info life insurance

When it comes to paying the premiums vehicle insurance can give you a very bad headache, especially if you have a costly vehicle to insure. And "costly" doesn't necessarily mean "expensive". You may ride a cheap car that will cost you hundreds of dollars more to insure than a large SUV. It may seem illogic at first, but you will have to understand the way insurance companies asses risk in order to find the perfect car to lower your insurance costs with.

Insurance companies analyze a set of elements regarding each car make and model before giving you a quote. It's not that insurance providers have prejudice against certain makes. Each car is analyzed and evaluated by how risky it is to insure. The factors that will influence a car's insurance rating include: passenger safety; damage and injury scores; theft rates; repair costs. These factors vary significantly between car types and within types as well. So let's look closer at these elements.

Passenger safety. It's evident that if a car has low passenger safety it will be costlier to insure. Why? Because the insurance company is more likely to pay for the injuries a passenger (or driver) will sustain in this car and they want to cover their risks respectively. So before you buy a new or used car, take some time to analyze its crash test scores and if they are low don't even bother buying it, no matter how cheap it may be. Besides saving your life you will also free yourself from high premiums with such a ride.

Damage and injury. Somewhat similar to passenger safety, this factor also analyzes how much damage the car is likely to deliver to another vehicle, its passengers or infrastructure. That is, if a car is quite big to ruin a concrete wall or total the other car it had collision with it is likely to be more costly to insure. That's quite often the other side of the coin of having a big SUV car that is safe for the people who are inside it.

Theft rates. Quite obviously, if the car is likely to be stolen in your area your auto insurance company will charge you more for insuring it. So if you are dreaming about a luxury car that you will have to hire a swat team to guard - forget about cheap auto insurance. Ask your insurance agent about theft rates according to car makes and models in your area and choose a vehicle that is very unlikely to be stolen if you want auto insurance quotes.

Repair costs. Different cars have different costs when it comes to repair. And the insurance company won't be quite happy to pay thousands of dollars every now and then for repairing your car at the body shop. If you want to find a car that is cheap to repair and doesn't needs frequent services you might want to ask a local repair shop for a little information. You can also check magazines and the Internet for a comparison of different car makes and models with respect to repair rates. Do this before you buy your car, or otherwise you will have both constant visits to the shop and high insurance rates.

Many factors can make your home insurance go expensive or cheap. When you are the owner of a house, you consider yourself a lucky person. When you own a house in a good area, you are twice as lucky but when you are the one with the good insurance on your house - think of yourself as of a "jackpot" winner.

The amount you will have to pay for your insurance plan depends on lots of elements. First of all, it is wrong to think nobody will check up on you and your insurance past so we advice you not to try to hide anything. It is always better to stay honest.

You house is like a map that can take you anywhere. But it is not enough to have a home in a prestigious neighborhood. Your rates can be crazy high even when it looks perfect on the outside. Let us take a look t the factors that can influence the payments you will have to make and try to point out the ways to cut the costs where possible.

You house is new. But guess what? The methods of construction and materials employed for construction were not strong enough to make it withstand the storm damage, fire or earthquake. Therefore we can see that some materials used for the house construction will affect your payments - homes made of bricks will be less costly to insure when stick frame houses will cost quite expensive to insure. Brick doesn't get burned down easily that is another reason for the cost difference between those two.

Age is only a number - this is exactly what we are used to saying. But when it comes to insurance age does matter. If you are the owner of an old house it will cost you more to insure it while newer houses cost less due to the fact that the materials are stronger. This also means the percentage of failure is smaller.

We all want our houses in a good are. Unfortunately, not all of us get those, but this doesn't mean we don't have to insure them. Yes, it is true that if your neighborhood is pleasant your insurance plan will cost you less. The location can affect your payments greatly. There are areas that are dangerous to live in as burglary is very common there. The house owners that live in these areas pay almost twice the price the people living in nice areas pay. We know it is unfair, but so true. Cheap home insurance is mostly for those who afford to pay for it, funny though.

Deductibles and coverage amounts differ from one policy to another. Your deductible is the amount of money you will have to pay out of pocket before your policy kicks in. It is necessary to take this into consideration as well. Another important fact - the amount of coverage you get will affect the amount of money you will pay for your home insurance.

You can get additional coverage whenever you need or feel like you need some. The more insured you will get - the better it will be for you when the replacement time comes.

But don't let anyone think you can't find a good solution. You can get a cheap home insurance when you own a good home. Remember this.

The widely-discussed reform of healthcare industry in the US owes much of the stir around it to the simple fact that having your health insured in our country isn't affordable for millions of people of different demographic groups. In other words, it's just too expensive to be within the family budget of most US citizens. But how much does it cost to get your health insured these days, anyway?

This strongly depends on several factors that may vary your cost significantly. Things like your health condition, age, workplace, location, income and other live factors play a very important role in shaping your final rates. Not to mention the provider you're getting your coverage from. The form in which you get your health insured also plays a crucial role, because getting your insurance in a group from your employer usually costs less than if getting it on your own.

But what comprises the final insurance costs?

Many people get confused by the fact that there are more elements to insurance costs than just the rates you seen when quoting your price. Here are the most important of them:

Premiums

Premiums are periodic fees (usually, monthly) that have to be paid to the insurance company for receiving any medical services under your plan. If you have an individual plan then you are paying your premiums on your own. If you are covered under a group plan at work, your employer pays the premiums, usually requiring you to pay a small part of this amount. Premiums depend on your health condition, your age and your income status. Premiums also vary significantly between insurance companies, so you'd better spend some time on comparing health insurance quotes before you sign your plan.

Out-of-Pocket expenses

Out-of-pocket expenses are all the additional costs of health insurance plans that are extended beyond premiums. These usually include deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. With some plans these expenses can be limited to a maximum amount, while other plans have no limitations at all, so be on the lookout for that.

Deductible is the amount of money you have to pay on an annual basis before your actual coverage kicks in. You will most commonly encounter them in PPO plans for the services received outside the network. And as with other types of insurance products, you will have to pay lower premiums if your deductible is higher.

Coinsurance is the part of the medical cost you have to meet after paying the annual deductible. It is usually 20-30% of what you pay for the services when going to the doctor.

Co-payments represent a fixed fee for certain services within your plan. In many HMO and PPO insurance plans co-payments are set for things like doctor's visit or prescription medications.

And what are the average costs?

• Across the US, the premium is $2,985 for individual health insurance and $6,328 for a family plan.
• The annual premium differs significantly between states. If a family in New York had to pay $13,296 as an annual premium, the very same plan in Iowa was worth $5609.
• The amount of deductible paid has a strong effect on the annual premium. A family plan that had no deductible had a premium of $12686, while a $10,000 deductible shed this amount more than in half, with $5380 to be paid.

When you have a car the only desirable thing should be being able to maintain it in a good condition. Nothing else should scare you or make you feel afraid. If you think about getting an insurance there is always one little problem that can occur. The money should be there for you to be able to get it. But little do people know that there are a few other things that are important to know when you are about to get your car insured. Here are some of the tips.

The best advice anyone can ever give you is to research. Yes, it may sound very simple but researching is gold. There are plenty of coverage types and you might want to get the type you desire and need only. A well-thought decision is always the best one because you take time with it and usually conclude well. Manuals can help you but it is better to take advices from those people that you know. If you can communicate well - nothing will stop you from getting support on your first ever insurance experience.

