Insurance Experts

Medical costs have been rising over the last several years, and have reached levels that an average middle class family cannot afford in the event of a major illness or accidents. With increase in medical facilities and better-equipped hospitals, this is perhaps inevitable, but that doesn’t make it less worrying if you are affected.

The best course open to individuals under these circumstances is to opt for medical insurance. The cost of medical insurance is high, and when you consider the fact that you don’t get much in return other than when an illness afflicts you, the cost of your medical insurance merits serious consideration. Fortunately, there is a way to resolve this dilemma. You can shop for the best possible combination of coverage and cost.

First of all, you could check out on the governmental and other help available to you in this regard. If you live in a country like the United States and are either elderly or very poor, the government comes to your aid through schemes like Medicare and Medicaid. If you are not covered by any such program, as most likely you are not, then what do you do?

The first step towards obtaining a low cost health insurance is to know what is being offered and how it is priced. Knowing the alternatives in terms of facilities and prices will help you to make decisions that can reduce your cost of medical insurance without compromising on your real requirements. Knowledge, in this case, is truly power and money. You could get this knowledge by doing some research on the Internet. There are a number of sites that offer you comparative information on medical insurance plans, which you can refer before finalizing your medical insurance coverage.

Learn about the different options available to you; research the company and the agent you are proposing to deal with; find out what you are covered for.

Some of the ways by which you can reduce your medical insurance costs are given below:

· Pay premiums annually. This will help you avoid or reduce the service fee and might also earn you discounts

· Review your policy regularly. Make sure that it covers your real requirements and does not have additional cover that you may not need. For example, additional coverage for pregnancy may not be really required for you and the normal coverage for this might be quite sufficient for your anticipated needs

· Keep a reasonable limit on the ceiling of medical expenditure in your policy. If you don’t have a ceiling or if you have a very high ceiling, you may be covering every eventuality but may also be paying higher for the coverage unnecessarily. Match the terms of the policy to your needs.

· If you have to file insurance claims, make sure that you keep all the documents available and know what you are covered for. In case you are not sure about whether a particular disease or treatment is covered. File your claim anyway.

· Group plans are another way in which you can reduce your medical insurance costs. Find out about group plans and how they apply to you. See if your company, or member organization, such as your local Chamber of Commerce have a plan in place.

· Carry a higher deductible amount: The amount of expenditure that you opt to bear yourself has a great bearing on the medical insurance cost. If you are comparatively free from minor illnesses and you would like to be covered only for major illnesses, you can opt for a higher deductible reducing your premium without sacrificing the coverage you desire.

· If you discover a serious medical condition, it is better to continue with your existing insurer, as going to a new insurer will almost certainly increase your costs and will likely limit, or exclude, coverage for any pre-existing conditions.

· Avoid supplemental insurance. Supplemental insurance is a policy that gives you additional cash for the same illness that is covered by another insurance.

Flooding is a very real concern for millions of people. For that reason, federal laws in locations designated as Special Flood Hazard Areas often require flood insurance.

Due to this very serious concern, Congress created a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968. NFIP monitors possible flood hazards and forces communities to repair weaknesses in their flood protection to help prevent serious flood damage. Additionally, NFIP’s partner communities all have federally-backed flood insurance as an option for any resident.

This is very important because many homeowners don’t realize that flood damage is not covered under their homeowners’ insurance policy. There is often coverage for storm surges, but if it’s followed by flooding (as was the case during hurricane Katrina), then the insurance company will deny any responsibility for damages.

Every flood risk location is monitored because the severity of the weakness does not make a low-risk area completely safe. In fact, FEMA says that 25% of all flood insurance claims are filed in areas of low to moderate risk.

If you live in an area with a possibility of flooding, you should seriously consider purchasing flood insurance. You may expect Federal disaster relief should a flood come, but you should be aware that this relief is only offered if the President formally declares the flood a disaster.

Flood insurance policy holders are paid regardless of a formal declaration of disaster. Also, even if you receive disaster relief, it is a loan that you are expected to repay with interest while still paying any mortgages that you may have on the damaged property.

