INSURANCES

Homeowners insurance or home insurance provides complete protection against your home, property, family and other valuable things in case of calamities that includes theft, accidents, and natural disasters. This insurance policy helps you to reconstruct your property or buildings when it gets damaged.

Homeowners insurance generally includes everything what will or will not be paid in case of unexpected misfortunes. Homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t protect you against earthquakes, floods, hurricane, tornado, war or ‘Acts of God’. You can secure yourself by purchasing special insurance like flood insurance and earthquake insurance.

Homeowners insurance works for a certain period of time. You should consult with different companies or advisors to choose the best insurance policy as per your needs. Payment made by insured to insurer is known as premium and the insured has to pay it for each term. In certain cases, several insurance companies offer homeowners insurance at lower premiums. Perpetual insurance is another type of homeowners insurance that can be acquired in certain areas.

You don’t have to panic for your valuable things like jewelry, cameras, collectibles, heirloom silver, computers, clothing, stored vehicles or some confidential legal documents because homeowners insurance is designed to give complete protection. Insurance policy is usually limited so check financial limits of the policy.

It helps you to rebuild your house due to natural disaster. You can make desired changes in your furniture, paint, lawns & trees, sheds or fences with homeowners insurance. Basically it includes plumbing, roofing and flooring. It also offers liability that means your insurer will provide you sufficient help to cover your damages and other expenses.

Get your homeowners insurance as soon as possible to protect yourself from misfortunes.

Life and health insurance have long been recognized as necessary and essential elements in an individual's or a family financial program. In a modern society, a sense of family responsibility meant that life and health insurance would grow in importance.

And still today life and health insurance continue to occupy an important role in the financial planning process.

This article has the purpose to provide an introduction to this process and highlights the means by which life and health insurance can assist in accomplishing one's financial plans.

A personal financial planning can be considered the process where an individual or a family decided to develop and implement an integrated plan to accomplish their objectives. The essential elements of this financial planning concept are the identification of financial goals and the development of an integrated plan to accomplish the objectives.

As all of us know humans are exposed to many serious perils, such as property losses from fire and windstorm, and personal losses from disability and death. Although individuals can not predict or prevent completely the occurrence of these dangerous events, they can provide against thier financial effects. The function of insurance is to safeguard against such misfortunes by having the losses of the unfortunate few paid by the contributions of the many who are exposed to the same peril.

The essence of of insurance is the sharing of losses and, in the process, the substitution of a certain small loss ( that is to say the premium payment ) for an uncertain, large loss.

In the peril under consideration is that of the death, the financial loss suffered can be reduced through life insurance. If the peril is instead disability, the financial loss can be compensated by the health insurance.

Insurance may be defined from two perspectives: that of the society and that of the individual. From the society's point of view, life or health insurance may be defined as a social device where individuals transfer the financial risks associated with loss of life or health to the group of individuals, and which involves the accumulation of funds: and this concept means that the insurance exists when there is a transfer of the risk from the individual to the group.

From the individual's point of view, life or health insurance may be defined as an agreement where one party pays a stipulated consideration ( the premium ) to the other party ( the insurer ), in return for which the insurer agrees to pay a defined amount of money if the person whose life is insured dies or suffers an illness to a stated time.

You'll want be surprised at how varied the rates for pickup insurance can be in your area. Totally shop around for your automobile insurance. Dont just go with the first agency you speak with. 

Now, thanks to the net, you can shop around suitable from the comfort of habitat. Go ahead and get at least three price quotes from distinctive kinds of insurance corporations.

If youre in the audience for a novel car, call to see how much it will cost to ensure in the first place. Having a car alarm and other anti-theft devices can chip in reduce your costs.

Always apply about discounts. Dont be shy. Corporations anticipate this!

Whats my cost if I have a $500 deductible? (Enhancing your deductible from $200 to $500 could lower your collision and in-depth coverage cost by as much as 30 percent.)

How about a $1,000 deductible? Running to a $1,000 deductible can save you 40 percent or more. (Now if you dont keep at least this much in the bank, dont alternative out this option!) 

If your car is worth less than 10 times the annual insurance premium, purchasing extra coverage may not be affordable. Whichs one distinguished gizmo about owning an aged car!

My credit rating is astounding. I always pay my bills on time.

What if we insure more than 1 car with your corporation?

I havent had an accident in more than three yearsK

I havent had a traffic ticket in three yearsK

Ive taken a drivers training course.

My car has an anti-theft mechanism.

I dont put a mass of mileage on my car in a years time. 

I carpool.

My car has air bags.

My car is quipped with anti-lock brakes.

I have daytime going lights.

Im a student driver with top-grade grades.

