Insurance Experts

Finding providers who offer individual dental insurance plans may be difficult but not impossible. So do not let this minor point stop you from finding an insurance provider, because having dental insurance fulfills two great benefits:

Excellent Oral Health

ADA studies have shown that cleanings and regular dental check ups is one of the best ways to keep ones’ teeth and gums healthy, and safe from diseases. Many plans provide and pay for the insured to go for regular dental check ups.

Relief From Costly Dental Bills

Cavities, root canals, crowns and teeth extraction are an unpleasant reality. Without dental insurance, these simple procedures can become expensive. Many dental insurance providers offer plans where they pay for a bigger percentage or pay for the entire dental procedure.

What To Consider In The Search For Individual Dental Insurance Providers

Short or no waiting period

Some dental insurance providers impose a waiting period, to ensure that the old problems from the previous provider are not carried over to the new plan. This can be a problem for you if you need to undergo a procedure, but the new dental insurance has a waiting period of 6 to 8 months before you can avail of the coverage. You will end up paying for this treatment out of your pocket. So, do not delay your search for a dental insurance plan.

Buyer Plans or referral plans

Consider third party companies, which offer referral plans. Under this arrangement, the individual pays a monthly fee to a third party to gain access to dentists who have agreed to a reduced fee schedule. The third party’s services involve securing individuals to dentists. The individual pays the discounted dental fee directly to the dentist.

Independent insurance carriers

You can easily find these carriers on the net or the yellow pages. The better ones offer a flexible dental insurance plan, which can be written as stand-alone coverage or as a part of your present dental insurance plan.

Some of these carriers provide plans with the following benefits:

• The flexibility to seek treatment from your preferred dentist, but they will offer you bigger discounted fees if you choose a dentist from their network.

• Inform you what the contracted rate is for the treatment before you undergo this.

• Provide you complete coverage from preventive services such as check ups to major procedures like full dentures.

At last, a real life insurance bargain – but as always there are strings attached!

If you take out a new pension policy after 6 th April 2006 and within the same premium pay for life insurance cover, then you can use your pension contribution tax allowance to reduce the cost of your life insurance. This means if you’re a standard rate taxpayer, you’ll receive 22% tax relief on your life insurance premiums and relief at 40% if you’re a higher rate taxpayer.

The combined premium you pay for your pension and life insurance will automatically be reduced by 22% by the pension provider. But if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, you’ll need to claim the balance to bring your relief up to 40%, on your year-end self-assessment tax return.

But there are three strings attached:

• The pension company must also provide your life insurance and be paid as one combined premium.

• The current value of your pension fund plus the sum insured by your life insurance policy must not exceed £1.5 million.

• Your combined annual premium for your pension and life insurance must not exceed £215,000.

In practice the savings on your life insurance will not be quite as big as you might otherwise expect. Its because the underlying premium for the life insurance cover will be a bit more expensive than a stand-a-lone policy with the same company and, in all probability, the insurance company providing your pension policy won’t be the cheapest on the life insurance market. Furthermore, you can’t buy a combined pension and life insurance policy online - so you’ll miss out on the Internet’s discounted life insurance prices.

Nevertheless, if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, your tax savings are bound to guarantee that your life cover is a real bargain! If you’re a standard rate taxpayer you’d be wise to do a little homework. Before you buy, you should get an online quote for life insurance to compare against the price you’d pay if you bought it alongside your new pension.

There are some other points you also need to know. Firstly we know you’ll ask whether you can convert your existing life insurance policy into a combined pension purchase. The answer is no! The tax relief is only available if from the outset, you take a pension and life insurance policy as one combined purchase.

Secondly, the life insurance cover can only apply to the owner of the pension policy - you can’t add in anyone else on the life insurance policy. Joint policies aren’t available as a pension/life insurance package.

And whilst many people also add critical illness cover to their life insurance, this is not possible when you have a pension/life insurance package. Critical illness cover pays out a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified serious illness which is listed on your policy. If you want critical illness cover, you’ll have to buy a normal stand-a-lone policy.

Finally, if you’re going to buy a pension life insurance package and replace your existing life cover, a few words of warning. You’ll obviously be older now than when you first took out your existing life insurance policy. This means that the premium rate on your new cover will be higher. Furthermore, the premium for your new policy could be loaded if you’ve developed any medical conditions since taking out your original life insurance. Remember, even if you’ve simply put on weight, your premium could be loaded. In extreme medical cases, the proposed insurer might even totally refuse to provide life cover. To avoid the possibility of being caught without life insurance cover or being forced to accept a more expensive premium, you should obtain written confirmation from your pension company that they will insure you. You then need to compare their proposed cost, net of tax, with your existing premium.

