your state's department of insurance to make sure that each company you're evaluating has a good reputation in the industry.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Crop Insurance in India

2007-11-09T15:23:00.000+07:00

The late seasonal rains of winter have damaged the rabi crop across India. Most of the farmers will look to the government for some sort of financial relief…but a few will be safe due to crop insurance.Whereas the insurance provided by the government in the past covered the risk from drought, floods, and pest attacks, the new private insurers and the new insurance policy also cover variations in rainfall, frost, lack of sufficient sunshine—the policy even covers variations in temperature, wind speeds, and humidity!The agriculture insurers have created a weather index to arrive at a threshold figure of these parameters and require the payment of a premium per acre from the farmer. Based on variations from the threshold figure the farmer is paid a sum of money—the greater the variation (and hence the greater the damage) the larger the amount paid.The private companies selling crop insurance are ICICI-Lombard and Iffco Tokio but the government-controlled Agriculture Insurance Company of India covers a much larger part of the country with their insurance schemes.The commodity trading in farm products and the use of financial instruments like futures will also help the farmers in realizing a better price for their season’s hard work.

See the weather-index based insurance product developed by ICICI Lombard with support from ICICI Bank and the World Bank (WB)

Crop insurance

2007-11-09T15:22:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crop insurance is purchased by agricultural producers, including farmers, ranchers, and others to protect themselves against either the loss of their crops due to natural disasters, such as hail, drought, and floods, or the loss of revenue due to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities. The two general categories of crop insurance are called crop-yield insurance and crop-revenue insurance.
Crop-yield insurance: There are two main classes of crop-yield insurance:
Crop-hail insurance is generally available from private insurers (in countries with private sectors) because hail is a narrow peril that occurs in a limited place and its accumulated losses tend not to overwhelm the capital reserves of private insurers. The earliest crop-hail programs were begun by farmers cooperatives in France and Germany in the 1820s.
Multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI): covers the broad perils of drought, flood, insects, disease, etc., which may affect many insureds at the same time and present the insurer with excessive losses. To make this class of insurance, the perils are often bundled together in a single policy, called a multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policy. MPCI coverage is usually offered by a government insurer and premiums are usually partially subsidized by the government. The earliest MPCI program was first implemented by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1938. The FCIC program has been managed by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), also a U.S. Department of Agriculture agency, since 1996.
Crop-revenue insurance: is a combination of crop-yield insurance and price insurance. For example, RMA establishes crop-revenue insurance guarantees on corn by multiplying each farmer's corn-yield guarantee, which is based on the farmer's own production history, times the harvest-time futures price discovered at a commodity exchange before the policy is sold and the crop planted. There is a single guarantee for a certain number of dollars. The policy pays an indemnity if the combination of the actual yield and the cash settlement price in the futures market is less than the guarantee.
Crop-revenue insurance covers the decline in price that occurs during the crop's growing season. It does not cover declines that may occur from one growing season to another. That would be called "price support," and would raise a series of complex agricultural-policy and international-trade issues.

Specialty crops
"A farmer or grower may desire to grow a crop associated with a particular defined attribute that potentially qualifies for a premium over similar commodity crops, agricultural products, or derivatives thereof. The particular attribute may be associated with the genetic composition of the crop, certain management practices of the grower, or both. However, many standard crop insurance policies do not differentiate between commodity crops and crops associated with particular attributes. Accordingly, farmers have a need for crop insurance to cover the risk of growing crops associated with particular attributes."[1]

Business Insurance

2007-11-08T21:52:00.001+07:00

The consumers with insurance policy disburse a premium for the tranquility of mind that if anything bad happens, the insurance corporation will recompense them for the loss and we would not loose the things which were insured. If the insurance corporation compensates out little for claims than it brings in from every existing policies it makes what is described an underwriter's earnings.
Hence perceptibly business insurance is a policy that is planned to supply the wants of a business more willingly than the wants of an individual. In common these kinds of policies defends a business from financial losses caused just about any type of calamity one can envisage, theft, fire, destruction and even business loss insurance can defend a business should they have a awful quarter or drop wealth for a short time. The business insurance can also aid in stabilize your business by instituting better credit relations and offer a retirement plan for your member of staffs.
Whether it is a big company or small enterprise, the accomplishment of a business all the time depends greatly on the creativity of its worker and hard-work. Still, a one tragedy can abolish all the proceeds, wipe-out a business and leaves a lot of hard-working workers on the street. The only means to make persuaded that all the capital and effort that have been devoted in a business is totally protected in case of any mishap to the business is to guard the business with a suitable policy.
Not always mandatory, the majority businesses have a certain kind of insurance whether they are for profit or non-profit company. That is reason why business insurance is very necessary for all companies as business dangers enhance every year. It is very essential to know which insurance to buy depending on the nature of business. If there are plenty of assets in business then the burglary and belongings damage insurance should be considered as well.
Innumerable hours from brilliant employees are exhausted in increasing your business. So it is very significant to plan to protect your business from a court case, critical force strike or various other crises.

Rental Insurance- Finding the Cheap One

2007-11-08T21:47:00.000+07:00

You can see that there's practical value in learning more about Rental insurance. Can you think of ways to apply what's been covered so far? If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole story from informed sources.If you live in an apartment, you may not think you need insurance or you may think your landlord's policy covers you. Think again! Your landlord's insurance covers only the building, not your possessions. This article shows you how to find cheap apartment rental insurance to protect your belongings.
Apartment rental insurance also covers you if ...* your apartment is damaged and you need to temporarily live somewhere else for a while.* Your property is stolen someplace else, such as if your laptop computer is stolen while you're at the library.* You damage the landlord's property and have to pay for repairs.
Decide How Much Coverage You Need
Your first step to get cheap apartment rental insurance is to decide how much coverage you need. Make a list of all your personal possessions and estimate how much it would cost to replace them. This will give you an idea of how much coverage you need.
You also need to decide how much of a deductible you can afford to pay. The deductible is the amount you pay on a claim before the insurance company pays. The higher your deductible, the lower your insurance premium. Just make sure you can pay the deductible if you ever need to make a claim.
Check with Your Car Insurance Company
To find cheap apartment rental insurance, first check with the company that insures your car. You may be able to get a discount for having both policies with the same company.
Other discounts you might be able to get include:
* Non-smoker's discount if no one in your residence smokes.* Security discounts if your apartment has deadbolts, smoke detectors, or other safety features.* Senior's discount if you're a retired senior.
Look on the Internet
Search online for companies that offer cheap apartment rental insurance. You can go to insurance websites, fill out a single form, and get fast quotes from several insurance companies. Make sure you use the same coverage limits, deductibles, and discounts for each company so you can compare them fairly.

Builder's risk insurance

2007-11-08T21:45:00.000+07:00

Builder's risk insurance is a special type of property insurance which indemnifies against damage to buildings while they are under construction.

Necessity
Buildings are subject to many different risks while under construction. They may catch fire, be damaged by high winds, or fall victim to other force majeure. One common theory is that any new construction becomes property of the owner once it is located on the owner's site. The general contractor may be responsible for any losses caused by his own negligence, but the owner is responsible for most other losses. Builder's risk insurance indemnifies against some of these losses.

Coverage
Builder's risk insurance usually indemnifies against losses due to fire, vandalism, lightning, wind, and similar forces. It usually does not cover earthquake, flood, acts of war, or intentional acts of the owner. Coverage is typically during construction period only.

Who buys builder's risk insurance?
It is usually bought by the owner of the building but the general contractor constructing the building may buy it if it is required as a condition of the contract.

Alternatives
If the project involves renovations or additions to an existing building, the owner's existing property insurance may cover the work under construction, obviating the need for builder's risk insurance. (Policies vary.) However, in the case of new buildings under construction on vacant sites, the owner may not have an existing policy that provides coverage.

References
^ The Architects Handbook of Professional Practice, Twelfth Edition, American Institute of Architects

Flood Insurance - Basic information on flood insurance.