Since I have both car and home coverage with you, do I qualify for a discount?

Im a schoolhouse student away from homeK

Ive been a long time regular purchaserK

My mom and dad use your companyK

Do you present any other discounts? Some companies offer reduced rates to drivers who get insurance through a group plan from their employers and other expert groups. It cant hurt to ask.

Keeping an inexpensive term life insurance policy for too long can cost unprepared families lots of money in the long run.

While term insurance is a great way to protect your family from financial disaster, sitting on the same policy until it is too late to replace it with a permanent options can be a financial disaster.

Term life is temporary insurance. It pays a fixed death benefit if the policy holder passes away during a set period of time. For example, if you have a 20-year term policy and you die before the 20 years end, your beneficiaries will receive the face value of your policy.

Once the 20 years is up, the contract expires. The company keeps your premiums and you have to find new insurance, usually at a higher premium. Term insurance helps you to prepare for the unexpected.

Term insurance is the cheapest form of life insurance because it is temporary and not intended to pay out. Young families benefit from term insurance. In many cases, it is taken out to help support young children and a spouse in case the primary breadwinner passes away. That takes a large policy to accomplish.

Many young adults do not have substantial savings and investments yet. They have a lot of their money tied up in new mortgages and student loans. Term policies offer a cost-efficient solution.

But as families mature, the breadwinners grow older and the policies get closer to expiration. Situations change and families need to consider changing their term insurance into a more permanent option.

Many term insurance contracts have a clause that allows the policy holder to do just that.

You could think of it as leasing insurance with an option to buy. You can use the convertibility clause to convert without having to obtain a new insurance policy. For a price, families can transform their temporary insurance into permanent insurance without having to re-apply for coverage or have medical examinations.

Not all policies have conversion clauses. If you are buying term insurance, look for policies that include the clause. They are often more expensive, but well worth it.

For example, you have a 20-year term policy with a 10-year conversion clause. After nine years, you develop a major health problem. You are still within the 10-year conversion period, so you can convert the policy to a permanent policy. By doing so, you will not need a new physical exam and you will receive your coverage at a much lower rate than if your health problems were taken into account.

If the policy didn’t have the conversion clause, you would be facing an expiring policy and very expensive renewal premiums – if you could renew at all. You should always convert before it is too late.

You should review your policy with your agent on a regular basis. This will help to prevent that your conversion expiration doesn’t sneak up on you. When you are within a year of convertibility, you should take the time to look at your plan. Consider your health, finances, responsibilities and goals.

Don’t just look at your health in considering whether or not to convert a policy. The older you are, the more expensive you are to insure. By locking in a fixed rate and paying toward a permanent policy in your 20s, your monthly premiums will be much cheaper than if you had waited until your 50s.

Your financial needs transform over time. Your family matures and changes. When you are young, you often need a policy to replace your income and provide for your children. When you are older and your children are grown and your mortgage is paid off, you may find that you don’t need such a large policy.

The roughest rule of thumb is to take a multiple of your income. If you only need enough insurance to take care of your family for a few years after you die and set them up until they can get on their feet, buy 4-6 times your annual salary. If you want to take care of them for the rest of their lives, you can look at something quite larger, like 20 times your salary. That gives enough to establish a trust that they can life off of indefinitely.

One strategy involves buying the largest term policy you can afford when you are young. When you can afford more, supplement your term policy with a small permanent policy.

When your term insurance is set to expire, your children will be grown and your mortgage paid off. Then you can look at what coverage you will need.

Mortgage Protection – easing your biggest concerns.

OK, now you have a lovely new home and with it comes a lovely new mortgage. With the average mortgage advance standing at around £150,000 it's a long-term commitment to repay a lot of money. The repayments also take a fair slice out of your monthly income.

What could go wrong with these financial arrangements and can you hedge your bets by insuring against the risks? After all you have a family to protect.

Most people would identify 5 main areas of concern, all of which boil down to your ability to maintain the mortgage repayments:

The financial industry is packed with pretty shrewd people so it'll come as no surprise to learn that there are financial products to help with each of these risks.

If you want to reduce the risk of interest rates rising to unaffordable levels, you should have discussed these matters with your mortgage adviser. He will then have told you about “fixed” and “capped interest rate” mortgages. As the name implies, a fixed rate mortgage fixes the interest rate you pay whilst with a “capped” mortgage, the lender agrees not to increase your interest rate above a pre-agreed level. Both types of mortgage revert to the standard variable rate after the fixed or capped period finishes which is typically after three or five years, depending on your lender.

