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Home Insurance and Hurricane Preparations

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Home Insurance and Hurricane Preparations

The violent winds, rains and storm damage from hurricanes can devastate communities and cause billions of dollars worth of destruction. The losses from hurricanes this year alone have surpassed that from almost any other natural disaster in years. The risk to your home and possessions can be enormous and you really should be considering insurance cover for hurricane damage if you live in any area that is exposed to the risk of hurricane. As well as insurance cover however, there are other steps you can be taking to prepare for, and minimise the damage to your property and risk to your family that hurricanes pose.

Since the Atlantic hurricane season in June and continues through till the end of November, there is a significant of the year during which you should be in some way for hurricane threats. Some of the preparations below will be required by insurance policies, others will not but are still helpful to you and your family. Some of them may even be able to bring down your insurance policy price as the insurance company recognises that you are safer than you otherwise would be and are therefore less likely to be making a claim.

Be Prepared

First of all you should be familiar with the terms of your insurance policy and any disaster preparedness and response plans they have. These will help you in the case that disaster does strike or you find yourself in need of making a claim.

If you think you may need to evacuate your area, you should contact the appropriate authorities before h and to know what those requirements will be. You should have a plan formulated in advance and if there are shelters nearby you should know where they are and how to get to them.

Keep supplies such as food, water, gasoline, portable radios and batteries stored somewhere safe so they will be available to you in the emergency. Several flashlights with extra batteries should be included. Copies of important identification and insurance documentation would also be useful in certain situations to speed up applications in the event that wide spread devastation occurs. Medical supplies such as aspirin and aspirin free painkillers, antacid, b andages, gauze and disinfectant are also useful.

While insurance is a very important step you should be taking to protect your possessions and family in the event of disaster, there are many other steps you can take to prepare for the situation also.

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Gap Car Insurance: Do You Need It?

What is gap car insurance and how do you know whether you really need it? Gap car insurance, like many other types of insurance isn’t necessarily required. That is to say that you can certainly purchase a new car without gap car insurance; however, you could be leaving yourself open for some losses if you don’t purchase it. Read on for more tips to better underst and whether you need gap car insurance or you can skip it.

Gap car insurance covers the difference between the market value of your car and your loan amount. Aren’t the two the same, you might ask. Not necessarily. You see, the moment you drive your car off the lot it depreciates, or loses value, immediately and quite significantly. Let’s say you purchase a new car and pay $25,000 for it. On average a car will depreciate at least 20% right after it leaves the dealership. That means your br and new car is now worth only $20,000. What happens if you have an accident soon after the purchase? Even if you have full insurance coverage, including comprehensive and collision, your insurance policy will still only cover the market value of the car. Unfortunately, even though the market value and insurance policy are now worth only $20,000 you still owe in the neighborhood of $25,000 for the car. Without gap car insurance you’ll be stuck covering that additional $5,000 on your own.

Be aware that not all gap car insurance policies are the same and this is important. For example, some gap car insurance policies will cover losses due to theft and accidents but not all so be sure to ask questions regarding specifically what is covered in the policy before you take it.

Usually, gap car insurance is a good idea if you are about to purchase a new car and are concerned that you wouldn’t be able to cover the difference between the market value and the amount that would be cover by the C&C policy. Be aware that gap insurance is not available for older vehicles in most cases.

While you’re certainly not required to take out gap car insurance by your lender or the dealer, it can help you to rest easier in knowing you won’t be stuck owing thous ands of dollars on a totaled car in the event that you suffer an accident or theft shortly after the purchase.

It is also important to underst and that if you finance your car through the dealership you can usually take out gap car insurance at the time of the purchase; however, you’ll probably end up paying more for the policy than if you simply took it out with your regular auto insurance agent.

Before taking out gap car insurance, always be sure to check your existing policy to find out whether gap insurance might already be contained within that policy. You never know, it might not necessary to purchase an additional policy at all. If it’s not included, give some thought to whether the price of the gap insurance would be worth the trade-off of not having to worry if you have an accident and can’t afford to pay the difference between market value and coverage amount with a regular policy.

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Disability Insurance

Disability can occur at any time. While many people take their body and health for granted, serious accident or injury can happen to anyone and if you find yourself disable, for a short period or long term, how will you cope?

Disability insurance is a sub set of health insurance that will provide the holder with income should they become disabled and thus unable to continue earning a living. If this were to happen to you, do you know what you or your family would do for income?

If you are aged 40, there is a higher chance that you will be disabled, and thus unable to work for a period of 90 days or more, than of you dying before the age of 65. There are three common ways of insuring against this risk.