After you learned about the coverage types it is preferable to find the right company to deal with. Don't wait to do for too long. If you leave it and then get back to it when the time is almost up you have a very good chance of missing an opportunity.

There are plenty of companies that are willing to work with you on flexible terms. You can take advantage of these conditions if you decide to. If you need to change the coverage some of them will do that for you. It can be a very pleasant surprise when you don't expect it anymore.

Before you actually put your signature anywhere or agree on any type of deals we would recommend you to take into consideration your actual needs. They are the most important. Of course, people want what' best but it might not be suitable for you at all or your 1997 Mercedes Benz car. However, it is totally up to you.

Don't go cheap with the insurance. One thing is to be able to get the exact one you need for a good price or with a discount and a totally another is to get just anything at all because it is not expensive. If you have financial possibility to pay for your car insurance please be as much insured as you can.

When you are to get yourself some insurance please don't be embarrassed to get into details. They are very important to know about. There might be some terms you might not totally understand or some conditions that you may question - all of these things should not intimidate you. Please contact the company or an agent and ask them everything you need to know about to make a good decision.

Try to get auto insurance quotes from as many places as you can. Internet is always a good place to start searching and it is always the place to visit to get cheap auto insurance fast and reliable. But of course, you should know to differentiate between trust-worthy sites and trick sites.

Your first car insurance experience doesn't have to be a problem. It can be remembered for long time as a truly wonderful experience.

Insuring own house can look like a tricky business to most people who are not quite familiar with the ins and outs of insurance coverage. Some people are even afraid of getting adequate coverage because they don't know what to do if they will actually need it. And taking the fact that insurance is not the cheapest of services these days it's quite evident that many people will choose to leave their houses uncovered. Still, if you value your house high enough to be worried about losing or damaging it having it covered is a must. And if you are confused about how to proceed after the disaster has already struck in order to get respectful coverage, here are some great tips to follow in order to file a claim and get what you should with no trouble at all.

In case of a flood

• Do not wait until the water flows away. Contact your insurance provider in order to file a claim as soon as your house gets flooded. Learn what exactly your company will need to learn to start the process.
• Analyze your insurance policy with your agent.
• Call your insurance provider as soon as possible even if your policy does not cover your house against flood insurance. Certain policies still have special coverage to pay for your living costs if you are forced to move out of your house.
• It's recommended to group damaged and undamaged items as soon as it is possible. Do not throw away or destroy any damaged things before your insurance provider sends in the claim adjuster for inspection. If there are any deteriorated materials that decompose and turn to hazardous garbage you should contact your home insurance company first in order to get an approval for removing it from your property.

Keep your losses in a record

• Take clear and detailed pictures if all the damages to your property and belongings.
• If there is damaged equipment or appliances, record the serial numbers if there are any.
• If it happens that you have any pictures of your property before the damage, present them to your homeowners insurance adjuster for an easier appreciation. Ask your friends or relatives, they may have some pictures of your home too.
• Keep all the receipts if you move out of your house after the flood and have to live elsewhere for some time.
• Keep the receipts of any services regarding repair or cleaning connected with the situation. Make sure to include the receipts for rented appliances, equipment or any other additional costs as well.

In case you don't have your house insured yet, you'd better find out if your policy will cover you in case of a flood right when comparing homeowners insurance quotes. Most standard insurance policies won't include flood coverage and you will have to purchase an additional weaver to include this type of coverage into your policy. This is definitely a must for those who have their houses in medium and high flood risk areas (near rivers, lakes, dams, oceans, etc.).

Tornadoes are a type of natural calamity that is quite characteristic for the US, namely its South-Eastern part. And if you have a policy for insuring your house and living in that area you really want to make sure you are covered to the right extent before the disaster strikes. Here are some useful and very helpful tips regarding tornado coverage that will be quite interesting to those who risk with their property every time the hurricane season comes their way.

Step 1: review your insurance policy

In contrast with storm and flood coverage, the insurance details connected with tornadoes are less complicated due to the fact that wind damage (which a tornado eventually delivers) is included into a standard insurance policy. Moreover, tornadoes are usually characterized by less devastation due to surge or flood that is associated with typical hurricanes.

Still, it never hurts to find and analyze your insurance policy. Even those who do not live in "Tornado Alley," the part of the US spreads across the north of Texas through east of Nebraska and northeast of Indiana, can suffer damage due to tornadoes. Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are the states where the appearance of twisters is more likely but this doesn't mean that you are perfectly safe in other areas.

Step 2: clear the things up afterwards

After the tornado has gone away contact your home insurance company immediately. There are time limits with some insurance policies, setting a certain period during which you are able to file a claim. This period usually varies from one state to another, as well as between companies. Inform your insurer about the degree of damage delivered by the calamity. Insurance claims are usually processed with the cases of the most severe damages being processed first and then carrying on with less serious impact.

Provide your insurance company with all the contact information you can. The insurer should be able to contact you immediately if they make a decision or need additional information. The period of time that will be required for processing your claim strongly depends on how complicated your case is and how bad the damage was. It could be a couple of days, or a couple of months.

Step 3: document the damage

When you have the opportunity take pictures of the damage delivered by the tornado, preferably immediately after it goes away. This will be a great assistance for processing your homeowners insurance claim. Record any conversations and store any receipts you receive after the storm. Your personal degree of organization is directly related to how swiftly any problems will be resolved. In case you forgot the value of some items that were lost or damaged by the tornado you can contact your credit card provider and check the purchase list for the numbers.

Step 4: be on the lookout

Some service hunt for tornado victims, offering costly or temporary repairs that won't do much good in the long run. Don't rush off signing contracts and letting the people do their job. Investigate the offers, compare them just like you would compare home insurance quotes, address your local Better Business Bureau and hire the professionals who have good feedback and working experience rather than those who will show up first near your devastated property.

Fee-for-Service or indemnity plans are the oldest type of health coverage out there, providing you with the greatest extent of flexibility. You are absolutely free to choose the doctor, specialist, surgeon or even the place you will receive your medical service from and it doesn't require any approvals or referrals from other institutions. So what's the catch?

The drawback of Fee-for-service plans is that they are quite costly and usually have higher deductibles than managed care plans. Besides, you will also have to pay a large part of your actual medical bill out of pocket. That's the price you have to pay in order to obtain the flexibility provided by these plans. But this doesn't mean that there are completely no restrictions with fee-for-service plans.

For instance, fee-for-service health insurance plans will not provide coverage for preventive healthcare services, meaning that any vaccinations, regular check-ups and physical exams will be paid for entirely out of the customer's pocket. This makes fee-for-service plans quite inconvenient for families who need regular medical services and doctor consulting.

Fee-for-service plans require an annual deductible to be paid in order to receive the coverage benefits from the insurance provider. Once you do so, your medical expenses are distributed between you and the insurance carrier. You will usually pay something between 20% and 30% of the entire service fee and your insurance company will cover the rest. So it's really important to choose a plan that has a smaller co-insurance (the part you have to pay out of pocket) before actually purchasing it.