Fixed rate mortgages are currently very popular accounting for 55% of new advances and there are some very good deals around. The capped rate for capped rate mortgages is usually set at the outset above the equivalent fixed rates available but the rate you pay is lower than the fixed rates. In this context your interest rate risk can be effectively controlled. After the end of the protected period you always have the option to re-mortgage and find another rate protected deal. There are never any guarantees on the rates that will be available but the mortgage market is highly competitive, especially for re-mortgages, and special rate offers abound. It's really a matter of knowing which lender to approach. When the time comes you'd be well advised to ask a mortgage broker to search out the most suitable options.

Worried about paying your mortgage if you lost your job? Then you need Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance - but be aware that in its basic form, this insurance is really only designed to cover redundancy. If you resign or are fired for gross misconduct your unlikely to be insured. The cost? Online you can expect to pay around £2.45 per £100 of monthly mortgage payment for a policy which starts paying out 30 days after you've been made redundant and will pay out for up to 12 months. You're sure to have been offered similar insurance by your bank or mortgage company but watch out, their premiums are likely to be two or three times higher for identical cover.

Mortgage Payment Protection Policies can also be extended to cover the third area of concern – you lose income through illness or accident. But before you rush into this insurance you need to ask your employer how long they'd continue paying you if you were off work. Remember, you only need to insure for the period after your employer stops paying. You would then receive statutory sickness pay, but the odds are you'll need that income for general living costs. The cost for this insurance? Well, online it'll again cost you around £2.45 per £100 of monthly mortgage payment for a policy which starts paying out after 30 days, However, if you combine illness, accident and unemployment cover all into one policy you can currently get combined insurance for around £3.95 per month. The essential point to remember is that these policies will only pay out for 12 months. That leads on to the fourth area of concern.

How would you pay your mortgage if you were unable to work again through a serious accident or critical illness? In this context it is important to appreciate the reality of the risk. The insurance industry estimates that 1 in 5 men and 1 in 6 women suffer a critical illness before their normal retirement age. Just think what a heart attack at 40 would mean to your family finances, especially if you have a mortgage with many years still to run. For many, insurance is a must.

The best option is to arrange insurance that totally repays the outstanding mortgage if you can't continue to work. That at least removes one big worry. The insurance you need is called Critical Illness Insurance but make sure “total and permanent disability” cover is included. This ensures that your mortgage will be repaid if you are incapacitated through an accident.

You can buy Critical Illness Insurance with “decreasing cover” where the size of the payout decreases as the years go by. This is ideal if you have a repayment mortgage where you are repaying the mortgage bit by bit each month. Decreasing cover is also the cheapest form of this Insurance.

If you have an interest only mortgage, the situation is different as the sum you owe your lender, remains constant. You certainly don't want the cover to decrease - so here you need Critical Illness Insurance with “level cover”.

As with all these insurances, there's always a twist to watch out for. With Critical illness Insurance you always need to survive for a minimum period following an accident or diagnosis of a critical illness. If you don't, the policy will not pay out. With most insurance companies the survival period is 28 days although some have reduced this to 14 days.

That leads on what happens if you were to die. Most lenders insist on Mortgage Life Insurance to repay your mortgage in one lump sum. However, you really don't need it if you're single and living alone. In these circumstances, if you would die, your estate would simply repay your mortgage by selling the property. For everyone else, Mortgage Life insurance is the most commonly held form of mortgage protection. Again it comes in a “decreasing cover” format for those with repayment mortgages and “level cover” format to repay interest only mortgages.

All this insurance will not be cheap but there are ways of significantly reducing the cost. Buy a Mortgage Payment Protection Policy that combines unemployment, accident and illness cover. Sometimes this is called “unemployment and disability” cover. This will save you about 20%. The cheapest way to buy Critical Illness and Mortgage Life Insurance is again to buy a combined policy. Here it's difficult to be precise about the savings as the cost will be strictly calculated on your own personal details and health record - but you can certainly expect to save 20-25%.

The final bit of advice is shop around for the insurance. Your bank or building society will be absolutely delighted to arrange it but you'll pay top dollar. The Internet is by far the cheapest way to buy all these insurances, especially if you use one of the many discounting brokers. You'll find these brokers if you search under “life insurance”, “cheap life insurance”, “life insurance quotes” or “Mortgage Protection Insurance”.

Competition on the net is rife, so it's norm for these brokers to cut commission and pass the savings back to you through lower premiums. There are other aspects you'll need to consider such as whether to buy a policy with a “Guaranteed Premium” or a “Reviewable Premium”. So you're best advised to talk matters over with a life insurance adviser. Ten minutes on the phone with an adviser could save you more and avoid a lot of heartache.

Be lucky, keep fit, happy and well insured!