2007-11-08T21:35:00.000+07:00

Flood insurance is a specific kind of insurance policy that protects your property against damage caused by flood, something that, contrary to the beliefs of thirty-three percent of Americans, can be excluded on general home insurance policies.
If you live in an area which is at a high risk of flooding, insurance against flood damage is something you should definitely consider. Insurance companies which offer policies which protect against flood damage will usually use topographical maps to understand the exact risk of flood damage that your home is under. Many insurance companies in the US do not offer flood insurance to everyone at risk, and to fix this, the National Flood Insurance Program or NFIP was created.
The objective of the National Flood Insurance Program, which is managed by the FEMA, or Federal Insurance & Mitigation Administration, is to allow everyone at risk of flooding to insure their property against flood damage. Participation in the National Flood Insurance Program is based on agreement between the federal government and local communities, and states that if a community prepares for the possibility of flooding, and adopt a flood plan management ordinance to reduce flood risks to new constructions in Special Flood Hazard Areas or SFHA's, the federal government will ensure that flood insurance is available to members of that community.
In the UK, particularly in light of recent events, flood insurance has a number of benefits, although, again due to previous events, flood insurance premiums are higher than average at the moment. If you are already a flood insurance policy holder, then your flood insurance policy will compensate you for the loss or damage of all covered items. In the US, you will still be compensated, even if the President does not declare a federal disaster. Flood payments will be dealt with swiftly, and you can even request an emergency payment immediately after a flood to help you recover from the damage even more quickly.
A flood is defined by the National Flood Insurance Program of America as "a general or temporary condition of partial or complete of two or more acres of normally cry land area or of two or more properties, at least one of which is the policy holder's property", and can be caused by a number of things. Mudflow, overflowing inland or tidal waters, unusual accumulation of surface waters from any source or the collapse of land along the shore of a lake can result in a flood. Although floods are far more common on land which is nearer to the ocean or large bodies of water, flash floods are also possible, and occur when an unusual amount of rain falls within a short time.
The effect of urbanization and, with more and more concrete roads and parking lots replacing natural land means that the lands natural ability to absorb water is decreased. This, combined with changing weather patterns, has made floods more likely, and more severe, as the recent flooding in England and New Orleans has shown. Floods don't necessarily need to be dramatic or contain a lot of water to damage your belongings; a single inch of water can cause costly damage to your home, and only a few feet of water is enough to carry your car away.
When choosing flood insurance, as with any other kind of insurance, it's important to look around for the best quotes. Homeowners insurance rates can change in light of recent events, and checking out different quotes, perhaps online, in order to find the best flood insurance plan for you is always a good idea. Flood insurance costs can also vary between companies.

Kids Off to College? Make Sure They're Protected

2007-11-07T16:21:00.000+07:00

Sending your kids off to college can be hard. All along, you've shielded them from injury and danger, but now they're on their own. Fortunately, you can still help protect them by making sure that they have the appropriate coverage.

Health insurance coverage is a must
Health insurance coverage is just as important for your college-bound child as it was when he or she lived at home. Accidents, illnesses, unexpected emergencies, and routine conditions may require expensive medical treatment. Many colleges even require health insurance coverage as a condition of enrollment.
In most cases, you can continue to insure your child under your own family health insurance plan. Most plans will continue to cover full-time students who meet the age requirements of the policy (e.g. under age 21 or 24). If your plan is a health maintenance organization with coverage restricted to local doctors and hospitals, you may need a separate plan for your child if he or she is going out of state. You may be able to buy an individual policy from a private insurance company.
Another option is to buy health insurance directly from your child's college (if offered). Since plans vary, pay close attention to cost and coverage provided. When reviewing a plan, consider the following:

Amount of deductible and co-payment
Extent of coverage
Types of services covered
Exclusions and limitations, especially if there are pre-existing conditions
Maximum benefit amount provided
Flexibility regarding choice of health-care providers and specialists

Make sure that your child is covered by auto insurance, both at home and away
When your child goes off to college, it's time to review your auto insurance coverage. Your insurance agent can tell you how your coverage and premiums will be affected.
For instance, if your child owns a car and is taking it to school, your insurance company may require that the auto insurance policy be issued in your child's name. Or, if your child borrows one of your cars for school, you'll probably want to list him or her on your insurance policy as either a principal driver or an occasional driver.
What if your child isn't taking a car to college? If you expect him or her to use your car during school breaks and summer vacations, it may be wise to list your child on your policy. But if your child won't be using the car regularly, ask your insurance agent if you're eligible for a premium discount.
Protect your child's possessions at college with homeowners or renters insurance
Like many college students, your child may be bringing a personal computer and printer, stereo, and other personal items to school. If your child commutes or lives in a dormitory (or other college housing), your homeowners insurance should provide a certain amount of protection for his or her personal possessions. But if your child lives off-campus, you'll need to purchase a renters insurance policy to cover his or her belongings. A renters policy may also provide liability coverage if your child injures someone or causes property damage. Your insurance agent can help you determine the amount and type of coverage you need.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Understanding the difference between HMO, PPO, and POS

2007-11-07T16:18:00.000+07:00

Question:
What is the difference among HMO, PPO and POS health insurance plans? Which is best for a small business?
Answer:
The size, needs and financial situation of a company are deciding factors in what kind of health plan or health insurance will be offered to a company. Larger companies frequently offer a choice of health plans or insurers, while smaller businesses tend to have price restraints, and are only able to offer one insurance provider.

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
On average, HMOs are the least expensive health option and the least flexible. Doctor's visits, preventive care, and medical treatment are given in exchange for a monthly premium as well as a co-pay of roughly $5-$10. To keep its costs down, HMO requires that you only see doctors who are in your HMO network.

HMO Prescriptions
As an employer, you can decide what percentage of prescriptions is covered by HMO and what percentage the employee will be required to pay. The coverage price may range anywhere from a co-pay of $5 for some drugs, to a co-pay of almost the entire amount for others. It is all at the discretion of the employer.

Emergency Treatment
By law, an HMO cannot require referrals for emergency care, so the only time an HMO will pay for medical care without a referral is for emergency room treatment. HMO does require patients to select a "primary care physician," to take care of your routine medical needs. This doctor is also able to refer you to a specialist within your HMO if needed.

Preferred Provider Organization
(PPO)A PPO is more flexible than an HMO insurance plan, allowing you to visit out-of-network providers, and does not require a referral from your primary physician, but it does come with a higher premium. The $5-$10 co-pay gives you financial incentive to remain in your network. Straying from your PPO network could mean that you will have to pay for the treatment and submit the receipt to your PPO insurance provider for a partial reimbursement. A PPO generally reimburses up to 80% of out-of-network costs.

Point-of-Service Plan (POS)
The POS plan is like a combination of the HMO and PPO plans. You are required to designate an in-network physician to be your primary health care provider. You are able to go out-of-network if you so choose, but in doing so, you will have to pay most of the cost yourself, unless a primary care physician refers you to that specific doctor. In instances like that, the health plan will then pick up your tab.

If you are interested in getting a health insurance coverage quote, log on to Insurance.com. Here you will be able to evaluate multiple rates from best-in-class health insurance providers - helping find the best health insurance coverage for you and your family.

College Student Health Plans

2007-11-07T16:15:00.000+07:00

By the time your children toss their high school graduation caps into the air, they'll probably have already secured the college they will attend, their dorm room, and have their freshman year courses all picked out…But is their health insurance as securely in place as the rest of these issues?
Many times, a parent's medical plan will cover their children until they're 24 years old. If your health insurance plan does not cover college students, it would be beneficial to look into what college health plans are offered at your child's university.
College health insurance plans may be subsidized by tuition at some schools, though not subsidized by the student's spouses or dependents, and may ultimately save parents money. College health insurance plans are not free, and the benefits may vary from college to college. Health insurance companies meet with committees from different schools to design a plan, specifically tailored to that school's students. At times, the health insurance plans may limit preventative care, but free services may be offered at the health center.
On the average, there's no charge for office visits, but students may be charged for lab work, x-rays, physical therapy, prescriptions, and procedures such as treatment for a wound. Other services that may be covered include mental health, well-child care, newborn and infant care, routine pap and pelvic exams, routine AIDS/STD testing, as well as cholesterol screenings. Typically, benefits will pay 100% for covered services at the college health center, but for coverage outside, a deductible may be required and coverage could drop to 70%.
It should be noted that premiums and benefits vary from college to college, due to state laws and marketing factors.

Pre-existing conditions can create problems
In some states, health insurance companies can exclude pre-existing conditions from treatment. This is called "blanket disability." For example, under this law, health insurance companies won't cover asthma or any other pre-existing conditions that your college student may have. This is possible even if the state won't allow the exclusion on "group disability" products.
Many HMOs require referrals for visits to out-of-network providers. If your child chooses a college out of state, and you want them to get prompt medical care without having to call home for a physician's referral, it would be a good idea to consider the college health plan offered by their school.
Things to consider when evaluating a college health insurance policy Several factors can make a crucial difference in timely care. Be sure to find out:

Can the student use any provider, or is the plan an HMO?
Is prior approval required for emergency room visits?
In the event of an emergency, what steps need to be taken?
If the student is on vacation, what kind of coverage do they have?
If the student is not enrolled in classes (during summer or winter break) do they still have health insurance coverage?
Are the most efficient treatment facilities at the college easily accessible?
What are the low-cost or free services that are offered through the campus health clinic?
Are any pre-existing conditions included?

