24/02/2010
If you aren’t familiar with what an umbrella policy is, it offers coverage over and above the regular policies that you have with an insurance company. An umbrella policy can cover amounts that are greater than the base coverage that you have under a homeowners’ plan or an automobile insurance plan. To be eligible for an umbrella policy, you must have the maximum coverage available from your insurance company under both the homeowners’ and automobile insurance plans. This might seem like a lot of coverage but you will find that it is not as much as you might think. These plans are set with limits that are fairly low, knowing that people that require more coverage can get an umbrella policy with that insurer. Having these high limits for liability is wise and can keep you safe from any unexpected liabilities.
How an umbrella policy operates is that the basic coverage under your automobile insurance or your homeowners’ policy represents the deductible. For instance, if you have $1,000,000 liability on your auto insurance and this is the maximum, then any amount over that which is claimed would be covered by the umbrella policy. The result is that between the regular policy limits and the umbrella limits above that you have no break in insurance for claims above the basic amount.
One good thing about umbrella policies is that they are relatively inexpensive for the amount of coverage that you will get. Because the number of claims that will be over the basic amount of your policies will be rare, the insurance underwriters will know that they cannot charge the kind of premiums per thousand dollars of coverage that they would under your regular policy. Also consider that a good deal of the expense incurred when issuing a policy is attributed to the generation of the policy. That means that adding an umbrella policy to your regular policy will be fairly cheap from the insurers’ point of view. Most umbrella policies cost only a few extra dollars per month, but the coverage that they offer will mean that you are particularly safe from any liability that you may incur.
Who Should be in the Market for an Umbrella Policy?
Almost anyone that is at or near the limit of a regular policy should consider an umbrella policy. It can depend on the factors that make you more liable to claims; if you are insuring a teenage driver with your plan or if you have a swimming pool on your property these are a good idea.
Substantially large claims can be made for loss of life and for the money put into premiums it can save you enormous amounts of money down the road. Consider that if someone is killed in a car accident that is your fault, the family or estate may sue for grief but also for a lifetime of lost wages. You can find that it takes very little time for the total to exceed the coverage of your base policy. Factor in legal fees and you could be in big trouble. Consider umbrella policy coverage for more complete protection.
Posted in
Home Insurance |
23/02/2010
The variety of different methods that are used to commit fraud against life insurace companies is seemingly limitless. Whether the fraudulent act is committed by the agent or the consumer, it seems like people are dreaming up new ways of doing it and it has been going on for a long time. It would be impossible to calculate just how much this costs the industry every year, as not all of the perpetrators are caught. One thing is true however, and that is that every person that owns a life insurance plan and every company that offers them pays for the damage that is done by people that are looking for easy money.
One reason that people have tried to commit life insurance fraud over the years is that the potential for gain is large; there are potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars to be gained, even millions in some cases.
In many cases, the fraudulent act is committed by the insurance agents themselves. Schemes of this type often involve situations where the agent has taken money from an individual for an insurance plan that was never even applied for. The agent will falsify the documents or simply throw them out after the application is made and pocket the money. Sometimes when policies are surrendered, the agent will keep the funds that should have been paid to the client as the cash value of the policy. The fraudulent acts committed by some agents are not limited to the individual clients; some agents have set up phony applicants and even phony bank accounts so that they can gather commissions from the insurance company. It costs the industry huge amounts of money every year to put systems in place to try and catch the agents, but even then some will get away with the crime.
At times the results can be devastating to the beneficiaries of the policies. When people believe that they have a policy in place to protect their family, there are times when the policy has been allowed to lapse because the agent has been pocketing the premium funds. Expensive legal battles often ensue.
Fraud can also be committed by individuals against the insurance companies. It seems like an extreme measure, but the faking of a person’s demise has been attempted many times. Often, the insured person travels to another country to fake their death as it may be easier in some countries to find ways to obtain fake death certificates. There are even organizations in some countries that offer ‘death kits’ that will make a comprehensive ruse for a fee. This can include the death certificate, fake funeral and even a fake gravesite.
People have also resorted to murder in order to collect the proceeds of an insurance policy. There have been many movies made and books written of schemes where someone either kills or has a family member killed in order to claim against an insurance company.
Life insurance fraud is certainly not a victimless crime, and indeed sometimes those on the wrong end of the deal end up paying the ultimate price.