With most fee-for-service plans you also have the so-called "caps" that are basically the upper limits of your yearly deductibles. These can be anything from $1,000 to $5,000 not taking your monthly premiums into account. So it's better to see what your plan carries before signing it if you really want cheap health insurance with fee-for-service.

On the other hand, fee-for-service plans offer comprehensive and timely coverage when you need it, especially when there's a medical emergency. You are completely free of the bureaucratic restrictions and setbacks of typical managed care plans that can turn down any desire to receive medical assistance in the first place. However, bear in mind that fee-for-service plans won't be suitable and attractive for everyone. If you want to get comprehensive coverage for preventive care or have a large family with diverse healthcare needs you better investigate managed care plan options instead of indemnity plans.

And don't forget about comparison shopping when purchasing fee-for-service coverage. Try to get as many health insurance quotes from different providers as possible and compare them in detail. You will be surprised to find out that different companies have different premiums, "caps" and co-payments that will all contribute to the final cost of your insurance coverage. So it's always better to take some time comparing you options rather than complaining that you have a costly insurance plan after purchasing it.

Nowadays insurance is as easy to get as a slice of pizza. With the help of various insurance companies and independent insurance agents it became very accessible and painless to receive a consultation on your future insurance regarding your life.

It used to be pricey and difficult to obtain insurance that would suit your needs. Nowadays it is not as hard. With multiple companies appearing everyday and advertising that is everywhere you can possibly think of, the competition is high. This means companies are in battle for you. They drop prices, hook you up with additional benefits and create favorable offers that attract your eye. A good offer is within your reach, so think about the time you want to take the chance and secure yourself with a good insurance.

Minnesota is the state you want to get insured in. Life protection is highly developed here. Every second person is insured and happy.

So let's talk benefits and advantages of life protection in the state of Minnesota. It used to be the time when people with health problems were rejected in the past. No more this is going on. Nowadays these people can get their rates lower. If you suffer from diseases such as asthma, hepatitis C or prostate cancer you can shop around and find a good solution for yourself. If your disease is serious or not so serious, you are eligible to some discounts. Everything depends on the situation. But you have to work as a team with your family and your insurance agent. Together you will find the solution that is the right one to go on with further on.

Some people have very little faith in insurance agents and companies that deal with people's protection and security. They feel like it is one of the ways to get money for those people. But hold your horses. They do care about you. Plus you don't have to get everything you are offered. Get only the things you need and as much insurance as you feel like purchasing. Think about the real number of people that will need financial support if you die. If there aren't any, why bother with your insurance? There is no need to get anything like this.

People of Minnesota like life insurance because they get good prices for it. Plus it is not a long term insurance so you can always just try it out to see how it works for you. If you need insurance that will protect you from 30 years, you should probably get yourself permanently insured. Your premiums will be significantly higher but the result will be kept longer. But you have to stay extremely careful with your Minnesota life insurance when it is set for a longer period of time. You should ask for illustration every now and then to see what is happening to your investments, the rest is a matter of time.

Your insurance doesn't have to be a bad choice. Lots of us are scared to invest money in something like this because we aren't sure it is going to work right. But believe us, when you know what you need and you don't have any doubts about it, it is easy. Cheap Minnesota life insurance can be found in the state of Minnesota almost everywhere. You can ask your friends and neighbors and count on their opinion; they are probably insured already and are confident about their decision. Read life insurance quotes to get more information on the types of insurance. Everything you might be able to find over the internet can be useful for you in the future. Think about it and remember to compare prices. They are tiny motivations to get something sooner if they aren't too high.

If given a chance to get affordable car insurance coverage, none of us would refuse it for sure. However, we are rarely given such chances and in most cases have to find them on our own. Still, it doesn't mean that it's impossible to get what you want, especially in the world where everything you wish to get can be taken, you only have to know where to look. So if you want affordable car insurance, then this is what you will get! Learn how right here!

What's in the word? Affordable.

When it comes to defining affordability each one of us has his own definition and numerical expression of that concept. Someone can afford to pay for auto insurance a price that the other will never be able to pay. That's why affordability is strictly individual and is defined by how much money a person can pay for something without sacrificing other things or running short with the personal budget. And as there are different levels of income, the amounts of money that constitute affordable auto insurance also vary significantly from one car owner to another.

Looking for affordable insurance

You may think that affordable insurance comes only with minimal coverage amounts that will barely cover you if you have an accident. Fortunately, it isn't so as there are many affordable policies with substantial coverage amounts out there. The only problem will be finding and getting them, because in order to make a policy affordable sometimes you should put in some serious effort and explore numerous options before getting exactly what you want.

First of all try to learn about all the discounts you can apply for with your current insurance company. Or if you are currently looking for an insurance carrier, try to learn such options before actually getting the policy. A good way to get a discount on auto insurance is getting it from the same company you already have other types of insurance with (health, homeowners, life, etc.). Most insurance companies provide customers with such an option but make sure to learn about it first. Other discounts most insurance companies will typically offer you include discounts on low mileage, safety improvements, defensive driving course, good driving record, good student, and many others. It never hurts to ask, maybe you can opt for a discount too.

Getting affordable rates

But before you start looking for good discounts you might want to shop around and see what different companies have to offer in terms of rates. The best way to do so is to use online auto insurance quotes. With so many sites giving you free quotes out there, finding a good deal takes only 10-15 minutes and you can apply for the insurance online too.

However, you have to make sure that you are getting accurate quotes and not estimates. Quotes are the exact rates you will be charged by your insurance company when you'll get the policy, while estimates are only approximate rates that will definitely go up when you will actually buy the insurance. Shop around with accurate auto insurance quotes and find the affordable policy you've been looking for!

When it comes to health coverage these days, we sure have a lot of various options to choose from. One of such options, which has become quite popular lately are Point Of Service (POS) plans that can be viewed as a mix of traditional indemnity and modern managed coverage options. And what such a combination provides you with are money saving potential and flexibility, all in a single package.

Health coverage on two levels at once

People familiar with HMO plans can easily see the similarity between HMOs and PPOs when it comes to organizing the services. Here you are also required to choose a PCP (Primary Care Physician), who will coordinate your services and provide referrals to other specialists within the network when required. But you are also free to choose any facility or physician that doesn't make a part of the specified network. And a POS plan will pay for such services out of the network, however to a narrower extent than with in-network services. So it will still cost you less to get your services within the POS network.

This is what is meant by two levels of insurance coverage, which are called "in plan" and "out of plan" health insurance. In plan coverage is usually more advantageous but it also has tighter restrictions imposed on the user. Like in case of HMO plans, in order to get full coverage at the "in plan" level you will have to provide a referral from your PCP and get your services within the network. You will also sometimes be required to get additional approval from your insurance administrator beforehand.

This all means that even sticking to the specialists and facilities of your POS network won't give you full coverage unless you provide a referral from your PCP. This is the so called "red tape", which is one of the biggest complaints about managed insurance plans and the formalities within them. However, when compared to indemnity plans, managed health care provides substantial money saving possibilities that can't be beaten.

The indemnity part of POS

POS plans provide the best of both worlds, that's why they are so popular. And when it comes to the indemnity part of POS plans, people find a lot of flexibility and freedom that just can't be obtained through typical managed care options. Just like in the case of PPO plans, you are still able to get insurance coverage even when addressing to a specialist outside of the POS provider network.