If you are interested in getting a health insurance quote for your college bound student, log on to Insurance.com. Here you will be able to evaluate multiple rates from best-in-class health insurance providers - helping find the best health insurance coverage for your freshman.

The Right Time to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance

2007-11-07T16:11:00.000+07:00

The older you get, the more likely your chances are of requiring some type of long-term care assistance. And because you know that the cost of even just a few years of long-term care can easily wipe out your life savings, you're thinking about buying long-term care insurance (LTCI).
For the most part, deciding when to purchase LTCI will depend on your age and your ability to pay the premiums. Since premiums are based on your age at the time you purchase the policy, the younger you are when you purchase LTCI, the less expensive your premiums will be. However, there's a tradeoff. If you purchase LTCI early, you may be paying premiums over a long time period.
So, just when is the right time to buy an LTCI policy? Although insurance companies will write an LTCI policy for anyone between the ages of 40 and 84, most people purchase LTCI when they reach their 50s or 60s. That way, they won't end up paying significantly higher premiums because they waited too long to purchase a policy.
Should you purchase an LTCI policy?

Deciding whether you should purchase an LTCI policy depends on your individual circumstances. However, you may want to consider purchasing an LTCI policy if some of the following criteria apply:

You are between the ages of 40 and 84
You have significant savings and other assets that you would like to protect
You are in good health and thus insurable
You can afford to pay the premiums now and will be able to afford to pay the premiums in the future

LTCI policy features

The following is a list of common LTCI policy features. Some are part of the standard policy, while others are available as options and riders at an additional cost.

Coverage for skilled, intermediate, and custodial care
A choice of where care is received (e.g., private home setting, adult day-care setting, assisted-living facility, nursing home)
Trigger of benefits when activities of daily living cannot be performed independently (e.g. bathing, toileting, eating)
Guaranteed renewable provision (the policy cannot be canceled)
Inflation protection
Waiver of premium provision (premium payments are stopped while the beneficiary receives benefits)
"Free look" provision
Respite care coverage
Grace period for late payment
Third-party notification of missed premiums

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Health Insurance for Unmarried Partners

2007-11-07T16:08:00.000+07:00

Generally, and unfortunately, if an employer offers health insurance coverage to the spouses of employees, they usually don’t extend the coverage to unmarried partners too. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employers are not required to offer health insurance to any employees, spouses, or "domestic partners" (this term is often used to include same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples, as well as common law marriages). ERISA also does not compel employers that provide health insurance for employees and legal dependents to extend coverage to domestic partners.
Nevertheless, thousands of employers across the country have begun offering domestic partner benefits in the last several years, and the number continues to grow. Employment experts predict that this trend will continue, as small companies start to follow the lead of large employers that have introduced domestic partner benefit plans in recent months.
In addition, some state and local laws have recently been passed in favor of domestic partner rights. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle have ordinances requiring all businesses with municipal contracts to offer same-sex benefits if they offer benefits for married couples. Vermont recently enacted the country's first "civil union" law, which grants same-sex couples nearly all of the benefits to which the state's married couples are entitled. Provisions regarding health insurance are still being written, and it is not yet known what they will entail.
When benefits are offered to domestic partners, the level of coverage varies depending on the employer. Domestic partner benefits may include long-term care, group life insurance, family and bereavement leave, and most commonly, health, dental, and vision insurance. The definition of domestic partner may also vary from employer to employer. Some companies include same-sex couples, unmarried opposite-sex couples, and common law marriages. Others cover only same-sex partners on the grounds that opposite-sex couples can receive spousal benefits by getting married, while same-sex couples do not have this option. Regardless of how the term is defined, employers typically require domestic partners to sign an affidavit stating that they are in a lasting, committed relationship. They may also require that a couple live together for a specified period of time before they become eligible for domestic partner benefits.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.

Saving on Group Health Insurance

2007-11-07T15:56:00.000+07:00

Here are the frightening facts: the past three years have seen double-digit increases in group health insurance premiums and these increases were largest for the smallest companies. All indications are that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
As a business owner, if you think this is good cause to panic, you’re not alone. The rising cost of providing health insurance for employees is regularly cited as the number one concern of smaller companies today. Employers know how highly their workers value medical coverage, but many feel that they’ve been pushed to the wall and are now facing a fatal dilemma: pass the crippling rate hikes on to their employees, or cut benefits entirely.
The truth is that you don’t have to settle for one of two equally bad choices. If you currently have a health plan that’s straining your budget or have no health plan but would like to offer one for your employees, here are three tips to help you find a quality group health insurance plan at a reasonable rate:
Compare quotes and benefits from multiple insurance companies.
You wouldn’t buy a car without first familiarizing yourself with the different makes and models available. Similarly, when shopping for group health coverage, don’t limit yourself to the offerings of a single insurance company. The most convenient way to get an overview of the insurance options in your area is by working with an online agent. A licensed group health insurance agent can provide you with the benefits and rates from a large number of insurance companies and plans. With more to choose from, an agent will help you match your business to the best plan and save you money by making sure you’re not paying for “extras” that you and your employees don’t need. Make sure that any agent you work with, on or offline, is licensed in your state.
Consider a high-deductible plan.
Another way to save is by opting for a high-deductible plan. If your employees are healthy and don’t make frequent visits to the doctor, this may be a good option for you. You can save money and still retain valuable coverage for your employees through a high-deductible plan. Though they will face deductibles before coverage kicks in, your employees will be protected from the catastrophic consequences of having no coverage in the event of serious illness or injury. Your licensed agent can provide you with information on high-deductible plans in your area and help you determine if such a plan makes sense for your business.
Take advantage of available tax incentives.
Educate yourself on the tax benefits available to you as a business owner when you provide group health insurance for your employees. You may be able to fully deduct the premiums paid on your group health plan, and offering coverage as part of a total compensation package may reduce your payroll tax. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) provide another important tax break for you and your employees. These tax-favored accounts can be used in conjunction with certain high-deductible plans and your contributions to them are exempt from payroll tax. Talk to your agent about HSAs and HSA-eligible plans. All these incentives contribute to the affordability of your group health insurance plan.

Courtesy of eHealthInsurance Services Inc.

Please note that this description/explanation is intended only as a guideline.
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Long term care insurance

2007-10-30T10:57:00.000+07:00

The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.
Long-term care insurance, an insurance product sold in the United States, helps provide for the cost of long-term care beyond a predetermined period. Long-term care insurance covers care generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.
Individuals who require long-term care are generally not sick in the traditional sense, but instead, are unable to perform the basic activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, getting in and out of a bed or chair, and walking.
Long-term care isn't necessarily long term. A person may need care for only a few months to recover from surgery or illness.
As an individual ages, there is an increased risk of needing long-term care. In the United States, Medicare will not cover the expenses of long-term care, but Medicaid will for those who can not afford to pay.
Age is not a determining factor in needing long-term care. About 40% of those receiving long-term care are between 18 and 64. The late actor Christopher Reeve who in 1995 at age 42 became paralyzed following an equestrian accident and required 9 years of long-term care. Once a health condition occurs long-term care insurance may not be available. Early onset (before age 65) Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are rare but do occur. Michael J. Fox was 30 when diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Overview of No-fault insurance

