Tag Archives: Insurance
How to Shop For Boat Insurance
How to Shop For Boat Insurance
If you have a boat, you need boat insurance!
Shopping for boat insurance is a bit different from shopping for car insurance, even though the concept is much the same. Boat insurance will protect you against losses incurred while operating your boat, and while transporting your boat. Most boat insurance includes coverage for the boat, the motor, and the trailer.
When shopping for boat insurance, it is usually best to start with the insurance company that insures your cars and your home. Insurance companies usually give deep discounts to their current customers. Most insurance companies will also give deep discounts to people who have successfully completed a boating safety course.
Ask each insurance company that you contact about such discounts. In most cases, they won’t tell you about the discounts unless you specifically ask.
Don’t settle for the rate that your current insurance company quotes! Just get the quote, and tell them you will call them back soon. Using that quote as your base, you need to see if you can get the insurance cheaper elsewhere.
Using online resources is a great way to start. Get the quotes, and then contact the agents personally to see if you can work out a better deal. Believe it or not, insurance companies will compete with each other for your business. Don’t be afraid to tell them the lowest quote that you have been given so far – make them work for your business!
Know what type of insurance you want and need before contacting any agents. Some agents will try to sell you too much insurance, causing your premiums to skyrocket, while others aren’t as knowledgeable about the insurance needs of boat owners and won’t sell you enough coverage!
You should be protected against losses caused by sinking, fire, storms, theft, capsizing, stranding, collision, and explosion. The policy should cover anchors, oars, trolling motors, fuel tanks, seat cushions, skis, tow ropes, dinghies, tools, canopies, life preservers, and any equipment that is permanently attached to the boat.
The different types of insurance that you need include Watercraft Liability, Watercraft medical payments, Newly acquired watercraft coverage, coverage for repairs, coverage for emergency services, and coverage for wreck removal. In most states, the liability coverage entails Watercraft Liability and Watercraft Medical Payments.
Watercraft liability will protect you in the event of an accident that results from the ownership, maintenance, or use of your boat. It should include bodily injury coverage, property damage coverage, and even legal defense coverage. It should also protect anyone who drives your boat, as long as they were legally allowed to drive the vessel.
Watercraft Medical payments coverage will pay medical expenses up to specific limits for you and the occupants of your boat in the even of an accident.
Other types of coverage are usually voluntary, but should be strongly considered. There is quite a bit that can happen when you transport or operate a water vessel, and protecting yourself legally should be a high priority!
Again, know what you want in terms of coverage before you talk to an agent, and make sure that you get the coverage that you need.
Compare rates online, and then contact the agents that offer you the lowest quotes. Attend a boating safety course, and make sure that you get that discount! Once you’ve found lower rates than the original quote that your current insurance company offered you, call them back and let them know that you found a lower rate. See if they can compete – in many cases they will offer to match that rate, just to keep your business! Again – make them work for your business!
CopyRight Ian D. Major 2005.
Advice For Choosing The Best Life Insurance
Advice For Choosing The Best Life Insurance
Choosing the right life insurance policy is especially important for those who are responsible for the income of their household. If something happens to you and you are no longer able to work, life insurance money can support your family. Read this article for tips on how to pick the right policy.
If you are young but ambitious, then consider forgoing the cheaper option of term life insurance in favor of whole life insurance. Term life insurance is only designed to cover temporary expenses like student loans whereas whole life insurance will not only protect your current and future assets but will also accumulate value.
When you purchase term life insurance, you will find that the rates are quite affordable. This will allow you to purchase an insurance amount that will be ample for all your needs. It’s a good idea to get a life insurance policy that will pay six to ten times the amount of your gross annual income.
Choose the life insurance amount wisely. The older you are and the larger the payout, the more it costs. Keep in mind: life insurance is not designed to pay off your house and finance your whole family for the rest of their natural lives. Choose an amount which comfortably helps them through the few month after your death.