1. No agent needed in most cases because you are dealing directly with the insurance company on its own secure website. Buying insurance online is in many cases a simple do-it-yourself process.
2. Some companies even offer a discount for online applications. Most companies have what is known as a “policy fee” or “application fee”. It’s their way of off-setting some of the expenses incurred when the company begins the underwriting process. Celtic Insurance, for example, has a one time $25 application fee. If you apply online, this fee is waived.
3. You can usually find more plans from which to choose online. Many agents will try to sell you the plan(s) that they would prefer selling as opposed to what may be the best plan of choice for you.
4. Most companies have a page where you can generate your own individual quote for the plans you are most interested in purchasing. As a rule, the quotes you generate are free and you can get quotes for more than one plan.
5. If, after you get your quotes, you can apply online right away. You don’t have to wait for the post office to deliver the materials. Everything you need to apply is immediately available.
6. Your health information is kept private. Since you are applying online, you are (or should be) on the insurance company’s secure website. All information that is entered in the online application is kept private. Many companies will require that you set up a user name and password before beginning the application process.
7. Most insurance companies allow payment for premiums by credit card. You should be able to pay at least the first month premium via credit card. Part of the application will be choosing your method of payment anyhow-usually by monthly bank draft from your checking or savings account.
8. Online shopping for health insurance will allow you a greater number of companies from which to choose your plan. Virtually all of the major insurance companies have an Internet presence and will welcome your request for information, quotes and application.
9. Finally, you may come across some insurance companies that simply don’t want to offer an insurance contract without your having spoken to one of their agents. In this case, simply fill out the “Contact Us” link on their website and the company will forward your request to an agent.

By Louis Neal © 2006

Florida medical insurance is comprised of two main categories: Florida individual medical insurance and Florida group medical insurance. These two categories have many similarities but yet many important differences as well.

Many Florida residents are quite familiar with large group medical insurance through their employer if they have ever worked for a large corporation (in Florida a large group is considered a company or group that has more than 50 employees). However, when it comes to understanding individual medical insurance in Florida and how it works or even understanding small group medical insurance in Florida and how that works it turns out to be somewhat different than the large group medical insurance plan that most have known so well for so long.

Individual medical insurance in Florida is different from group medical insurance in Florida because of the fact that the underwriting departments at each Florida insurance company will scrutinize very closely any pre-existing conditions that an applicant has in their health history (going back up to 10 years) if they are applying for an individual policy.

This scrutiny is geared towards finding any adverse health conditions or precursors to health conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, cancer, etc. Conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and severe obesity will cause a Florida health insurance company to automatically decline an application for coverage with an individual medical insurance policy.

Less severe pre-existing health conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, mild obesity, and heartburn/acid reflux will generally result in a rider being placed on the accompanying policy that will exclude coverage for anything related to that specific pre-existing condition. Riders are generally levied on an indefinite basis or a temporary basis (12-24 months in most cases).

There are a few insurance companies in Florida (one of them presently being Aetna) that do not issue riders on the individual medical insurance side as is most common but will instead “rate up” an applicant they deem presents excess risk due to pre-existing conditions. This “rate up” simply means that they will offer to cover the mild pre-existing conditions but they will offer you a rate increased premium amount that can be 10% more than was initially quoted you, 25% more, 50% more; it all depends on the underwriting department at the insurance company as to what premium amount that they will offer you if they decide to accept you.

Florida group medical insurance is much simpler in that generally there is not as much scrutiny towards an applicant’s health history and pre-existing conditions. This is good or bad depending on your present health condition. It is good if you are an unhealthy person with some major pre-existing conditions because it allows you to obtain group medical insurance when you would be declined if you tried to obtain individual medical insurance (due to your pre-existing conditions). However, it is bad from a financial sense if you are a generally healthy person because you are paying a higher premium cost for group medical insurance (as opposed to individual medical insurance) – that is unless your employer is paying the cost for all of your group medical insurance: then you are quite happy (unless you have a family and your employer is not so kind as to pay for them to be on the group medical coverage as well!)

Just from what you have learned so far; which do you think would be more expensive – group medical insurance or individual medical insurance? If you said group medical insurance then you are on the right track to understanding the main difference between the two. Think of the cost of group medical insurance versus the cost of individual medical insurance like this: if your new co-worker at the cubicle next to you has cancer then guess what? They will be able to obtain group coverage on your group plan even though they never would be approved for an individual medical insurance policy. You as a healthy person are in a sense subsidizing the cost of your unhealthy co-worker (and all of the other unhealthy people) in paying their premiums. It follows of course that the premiums will be higher for a group medical insurance plan in Florida where the insurance company has to take on both healthy and unhealthy people as opposed to an individual medical insurance plan in Florida where the insurance company can pick and choose who they will accept.