2007-10-30T10:54:00.000+07:00

Most U.S. states have a 'traditional tort' liability system for auto insurance where recovery is limited by negligence principles. However, 12 U.S. states and the Commonwealth territory of Puerto Rico give drivers the option to operate under a "no fault" scheme where persons injured in automobile accidents are limited in their ability to sue other drivers or vehicle owners involved in an accident unless their injuries are particularly severe, sometimes referred to as the 'limited tort' option.[citation needed] The limited tort option provides for legal action only for bodily injury, not for property damage.
No-fault insurance allows for injured parties to sue for compensation for pain and suffering only in cases of exceptional severity. There are two definitions of "exceptional severity":
The descriptive, or verbal threshold definition allows for the insured to define whether or not they have crossed a defined severity line. The advantage of the verbal threshold is that it removes any incentive to artificially inflate damage amounts to meet some preset monetary loss figure. The primary disadvantage is that broad interpretation by the courts of the threshold can lead to over-compensation.
The monetary threshold sets a specific currency amount spent on medical bills before a tort is allowed. While this prevents over-compensation, it does sometimes lead to exaggeration of medical costs.
Also note that not all jurisdictions require that the insured use the no-fault system; in the United States, 3 of the the 12 states with no-fault allow the motorist to reject the threshold and sue. Rejection must be done at the time the policy is written or renewed; once the policy terms are set forth the insured may not change his/her mind without re-writing the policy.
No-fault insurance has the goal of lowering premium costs by avoiding litigation over the cause of the accident, while providing quick payment for injuries. However, critics of no-fault schemes note that it does not punish reckless or negligent drivers in litigation (because many cases don't go to trial), and that it is particularly difficult to sue if a person's injuries leave them with a handicap. Proponents of no-fault insurance point out that auto accidents are inevitable and that at-fault drivers should therefore not necessarily be punished, and that the presence of liability insurance prevents at-fault drivers in tort (or fault) systems from perceiving the lawsuit against them as an incentive to take greater care. Additionally, in regions with high numbers of uninsured motorists, the at fault party often does not have resources to pay their liability, leaving the accident victim with no recourse.
Critics also point out that many no-fault auto insurance jurisdictions have among the highest auto insurance premiums in the country,[citation needed] although no-fault systems tend to be more popular in areas with higher automobile accident risk.
Several US states have experimented with and repealed their no-fault laws. 24 states originally enacted no-fault laws in some form between 1970 and 1975. [citation needed] Colorado repealed its no-fault system in 2003. Florida's no-fault system is set to sunset on October 1, 2007.
In at least one state, New York, the no-fault plan suddenly and unexpectedly led to an enormous flood of litigation beginning around 1995 and continuing unabated to date (2007). As documented by the New York State Insurance Department and by New York's Court of Appeals, a billion-dollar-a-year "no fault fraud industry" has emerged, in which large numbers of people -- mostly immigrants -- are recruited by criminal "rings" to pile into automobiles which are then involved in deliberate or "staged" accidents. The "victims" are then referred to compliant "medical clinics" which supply unnecessary, questionable or redundant treatment and/or medical supplies. Medical bills are sent en masse to no-fault insurers, and when payment is denied, suit is commenced by a number of law firms which apparently specialize in just this kind of claim.
In 2002, the New York State Insurance Department amended the no-fault regulations to shorten the time period in which claims must be reported, from 90 days to 30 days; the new regulations also reduced the time in which medical bills must be submitted to insurers, from 180 days after treatment, to 45 days. According to the Insurance Department, these revised regulations have helped to reduce the number of fraudulent claims.
Nevertheless, no-fault litigation is reported to constitute 25% of all lawsuits filed in the New York City Civil Court.

Locked Funds Insurance

2007-10-30T10:52:00.000+07:00

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 unauthorised parties. In special cases, a government may authorise its use in protecting semi-private funds which are liable to tamper. Terms of this type of insurance are usually very strict. As such it is only used in extreme cases where maximum security of funds is required.
Locked Funds Insurance policies are not exactly insurance policies in the real sense. They possess characteristics similar to both ordinary types of insurance covers and International protectorate documents therefore they are more correctly known as hybrid policies.
They exist in 4 main classes: Class A, B, C and D (in decreasing order of strictness of terms). Additionally, these could either be "Interferral" or "Non-Interferral". The Interferral category allows its terms to be modified by special authority of the issuing government while the terms of the Non-Interferral category can only be modified by clauses present within the policy itself.
Locked Funds Insurance policies provide the highest level of security for funds and are rarely used because of the amount of protocol involved in its issue. Any amount of money protected by this type of cover is virtually impossible to tamper with, except the terms with which the insurance was drawn permits for such.
In effect, it eliminates unauthorised tamper for funds usually in excess of US$1,000,000 (One million United States Dollars).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked_Funds_Insurance"

Inland marine insurance

2007-10-30T10:51:00.000+07:00

Inland marine insurance indemnifies loss to moving or movable property and is an outgrowth of ocean marine insurance. Historically, ocean marine insurance held the transporter responsible for property loss before, during, and after the completion of the voyage. In the 1800s the non-ocean portion of the journey grew as cargoes were transferred to non-ocean vessels (such as barges) and the term "inland marine" was coined.
Inland marine policies became known as "floaters" since the property to which coverage was originally extended was essentially "floating." The coverage has grown to include property that just involves an element of transportation. The property that is insured under inland marine coverage is typically one of the following:
Actually in transit
Held by a bailee
At a fixed location that is an instrument of transportation
A movable type of goods that is often at different locations
The following coverages represent a wide range of the types of coverages typically called "inland marine":
Accounts Receivable
Bailee Customer's Goods
Builders' Risk
Communication Towers and Equipment
Computer Coverage
Contractors Equipment
Commercial Floaters
Dealers
Exhibitions
Fine Arts
Furriers
Installation
Jewelers
Leased Property
Mobile Medical Equipment
Motor Truck Cargo
Museums
Musical Instruments
Processing Risks
Rigger's Liability
Scheduled Property
Transportation
Trip Transit
Valuable Papers
Warehouse Legal

Types of disability insurance

2007-10-30T10:42:00.000+07:00

National social insurance programs
In most developed countries, the single most important form of disability insurance is that provided by the national government for all citizens. For example, the UK's version is part of the National Insurance; the U.S.'s version is Social Security (SS)—specifically, several parts of SS including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These programs provide a floor beneath all the other piecemeal forms of disability insurance in our societies. In other words, they are the safety net that catches everyone who was either (a) otherwise uninsured or (b) otherwise underinsured. As such, they are very large, very important programs, with a lot of beneficiaries. The general theory of the benefit formula is that the benefit is not large but is enough to prevent abject poverty.
Employer-supplied disability insurance
Since one of the top reasons for becoming disabled is getting hurt on the job, it is not surprising that the second-most important form of disability insurance is that provided by employers to cover their employees. There are several subtypes that may or may not be separate parts of the benefits package: workers' compensation and more general (but very basic) disability insurance policies.
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation (also known by variations of that name, e.g., workman's comp, workmen's comp, worker's comp, compo) offers payments to employees who are (usually temporarily, rarely permanently) unable to work because of a job-related injury. However, workers' compensation is in fact more than just income insurance, because it may pay compensation for economic loss (past and future), reimbursement or payment of medical and like expenses (functioning in this case as a form of health insurance), general damages for pain and suffering, and benefits payable to the dependents of workers killed during employment (functioning in this case as a form of life insurance).

More general (but very basic) disability insurance
These policies offer payments to employees who are (usually temporarily, rarely permanently) unable to work because of any injury or illness, even if it is not job-related. Unlike workers' compensation, this coverage may not involve any aspect of health insurance, life insurance, or payments for pain and suffering. Similarly to most employer-supplied health insurance, these plans are essentially just open-market plans with the advantage of a negotiated group rate. That is, they are similar to what an individual would buy, but they are purchased with a volume discount. Another general fact about them is that they tend to offer rather basic, low-end coverage, essentially because most people balk at paying for anything more. Sometimes each employee has the option to buy upgraded coverage if they are willing to pay for it.
Veterans' benefits
The various kinds of compensation and insurance that are provided to military veterans by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are very much analogous to workers' compensation, with soldiers, sailors, and marines being the analogues of the worker. In both cases, the overall compensation system involves more than just one type of insurance, but rather encompasses health insurance, disability income insurance, life insurance, and even mortgage insurance on VA mortgages. The scope of each of these is limited. For example, the life insurance aspect is limited only to paying (rather small) survivors' benefits to survivors of veterans killed in the course of their service; it is not a general term life policy.
Newsweek magazine's cover story for the issue of March 05, 2007 discusses the problems that American veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are currently facing in receiving their VA benefits. The article tells the story of one veteran who waited 17 months to start receiving payments from the disability income insurance aspect of his VA coverage. Another article, in the New York Times, points out that besides the long waits, there are also inequalities based on which state a vet is from and whether he or she is regular army, National Guard, or Reserve.[1] The Newsweek article says that even when a veteran manages to get his or her claim approved (which can be burdensome),
"The compensation is not huge. A veteran with a disability rating of 100 percent gets about $2,400 a month—more if he or she has children. A 50 percent rating brings in around $700 a month. But for many returning servicemen burdened with wounds, it is, initially at least, their sole income."[2]
A sidebar in the same Newsweek article[3] points out an even more depressing truth: the Americans injured in these wars, for all the obstacles to proper care, will still probably receive much better compensation and healthcare in years to come than their injured Afghani or Iraqi colleagues. And of the two groups (U.S. disabled vets and middle-eastern disabled vets), the latter group is larger.
Individual disability insurance policies
Those whose employers do not provide benefits, and self-employed individuals who desire disability coverage, may purchase their own policies on the open market. Premiums and available benefits for individual coverage vary considerably between different companies, for individuals in different occupations, and by State and Country. In general, premiums are higher for policies that provided more monthly benefit, pay the benefit for a longer period of time, and start payments for benefits more quickly following a disability. Premiums also tend to be higher for policies that define disability in broader terms, meaning the policy would pay benefits in a wider variety of circumstances.