Living in a flood-risk area without flood insurance is dangerous. Remember, you must have a policy for 30 days before your coverage actually begins. If you think you may be in for a storm and decide to take out a policy, you won’t be covered. Get your insurance sooner, rather than later. Don’t leave yourself unprotected against tragedy.

Although term life insurance looks cheaper when you request free quotes, the whole life insurance quotes you get are much better. With whole life you are covered for as long as you live and keep paying the premiums. In whole life insurance quotes, the cost of the policy is stretched over a longer period of time, so you are actually paying less in monthly premiums.

If you want to have a period of time when you don’t have to pay any premiums, you can have the whole life insurance quotes calculate the premiums to a certain age. Most people like to have the premiums spread over a 30 year life insurance because this is usually their working life. Then they can enjoy retirement knowing that they do have whole life insurance and don’t have to pay any more premiums.

Even though the lowest life insurance rates are for term life insurance, if you get whole life insurance quotes at an early age, the cost will be very similar. There are added benefits to getting whole life as opposed to term life. Once you have the whole life insurance policy in place, it won’t run out at the end of the term leaving you without life insurance.

Even if you can’t afford a high payout with whole life insurance quotes, you can choose a lower death benefit and upgrade when you can afford it. This gives you the best life insurance for your whole life at the lowest life insurance rates. You should buy what you can afford. The difference between a policy that pays out $100,000 and another that pays $125,000 is very little when it comes to the monthly premium. When you are comparing the quotes choose the highest possible payout for the lowest rates.

You’ll never know how much life insurance you can afford if you don’t look around. With the online whole life insurance quotes available, life insurance protection for your family is only a click away. You are never under any obligation to buy. You only need to contact an agent when you find the lowest life insurance rates that suit you.

Whole life insurance quotes often return lower premiums.

There may be a time in life when you may not be able to work due to illness or some other medical condition, whether temporarily or permanently. Such a condition may result in a loss of income during that period. While the state does provide compensation at such times through social security programs, many insurance companies too offer insurance against loss of income during the disability period.

Although nearly all insurance companies offer disability insurance, the terms may differ according to each company’s policies. Since insurance companies are in business, they keep their business interests foremost. Hence, it is advisable to understand the implications of the terms before buying disability insurance. The terms and conditions laid out in the policy document should be studied carefully, and any ambiguities should be clarified with the insurance broker.

Disability is defined as a medical condition that prevents working in an occupation which a person has ’enjoyed or has become accustomed to’. When you buy a disability insurance policy, make sure that the terms of the policy articulates an express statement about this. This is important, because under the terms of many companies, disability is a condition that prevents you from being gainfully employed in ‘any’ occupation.

The implication of this being, that even though you may be unable to work in the occupation you were engaged in just before being disabled, but are able to work elsewhere, you would not be entitled to receive the disability benefit. Therefore, in order to enable you to receive the disability benefit when you are unable to pursue the job in which you are skilled, the terms should state that entitlement shall accrue when you are unable to pursue your ‘own occupation’.

Then, check the elimination or the waiting period, which denotes the time between the beginning of the disability, and the first payment under the policy. You can opt for an elimination period of 30, 60, 90,180, 360 or 720 days. Your choice would govern the amount of the premium. A shorter elimination period would attract a higher premium.

Finally, check the benefit period, which is the duration for which the benefit is payable. This can be a 2 to 5 year period, depending on the type of policy. Some companies have policies that cover payments of up to 65 years of age. Longer benefit periods have higher premiums.

Disability has been divided into two categories: the first being short-term disability, and the other long-term disability. Illness, physical injury or pregnancy is covered under the short-term disability. However, no benefits are payable under this category, if the policyholder is qualified for workers’ compensation. Besides, the period of disability without medical supervision is also excluded. This category of coverage elapses after 180 days. Any disability beyond 180 days comes under the long-term category. The coverage starts from the 181st day of the disability, and the benefits are payable up to regular retirement age, based on the date of birth.

A disability insurance policy can be purchased to pay monthly payments from $300 to $5000, subject to a maximum of one third of the gross monthly salary.