Be sure to research your Florida medical insurance options thoroughly by consulting with an independent agent who can represent multiple health insurance companies and by comparing Florida medical insurance quotes from multiple companies side by side. (Be sure not to believe any Florida insurance agent who tells you that you will be approved for an individual medical insurance policy whether you have pre-existing conditions or not – chances are they are just trying to unload a close to worthless medical discount plan – not medical insurance).

Do you know anyone who’s been involved in an automobile accident and suddenly needed to wear a neck brace everywhere…except when no one else is around? Do you know anyone who’s been injured on the job and, while he can’t make it to work, can still accept his best friend’s invitation for a weekend of skiing? These people are cheating insurance companies, and cheating insurance companies, also known as insurance fraud, is illegal.

Sadly, cheating insurance companies is a fairly common practice. People cheat other people’s insurance companies by suing for injuries that didn’t occur; hence the need for the neck brace. People cheat their own insurance companies, or the insurance companies of their employers such as worker’s compensation, when they claim to be too injured to work but are actually well enough to do everything else.

People who cheat insurance companies aren’t just cheating the insurance companies; they’re also cheating everyone else who owns an insurance policy through that income. You see, insurance companies are so fed up with, and drained by, those who cheat them that the cost of insurance policies raises. That means while these people are busy cheating insurance companies, honest people are busy spending more money on insurance than they should have to spend.

Since cheating insurance companies has become such a fairly common practice, many insurance companies are cracking down by investigating the “injuries” much more thoroughly than ever. Some insurance companies hire private investigators to keep surveillance on those they think may be cheating their company. This can be a pretty effective way of cutting down on insurance fraud since most people don’t expect an insurance company to go out of its way and fork over even more cash to have them investigated. Therefore, the people who are actually cheating the insurance companies freely enjoy their newfound money or free paychecks and make it much easier for the insurance companies to bust them.

Health insurance is an important part of your financial planning. A minor illness or injury can set you back a bit, but a major illness or injury can devastate you financially now and into the future. Carrying adequate health insurance gives you peace of mind. There are a variety of different types of health insurance plans you can buy. Each plan offers a different style of coverage. Each plan has a basic premium but there may be other costs depending on your family’s health and your medical history.

Two health plans that you hear a lot about are managed care and indemnity plans. They are significantly different in their basic approach to health care but broadly speaking the major difference involves choices. Managed care plans have pre-existing service contracts that they have entered into with specific hospitals, health care providers, and doctors. A managed care plan will mean less paper work for you and much lower out of pocket expenses. There are 3 types of managed care programs available.

The PPO or preferred provider organization combines managed and indemnity to come up with its own flavor. You can choose from professionals in the PPO network or outside the network. If you choose outside the network you simply pay the bill and then submit for reimbursement. If you choose a PPO doctor you will pay a nominal flat fee for service. HMO or health maintenance organization requires you to pay when you see an HMO doctor but there is no plan deductible. HMO will give you a list of doctors to help you choose a primary doctor. On the other hand the indemnity plans will offer you a wider choice of health care professionals to choose from because these plans have no predefined contracts. You can expect to outlay higher amounts. Generally you pay the bill and then submit it. Deductibles start at $200 and go up and most plans cover 80% although there are variations. Over the years these two types of plans have actually begun to blur. In fact some indemnity plans are beginning to look more like managed care plans.

Group insurance can be offered by employers. Check with your company. Group policies cover a group of people regardless of physical condition, age, or any other issue. Premiums are based on a group rate rather than individual assessments, which makes it a lot cheaper. Individual insurance is carried by anyone who does not have access to group insurance. Upon receiving your application you and your family members who will be covered by the policy will be evaluated and your risk assessed. This will determine your premiums and any restrictions your policy might have. Besides your basic medical coverage for visits to the doctor or hospital, you can also buy additional coverage.

Vision care is one of those coverage’s that is worth considering especially if you have younger children in your home. Plan coverage varies but usually covers your eye exam, glaucoma screening, and glasses or contacts up to a set amount. You can also purchase dental insurance which provides you with coverage for dental related services such as diagnostics, checkups, restoration, and repair of your teeth. The type of health insurance you decide to purchase will depend on your personal needs and the needs of your family. By doing your research and understanding the different types of insurance available you will be better equipped to buy the right health insurance.

Choosing the right insurance plan, will leave your family with the financial protection they will need when the time is right.