Crop insurance

2007-10-30T10:41:00.000+07:00

Crop insurance is purchased by agricultural producers, including farmers, ranchers, and others to protect themselves against either the loss of their crops due to natural disasters, such as hail, drought, and floods, or the loss of revenue due to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities. The two general categories of crop insurance are called crop-yield insurance and crop-revenue insurance.
Crop-yield insurance: There are two main classes of crop-yield insurance:
Crop-hail insurance is generally available from private insurers (in countries with private sectors) because hail is a narrow peril that occurs in a limited place and its accumulated losses tend not to overwhelm the capital reserves of private insurers. The earliest crop-hail programs were begun by farmers cooperatives in France and Germany in the 1820s.
Multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI): covers the broad perils of drought, flood, insects, disease, etc., which may affect many insureds at the same time and present the insurer with excessive losses. To make this class of insurance, the perils are often bundled together in a single policy, called a multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policy. MPCI coverage is usually offered by a government insurer and premiums are usually partially subsidized by the government. The earliest MPCI program was first implemented by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1938. The FCIC program has been managed by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), also a U.S. Department of Agriculture agency, since 1996.
Crop-revenue insurance: is a combination of crop-yield insurance and price insurance. For example, RMA establishes crop-revenue insurance guarantees on corn by multiplying each farmer's corn-yield guarantee, which is based on the farmer's own production history, times the harvest-time futures price discovered at a commodity exchange before the policy is sold and the crop planted. There is a single guarantee for a certain number of dollars. The policy pays an indemnity if the combination of the actual yield and the cash settlement price in the futures market is less than the guarantee.
Crop-revenue insurance covers the decline in price that occurs during the crop's growing season. It does not cover declines that may occur from one growing season to another. That would be called "price support," and would raise a series of complex agricultural-policy and international-trade issues.

Family Income Benefit Insurance

2007-10-30T10:32:00.000+07:00

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (August 2006)
Family Income Benefit Insurance pays a monthly income if the policyholder dies whilst the policy is in force. The monthly income will continue at the level specified in the policy until the policy's termination date. These payments can either be index linked to rise to in line with inflation or to continue at a flat rate. If the policyholder lives to the end of the policy’s term, no benefit is payable.
Family Income Benefit Insurance policies can be held by one policyholder (a single policy) or by two policyholders (a joint policy). In the case of a joint policy, the policy will commence paying out at the death of either policyholder. If both policyholders die whilst the policy is in force, the policy will still only pay out once per month.
Family Income Benefit Insurance is primarily used to ensure that a family’s income is maintained at an acceptable level if the main income providers were to die. It can also be used within divorce settlements to ensure that agreed monthly income support for children and/or the ex matrimonial partner, will continue until an agreed date if the party providing the income were to die whilst the policy was in force.
Family Income Benefit Insurance does not involve any investment and the policy has no surrender value at any stage.
Family Income Benefit Insurance can also be combined with Life Insurance, Mortgage Life Insurance and Critical illness insurance as part of a package of insurances to provide financial protection for the family.
Family Income Benefit Insurance is popular in the UK but is relatively unknown in other parts of the world.
The sale of Family Income Benefit Insurance in the UK is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Loan protection insurance

2007-10-30T10:30:00.000+07:00

Loan protection insurance, or loan payment protection insurance, is a form of payment protection insurance. This type of insurance can help you protect your monthly loan payments if you become unemployed or suffer an accident or sickness.
Loan protection insurance will typically be used to protect a personal loan, car loan or car finance agreement. These finance companies will offer loan protection insurance as part of the loan as they earn commission on each policy sold. However, the premiums (and commissions) are high so shop around to save money. Loan insurance is available as a stand alone separate policy.
Policies are generally available to people between 18 and 65 who are actively working.
In the event of being unable to work, the policy will pay a monthly benefit to you for a maximum of 12 or 24 months. These loan insurance plans are General Insurance policies and as such do not accrue any positive cash value.

Corporate-owned life insurance

2007-10-30T10:29:00.000+07:00

Corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) is life insurance on employees' lives that is owned by the employer corporation. COLI was originally purchased on the lives of key employees and executives by a company to hedge against the financial cost of losing key employees to unexpected death, the risk of recruiting and training replacements of necessary or highly-trained personnel, or to fund corporate obligations to redeem stock upon the death of an owner. This use is commonly known as "key man" or "key person" insurance.
Death benefits paid under a life insurance policy due to the death of the insured are usually excluded from the taxable income of the beneficiary under the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC"). Because of the tax-free nature of death benefits, the IRC also prohibits the deduction of the premiums paid for life insurance when the premium payor is also the owner of the insurance. In addition, loans from insurers secured by policy values are not income and earnings credited to an owner's policy values (known as "inside buildup") by the insurance company are not currently taxed (and may escape taxation altogether if such earnings are not distributed other than as part of the death benefits paid upon the death of the insured). Interest incurred on indebtedness has historically be deductible,(although the deduction of "personal" interest was largely eliminated in 1986), however, and so in the 1950s a type of "leveraged insurance" transaction began being marketed that permitted an insurance owner to in effect deduct the cost of paying for insurance by (1) paying large premiums to create cash values, (2) "borrowing" against the cash value to in effect strip out the large premiums, and (3) paying deductible "interest" back to the insurer that was in turn credited to the policy's cash value as tax-deferred earnings on the policy that could fund the insurer's legitimate charges against policy value for cost of insurance, etc.
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") had early success in challenging the bona fides of these types of arrangements as creating legitimate debt and interest eligible to be deducted under the IRC provision permitting interest deductions in the Supreme Court case known as Knetsch v. U.S. Subsequent court losses and amendments to the relevant provisions of the IRC had the effect, however, of appearing to permit tax-deductible borrowing to provide funds to pay insurance premiums so long as such borrowing did not account for more than three of the first seven annual premiums on the policy (the "4 out of 7" test). Another IRC amendment limited the amount that could be borrowed (and yet yield deductible interest payments) with respect to any one insured to $50,000.
The advantage of being able to deduct interest, on the one hand, and yet not include in income the interest credited to the policy's cash value is a form of "tax arbitrage." Although the 4 out of 7 test was exploited in the 1980s by businesses seeking to in effect pay for insurance on employees/shareholders, e.g., on a deductible basis, the introduction of the $50,000 cap/insured in 1986 in turn led to the creation of broad-based leveraged COLI transactions, i.e., those in which the employer would purchase life insurance on hundreds or thousands of (usually low-level) employees, that would produce tax savings on interest deductions in excess of the actual cost to the employer of engaging in the transaction. These transactions were deemed by the IRS to be "tax shelters."
In a typical broad-based leveraged COLI transaction, a corporate employer would purchase policies on masses of lower-level employees, sometimes without the employees' knowledge or consent. When an insured employee died, the company received the death benefits, and the employee's family typically received either a small portion of the proceeds or nothing. These policies could remain in place even after the employee quits or retires. This practice of taking out life insurance policies on large numbers of rank-and-file employees, with or without their knowledge or consent, with the corporation making itself the beneficiary became known derisively as "janitor insurance" or "dead peasant insurance." Often the real purpose of the transaction was to obtain the benefits of the tax arbitrage and not to acquire insurance.
Ultimately, the IRS won court cases against several leveraged COLI investors, including Camelot Music, Winn-Dixie, American Electric Power, and Dow Chemical. Other similar investors settled their tax cases with the IRS on a basis mostly favorable to the IRS. In the meanwhile, Congress amended the IRC several times again to both ensure that the prohibition on borrowing (on a deductible basis) to fund insurance acquisitions was clear and to deny the tax-free nature of death benefits to corporate employer in some situations (e.g., if the insured was not provided with adequate advance notice and an opportunity to block the insurance acquisition or if the insured was not an employee of the corporation within a year of his or her death). So long as the employer complies with the new rules (adopted in 2006 and characterized as the "COLI Best Practices Act"), however, the tax free nature of the death benefits and the tax deferral on earnings credited to policy value remain (although the opportunity for tax arbitrage no longer exists).
Accordingly, corporate-owned life insurance is still a viable and useful financial product for many businesses. According to one source, Hartford Life Insurance estimated that one-quarter of all Fortune 500 companies have COLI policies, which cover the lives of about 5 million employees.