In other words, you can use "self-referrals" in order to get care from a specialist you choose. When treatment is required, you are free to choose any physician or facility without needing a special referral from your PCP, Still, you won't get much coverage when choosing this option, so flexibility still has its price.

However, this is a great way to avoid the restrictions typical for managed care plans. That will be very useful for those who have a long-term trusted physician outside the network. Still, in such a case you will have high co-insurance payments (up to 40%) that will make your visits a bit more costly if compared to a doctor from the POS network.

Finding the right plan

In order to get cheap health insurance with your POS plan you have to shop around first. Try getting as much health insurance quotes from different providers as you can, compare them and choose the right policy.

Having an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) means that the medical service providers you will receive care from should have signed up an agreement with the insurance company to allow offering you these services. This way EPO plans are somewhat similar to PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plans, meaning that the person having such a plan can obtain inexpensive medical services at a facility that makes part of the EPO network. Still, if you choose to receive your medical care at a facility outside the network, a PPO plan will still cover your costs, only to a smaller extent. With most EPO plans, you won't receive any insurance coverage when visiting a specialist outside the network.

When you choose an EPO plan, you will instantly notice that the fees you are charged with by the medical service providers that have accepted to join your insurance company's network are significantly lower than those normally charged. So when you receive your health benefits within the EPO network, you can rest assured that the rates you will be charged for the services will be very advantageous and your insurance provider will pay for all the services you receive.

However, if you have a condition that none of the specialists making part of the EPO network can help you with and you are forced to seek medical attention outside of the network, make sure you have enough money because you will pay for the service to the full extent. This is because EPO plans do not include any services provided outside the selection of facilities and specialists that have an agreement with the insurance carrier. Moreover, in contrast with PPO and HMO plans that have fairly large networks of health service providers, EPO plans usually have a much smaller number of specialists and facilities being part of their network. This means that you have fewer professionals to choose from when you need medical attention.

In what concerns health service providers, their advantage in joining an EPO network is in the increased number of patients they work with. So instead of charging higher rates to a smaller number of patients, they charge lower rates for a much higher number of people and get more revenue as a result. This is especially useful to those providers who target themselves at a certain geographical area and want to get more people through group health insurance plans. The insurance companies, which choose to provide EPO plans charge their customers with monthly premiums and act as mediators between the customers and the medical service providers.

As a conclusion, EPO plans would definitely be appealing to those looking for cheap health insurance and having no special medical needs such as pre-existing conditions. The group of people who will probably benefit the most from such plans are young healthy workers with no serious health risks. And those who will find EPO plans quite uncomfortable are older people with complicated conditions that need regular and special care from certain specialist, who may be outside the network. Think well before you purchase such a plan and make sure to shop around to get the best rates. Use health insurance quotes online or contact your agent to see what local providers can offer and start from there.

Before we say anything we would like to make a statement. Don't panic when you are about to file a claim. There is nothing stressful about this procedure so you should not take it as a curse. Take it step by step with it when the time comes. This is how to do it:

1. First of all you have to set the record straight and decide when you need to file a claim. For that you will have to contact you insurer or insurance company and ask them about the claim and how you could do it. You need to try to keep the number of the claim entries as low as possible as it totally affects your rates. We don't guarantee you low rates after you have already given your record twenty entries. It should not make a difference to you - if you are guilty in the accident or if you are not, you should consider one simple thing - payment. Then just give yourself a question and try to answer it - "will I be able to pay the damages myself?"
If you know you are financially stable and you could easily pay a hundred of dollars for some reparations - it is good, but if the answer is negative - then file a claim because it seems like there is no other solution.

2. You should know not to lie about details. Give as much accurate information as you possibly can. If there are witnesses and they could help your case - ask them to make a report too. The more information you will be able to provide - the easier it will be for you to go with the claim and to cover the damages. If the company finds our about a little you that was put into your claim to ease the case - it can result you with a decline.

3. If you just had an accident and you need to file a claim - do it as soon as possible. Please remember that it doesn't matter if you were wrong or right - the insurance company starts acting only after you applied so the sooner you do it the better for you and your accident case, especially if some injuries and losses are a part of the situation.

4. Don't get surprised if you get a call from some other insurance provider. You may be contacted by another party's insurance company in order to establish the details and see your point of view. Please be wise when you talk to the other insurer. Don't give out too many details if you know they won't benefit you. Rite down the name of the person you communicate with. If there are some complications or misjudgment you will have to provide the name of the person that contacted you.

5. The last by not the least - the reparation. If your car suffered enormously you have to get it fixed. The claim will help you by sending it to car shops after the insurance adjuster has evaluated the loss cost. Some claims get processes faster - some take longer due to some complications. But no matter what please remind yourself that your car insurance is there to save you through the difficult day called - the car accident day. Cheap car insurance will be that light at the end of the tunnel that will help you out.

Most of insurance buyers often forget that they are insuring a certain thing and it directly influences the final price of the policy. When speaking about auto insurance, the car you drive is the primary factor that affects your insurance costs and at certain moments the insurance company point of view of the car can be quite surprising to usual drivers. Insurance companies have internal charts and ratings, assessing how much it will cost you to insure any given car make or model. And the primary elements that set the car in this rating are the risk factor and the theft factor of this particular make and model. The risk factor relates to how the car will perform in an accident and how likely it is to end up in one, while the theft factor, eventually, deals with the likelihood of the vehicle to be stolen.

When a new car comes out, it is placed at a certain place within the rating as compared to other similar models and the insurance rates are set accordingly. And as experience with this particular model accumulates in the company's records, the model can be moved in either direction within the rating, making it cheaper or more expensive to insure. Of course, other things like your driving record and credit score also influence the cost of insuring your vehicle, but the car is actually the most important and crucial factor you will have to deal with.

In general, it will be more costly for you to insure sports cars, luxury cars and SUVs. Some companies rate SUVs differently because of their increased safety for the people inside, while others take in regard the fact that these vehicles are likely to cause more collision damage than others. Sports cars are much more likely to end up in a serious or even tragic accident due to their power and speed that is so tempting to be pushed to the limits. And luxury cars are usually the target of auto theft due to their price, and are more expensive to repair because of exclusive parts and costly service.

Car insurance experts state that the most attractive and non-expensive class of vehicles to insure are mid-class and middle sized cars. It is important that the car has good crash-test ratings and additional safety features installed, being safe in case of an accident. Small light-weight cars are cheaper to repair but they get damaged more easily and this may lead to serious injuries to those who are inside of it. The higher is the mass of your vehicle the less damage it will take in case of collision. That's why big SUVs are considered to be quite safe from this point of view.

It is good to see what car insurance rates you can get for different cars before you actually buy the auto. If the question of insurance price really concerns you then choose a vehicle that is cheaper to insure. And if the rates don't bother you much, just buy a car that you really like.

For most of us purchasing a home is the biggest investment to mike during the whole lifetime. And it's reasonable that such an important investment needs reasonable coverage. That's why you need homeowners insurance.

What's included in homeowners insurance?