The kind of insurance policy is a means of providing much needed support in times of distress, caused by loss of income due to the inability to work, because of a medical condition. It has great value and it would be prudent to opt for one to secure your future.

Almost anything can be insured these days: breasts, legs, your goldfish, your mental health, physical health, your own life, your child’s life. You can insure against the bad weather, good weather, political events….

This week in Scotland, triathlon competitors were insured for £1 million in case they were injured by the Loch Ness monster according to the BBC….life insurance perhaps? It would seem that recent rumours of Nessie seeking a more exotic meal of wild venison and exploring the loch shores have finally reached the corporate world. ( http://www.lochnesstooth.com/ )

But is Nessie the real monster in this, what other terrible creatures lie hidden in the complexity of insurance documents? The insurance small-print is usually the last thing most people take to bed to induce a soporific state and who could blame those opting for Dick Francis, Gilly Cooper or Joan Collins?

In terms of personal insurance, there are eight general areas of insurance in which the consumer should be interested:

* Buildings insurance

* Contents insurance

* Life insurance or life assurance

* Health insurance

* Family legal protection

* Pet insurance

* Travel insurance

* Car insurance

Buildings insurance covers your property against damage typically caused by fire, flood, subsidence damage, temporary accommodation and the cost of replacing broken or lost keys. External buildings in the vicinity of the insured property may also be covered, such as sheds and garages. The website, yourable.com which provides insurance information for disabled people, makes the statement that building insurance should be the bare minimum people take out, not only to protect the property, but to protect the mortgage.

Alongside buildings insurance, contents insurance should also be considered. Contents insurance is frequently packaged with buildings insurance and covers your furniture, equipment and personal belongings against fire, lightning, flooding, theft or vandalism. Accidental damage can be included, but may be sold as an optional extra.

Yourable.com advises that the three main priorities when taking out building (or content) insurance should be:

* To decide how much cover you want – the more you want covered, the higher the cost.

* To decide what excess you’re prepared to pay – the site advises that in most cases, increasing the excess will reduce the premium

* To identify any particularly expensive single items in your home, including costly adaptations to the home

* To isolate any property which is regularly taken outdoors, as contents insurance may also protect bicycles, money and credit cards etc

Health / medical insurance typically covers private treatment for an operation or illness and may be extended to include specific circumstances or events such as specialist consultations and out-patient treatment like physiotherapy. Family legal protection may provide some financial assistance in the event of involvement in a court case. Such insurance normally covers contract disputes, personal injury claims, employment disputes and jury service. Pet insurance is often widely available for cats and dogs, though sometimes is less common for other animals, the cost of kennel and cattery fees are normally covered in pet insurance policies.

Travel insurance and the importance of shopping around for the best policy, has been widely publicised recently, with consumer website moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/ ), in particular, urging consumers to shop around for the best deal, including undertaking some research online. Some of the high street players who offer travel insurance, such as Thomas Cook and Travelcare, levy premiums that are typically twice as expensive as purchasing cover online.

With regard to car insurance, there are three types of policy available: 3rd party, 3rd party (fire and theft) and comprehensive. Third Party is the most basic and will cover damage to third party property, usually with some protection for legal expenses. This compares to comprehensive, where additional protection is available for damage caused by theft, attempted theft, fire, lightning and other adverse weather conditions.

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For further information:

http://www.moneynet.co.uk/insurance/index.shtml (Consumer information on life insurance, motor insurance, travel insurance, household insurance, student insurance and mortgage life insurance)

http://www.lochnesstooth.com/ (Some lighter reading post insurance homework)

http://www.cashzilla.co.uk/ (Some light hearted banter on personal finance issues)

http://www.youreable.com/TwoShare/getPage/09Money/Site/Introduction (Finance information for disabled people)

When it comes to fixed annuity choices you have two basic types to select from - the immediate annuity and the deferred annuity.

If you opt to enroll in a plan that offers an immediate annuity, you will receive a check from the company anytime within twelve months of signing on the dotted line. An immediate annuity also offers you the choice of receiving the check every year for a specific pre-determined number of years or whether you just want to keep receiving the checks every year for the duration of your entire lifetime. In the latter case the insurance company will figure out how much each payment will be based on how much insurance you bought in the first place and the length of your projected life expectancy.