Critical illness insurance

2007-10-30T10:27:00.000+07:00

The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.
Critical illness insurance or critical illness cover is a contract, invented by Dr Marius Barnard [1], where an insurer makes a lump sum cash payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses listed on the insurance policy and survives a minimum number of days (the survival period) from the date the illness was first diagnosed.
The schedule of insured illnesses and the survival period varies between insurance companies. 30 days and 28 days are the most common survival periods but some companies have adopted a 14 day survival period. The contract terms contain specific rules that define when a diagnosis of a critical illness is considered validated. It may state that the diagnosis need be made by a physician who specialises in that illness or condition, or it may name specific tests, e.g. EKG changes of a myocardial infarction, that confirm the diagnosis.

Types of reinsurance

2007-10-30T10:17:00.000+07:00

Proportional
Proportional reinsurance (the types of which are quota share & surplus reinsurance) involves one or more reinsurers taking a stated percent share of each policy that an insurer produces ("writes"). This means that the reinsurer will receive that stated percentage of each dollar of premiums and will pay that percentage of each dollar of losses. In addition, the reinsurer will allow a "ceding commission" to the insurer to compensate the insurer for the costs of writing and administering the business (agents' commissions, modelling, paperwork, etc.).
The insurer may seek such coverage for several reasons. First, the insurer may not have sufficient capital to prudently retain all of the exposure that it is capable of producing. For example, it may only be able to offer $1 million in coverage, but by purchasing proportional reinsurance it might double or triple that limit. Premiums and losses are then shared on a pro rata basis. For example, an insurance company might purchase a 50% quota share treaty; in this case they would share half of all premium and losses with the reinsurer. In a 75% quota share, they would share (cede) 3/4 of all premiums and losses.
The other form of proportional reinsurance is surplus share or surplus of line treaty. In this case, a retained “line” is defined as the ceding company's retention - say $100,000. In a 9 line surplus treaty the reinsurer would then accept up to $900,000 (9 lines). So if the insurance company issues a policy for $100,000, they would keep all of the premiums and losses from that policy. If they issue a $200,000 policy, they would give (cede) half of the premiums and losses to the reinsurer (1 line each). The maximum underwriting capacity of the cedant would be $ 1,000,000 in this example. Surplus treaties are also known as variable quota shares.
Non-proportional
Non-proportional reinsurance only responds if the loss suffered by the insurer exceeds a certain amount, called the retention or priority. An example of this form of reinsurance is where the insurer is prepared to accept a loss of $1 million for any loss which may occur and purchases a layer of reinsurance of $4m in excess of $1 million - if a loss of $3 million occurs the insurer pays the $3 million to the insured(s), and then recovers $2 million from its reinsurer(s). In this example, the reinsured will retain any loss exceeding $5 million unless they have purchased a further excess layer (second layer) of say $10 million excess of $5 million. The main forms of non-proportional reinsurance are excess of loss and stop loss. Excess of loss reinsurance can have three forms - "Per Risk XL" (Working XL), "Per Occurrence or Per Event XL" (Catastrophe or Cat XL), and "Aggregate XL". In per risk, the cedant’s insurance policy limits are greater than the reinsurance retention. For example, an insurance company might insure commercial property risks with policy limits up to $10 million and then buy per risk reinsurance of $5 million in excess of $5 million. In this case a loss of $6 million on that policy will result in the recovery of $1 million from the reinsurer. In catastrophe excess of loss, the cedant’s per risk retention is usually be less than the cat reinsurance retention (this is not important as these contracts usually contain a 2 risk warranty i.e. they are designed to protect the reinsured against catastrophic events that involve more than 1 policy). For example, an insurance company issues homeowner's policies with limits of up to $500,000 and then buys catastrophe reinsurance of $22,000,000 in excess of $3,000,000. In that case, the insurance company would only recover from reinsurers in the event of multiple policy losses in one event (i.e., hurricane, earthquake, flood, etc.). Aggregate XL afford a frequency protection to the reinsured. For instance if the company retains $1m net any one vessel, the cover $10m in the aggregate excess $5m in the aggregate would equate to 10 total losses in excess of 5 total losses (or more partial losses). Aggregate covers can also be linked to the cedant's gross premium income during a 12 month period, with limit and deductible expressed as percentages and amounts. Such covers are then known as "Stop Loss" or annual aggregate XL.

Functions of reinsurance

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There are many reasons why an insurance company would choose to reinsure as part of its responsibility to manage a portfolio of risks for the benefit of its policyholders and investors : Risk transfer
The main use of any insurer that might practice reinsurance is to allow the company to assume greater individual risks than its size would otherwise allow, and to protect a company against losses. Reinsurance allows an insurance company to offer higher limits of protection to a policyholder than its own assets would allow. For example, if the principal insurance company can write only $10 million in limits on any given policy, it can reinsure (or cede) the amount of the limits in excess of $10 million.
Reinsurance’s highly refined uses in recent years include applications where reinsurance was used as part of a carefully planned hedge strategy.
Income smoothing
Reinsurance can help to make an insurance company’s results more predictable by absorbing larger losses and reducing the amount of capital needed to provide coverage.
Surplus relief
An insurance company's writings are limited by its balance sheet (this test is known as the solvency margin). When that limit is reached, an insurer can either stop writing new business, increase its capital or buy "surplus relief" reinsurance. The latter is usually done on a quota share basis and is an efficient way of not having to turn clients away or raise additional capital.
Arbitrage
The insurance company may be motivated by arbitrage in purchasing reinsurance coverage at a lower rate than what they charge the insured for the underlying risk.

Reinsurance

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Reinsurance is a means by which an insurance company can protect itself against the risk of losses with other insurance companies. Individuals and corporations obtain insurance policies to provide protection for various risks (hurricanes, earthquakes, lawsuits, collisions, sickness and death, etc.). Reinsurers, in turn, provide insurance to insurance companies.

Landlords insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Landlords insurance is a policy to cover a property owner from financial losses connected with their property which they let out. Mainly a landlord insurance policy will cover the building itself with the option of including the contents left within.
The policy will normally cover standard perils such as fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, storm, flood, escape of water/oil, subsidence, theft and malicious damage. Each insurance policy is different and may or may not include all these items. Most companies will provide the option to have extra cover on top of what is considered the standard cover. This may be something like accidental damage, legal protection or rent guarantee cover.
Common differences in use of the phrase landlords insurance is buy to let insurance, let property insurance, rented property insurance, or property owners insurance.

Payment protection insurance

2007-10-30T08:34:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please improve this article if you can. (December 2006)
Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is a type of insurance that provides an income to maintain a borrower’s debt repayments in the event of an accident or sickness that prevents them from working, or unemployment.
PPI policies are obtainable to protect most forms of personal debt, including personal loans, mortgages, and credit card repayments. Insurance cover is frequently purchased through the lender when the finance arrangement is organized. However, stand-alone policies are available at any time.
To be qualified for PPI cover, the purchaser will typically have to be aged between 18 and 65 (or higher in some circumstances), and employed for at least 16 hours a week (or on a long term contract or have been self-employed for a period of time).
All PPI policies have a waiting period at the start of each claim before payments commence.
Once the insurer has accepted a claim, the payment periods will vary but claims are typically, paid for up to 12 months (but some may last as long as 24 months).
Whilst Payment Protection Insurance is the formal name given to this type of insurance, it is also sold under a host of other names such as: Accident Sickness and Unemployment Insurance, Accident Sickness and Redundancy Insurance, Premium Protection Insurance, Income Protection Insurance, Mortgage Payment Protection, Mortgage Payment Insurance and Loan Protection Insurance.
In fact, PPI has become a major source of income for UK banks with Datamonitor estimating that total premiums in 2005 were £5.7bn, although this was a decline from the year before. Considering that claims ration have historically been in the region of 15-20%, compared to claims rates that can be over five times as high in household and motor insurance, PPI remains a very profitable product. However, the rapid rise in UK bad debt and personal insolvencies, notably from 2005 onwards, coupled with increasing regulatory interest may have very negative implications for the long-term profitability of PPI.