In case you finance your house purchase through a mortgage, your lender is most likely to require you buying basic homeowners insurance. The basic homeowners insurance includes coverage against the following risks:

• Theft
• Fire and lightning
• Smoke
• Frozen pipes
• Ice and snow

Basic insurance policies also include liability coverage for cases when someone is injured in your house. In case there are legal actions taken against you it will also pay for court fees. Basic insurance will also cover your costs in case it's impossible to live in the house due to fire or any other damage.

What's left out of coverage?

To learn what is not included into the coverage you should read through your policy, especially the Exclusions part. Things not covered by standard policies vary from one company to another, but most likely they will include damage due to earthquake, flood, nuclear accident, war, act of terrorism and similar. Still, you can purchase additional coverage for such events to be included into your home insurance policy. Wear and tear damage is never included into the policy because it's considered to be maintenance, which is the owner's sole responsibility.

How much coverage do I need?

When buying a house through mortgage loan your lender will require you to purchase minimum home insurance coverage (which is usually the purchase value of your home). However, it's usually not the amount of coverage to meet your insurance needs. Instead, try calculating how much money it would require to rebuild your house entirely and use this amount as the base for getting the right coverage amount. Speak to your agent when completing the insurance policy to calculate the exact amount, or even run a full inspection for qualified appraisal.

Typically, liability limits are around $100,000, however it's too little to protect your assets in case of legal action. You may opt to raise your limits up to $500,000 for an additional price. Sometimes it may be useful to get umbrella coverage, which pushes your limits beyond $1 million, however such coverage is typically offered only when you have both your auto and home insurance from the same carrier.

Money saving tips

Of course homeowners insurance can be quite costly sometimes. Especially when you have many items under additional coverage. In order to keep the coverage you need while still having reasonable rates you might want to consider raising your deductibles first. Deductibles are the amount of money you will have to pay out of your own pocket for the damage before the insurance policy kicks in. and the higher is that amount the lower will be your premium. The usual deductible within standard policies is $250. Try raising it to $500 or even $1000, and your rates will go down by up to 15%.

Another good way to make your home insurance cheaper is installing security features such as alarm or video, special locks and so on. This way you protect your assets and the insurance company is likely to give you a good discount for that.

Over the decades the marketers have managed to pull off a very clever trick. If you go back to earlier times when people did their shopping in markets and corner shops where everyone knew everyone, the prices were always negotiable. Bargaining was part of the art of shopping. Asking for a discount or, if times were hard, a little time to pay was not shameful. All stall holders and shopkeepers knew you (and most everyone who lived in the neighborhood). There was a sense of community as people worked hard to get by.

But it all changed. Slowly, you were made to understand the retail price was fixed and, if you wanted credit, well, that was what banks were for. It came hard to many who had relied on the informal help offered by the retail trade. Household budgets grew into straightjackets and, if there were not enough dollars to see you through to the next paycheck, that was your problem. Loan sharks lurked outside pawnshops waiting for their prey. And then, like turning a valve to release pent-up steam in a boiler, the credit boom solved the problem for many. For those who had managed to stay solvent, credit cards and housing equity loans were there for the asking. Paying the asking price at the store was no longer a problem. The habit was set in stone. The retailers had won.

Well, hard times are here again and there should be no shame in getting the maximum reduction in the prices you pay for any goods or services. In the case of insurance, this means looking very carefully at the small print of the application process and the quotes you get. There are discounts available. All you have to do is identify what they are and how you get access to them. Not surprisingly, insurance companies are not wholly comfortable with allowing you to pay less. But, sometimes, it pays them to offer you incentives. Let's start with the obvious. Insurers benefit if they retain careful drivers.

So you should always look for a discount if you stay loyal and make no claim during a year. The longer you stay with a company, the larger the discount you should earn. If the company does not play fair and reward you, the other side of the coin is the introductory discount offered to persuade you to jump ship to another insurer. All the information about you and any claims you have made is shared between the insurance companies in the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE). If you have a good driving record, the quotes should always encourage you to change. Indeed, many people in your situation game the system and move every year to earn another welcome discount. This so-called "churning" helps keep the loyalty discounts real.

This site has a search engine for auto insurance quotes. To trigger the search, you fill in a questionnaire. In this first article, the first discount should be offered automatically. But, if your current insurance company is only interested in a premium hike, you could try an email asking why no loyalty bonus or discount has been offered. Should this be met by silence, you can then look through the auto insurance quotes from the other companies with a clear conscience. You have given your current insurer the chance. If it prefers not to reward your loyalty, there is no reason to stay loyal.

It should be a big surprise to anyone that young drivers have higher insurance rates than older car owners. There is a set of reasons behind such a state of affairs and parents unwilling to pay high premium rates for their teenage drivers shouldn't think about dropping the coverage altogether. Instead, there are effective ways your teen driver can opt for lower insurance rates and save you some buck from the family budget. Here are some tips on how to do that:

1. Learn the offers at the market.

Shop around and see what local insurance companies have to offer. There are providers that specialize in high risk drivers (and teens also make part of this group), however there is also a small number of companies that work exclusively with teenage car owners and offer preferential rates. If you are able to find such a company in your area that would be the best option for you. Otherwise, compare the rates with different companies and choose the one that is more liberal towards young car owners.

2. Be a good student.

Good students can usually opt for special discounts with the majority of car insurance providers. This is because the statistics have proven that good students are safer and less risky drivers and thus can have lower rates. However, you should ask the insurance company what are the requirements and will be ready to provide proof with your current

3. Encourage the teen to pay a part of the premium.

Nothing encourages better saving and hard work when financial interest, so when you make the teen pay a part of the insurance premium you will instantly see how he or she tries to minimize these costs. This can be a good push for better grades and research on other insurance options. But be realistic about it, if your teen can't manage to pay the premium in whole don't put the burden and make him pay only the part he can.

4. Raise the deductibles.

Deductibles are the amount of money you have to pay upfront from your wallet before receiving the insurance benefits. And they are reverse-related to the insurance premiums, meaning that the higher is your deductible the lower premiums you will pay each year. So if your policy carries the smallest deductible, it's better to raise it to the amount you can really pay out of pocket if something happens. This will cut your premiums for about 10-20%

5. Buy a vehicle that will give you low car insurance quotes.

It shouldn't be a revelation to most of you that the car you drive strongly influences the rates you pay for insurance. And finding an insurance-friendly auto for your teen will really help cut the costs. Try searching car insurance quotes online to see what autos offer you the best saving opportunities and cost less to insure.

6. See if you can include the teen into your policy.

Some auto insurance companies allow parents to include teens into their insurance policies and sometimes it will help you in saving on insurance rates compared to having a separate policy for the young driver. Ask your insurance agent about your possibilities and if has any financial sense and provides some money saving options then write your teen in.

Welcome to 2010. Look around the states. Yes, they all have different perils for drivers to face. For some, it's the weather with snow and ice making driving dangerous during winter. In others, it's hurricanes and tornados. But leaving aside all the different types of peril, there's one big problem for everyone with a vehicle on the road. All the major insurers are pressing for rate hikes. State Farm, Allstate and Geico have been leading the charge. And we are not just talking hikes of one or two percent. In Florida, for example, State Farm is raising rates by an average of 9.2%, while Allstate went for a shock-and-awe average of 16%. Even though the recession is slowly easing, the US is facing the highest levels of unemployment seen for decades. Rate increases like these hurt everyone struggling to make ends meet. Is this just gouging by the insurers? Like the Wall Street bankers, are they only interested in their bonuses? Should we think of insurance companies as the new carpetbaggers, using political influence to their own crooked ends? Just why are the insurers making such egregious demands for more money when most of us are down and out?