Treat shopping for life insurance like you would shopping for anything else. Don’t always jump at the first thing you see or hear. Some insurance brokers can be very persuasive, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t research as many plans as you can and compare the pros and cons of each before making your decision.
Don’t shy away from the old-fashioned life insurance salesmen out there. They might not show up at your door these days, but speaking with a live insurance agent as opposed to dealing with a computer could end up saving you some big money over the life of your insurance policy. No pun intended.
When considering a life insurance policy, be sure to do a great deal of shopping around. Some insurance providers can be more competitive price-wise due to the mass amounts of people they insure. There is also a good deal of difference on the ability of an insurer to guarantee they will be around fifty years later to pay out when it is needed.
If your life circumstance changes, consider adjusting your life insurance policies. As you age, your insurance ages, and your rates raise. You do want to make changes to your coverage if your family shrinks, such as a child leaving home. You don’t want to be wasting money on your life insurance premiums.
If you want to ensure you have cheap life insurance premiums, you should purchase a term insurance plan rather than a whole life plan. A term insurance policy is purchased for a specific amount of time; therefore, because of the smaller risks, the premiums will be cheaper than a riskier whole life plan that lasts for the entire life of the policy holder.
People can never predict an accident or other tragic event that leaves them unable to work. Before this happens, make sure you can protect your dependents by getting a life insurance policy. Remember the tips in this article in order to choose the best policy and rate for your situation.
How to Get The Lowest Home Owner’s Insurance Rates
How to Get The Lowest Home Owner’s Insurance Rates
We purchase homes, in order to raise our families and keep them safe. If you own a home without having a home owner’s insurance policy, your family has no protection at all. If there’s any type of disaster, you will be out on the streets with no hope of getting back into your home. So make sure that you use these tips to get a great insurance package at a fair price.
Keep as many policies with the same company as possible to reduce your total premium. Many insurance carriers offer discounts for customers with multiple lines of insurance. If you keep your home owner’s insurance and auto insurance with the same carrier, you may reap a significant discount on both policy premium totals.
The home you have just bought is probably the largest investment in your life. It is a natural instinct to protect the value of your property. The way to do that is to purchase a home owner insurance policy, which is basically a contract between an insurance company and the home owner. As long as the home owner keeps paying the monthly premiums, the insurance company pays for certain losses such as damage caused by human actions or natural disasters.
Make your home a smoke free environment. Making your home smoke free is going to benefit your health and your home owner’s insurance premiums. Do this and install a smoke detector or two on each level of the home and you are going to get a nice discount on your home owner’s premiums.
If you have recently renovated your home, make sure to let your home owner’s insurance company know. That way, should disaster ruin your newly renovated home, you will be reimbursed an amount that reflects the way your home looked after you renovated. Try to call the insurance company as soon as you make these renovations.
Lower your homeowner’s insurance annual premiums by as much as five percent by maintaining a security system that is directly tied to your neighborhood police station. All that is required to qualify for this discount is to verify that you have central monitoring, which can be through a bill or insurance company contract.
Save money on your homeowner’s insurance by not purchasing items that are potentially injurious. Building a swimming pool or buying a trampoline can raise your annual premium by as much as ten percent or even more. Instead, visit the neighborhood pool or playground and get the same enjoyment for a lower price.
Have your financial house in order before you try and enter into a real estate transaction. Check your credit report and credit score from the three major credit bureaus. If there are any inaccuracies, you will want to have those fixed. Unexpected hiccups in your financing can derail a purchase you are about to make.
It’s all about our family when it come to purchasing homeowner’s insurance. It’s easier to pick up and move on when you’re alone, but when you have people relying on you, they need a roof over their heads to provide shelter and safety. Use the tips you just read to purchase an affordable, high-quality insurance package for your home.
Different Types of Health Insurance in California
Different Types of Health Insurance in California
Whether you buy group or individual health insurance in California, the options you have regarding the different types of health insurance are generally the same. In some groups you can even choose from available plans. These different types are traditional health insurance, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs).