Universal life insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Universal Life is a type of permanent life insurance based on a cash value. That is, the policy is established with the insurer where premium payments above the cost of insurance are credited to the cash value. The cash value is credited each month with interest, and the policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge, which is drawn from the cash value if no premium payment is made that month. The interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer; often it is pegged to a financial index. Because only the amount of interest credited and not the cash value itself varies, UL policies offer a stable investment option. A similar type of policy that was developed from universal life policies is the variable universal life insurance policy, or VUL. VUL's allow the cash value to be directed to a number of separate accounts that operate like mutual funds and can be invested in stock or bond investments with greater risk and potential reward. Additionally, there is the recent addition of Equity Indexed Universal Life contracts that invest in Index Options on the movement of an Index such as the S&P 500, Russell 2000, and the Dow (to name a few). These type of contracts only participate in the movement of Index and not the actual purchase of stocks, bonds or mutual funds. They may have a cap (but not always) as to the maximum amount they will credit interest to and a minimum guarantee which keeps the principle of the contract from losing money in a down year. Typically each year the starting point is last year's ending point which means that: (1) the policy amount is locked end at the end of the year; and, (2)the beginning value from which the movement measured is reset.
Universal life is similar in some ways to, and was developed from whole life insurance. The potential advantage of the universal life policy is in its flexibility and the potential for greater cash value growth if the interest rates offered outperform the insurer's general account (that whole life policy cash value growth is based on). Universal life is more flexible than whole life in two primary ways: the death benefit and usually the premium payment are flexible. The death benefit can be increased (subject to insurability) and decreased without surrendering the policy or getting a new one as would be required with whole life. Also a range of premium payments can be made to the policy, from a minimum amount to cover various guarantees the policy may offer to the maximum amount allowed by IRS rules. The primary difference is that the universal life policy shifts some of the risk for maintaining the death benefit to the insured. In a whole life policy, as long as every premium payment is made, the death benefit is guaranteed to be paid if the insured dies. In a UL the policy will lapse (the death benefit will no longer be in force) if the cash value or premium payments are not enough to cover the cost of insurance. To make their policies more attractive insurers often add guarantees, where if certain premium payments are made for a given period, the policy will remain in force even if the cash value drops to zero.
There are two other areas that differentiate Universal Life from Whole Life Insurance. The first is that the expenses, charges and cost of insurance within a Universal Life contract are transparently disclosed to the insured, whereas a Whole Life Insurance policy has traditionally hidden this type of information from the policyholder. Secondly, there are more flexible exit strategies within a Universal Life contract which increases the flexibility of that contract over a Whole Life policy including Zero interest or wash loans which virtually provide the policyholder the ability to access the growth inside the contract "income tax free."

Perpetual Insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perpetual insurance is a type of homeowners insurance policy written to have no term, or date, when the policy expires. From the effective start date, the coverage exists for perpetuity. The insured deposits money, called a deposit premium, with the insurer for insurance for the life of the risk. The deposit is usually ten times larger than the cost of a non-refundable, annual premium for an equivalent policy with a one-year term. The insurer must earn enough income from investing the deposits to cover losses and operating expenses for the model to be economically viable. Upon cancellation, the insured is entitled to a full refund of the initial deposit premium, usually without interest. Perpetual insurance, first issued in the U.S. in Philadelphia in 1752, is still used for fire and homeowner's insurance.
There are still a few companies in the United States that offer perpetual insurance:
Baltimore Equitable
The Contributionship Companies
Mutual Assurance Society of VA
Saucon Mutual Insurance
In the United States, there are also tax advantages to perpetual insurance. The deposit premium does not yield any income to the insured. However, the expense of the annual premium for term homeowners insurance is eliminated. Therefore, the tax-adjusted, equivalent rate of return to the insured homeowner on the deposit premium can be calculated by taking the gross amount of money he or she needs to earn to net the amount of an annual premium for a term policy, divided by the amount of the deposit premium. For example, a house which costs $150,000 may typically be charged an annual premium of $1,000 for a term policy. That same house would likely require a $10,000 single deposit premium for a perpetual insurance policy of equivalent coverage. A person in the 28% Tax bracket would need to earn $1389 in gross income to pay the annual premium. Since that amount no longer needs to be paid annually, the tax-adjusted, equivalent rate of return to the insured homeowner on the single deposit premium would be $1389 divided by $10000, in other words, 13.89%.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_Insurance"

Pension term assurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (March 2007)
Pension Term Assurance (PTA) is a form of life insurance available within the U.K.
On 6th December 2006 the Government announced an important review of Pension Term Assurance (PTA). In a short but vital paragraph the Treasury has effectively thrown the PTA market into turmoil as it has indicated it is not happy with the current products on offer. PTA hasn’t been withdrawn at this stage, however the Government has stated that there will be some significant changes in the 2007 Budget.
Read more at the HM Revenue and customs website:

The following information was correct before the statement was made.
Although PTA has been available for several years, it only became mainstream when changes were made to pension legislation on "A Day", 6th April, 2006.
Despite what the name might suggest, Pension Term Assurance does not have to form part of a pension, but it could, in theory, lead to savings of between 5% and 15% on life insurance for a standard rate tax payer, and up to 30% for higher rate tax payers.
This is because monthly premiums receive 22% tax relief for standard-rate tax payers (although pension term policies do cost a little more for the insurer to administer than normal life insurance policies, hence the overall saving will probably be between 5% - 15%).
Higher rate tax payers can also claim back the extra 18% in their annual tax return form.

Guaranteed asset protection insurance

2007-10-30T08:29:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guaranteed asset protection insurance (or GAP Insurance) is an insurance coverage offered as a supplement to automobile insurance policies. It provides financial protection from certain types of loss that are not covered by standard automobile insurance.
GAP is designed to cover the unpaid balance of an automobile loan in the event of a total loss of the vehicle. GAP covers the difference between the depreciated actual cash value of a lost vehicle and the outstanding loan balance on the vehicle. The coverage may also include payment of the physical damage deductible.

Whole life insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whole life insurance, or Whole of Life Assurance, refers to a policy that pays a lump sum on death or, in some cases, the earlier diagnosis of a critical illness whenever it occurs provided the contract is kept in force through the required payments being made.
The level of payout can vary from a fixed sum to one that is wholly dependent on investment performance on what remains after mortality costs and other expenses are deducted.
The level of premium payable may be a single, fixed periodic (e.g. monthly), or a periodic payment that may be reviewed subject to the underlying investment performance and sometimes changes in mortality cost.
Some policies will permit a range of flexibility allowing the maximizing of potential payout over a set period (such as ten years). Once this period is over and the insured individual or individuals are older the cover can be continued for an increased premium or the cover reduced (or somewhere in between between limits). At any time the target benefit can be set for life. These policies are useful, for example, to those who want increased cover while they have dependent children and then want to reduce cover to last their life. An advantage of this over choosing a term policy and waiting until later to replace it with a Whole Life contract is that the individual is underwritten for life and are not restricted or prevented in future cover should they ever have a serious illness such as cancer.

Permanent life insurance

2007-10-29T08:48:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.
Permanent life insurance is a form of life insurance such as whole life or endowment, where the policy is for the life of the insured, the payout is assured at the end of the policy (assuming the policy is kept current) and the policy accrues cash value.
This is compared with Term life insurance where insurance is purchased for a specified period (typically a year, or for level periods such as 5, 10, 15, 20 even 25 and 30 years) where a death benefit is only paid to the beneficiary if the insured dies during the specified period.
Permanent life insurance originally was offered as a fixed premium fixed return product known as whole life insurance also known as cash surrender life insurance. This offered consumers guaranteed cash value accumulation and a consistent premium. Consumers later wanted more flexibility which was offered in the form of universal life insurance. Universal life insurance allows consumers flexibility in when premiums are to be paid and the amount that they would be. Universal life policies also allowed consumers to permanently withdraw cash from the policy without the interest associated with the loan provisions in whole life policies. Universal life policies retained the fixed investment performance of whole life policies. Variable life insurance follows the mold of whole or universal life, but it shifts the investment risk to the consumer along with the potential for greater returns. Variable universal life insurance combines this with the flexibility in premium structure of universal life to create the most free form option for consumers to manage their own money (at their own risk). Variable universal life insurance policies are considered due to the favorable tax treatment of all permanent life insurance policies and their potential for greater returns than other insurance products.