Employer’s Insurance

The first is to receive insurance from your employer. This is required by law in many states. It comes as a form of short or long term paid sick leave. Larger employers can have even more generous terms. For example, a common policy might offer you 60% of your salary for five years, or maybe even all the way up to retirement. While not everyone is lucky enough to work for such a company, it is worth checking with your employer to find out what your protection is and whether or not its something you wish to provide for yourself.

Long Term Disability

The second common protection against this type of risk is social security and disability benefits. This usually only covers employees whose disability lasts for a period of 12 months or more. It also must be shown to be so severe that you cannot find gainful employment. Therefore there are some gaps here that you may be more comfortable providing for with private insurance.

Individual Policies

The third method of dealing with this risk is with an individual disability insurance policy. This means taking out a private insurance policy yourself. You should shop around to make sure you get the best deal available, but at least you will have the peace of mind of knowing in what circumstances you are covered and what the terms of the policy cover.

There are some other sources of protection. Workman’s compensation policies will sometimes step in to cover you if the injury occurred at work. Auto insurance may provide coverage if the injury occurred in a car accident and the Department of Veteran’s affairs can advise you if you think the disability is related to service in the armed forces.

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Dental Treatment

There are not many people who would admit to enjoying a visit to the dentist. The trip often leads to considerable pain or at least discomfort. You are never really sure what is going to be involved and how much treatment you will need. You don’t know how much it is going to cost, unless you have dental insurance, in which case you don’t need to worry about this. But generally speaking, most people do not enjoy visiting their dentist.

In many ways we’re much like children. While people tend to get over most of their childhood fears as they get older, dental treatment is one that seems to persist into adulthood. Partly we have our selves to blame. Many people put off visiting the dentist for years and only go once they are in considerable pain. They skip check ups if they have no complaints and postpone the inevitable visit for as long as is humanly possible.

This means that by the time we do visit the dentist, which is a visit that is long overdue, we need so much work done and it costs so much money that it just serves to put us off going back again for as long as is possible. This is what causes the entire problem.

Many of the worst aspects about visiting the dentist could be avoided by going back for regular checkups and keeping on top of problems. Dentists advise that they can prevent many common problems from ever occurring if they catch them quickly enough and what could become costly and painful surgery can be dealt with simply and all the hassle avoided. But this requires that they see your teeth fairly regularly so that they can avoid problems before they occur.

Most dentists offer you the chance to book your next check up months in advance. This means that when you show up for one, you book your next check up while you are at the dentist’s surgery. This means that you will never forget to make an appointment. Then the dentist will also send you a reminder when the appointment approaches so that you will not forget to attend. What could be simpler?

Regular check ups can help you to avoid expensive and painful surgery and many dental insurance plans will cover check ups as st andard in the policy. Therefore, get insurance and start seeing your dentist frequently. Don’t put off the visit until its too late or you really will have something to fear from your dentist.

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Dental Insurance

Dental costs are becoming an increasingly significant health care expense and more and more people are making sure they are protected against these costs with a dental insurance policy. Dental insurance policies typically work in the same way as any other medical insurance policy. You will pay your monthly premium and this will entitle you to specific dental care procedures such as checkups, cleaning and x-rays. You will also be covered for other procedures that are deemed necessary to keep your teeth and gums in good health.

Comprehensive

As with all insurance policies, they will vary in what treatments they cover and how much they cost. While more expensive policies will give you greater benefits and allow you access to a greater range of services, cheaper ones will be restricted in what they cover and you will be required to contribute to the cost of procedures you require. If you think you will need dental surgery, oral implants, the services of an orthodontist and other more expensive forms of treatment, you will probably want to go for a more comprehensive policy.

One of the main differences between medical and dental health care is that children generally require far more treatment and expense than adults do. This is true right up through your child’s teen years when orthodontists’ bills can often be extremely expensive. You may therefore wish to cover only your children with dental insurance and you should check with your insurer to see if this is possible. While some insurance companies will allow children to have their own dental insurance policies, others will only insure them as part of an adult or family plan and if this is the case you will require to insure them with your own dental insurance provider and this may mean taking out dental insurance for yourself if you do not already have it.

Discounts

Another option offered by some insurance companies is to take a form of dental discount card. This is not dental insurance in the strict sense of the meaning but does provide you with discounts on dental treatment when you require using them. They can be a cheaper way of obtaining limited protection against dental costs and for this reason are growing in popularity. Not all insurers will provide them so shop around and see what’s on offer. As with all insurance, there can be great differences is what you will be offered for your money and considering that dental insurance can be a significant expense, it is wise to make sure you know what is available before you decide to opt for any policy.

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Deciding if you need Life Insurance?