California goes beyond the Federal requirements for offering health insurance to its residents. Examples of this include Industry Advantage plans (IAHP), short-term health policies, Insurance for high risk Individuals and special plans for children and teens.
Additional Health Insurance in California
The traditional health care delivery system is based on a fee-for-service type of arrangement. In a fee-for-service system, you pay or each itemized medical service you receive. In the days of the frontier, “Doc” often received a chicken as payment. Today, physicians are paid with money, lots and lots of it. Fee-for-service health insurance recognizes this practice and is designed to reduce or even eliminate your duty to pay directly for your medical care. Traditional health insurance comes in three parts:
California has four basic options for choosing a health care plan:
- 1. Health through an employer or association
- 2. Health Insurance through Income eligibility such as Medicaid
- 3. Health care for high risk individuals such as those that have had cancer or a heart attack
- 4. Private Insurance
Hospitalization
Hospitalization covers defined expenses incurred while in the hospital. Generally, the insurance will pay for all of the covered services rendered by the hospital staff. However, if the insurance benefit is an indemnity payment, the payment will be for a fixed sum regardless of the actual expenses incurred. This fixed sum will usually be far below the daily charge actually made by the hospital.
Medical/surgical
This part of a traditional health plan covers the expensive costs of medical care other than the bill from the hospital. Services such as doctor visits, treatment charges, etc., are covered here. Medical/surgical usually has a deductible and requires co-payments by the insured (payments you make for charges not covered by the insurance), typically 20 percent of the doctor’s fee.
Catastrophic or major medical
There are usually lifetime maximum payments that hospitalization and medical/surgical plans will pay, after which the well runs dry. Unfortunately, these maximums may not be sufficient to pay for all of the care required if a major illness or injury should strike, since such afflictions can eat up hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars worth of health services. Thus, catastrophic coverage adds to your umbrella of protection in an amount sufficient to protect you from the horrendous expenses of such serious and prolonged illnesses. These policies also fill in some of the gaps not covered by hospitalization or medical/surgical.
Health Maintenance Organizations or Private Insurance in California
The health maintenance organization (HMO) is a relatively new player in the health insurance game, although it has been around in a limited fashion since the 1930s. The idea behind an HMO is to pay one premium and receive all of your health care at no or a nominal additional cost. The point is to save money compared to traditional health plans that cost more to purchase and require more out-of-pocket payments from the insured. What you, the insured, give in exchange for reduced cost is a substantial loss of your freedom to choose who will take care of your health needs.
Preferred Provider Organizations
Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) seek to give both the benefits of traditional health plans and the money savings of HMOs. They do this by paying higher benefits as a reward for your using the doctors or hospitals they preselect for that purpose.
Disability Insurance
Disability insurance does not pay for health care; rather it pays for lost wages caused by a disabling injury or illness.
How Health Insurance Is Priced
Ask anyone how health insurance is priced and you will get a simple answer: expensively! Beyond that, there are underwriting criteria used by health insurance providers, whether they are for-profit or, like Blue Shield/Blue Cross, nonprofit.
Underwriting Criteria
Age
The older you are, the more likely you are to get sick; therefore, the higher your health insurance premiums will be.
Number of people covered
Many people buy family coverage rather than individual policies. This means that there will be adults as well as minor children protected by the same plan. Some companies will charge based on the size of the family. Others charge a basic family rate without regard to the number of members.
Gender
Unlike life insurance, where women get the better end of the bargain than men, in health insurance women often pay higher premiums. This is based on health insurance industry statistics which indicate that the female of the species tends to need medical care more often than the male.
Health history
Insurance operates on statistical probabilities. If you have had a poor health history, statistically you are more likely to have a more expensive health care future. This, in turn, means that you will pay higher premiums-if you can get health insurance at all.