Property insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance or boiler insurance. Property is insured in two main ways - open perils and named perils. Open perils cover all the causes of loss not specifically excluded in the policy. Common exclusions on open peril policies include damage resulting from earthquakes, floods, nuclear incidents, acts of terrorism and war. Named perils require the actual cause of loss to be listed in the policy for insurance to be provided. The more common named perils include such damage causing events as fire, lightning, explosion and theft.

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance

2007-10-29T08:45:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance (also known as AD&D) covers death or dismemberment as a result of an accident. In contrast to life insurance, AD&D generally would not pay survivor benefits in the case of death by illness. AD&D premiums are generally cheaper than life insurance because the incidence of death by accident is lower than death by natural causes. Dismemberment refers to the loss of two limbs or the complete loss of sight (ie: blindness), and is a rider (attached endorsement) to a policy.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_death_and_dismemberment_insurance"

Group insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Group insurance is an insurance that covers a group of people, usually who are the members of societies, employees of a common employer, or professionals in a common group.
Group insurance may or may not be converted to individual coverage. As group insurance gets big business for insurance company with minimum operational expenses( under one master policy issued to employer, union or any recognised group)it is usually less expensive than individual policies.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_insurance"

Deposit insurance

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Explicit Deposit insurance is a measure introduced by policy makers in many countries to protect deposits, in full or in part, in the event of a "run" on a bank or banks. The failure of a bank has the potential to trigger a much broader spectrum of harmful events. Deposit insurance systems is one component of a financial system safety net that contributes to the promotion of financial stability. The purpose of deposit insurance varies from one country to another but in most cases they are designed to contribute to financial stability and to protect less financially sophisticated depositors. Deposit insurance institutions are for the most part government run or established, and may or may not be a part of a country's central bank, while some are private entities with government backing or completely private entities.
Many national deposit insurers are members of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), an international organization established to contribute to the stability of financial systems by promoting international cooperation and to encourage wide international contact among deposit insurers and othe interested parties, in particular, IADI.
The United States was the first country to establish an official deposit insurance scheme, during a Great Depression banking crisis in 1934. According to IADI, as of June 2006, there are currently 118 countries with a deposit insurance system in operation, pending, planned or under serious study (i.e. 95 in operation, 11 pending, 12 planned or under serious study). There are a number of countries with more than one deposit insurance system in operation (e.g. Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States). On the other hand, one deposit insurance system can cover more than one country (e.g. the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Puerto Rico are insured by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon will be covered also by a single system).

Contents insurance

2007-10-29T08:40:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents insurance is insurance that pays for damage to, or loss of, your personal possessions whilst they are located within your home. Some contents insurance policies also provide restricted cover for personal possessions temporarily taken away from the home by the policyholder.
In this context "possessions" means anything that is not permanently attached to the structure of the home. (Possessions that are permanently attached to the structure of the home can only be insured via home insurance.) Some contents policies may also include possessions kept in outbuildings or in the garden area attached to the house.
Contents insurance is usually sold alongside home insurance but it can also be purchased as a stand-alone policy, especially for those who are renting rather than owning their home.

Pet insurance

2007-10-27T21:59:00.000+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pet Insurance pays the veterinary costs if one's pet is ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies also pay out if the pet dies, or is lost or stolen.
The purpose of pet insurance is to mitigate the risk of incurring significant expense to treat ill or injured pets. As veterinary medicine is increasingly employing expensive medical techniques and drugs, and owners have higher expectations for their pets' health care and standard of living than previously, the market for pet insurance has increased.
UK Policies usually pay 100% of vets fees. Policies in the USA usually offer to pay 80-90% of the costs minus a deductible depending on the company and the specific policy. The owner will usually pay the amount due to the Vet, and then send in the claim form and receive reimbursement, which some companies and policies limit according to their own schedule of necessary and usual charges. In the event of a very high bill, some veterinarians will allow the owner to put off payment until the insurance claim is processed. Some insurers pay veterinarians directly on behalf of customers.
Traditionally, most pet insurance plans did not pay for preventative care (such as vaccinations) or elective procedures (such as neutering), or such coverage for such coverage. Recently however, some companies in the UK and US are offering routine care coverage.
In addition, companies often limit coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, thus giving owners an incentive to insure even very young animals who are not expected to incur high veterinary costs while they are still healthy.
Some insurers offer options not directly related to pet health, including covering boarding costs for animals whose owners are hospitalized, or costs (such as rewards or posters) associated with retrieving lost animals. Some policies also include travel cancellation coverage if owners must remain with pets who need urgent treatment or are dying.
Some UK policies for dogs also include third party liability insurance. Thus, for example, if a dog causes a car accident that damages a vehicle, the insurer will pay to rectify the damage for which the owner is responsible under the Animals Act 1971.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_insurance"

Life insurance

2007-10-27T21:58:00.001+07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please improve this article if you can. (July 2006)
Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owner's death. In return, the policy owner (or policy payer) agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals.
As with most insurance polices, life assurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy.
Insured events that may be covered include:
death,
accidental death
Sickness
Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide (after 2 years suicide has to be paid in full)(in India after one year Suicide is covered), fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.
Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment.
Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums.

Liability insurance

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Liability insurance is a very broad superset that covers legal claims against the insured. Many types of insurance include an aspect of liability coverage. For example, a homeowner's insurance policy will normally include liability coverage which protects the insured in the event of a claim brought by someone who slips and falls on the property; automobile insurance also includes an aspect of liability insurance that indemnifies against the harm that a crashing car can cause to others' lives, health, or property. The protection offered by a liability insurance policy is twofold: a legal defense in the event of a lawsuit commenced against the policyholder and 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.
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.
Professional liability insurance, also called professional indemnity insurance, protects professional practitioners such as architects, lawyers, doctors, and accountants against potential negligence claims made by their patients/clients. Professional liability insurance may take on different names depending on the profession. For example, professional liability insurance in reference to the medical profession may be called malpractice insurance. Notaries public may take out errors and omissions insurance (E&O). Other potential E&O policyholders include, for example, real estate brokers, home inspectors, appraisers, and website developers.

Health insurance in Australia

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The public health system is called Medicare. It ensures free universal access to hospital treatment and subsidised out-of-hospital medical treatment. It is funded by a 1.5% tax levy.
The private health system is funded by a number of private health insurance organisations. The largest of these is Medibank Private, which is government-owned, but operates as a government business enterprise under the same regulatory regime as all other registered private health funds; the Howard government has announced that Medibank will be privatised in 2008 assuming it is returned to office at the 2007 election. Some private health insurers are 'for profit' enterprises, and some are non-profit organizations.
Most aspects of private health insurance in Australia are regulated by the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.
The private health system in Australia operates on a "community rating" system, whereby premiums do not vary solely because of a person's previous medical history or current state of health. Balancing this are waiting periods, in particular for pre-existing conditions. Funds are entitled to impose a waiting period of up to 12 months on benefits for any medical condition the signs and symptoms of which existed during the six months ending on the day the person first took out insurance.
The Australian government has introduced a number of incentives to encourage adults to take out private hospital insurance. These include:
Lifetime Health Cover: If a person has not taken out private hospital cover by the 1st July after their 30th birthday, then when (and if) they do so after this time, their premiums must include a loading of 2% per annum. Thus, a person taking out private cover for the first time at age 40 will pay a 10 per cent loading. The loading continues for 10 years. The loading applies only to premiums for hospital cover, not to ancillary (extras) cover.
Medicare Levy Surcharge: People whose taxable income is greater than a specified amount and who do not have an adequate level of private hospital cover must pay a 1% surcharge on the standard 1.5% Medicare Levy.
Private Health Insurance Rebate: The government subsidises the premiums for all private health insurance cover, including hospital and ancillary (extras), by 30%, 35% or 40%.

Health Insurance in Canada

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Most health insurance in Canada is administered by each province, under the national law that requires all people to have free access to basic health services. Collectively, the public provincial health insurance systems in Canada are called Medicare. Private health insurance in Canada is allowed only for services that the public health plans do not cover; for example, semi-private or private rooms in hospitals and prescription drug plans. Canadians also must use private insurance for elective medical services such as Lasik surgery, plastic surgery such as liposuction, and other non-basic medical procedures. Private health care cannot cover physician fees which are covered by Medicare. Private-sector services not paid for by the government accounted for nearly 30 percent of total health care spending.[24]. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Quebec ruled, in Chaoulli v. Quebec, that the prohibition on insurance for health care already insured by the state constitutes an infringement of the right to life and security. It is yet to be seen if this ruling will change the overall delivery of health insurance across Canada.