Most people are aware of how life insurance works and what are the events and dangers that it is designed to protect against. They may also have family commitments and people who they provide for and know that some sort of life insurance would protect their family financially, if something were to happen to them. However, it is still often a very difficult decision to make if you are trying to decide whether or not you need life insurance.

Life insurance is a big commitment financially speaking. The premium can vary in cost but can be considerable, then there is also the issue that life insurance often extends over many years, even decades. This means that not only are you committing to pay the premium for this year, but also for many years into the future. There are not many people who can say with certainty what their earnings will be in ten or fifteen or twenty years time.

There are also early termination penalties, which means if you want to end the policy before the expiration of the entire term, you will be financially penalised. This is generally more relevant for life assurance but can also apply to life insurance if your rate has been calculated on the condition that you remain insured for so many years into the future.

If you have life assurance, then it will also be a method of saving for the future. This is a very popular concept, especially these days with the growing concern about the state of pension funds, but it again deserves careful consideration. There are many ways to save for the future, and by deciding to do so by way of a life assurance policy still entails deciding that life insurance is something that you want and are willing to pay for. If you do not need life insurance, then there are probably more efficient ways of saving for retirement than with life assurance, which places a proportion of your savings against the insurance aspect of the policy.

In general, most people will really only be considering life insurance if they have a family to support. This can be a spouse and generally children. However, situations frequently change, people get divorced, and children always grow up and become independent. If your family situation is likely to change, you should familiarise yourself with the ways you can end the policy early and what penalties would apply. However, if you have a young family and are concerned about their financial security for the future, then life insurance will be a great opportunity for you to provide for these concerns.

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Contents Insurance – Check Your Cover

You’ve probably got contents insurance for your belongings but are you aware just how easy it is to fall behind in calculating the value of them?

What do you imagine the average contents of a family home are worth – £25,000 or £30,000? In fact this figure, for a typical home, is estimated to be over £45,000. Apart from your “moveable items” of carpets, furniture, curtains, it’s probable that electrical goods purchased over the last few years explain the sudden rise. It’s not unusual to have three or four mobile phones, a couple of computers, possibly also a laptop. Then there are the TV’s. Apart form the large family wide screen digital HD ready, singing and dancing set, there’s probably a another one in the kitchen and two or three others in the bedrooms, not to mention DVD and video recorders. Probably the children have iPods, gameboys and whatever else is “in” at present. Don’t forget your CD collection – Norwich Union values these at £10 each and DVD’s.

Apart from the risk of damage, all the above items are very appealing to the thief, being easy to h andle and finding a ready market. Don’t forget the garden, the mowers and garden machinery, contents of the shed and garage, garden furniture and even your tubs and hanging baskets. The value of plants can add up too!

Should you need to make a claim, it’s important that you’re not under insured. If the insurance company judges that you don’t have adequate insurance, the claim will not be fully paid. This means that if you have insured your contents for, say, £20,000 and your insurance company considers there would be a value of £30,000 to replace them, then there would be a shortfall of £10,000.

Insurers h andle things in different ways. For example Norwich Union Direct, one of the major insurers, will pay out up to the amount for which you’re covered. It’s left up to you to fund the difference. More Than tells us that their policy on underinsured claims is to reduce them by up to 20%. In fact More

Than are taking action to ensure that clients are more up to date with their cover and so have recently increased the this for all their clients, by 25%.

These increases will apply on the clients’ next renewal dates. No doubt more insurance companies will look at following suit soon.

Whilst you’re thinking of re-assessment, maybe it’s time to check the current figures on your buildings insurance. As well as the house, garage and outbuildings, you may have fixed items such as lighting, hot tubs and permanent garden features. These are covered by your buildings insurance, not your contents. Your insurer will normally work out a quotation based on the number of bedrooms, etc., and your postcode. The insurable figure will be the cost demolition and clearing of the site and re-building your home on the present site, of course.

To help you re-consider the value of your belongings and for additional advice there’s a h andy checklist for home owners on the Association of British Insurers, www.abi.org.uk

There are a large number of insurance companies h andling both contents and building insurance and, as always, it pays to shop around.

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Cheap Medical Insurance

If you want to get a good deal on your medical insurance, there are a couple of things you should consider doing. Some of them are optional and some of them are absolutely vital and cannot be passed by.

The first is to shop around. You really cannot get a good deal on medical insurance unless you are prepared to shop around and search the market. Finding out what is available on the market really is the only way you can know if any particular offer is good or not and whether or not you should accept it. By getting to know what kind of offers are out there, you will know what you should be expecting to pay for what kind of benefits and are far less likely to get ripped off by making an uninformed decision on which medical insurance to buy.