Occupation
The more likely you are to suffer injury or illness because of the work you do, the more likely the health insurance industry will be to charge excessively for benefits. This may be well and good for professional deep-sea divers. But the industry has begun to stretch the concept into areas that have nothing to do with the inherent danger of the work.
Lifestyle
In your application for health insurance you will be asked questions about your personal habits. Your answers will have a lot to do with the cost of your premiums. If you smoke, you will probably pay more for health insurance. If you drink to excess, you will probably pay more for health insurance. If you are known to be under a great deal of stress, you may pay more for health insurance. California does reward the health care Insurance consumer with lower premiums if they have practiced good health policies.
One of the most important things you can do as a health care consumer is to engage in preventive care. Not only will you be able to spot serious diseases at an early stage, thereby increasing your chances of effective treatment and cure, but you should be able to save money as well, since it is usually far less expensive to treat a disease when it’s a molehill rather than a mountain.
About The Author:
Medical-Ins.com is a leading broker of health insurance in California. We provide detailed information and cost breakdowns of Blue Cross, PacifiCare California and many more. Visit our site for a free quote and to help sort through the various health insurance plans to find the more affordable option for your family.
The Cheapest Car Insurance For Teens – Keep The Rates Down
The Cheapest Car Insurance For Teens – Keep The Rates Down
We love them even though they are expensive – a fact that doesn’t change once they get older. They become extra costly once they become teens. Their taste in clothing becomes more expensive. Santa no longer brings stuffed animals; he’s hauling the newest Nintendo in his bag. They need money for proms, football camps, cheerleading uniforms, and band instruments.
What happened to the days when peek-a-boo was enough to make them smile?
Teens are also notorious for having more expensive car insurance rates than older drivers. This is mainly because car insurance companies view teens as less experienced drivers and more risky to insure. Since age is already working against them, teens must take extra care to make other factors car insurance companies look at work for them.
Despite the rising costs of raising teens, there is a way to get cheap car insurance for teens – actually, it could be the most important way to get cheap car insurance for your teen. Buy your teen a practical, affordable, and safe car.
Teens dream about the day they become old enough to drive, and many teens get their first car when that day comes; however, if it is a flashy, expensive, unsafe car the car insurance company will see it as likely to be stolen or robbed, costly to repair in the event it becomes damaged, and likely to not protect against accidents.
On the other hand, if the car is modest in appearance and price, as well as equipped with safety features, the car insurance company will be more likely to offer a cheap car insurance quote for the teen.
By purchasing your teen an affordable, practical car, not only are you helping to get cheap car insurance for your teen, you are also helping to keep your teen safe which makes buying your teen this kind of car the most important way to get cheap car insurance for your teen.
How To Compare Low Cost Car Insurance In Washington
How To Compare Low Cost Car Insurance In Washington
Comparison shopping is something most of us do on a daily basis. Whether we’re looking for a deal on a certain grocery item or we shop around for a jacket, we’re in search of the best bargain for our dollar. The same should happen when it comes to car insurance shopping. With over sixty different auto insurance companies headquartered in Washington State, the residents can certainly do more than just a little price checking.
Getting car insurance quotes can be an uncomfortable undertaking. Not only are you expected to hand over some personal information to an insurance agent, but in most cases you’ve got to give them your contact information as well. For anyone who has gone through this process, they can verify that once an agent has your number, he or she is likely to put it to good use trying to contact you to secure a policy with them.
The best and easiest approach is to utilize the free quote function found on many websites. Many of the Washington based auto insurance companies allow you to inquire about a free quote online. Although you’ll still be providing your contact information you can also suggest a time for them to contact you. By the time they do call, they should have an idea of what a policy will cost you based on the information you provided, including your make and model of car, how long you’ve been driving and how much you actually drive the car per month.
Ensure that when you do ask for multiple quotes that you request the same coverage information each time. Policies vary from insurer to insurer but if you know what you need, and you ask for a quote solely based on that, you’ll have a base at which to start your comparisons. Remember that although price is really important, the reliability and reputation of the insurance company matters too.