Lining up the questions like this gives little chance of answers favorable to the insurers. Does that make us biased? Hell, yes! Increases like this when the economy is on the bottom will only lead to more people driving without insurance. As more drop out of the legal framework, the premiums rise for the rest of us. The costs stay the same. They are just divided among fewer insured drivers. Worse, we now have to add additional uninsured and underinsured coverage. It costs more for those who want to stay legal on the road. Are there any justifications for these increases? Well, if you ask a talking-head for the insurance industry, the blame gets spread around. We start off with the rise in the cost of medical treatment. It seems the healthcare services have all been hiking their charges to treat those injured in traffic accidents. Evidence? Well, following very public contract disputes in California and Connecticut, we now have the stand-off between United Healthcare and Continuum Health Partners in New York. The hospitals want increases. The insurer is asking for cuts of between 7 and 10%. In these circumstances, the insurers are actually standing up for their policy holders. If healthcare costs can be reduced or held stable, premiums can also be stabilized.

The really big problem, however, is whether the insurers can pay all the claims we make. The insurers have low capital reserves. Why are the reserves so low? Well, it's back to the recession. When the insurers collect in the premiums, the money is invested until it's needed to pay out the claims. Just as our 401k investments have taken a big hit, the insurers suddenly found their investments had lost value. Now, the state Insurance Departments are insisting the capital be replaced. In some states, the insurers have agreed to reduce the number of people they insure. In the rest, the premiums are to rise. This means, no matter where you live, it's going to be harder to find cheap auto insurance. Harder does not mean impossible. Using the search engine on this site, you can still find cheap car insurance, but you may have to look more carefully at the discounts on offer and accept a higher deductible. This may not all be the fault of the insurers, but it sure feels like it.

When people are younger and feeling the need to protect the long-term financial interests of their new families, they buy life insurance. Years then pass. Many policyholders remain financially secure and, when life finally ends, pass on significant benefits to their dependents. But a proportion of people find their financial position worsens when they retire. With no regular source of income, savings can run down and, if a family or health emergency strikes, the continued occupation of the home can come under threat. When people look at the assets they hold, they see the life insurance policy. Does it hold any value? The answer you get depends on who you ask. The insurance company that sold the policy will discuss two possibilities. The first assumes the policy has a cash value. The company will allow you to draw down on that value or to use it as collateral for a loan. The second is the so-called "cash surrender value" (CSV). This terminates the contract you have with the insurer and, because it is no longer obliged to pay out, it returns some or all of the money you have paid as premiums over the years.

In reality, neither of these options is very attractive. The insurers usually push a loan with a rate of interest that eats up the rest of benefits over the years, i.e. if the loan does run for years, it effectively becomes the only cash ever paid out by the insurer. The CSV is also very poor value, paying out a pittance now rather than the full amount later. And because the insurance industry is powerful and has real influence over the news media and magazines, there is little coverage of the alternative. Or, if the alternative is mentioned, there are horror stories to warn people away. The insurance industry wants to maximize its profit and does not want anything getting in the way.

The alternative has been standard in Europe for decades. Given the bad press Europe gets, this is probably the kiss of death, but you should understand this is a tried-and-tested program to realize the value in life insurance policies. In the US, if you are older and have a policy worth not less than $250,000, there are willing buyers who will pay significantly more than the CSV, albeit less than the face value of the policy. The right to transfer life settlements was established some ninety-nine years ago in Grigsby v. Russell, 222 US 149 (1911) but a formal secondary market is only now really growing. It works like a brokerage with agents introducing buyers to sellers. The cash prices paid are substantial. This is not a scam. It is not a new "sub-prime" disaster waiting to happen. This gives you cash in your hand for your old life policy. So never allow your policy to lapse, never surrender your old policy and, unless you are desperate, never borrow on the cash value. Selling on the secondary market releases far more value.

So, when you are getting life insurance quotes, prefer policies with a face value of not less than $250,000 and always make the extra effort to buy a policy with a cash value - if not as you first policy, then as soon as you can afford it. You need to allow time for the policy to build up value. So, when evaluating the life insurance quotes, look for premium rates you can afford. You will lose the chance on the secondary market if you cannot afford long-term payment.

Let's start off in Florida where State Farm has just sent out notices to 15% of the 810,000 people holding home insurance that their policies will not be renewed. For the record, the insurer has to give six months' notice of its intention to refuse renewal. This is supposed to give adequate time for all homeowners to make alternative arrangements. This move to drop some 125,000 policies is quite significant so what's going on? The answer is unfortunate and going to become a problem around the country. Every state has a Department or Office of Insurance that's responsible for licensing and regulating the selling of insurance. One of the standard conditions in every one of the fifty US states is that each licensed insurer should have adequate capital reserves to pay out on all claims as and when they fall due.

Before the recession, this was not a problem. All the insurers had their reserves invested in stocks and bonds. While the DJIA and other exchanges continued on an upward trend, the world sat back and assumed nothing could go wrong. This overconfidence meant that insurers were slow to pull their money out of the markets when the recession started to hit. As a result, almost all the insurers lost a big slice of their capital worth. In early 2009, State Farms in Florida realized it was likely to be insolvent in about two years if the projected number of claims were made. It approached the local Office of Insurance and did a deal. It would reduce the number of homeowners insured and increase the premiums for the remaining policyholders. This would reduce its exposure to claims and increase its capital reserves. Even with this plan, A M Best reduced the rating of State Farm to "fair" based on the expected continuing deterioration in its earning capacity.

When a company with some 18% of the market in homeowner policies admits it's within two years of insolvency, this is a serious concern. Now look with a clear eye at the rest of the insurance companies. They are in the same position, struggling to meet claims out of the reserves in hand. And thereby hangs a slightly different story. There's no federal insurance industry. Every insurer is obliged to set up separate subsidiaries to trade in each US state. In theory, the obligation to hold reserves is specific to each state. But the larger companies have been moving money around from one subsidiary to another, always ensuring there's enough in hand on each reporting date. This is close to dishonesty because, if you ask each Department or Office of Insurance, they will tell you the insurers must have permanent reserves and not merely the qualifying amount on the reporting date. But the insurers have been getting away with their sleight of hand for the last eighteen months.

So when you are looking round the local state's market for a homeowners insurance policy, do not simply get multiple quotes through this site's search engine. You should also check in with A M Best for the latest rating on the companies offering the most competitive terms. If you expect to stay with the same company for some time, make sure it's financially secure before you buy the policy. Otherwise, when you come to make a claim, you may find all those premiums will be lost and that homeowners insurance policy is just so much waste paper.