A deferred annuity is a little more complicated. It is a two-step type plan. During the first phase of the plan, known as the accumulation plan, your money is invested and allowed to grow in bulk. Taxes on this investment are deferred until you should choose to withdraw the money out, either as a series of payments or as one lump sum. The second phase of the plan is this payout phase

When it comes to fixed annuity choices many people opt for the deferred annuity because it offers more control over your money -especially over the dates when you can withdraw the money. The benefit of this is that you decide when to pay the taxes on income incurred from your fixed annuity.

When assessing your fixed annuity choices it is probably a good idea to assess whether or not you are going to need to withdraw the money before retirement. If you think you will need money before you retire then the deferred annuity is a better choice as it offers more flexibility in both what amounts you can take out and when you can withdraw the funds.

Although it is a sad topic to think about, you still must consider what to do if a life insurance settlement options of death benefits has been offered to you. If someone has named you as beneficiary and then passed away there will be many things to consider. Depending on the person, if it is a spouse or parent, there are certain obligations that need to be taken care of first.

Once these are done contact with the insurance company will be made and the options available to you regarding the money will be discussed. There are several options open to the beneficiary and they should not allow themselves to be pushed into one that does not suit their circumstances.

Most indemnity policies are made to give the beneficiary the ability to choose how they would like to receive the money they are going to come into. Llife insurance settlement options can be made one of three ways. First it can be paid out all at once. This gives the beneficiary a lump sum of money that they can do with as they please. There will be only one payment after the death claim and that is all. All options e will have tax implications depending on how much was paid in premiums and how much the actual policy was for. Taxes will be paid on the difference.

Or it is possible to have the death benefits paid out in monthly payments until this amount is used up. This amount is usually based on what the amount owing is, how old the beneficiary is and what their life expectancy is likely to be. Then there is an equal monthly figure worked out. The problem with this scenario is that if the beneficiary dies, the money owing does not come to the beneficiary’s beneficiary.

Another possibility in the way the money can be paid out is as interest income. This method has the insurance company keeping the money from the life insurance settlement and paying the beneficiary only the interest that is generated. This gives them a small but steady monthly income. At any time they can decide to take the lump sum out. They need only to let the insurance company know that that is what they want to do.

Remember that the insurance company is entitled to charge a fee to the beneficiary if there are things that they are required to do. Sometimes the company will give a small portion of the death benefits to the client if the person is in need of the money badly, for example to pay funeral expenses. This is because processing the life insurance settlement options can often take a considerable amount of time.

While the media and Press are always advertising for affordable and cheapest homeowners insurance, it is a difficult task in reality to get one if you don’t have the elementary knowledge of homeowners insurance. The most important issue is to know from where to start. Here are some guidelines to look for the cheapest homeowners insurance.

How to shop around for cheap home owners insurance? Your search for a cheap home owner insurance does not need a lot of time or numerous phone calls- you can just do it with the help of your PC.

While using internet, search for homeowners insurance quote because it is free and at the same time speedy and you don’t need to talk to anyone, hence it is time saving. You can use Internet 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. With online homeowners insurance quote you can get discount from your insurer because there is less administration to do for the insurer. So you can get a discount of 10%- 15%.

You should collect at least three home insurance quotes to ensure that you find the right policy at the best price.

You can get some discount without help of any insurance agent as some home insurance companies provide discount on the basis of your home security system. So by installing home security equipment( from the insurance company’s associates) like home video camera, fire alert, burglar alarm, carbon monoxide detector and smoke detector you can get discount up to 10%.

Many insurance companies offer you discount if every member of your family is non-smoker because main cause behind home fire is smoking.

Age group also plays a role in getting discount. If you belong to “62 or 62+” age group then you can apply for a discount of 10%-12%, as some companies provide discount for senior citizens.

While comparing the quotes always keep an eye on coverage offered by the policies and then make the investment.

Over the past few years rising homeowner’s insurance costs in Florida have been showing up in people’s mailboxes and frustrating many homeowners into unsuccessfully seeking lower premiums. Further, rising insurance costs have helped put a damper on the real estate market in Florida also. Worse yet some people are seriously thinking of selling their homes and moving back to the cold snowy north because they say they can’t afford the high premiums.