Posted in
Life Insurance |
Nobody wants to consider a tragedy like losing your home to a natural disaster or a devastating fire. While it is not pleasant to consider, it will be much easier to face if you have adequate insurance coverage in place to protect you and your family from financial ruin. If you have a plan in place, there are some things that you can do to ensure that when it comes time to claim that you will be able to get everything that is coming to you without much hassle from the insurance company. Many policy owners are not aware that there are breeds that are excluded in the wording of some insurance policies. If you have a dog that is a breed known to be aggressive or does not have a good reputation you might not be covered. Some breeds like Pit Bulls or Rottweilers fall into this category. While your dog might seem like the most charming little character, it matters only what is written in your policy pages when it comes time to claim.
It is a very good idea for anyone that is paying for a homeowners’ policy to keep an up-to-date inventory of all of the contents of your home. While you might think that you can sit down and name everything that you own, it is very difficult to do and you will surely miss some things. They may seem small but when you add them all up it can be quite expensive. Just consider the value of all of the things in your kitchen, and how much trouble you would have listing them if you had to. Take the time to make a complete inventory and to make sure that it is safe. This can mean putting it in a fireproof box, or having it somewhere in cyberspace where it can be accessed any time from anywhere. It is also a good idea to keep receipts for anything that you can, particularly the expensive items.
If you do not already have a home inventory, it can seem like climbing a mountain to set about making one. Even if you don’t list every single thing that is under your roof, it is wise to just get as much as you can. Anything is better that having nothing when you go to the insurance company with a claim. Moving day or the days before moving day can be a good time to do this. As everything is getting packed you can make a list and it will be done before you know it.
An easy way to do an inventory of the home is to do it room by room. Take a sheet of paper for each room and tackle them one at a time. Put the name of the room on the top of the sheet and start writing. Include everything that you can see in that room. If there are electronics or other valuable items in the room, record the serial numbers and gather the receipts for them if you can. Go through every nook and cranny in that room and record everything. Open up the closets or cabinets, go through the drawers and list anything in a hidden space or storage area of any kind.
Photos or video might also be a good idea. If you decide to go with photos, it may help to have a family member or yourself in the shot. This will make it more obvious that it was something that belonged to you. Video is also easy, quick and there will be no question that it was in your house. Take the time to be protected and you may one day be very glad that you did.
Posted in
Home Insurance |
22/02/2010
There are many different types of insurance in market now. One of oldest forms of insurance, which exists, is the life insurance. Term life insurance is agreement between provider and policyholder, which states that policyholder die provider may pay out a sum to beneficiary of policy. In return, policyholder pays monthly premium to provider for this particular service. However, life insurance has also come very long way since early days & nowadays you can cover yourself with affordable life insurance.
Life insurance works on same basic law as the normal life insurance apart for one huge difference. The term life insurance will work on short-term basis in place of long-term basis. It means that insurance policy is applicable for shorter time, often year, or two, and than the normal life insurance. One of advantages of the term life insurance is premiums are much lower & are not likely to change. Disadvantage is that eventual payout is much less than payout, which is given by long term insurance policy. Other problem is that if nothing happen to policyholder before term is up, he does not get anything. Premiums are not given back and payout is forfeited. Alternatively, affordable term life insurance are a way for person give for their family if their death happen but while working in their budget.
There are three important factors while it comes to life insurance. Premium is to be paid and this number will increase, decrease and stay level depending on economic climate however will not stay level in life insurance. Face sum refers to payout that is paid to beneficiary in case of policyholder’s death & will determine premium amount and minimum term that policy needs to be taken. Final factor is a term and how long coverage may last. Majority of the affordable life insurance policies last for a year though many policies include clause, which allows holder to extend policy at an end of current term. Majority of the providers may offer various combinations of three factors & they will help you customize your insurance policy to suit all your needs. Few policies stipulate circumstances for death & these generally include accident, natural causes, and illness. Few policies might include some other example when it may pay out depending on law of various states such as Arizona and California. Life insurance quotes can stipulate circumstances where it pays out however term life insurance is referred as pure life insurance. In addition, this is just because it pays out in event of death with nothing included. Majority of the term life insurance policies may return premiums in case of suicide in case it happens with 2 years of policy to take out but cannot pay out insurance. There is lots of information you need to take in consideration, which will help you a great deal after doing proper research. You are sure to save some money taking up the right kind of research, which will help you a great deal in saving money on your premium over a period.
Affordable life insurance is good method to cover life & protect family while there are not lots of money to invest on insurance. Keep in mind that, not like other forms of insurance, the term life insurance just pays out on policyholder’s death. Some other policies might pay out in case of sickness, accident, or some other factors but this coverage is made accessible by commensurate premium. With term life insurance, you will ensure that your whole family can look after they if unthinkable happen which will really help.