2009 turns into 2010, the winter ice and snow has been particularly hard this year. It even affected Florida which shows how climate change is related to local weather patterns. Needless to say, the number of traffic accidents has been at an all-time high. No-one is ever ready for ice on the roads. Yet, all round the country, ice is coming through the mail boxes. The insurance companies are sending out notices chilling our desire to drive - premium rates are being hiked. And this time, it's not just a few percent. In most states, it's averaging at around 10%. So we are not talking peanuts. This is serious money while the US is in recession and millions of people are out of work. What's the result? If it comes down to a choice between food on the table and an insurance policy, food wins every time. Everyone has to eat and everyone needs a vehicle - even in the bigger cities, public transport is a joke. So, when push comes to shove, more people will drive uninsured. That's bad news for the rest of us. Our premiums will rise with fewer policy holders sharing the rising costs of claims. If only the insurers would hold the premiums steady, more people could pay, and rates would stay lower for longer. If only. . .

So why are insurance companies hiking the rates? There are two common problems. The first is the broken healthcare service. Whenever there's a more serious traffic accident, most people go to hospital. The obvious injuries are treated. Bodies are examined to ensure there are no other injuries. Except, the moment anyone steps through the door of a hospital or clinic, the medical expenses meter starts to run. Despite the recession, the drugs industry and healthcare service suppliers have been increasing their prices. There have been some high-profile disputes between insurers and hospital groups in California and Connecticut. The current fight is between the Continuum Health Partners of New York and United Healthcare. The hospitals have agreed pay increases with the labor unions, new technology is expensive to instal and operate. They want more money. The insurer is looking for a reduction in charges of between 7 and 10%. It's painful to admit but, in this fight, the insurers are actually protecting us policy holders.

The second problem is equally easy to explain. When we claim, the insurer should have the money to pay. This money comes from cash reserves and all the different state Insurance Departments monitor the amounts held to ensure there's always sufficient set aside. It's standard for insurers to hold this money on investment so, when the recession came, they were slow to move out of stocks and bonds, and all the larger insurers lost a slice of their capital. Commissioners are offering their local insurers a choice. Either reduce the number of people holding policies or add more to your cash reserves. This forces companies to raise premiums and so, sadly, it's getting more difficult to find affordable auto insurance. Even with the use of this site's excellent search engine, it's hard to find policies with lower rates. When you get the multiple auto insurance quotes, check through to find those with lower premiums. For good terms, look at the discounts available from these companies. Think about accepting a higher deductible. Using the auto insurance quotes as a starting point, negotiate directly with the insurers. Affordable policies are out there. You just have to work harder to find them.

Let's start off with a simple explanation of why fraud costs us all money. Insurance companies employ math-geeks called actuaries. They spend their time estimating how many traffic accidents there are likely to be and how much all the claims will be worth in a year. That total is divided among all the policy holders as the premium. It's all guesswork but they are good guessers. Except that, when thousands of people make false claims, the insurers suddenly find themselves short of money to pay out. The result? Premium rates go up for all.

How bad is the problem? In New York, the number of suspected cases of fraud has risen by one-third from 2007 through 2009. Across the state, the insurers identified 13,433 probable cases of fraud in 2009 alone. To pay for this, the premium rates rose by an average of 6.3% in 2009. The most common frauds are staging an accident to claim medical expenses. This has caused the average value of each claim to rise to more than double the national average. That's millions of dollars paid out and millions of dollars that have to replaced in the capital reserves. This problem is not, of course, unique to New York. It has become a well-recognized way of raising cash as the recession has deepened. So, if people find their household budgets under pressure, they can report their vehicle stolen or become the victim in a phantom hit-and-run. Ah, but you are saying all this needs support from attorneys and physicians prepared to push claims knowing or suspecting their clients are faking or exaggerating. Well, let's keep this real. The FBI and local law enforcement agencies regularly run undercover sting operations to catch the fraudulent. In Philadelphia, for example, a recent operation resulted in long jail terms for an attorney and thirty-four individuals falsely claiming millions based on fake medical evidence. In Santa Clara County, California, the police recently prosecuted more than twenty body shops for supplying false estimates to insurance companies. An undercover officer driving an undamaged Honda Civic explained he had reported the vehicle vandalized to pay for a new paint job. The body shops supplied an estimate under $3,000 - insurance companies do not inspect damage for "small" claims.

The truth is there's an epidemic of fraud and it's not only established criminals or those on the fringe of legality like street racers. But, sadly, it's also becoming a mom-and-pop crime. Why? Because the cost of investigating every claim as possible fraud is too expensive for the insurers. It's cheaper to pay out all the smaller claims and absorb the losses. This is one of the main reasons why it's getting harder to find cheap auto insurance. The volume of fraud is driving up the premium rates for everyone. But there's a secondary problem. Outside California, insurance companies still use zip codes in setting rates. Where the levels of fraud are high in some areas, the rates reflect this. So, those who live in the Bronx and Brooklyn pay more than other parts of New York because there are more fake claims. This does not mean it's impossible to find cheap car insurance. You just have to work harder, using a site like this, to identify those insurance companies offering good discounts. As another self-help step, you could report all those you know are making false claims. If the police and FBI cannot stem the flood of fraud, it's up to every law-abiding citizen to step up to the plate. The result will be lower premiums for all.

Health insurance spendings account for a large part of business activity costs, and their share is especially large with small businesses and home-based enterprises. And with the continuous trends in rates increase it's getting harder and harder for small enterprises to carry this burden, causing many small businesses to drop health coverage benefits altogether.

A recent study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund in New York has concluded that small businesses tend to pay 18% more for health insurance than their larger counterparts all across the country. That's because large enterprises have a better negotiating power due to larger numbers of workers to be insured. Having that in mind, being despaired about the thing won't help your small business much. About 60% of 46 million people in the US who have no health insurance coverage are employed by small enterprises and these numbers keep on growing. Such tendencies are no good news for small businesses, because qualified and better workers tend to pay much attention to health benefits at the enterprise and not having them lowers your chance of attracting workers who will help develop your business better.

In order to cope with the Catch 22 situation here, you have to learn how to minimize your healthcare costs and provide your employees with the benefits they deserve. Here are some tips on how to get exactly what you need:

1. Keep the workers healthy. Instead of fighting the consequences and paying for costly medical coverage, you can invest into your workers' health and promote different wellness programs at your business. Introduce regular screenings, check-ups and promote a healthy lifestyle by offering your employees free gym sessions or other benefits. It's much easier to prevent a disease rather than treat it.

2. Lower the coverage. Larger coverage amounts lead to higher premiums and a logical solution for this would be lowering the coverage. You can also ask your employees to partially contribute to the premiums if they want to keep the initial coverage amounts. Of course, this would be quite unpopular among your employees but if your small business insurance plan is in question you have to consider going with such unpopular measures.

3. Think about HSAs. Health savings accounts are gaining popularity amongst small business owners as they provide more flexibility and tax benefits than typical health insurance options. HSAs combine high-deductible health insurance plans with tax-free savings accounts, making the premiums you have to pay lower, and providing more saving options to your employees. And the fact that all withdrawals are tax-free makes it a great option for those who want to get great small business insurance health coverage without constraining the enterprise's budget.

4. Team up with other small businesses. You can join an association or buying union who other local small businesses in order to gain better rates. Such associations provide small enterprises the bargain power of big companies because when combined, such groups have a large number of employees to be insured which eventually leads to more competitive premiums compared to going off alone. Member fees are usually quite low with such groups while the benefits are great, so think about joining one of you have in your area. This might give you good rates on other forms of small business insurance as well.