The state created insurer, Cititzens Property Insurance Corporation, has been the best option for homeowners who found themselves in need of a new policy. Citizens, considered the insurer of last resort, by law charges more than private insurers but has picked up hundreds of thousands of new policies becoming the second largest and soon to be the largest insurer in the state. But due to high hurricane claims in 2005, Citizens was seriously in the red. The Legislature bailed them out but some homeowners are being forced to pick up the difference through assessments to their policies. Additionally, the Legislature has responded by setting aside roughly $250 million in grants and rebates to help property homeowners fortify their homes.

Recently, even better news is on the home front. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the “Government Sponsored Enterprises” created by Congress to provide funding to mortgage lenders have made changes to the insurance requirements that many say will help lower premiums. These GSE’s are now allowing much higher deductibles which will in turn lower the premiums. Historically, they did not allow a deductible to be higher than $1000. But now in many cases they are allowing deductibles as high as $5000 depending on the value of the property.

Also, forecasters have downgraded their initial position of an active 2006 hurricane season for Florida and the Gulf Coast. This can only be good news for homeowners and their insurance rates. Last season was really unusual being the most active season on record. For example between 1995 and 2005, the hurricane season in the Atlantic only averaged eight hurricanes.

These complicated financial products combine life insurance and investment growth in one package. They were most commonly used as a way of repaying a mortgage and were most popular with homebuyers in the eighties and nineties.

The reason so many people bought them was because home loan firms and middlemen such as estate agents earned large commissions for selling. The charges tend to be ‘front-loaded’ meaning most of it is paid up front and therefore, for several years you will receive little if anything back if you have to stop paying the premiums.

In theory, these policies can grow to more than you need to repay your mortgage, giving you a bonus to spend on anything you like. In practice, this has rarely happened in recent years and of the 8.5 million endowments in 2004, 6.8 million were not expected to clear the mortgage they were originally intended to pay off.

With an endowment mortgage, you do not repay any of the capital you borrow during the term of the loan. Alternatively, the endowment policy should grow to produce a lump sum which is large enough to repay the loan in full at the end of the pre-agreed period of, normally, 25 years.

The monthly payments consist of interest on your mortgage loan and the premium for the endowment. Within the package you also pay for life insurance which will repay the loan should you die. However, there is no guarantee your endowment will pay off your mortgage.

When the time comes to making a decision on stopping an endowment and surrendering it, it is important to check your policy and make sure there is some value in doing so.

Early redemption can result in making less than you would have if it carried on for its full term. However, if you need the money, this could be our only solution.

Continuing to pay money into a poorly performing investment could be throwing away hard earned cash.

As well as surrendering it back to the company from whom it was bought from, policyholders also have the option of selling to a third party.

This can also have the added benefit of getting more for your policy than you would if it were sold back to the original issuer.

Different companies will have different requirements when it comes to them buying your endowment.

Usually they would require it to be with-profits or a with-profits whole life policy and have been running for a minimum number of years (the number of depending on the company).

Some will also require a surrender value of at least £1,500. If your policy does not meet the criteria, they will not be able to handle your sale. This would mean the only other option available is what the policy issuer will offer.

The Association of Policy Market Makers (APMM) is the industry body for firms specialising in the buying and selling of endowments. An independent financial advisor could also be helpful in comparing offers and helping you get the most for your policy.

There will be a fee for the work, but it could save you time and energy and also help you achieve the best possible price.

Don’t forget how important your endowment policy is. Like with an investment, you should not suddenly cancel the policy without doing the appropriate research and taking the adequate financial advice.

If you stop payments on a policy, you may lose any life assurance cover that was offered to you. This is an important consideration for your dependents if you are then taken ill or were to die without having set up an alternative method of paying off the policy.

On average around half of the total payout on an endowment if you don’t sell will come on the very last day. This is the so-called terminal bonus and it is not guaranteed. Stop paying in before then and you are likely to lose this. Instead, you will get the benefit of only the annual bonuses added to your policy.