The confusion starts when the decision has to be made between Term Life and Universal life Insurance. The key to successfully choosing the right plan that will protect you family in time of need is research, research, research and planning.

Someone will ask, do we really require life Insurance? Sometimes we wait so long to answer that question and plan for it, that it becomes to late when death strikes the family.

The question that has to be asked when deciding if there is a need for life insurance is, what would happen if the main family bread winner dies? Would that create financial nightmare or major burden? if the answer is yes, well, life insurance is crucial and required now rather than later. Although one would ague that for persons who are single and have no children, life insurance is optional. This is true only in some cases. What is optional is the type of life insurance that a single person would sign up for. That is because some life insurance can provide for cash accumulation and savings options, which can be used during life rather than death.

Lets examine the two main types of life insurance

Universal Life Insurance

This type of insurance provide for death benefits which is the main goal of any insurance policy. However, in addition to providing the required death benefits to living family members, it will also provide the policy holder with the advantage of having a savings account that is tax-deferred. This is what I was referring to earlier, when I indicated that insurance for a single person can be optional but advisable, especially young single persons. The reason being that after about 15-20 years of holding a universal life insurance policy a return will be realize form the savings component of this life insurance. After the established grace period, one can use this policy as collateral to borrow money, one can borrow against the policy or simple request a cash payout. Some financial gurus may argue that there are much better savings investment options that Universal Life Insurance, but the double benefits of this type of insurance makes it an attractive options that most of these gurus cannot argue against.

Term Life

Low cost and flexibility are the main attributes of term life insurance coverage. It provides basic insurance coverage for a pre-set period. But unlike Universal Life insurance, it does not carry a savings component. There will be no cashing out at the end of the term or during the the term. Premium cost for this policy is usually lower than Universal life. The term for this type of policy can span from 10 - 30 years and renewable at the end of the term. What makes this policy attractive is the low cost and flexible term periods.

When the time come to buy insurance for you or your family, it is better to select an insurance agent who comes highly recommend by a trusted friend or other family member. Insurance is a commission business and some agents simply want to get the best commission payout they can get and not necessary the best protection for you and you love ones.

It seems to be a little known fact that in the last budget, legislation was introduced which has created a tax loophole on a certain type of life insurance. We gather that early indications point to the fact that, for 50% of people, the most economical solution for their insurance needs may be a Pensions Life Insurance Policy.

The policy won’t be suitable for everyone as there are various qualifying aspects of the insurance, but there are certainly tax savings to be made for some people. The policies have a number of names, sometimes referred to as Pensions Life Insurance and we have seen Level Term Pensions Life Insurance used. The use of the word pension is a little misleading. They are not actually anything to do with pensions. They don’t provide a pension and it’s not necessary to have a pension in place already. It’s a small part of an extensive change in tax legislation relating mainly to pensions and inheritance tax.

Pensions Life Insurance will pay out a lump sum on death of the policyholder or diagnosis of a terminal illness, resulting in death within a year. There is no provision for joint policy holders, so each person participating has to have their own cover. Critical illness cover is a separate issue and cannot be included in the policy.

At present, Pensions Life policies are more costly than the more conventional life policies. They can cost around 15% more and this increase is justified by the insurance companies for the extra work needed to reclaim the tax relief.

The insurance company will deduct the standard rate of tax from your premium. If you pay tax at a higher rate, you will then need to reclaim the difference between the two rates when you complete your tax return. This should only need to be entered once as H M Inland Revenue should then automatically continue to give the relief for the life of the policy.

A couple of points that probably won’t bother too many people:

1. If your pension contributions added to your life insurance premiums come to more than £215,000 per annum, you will not be eligible to have a Pensions Life Policy.

2. If the payout from the policy, added to the value of your pension fund, is more than £1,500,000, then you will be taxed at 55% on the excess.

Conventional life insurance policies are not included in this calculation. The extent of the savings look considerable, with standard rate tax payers saving around 15% and higher rate payers reducing the cost of their premiums by 30%.

Because of the complexity of these new rules and the fact that these policies will not be suitable for everyone, it’s necessary for them to be brought via a broker who will advise you. At present it’s not possible to get a live quote on the internet but a call to a broker will result in up to date and competitive quotes being provided.

So, thank you Gordon Brown, for this unexpected bonus. Remember, though, to take expert advice before you take the plunge.

Everyone loves a bargain, and that includes when shopping for health insurance. Television and radio programming are full of commercials offering to save you 15 - 50% on everything from car insurance to hotel rooms. As a result of being bombarded with offers of savings (some real, some not), it is not surprising that there is strong interest in cheap health insurance. While cheap health insurance can be found, those seeking it must be tuned in to the “let the buyer beware” approach. Beware of what? Hidden costs!