You should also consider speaking to an insurance broker. These will be able to advise you on the plans offered by a wide range of insurers and let you know what kind of offers are available. Therefore, they can save you a lot of the legwork of shopping around since they have access to an array of insurance companies. They will also have access to preferential rates and deals since they can bargain with companies and use their knowledge of the industry to get good deals. They can then pass these savings on to you in some form or another.

However, even if you are going through a broker, you cannot forgo shopping around and informing yourself properly of what is on the market. This is because you will not be sure if the offer the broker is giving you is any better than that of other brokers or even of prices you can find your self.

Shopping online is another good idea. The Internet gives you access to virtually all the insurers in the market. They are right there at your fingertips and can often give you instant quotes right there on the website. This means that you can do a lot of shopping around and get a good idea of what is on the market just be going on line and visiting their websites.

Medical insurance is a very important purchase for you and your family. It can determine the level of health care and service you will have access to in the case of an accident or serious illness and also represents a significant cost to you when you pay your premiums. Therefore you should always shop the market and make sure you are getting as good a deal as possible before you commit to any one policy.

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Car Insurance Pricing Plans

The law requires liability insurance for all drivers and vehicles. This means that if you are involved in a serious accident, and it turns out that it was your fault, your insurance company will pay out any claims that are made against you. Extra coverage on your own vehicle, called comprehensive insurance, is optional.

Insurance companies based on a number of risk factors will calculate the price you pay for this insurance. Basically how it works is the more they feel you are at risk of crashing, and the more they think the resulting crash will cost them, the higher the premium you’ll pay.

Assessment

Common factors that will be to assess the premium are the value of the car you’re driving, the safety of that vehicle, the coverage you want, will there be deductibles or limits etc.? How much you’ll drive the car, how your driving record st ands, how long you’ve held your license, your age, and if you are young, also your sex.

The premium is then calculated. Usually there is a flat per car, per year rate that everyone pays, regardless of other factors. The other factors will then alter this rate, generally upwards. So if your car is especially fast or dangerous your rate will be increased by a set amount. If it is very old, your rate goes up. If you’ve had one or more accidents in the past, your rate will go up. If you’re young and male, your rate will go up. The more of these factors you satisfy, the more your rate will be going up.

Discounts

As a sales enhancement, many car insurers offer a “low estimated future mileage” discount to customers who predict that the car’s mileage will be below some stated limit during the next premium period. There is no verification involved and no additional charge if the car is subsequently driven more than the stated amount. This arbitrary discount tends to foster customer belief in the mistaken idea that “miles” are just one of many classification factors used to raise or lower prices from the territorial base rate. In fact, odometer miles (which insurers do not use) are not a factor but a metric – the only valid basis for measuring each car’s consumption of insurance protection in on-the-road use.

The best way to save on car insurance is to shop around, keep a good clean driving record, drive safely, and choose reliable cars that are not known for their power and speed.

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Car Insurance FAQs

Can I insure a modified or classic car; who will offer insurance cover?

Yes, you can insure a modified car but because your car is a specialist car, not all auto insurance companies might be willing to provide coverage for it since it requires high price replacement parts and also skilled labor if the car is involved in an accident. Thus, you have to take a special car insurance that is designed especially for modified and classic cars.

How can I cut down my car insurance premium?

If you wish to cut down on your car insurance premium you must take care of a few things. Park your car overnight in the garage rather than leaving it on the drive. Fit insurance approved anti-theft devices; consider Third Party Fire and Theft for older cars. Find out discounts offered by the insurance provider when requesting quotes. Young drivers (under 25), who are often charged extremely high premiums, should have an extra driving course certificate.

What is ‘excess’?

It is the amount you have to pay when you make a claim for the loss or damage to your car. It can be voluntary or compulsory. If someone else causes the accident you may be able to reclaim the excess through the legal cover, which can be taken out with your car insurance policy. Otherwise you lose the excess. Voluntary excess is the amount you agree to pay to the company. It offers premium discounts. Compulsory excess is generally imposed to young drivers. Because their risk factors are high and the companies don’t want to insure them. So, in order to insure, they have to surrender with this payment.

What is legal cover?

It provides expertise and assistance required to recover uninsured losses such as medical costs, loss of earnings and excess payments where the fault was not yours. It is available as an optional with most car insurance policies.

Can an insurance company cancel my auto policy?

Yes, you auto insurance policy may st and canceled if you fail to pay the premium or if your consumer’s license has been suspended or revoked during the term of an auto policy. Also, if there is a fraud or serious misrepresentation when completing the insurance application, if the you are convicted to a crime, or if changes are made to the property that increase the risk of loss then the company may cancel your insurance policy.

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