Too Low Monthly Premiums

The best scenario for those covered by a cheap health insurance policy, with monthly premiums too good to be true, is never having to use it! While the monthly premiums may make the policy easily affordable, the costs incurred when making a claim might far outweigh the slightly more expensive premium of a regular policy.

Where are the hidden costs that may occur?

Too High Deductibles

With a cheap health insurance plan, the premiums may be low, but the deductible might be much higher than expected. In order to offer such low premiums, the health insurance company has to make its money back somewhere. Any cost savings to the purchaser of a cheap health insurance plan might be offset by a higher deductible.

Too High Out-Of-Pocket Expenses

Once again, the low premium cost to the insured must be make up somewhere. The amount of the policy-holders out-of-pocket expense with a cheap health insurance plan will almost always be higher than with a non-discounted policy. Claims that are normally 80% covered by a non-discounted policy may only be 60% covered by a cheap health insurance policy. It could get even worse, certain drugs and procedures might not be covered at all.

Limited Prescription Drug Coverage

It is possible to find cheap health insurance that offers prescription drug coverage. However, this area of coverage must be reviewed very carefully. The types and amounts of prescription drug coverage with a cheap health insurance policy might be severely limited.

Out-Of-Network Costs

Some health insurance plans only provide full coverage of medical services within a limited network of doctors and treatment facilities. Should you require medical treatment outside the network, it is very likely you will receive less coverage than had your treatment been inside the network. Out-of-network penalties may be considerably higher for a cheap health insurance policy.

Maximum Out Of Pocket Expenses

When seeking a cheap health insurance plan, be certain to look for a policy that puts a cap on out-of-pocket expenses. Ideally, you would want a plan that provided 100% coverage after that cap was exceeded. This feature provides peace of mind in the event of a severe medical problem requiring substantial cost, while at the same time allowing the cheap health insurance premiums to be maintained.

It’s A Balancing Act

Cheap health insurance must be chosen carefully. It must be understood that lower monthly premiums can, and most likely will, mean less medical coverage. It is also important to understand that the savings of a low-premium plan can easily be wiped out by the hidden costs encountered when filing a claim. In fact, these personal expenses may drive the cost of the plan above that of a full price policy. So how do you keep the cost of cheap health insurance down? The best way is to limit any claims made against the policy. Try to live a healthy lifestyle, and don’t file an insurance claim for every case of the sniffles.

Copyright &copy2006 Carl DiNello

Insurance policies, in general, are directed against specific risks. Agriculture insurance is no exception. Whether you opt for farm bureau insurance, farm insurance, farm auto insurance, or horse insurance, there are risks you must be sure to protect your property against. It is likely that most farm insurance companies cover these risks but it could never hurt anybody to be sure and know how losses posed by these risks are determined and prevented.

In choosing farm bureau insurance, farm insurance, farm auto insurance, or horse insurance, keep in mind these risks and how to prevent them. Production risks are generally considered as risks stemming from weather conditions, pests, crop diseases, technology malfunction, genetics, and the kind of the seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers used. To prevent losses due to production risks, crop variation is recommended. This could mean planting different crops in one season or raising livestock and crops together. This is an expensive risk reducing method because this would require greater capital and investment. However, in the long run, greater savings can be had from opting for this risk prevention method. An economical method is to use technology to your advantage. Use genetically altered crop seeds for a bigger crop yield. In addition, this method controls the growth of weeds and improves the crops’ resistance to pests and diseases. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are to be used only as directed because they could strip your land off its nutrients.

Crop insurance is also a good option though it is offered only at private insurance companies. Marketing risks are also to be thought of considering the increasingly competitive market. To develop an effective marketing plan, it is important to assess the demand and the supply of your crops. Research crop prices and price your crops competitively. This does not mean that you lower your price but to include production and transportation costs, and market price in placing value on your crops. An efficient marketing plan can ensure a consumer base for your crop, thereby reducing risks of crop rot and low income returns.

Traditionally, agriculture insurance is multi-peril, which means that it covers marketing and production risks. Multi-peril insurance basically involves compensation to the farmer for shortcomings like a lower yield than what the policy requires. In some cases, this spawned improper insurance use which led to unnecessary risk taking like planting crops in inappropriate locations. This increases the growers’ risk of incurring losses. Farm bureau insurance, farm insurance, farm auto insurance, and crop insurance can save you from losses but no agency would offer you insurance if you are extremely high-risk. It is therefore important to undertake risk reduction methods such as those mentioned above to prevent losses in the future.