The biggest financial decision you are likely to make is buying a home, closely followed by less expensive must-haves like a vehicle. But the one deal you should aim to get right is the decision on life insurance. This is the difference between leaving your dependents with an adequate amount of cash to see them through the times of economic hardship after your income is lost, and leaving them with nothing. In this, the decision on term as against permanent insurance is the key. Put the wrong key in the lock and you open a door into real financial hardship. So what's wrong with term insurance? Think of this as like a bet. If you die within the term, your dependents are the winners.

If you prove healthy and live too long, you lose the premiums you paid and your dependents get nothing. Now, when it comes to permanent insurance, this builds up a cash value. The longer you have the policy in place, the more valuable it comes as the premiums you pay attract investment returns. During your own life, you can take some of this money back or borrow using the fund as collateral. When the sad day finally comes, the benefits are paid out to your dependents less whatever drawings or borrowings you have made.

From these short sentences, you will immediately suspect the other difference between the products. Term life insurance is the cheap option. It gives you security in the amount of the benefits for the number of years you select. If you buy one term policy after another, the premiums are higher each time because your life expectancy is less on each renewal. Permanent insurance premiums are higher because a percentage of what you pay is invested on your behalf to generate the cash value. So your fund receives the benefit of the interest, dividends and other returns the investments generate. This makes the total of the cash value the key factor. Do you want a higher rate of return on the premiums? This can be for your own benefit should there be an emergency during your life. Or it can build up over the years for your dependents. If the answer is yes, you must be prepared to pay more to start off the policy - the first year's premiums often disappear into a black hole representing set-up costs and the selling agent's commission. But the amount you pay stays the same throughout the lifetime of the policy. So, with inflation, what starts out a struggle slowly grows easier to pay.

The real problem is the uncertainty of the future. Who knows how inflation may affect different aspects of life. What may be cheap now, may be expensive tomorrow and vice versa. So here are a few simple rules. If all you want is cover over the next few years (no more than ten), get life insurance quotes for a term policy. Ten years is not a long enough period of time to build up a worthwhile cash value. Estimate what benefits might be needed, e.g. your daughter will need $50,000 to cover her college tuition fees, and the total will set the amount of the insurance. If you are looking at a period of at least twenty years, you should think seriously about permanent insurance. Again, get life insurance quotes but you should also take advice on the different types of policy available and create or review your estate plan. Between ten and twenty years is a gray area and whichever way you decide is not going to be wrong.

Often, California has been in the lead when it comes to legislating for fairness. When a service industry is acting in an arbitrary way and damaging the interests of consumers, you can usually rely on Sacramento to do something about it. So, for example, the Insurance Commissioner instructed auto insurance companies not to rely on ZIP codes when writing policies. The real basis on which to assess risk should always be the individual driver. It's fair to look at the person's experience, driving record, how far he or she drives every year, etc. That way you reward the good drivers with lower premiums and hit the bad drivers with higher premiums. This ends the discriminations of higher premiums for people living in predominantly black or Latino communities.

It would be great if we could see this change sweeping across the US, not just in auto insurance, but for all classes of insurance. Unfortunately, the insurance industry has fought the change tooth and nail wherever it has been proposed. Lobbyists with deep pockets have been able to keep the legislators at bay. The ZIP code approach remains the norm.

The most recent piece of research comes out of Chicago and relates to health plans. It seems it's cheaper to live in the suburbs. The research used just over 3,000 ZIP codes in the Chicago area and, when analysing the rates charged, found that people living in the blue-collar suburbs west and south of Chicago paid almost 25% less for their insurance than those living in the downtown areas. Similarly, the residents of the northern suburbs paid about 15% less. Spread the net more widely and it turns out that everyone living between 15 and 25 miles from the downtown area pays an average of 13.5% less, while those who have moved 25 to 40 miles out of the city pay an average 25% less.

There are obvious explanations. The hospitals and clinics in different areas attract doctors and healthcare providers with different levels of experience and expertise. Operating costs will also change with local conditions. The level of support for public facilities and programs from local government naturally varies depending on the local tax take and political factors. These affect the rates for services the insurers can negotiate with the local provider networks. And then there are all the intangible factors based on the wealth or poverty of an area, the percentage of people without current health insurance, and so on. Put everything together and profiling by geography may produce very different results. This leaves us with an uncomfortable reality. As it stands, the health insurance industry is unregulated. It can charge what it likes using whatever factors it wishes to consider significant. As and when the healthcare reforms pass through Congress, some practices that produce unfairness will disappear, e.g. no more discrimination based on gender, no more discrimination by denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, no more caps on lifetime benefits, and so on. But the ZIP code abuse will not be affected. No matter where you live, you will be judged not on your actual health records but the "accident" of your address. Perhaps you should consider relocating to a better area to get the best health insurance rates.

As most of you know there are two forms of insuring one's life: term and whole. And as you can guess from the name, whole life policies provide continuous coverage for a person's entire life, while term policies cover only for a specified period of time.

Today, term policies are the most widespread form of life coverage due to their simplicity and relative cheapness. And the fact that you can purchase multiple policies and tailor them according to your current insurance needs makes term insurance the best option for meeting short-term goals. For example, you have to pay off a mortgage after some time or make sure your kids go to college when it's time. And term insurance policies can give you the required financing after the term expires. Not to say that such insurance will protect your family in case of your death, terminal illness or disability.

Most insurance companies provide term coverage for specified periods of time, which usually range from 5 to 30 years. Besides, most term insurance policies are renewable so that you can continue having coverage for as long as you need. Get life insurance quotes from different providers to see what your options are and get the most competitive rates, because they can vary significantly from one company to another.

Term insurance features

• Initially low costs. Term policies are cheaper than whole life policies because they cover lower degrees of risk and do not provide additional benefits of continuous insurance. Whole life policies are often used as a form of investment, while term policies do not provide such added benefits and thus are cheaper.
• Adjustable premiums. Most term life insurance policies have pre-set premiums over the entire insurance term. They may be adjusted due to various circumstances but never exceeding specified limits, which are stated in the policy.
• Renewability. When the term if your life insurance expires you may choose to prolong the policy above this limit or receive the policy benefits. If you choose to renew your policy it will be prolonged for a specified period of time and your rates will likely be higher than you've paid initially, because the insurance company will take your current age and health conditions for calculating the rates, not the ones you've had when signing the initial policy.
• Conversion. This feature allows a term insurance policy to be converted to a continuous insurance policy while the term is in effect. Not all companies offer such an option, but it is most likely that your company will allow this. If you're looking into this option before getting the actual policy it is best to learn whether the company allows it in the first place instead of looking for another company in case you want this option and your company doesn't provide it.

So if you're looking for cheap life insurance, term policies are the best way to get good coverage for a reasonable price. Besides, the features you get with a term policy give you a high degree of flexibility if compared to whole life products. However, if you want to have even more benefits and money distribution options with your policy it is best to look for a continuous insurance product. But be ready to pay way more than for term insurance because the added benefits have their price tag too.

When speaking about car insurance it's definitely the most exciting topic for discussion. It usually takes a piece of your family budget and according to the place you live that part can be larger or smaller.

But the most important question here is how much insurance coverage you have to purchase? While most insurance agents will tell you to buy as much as you can afford, it's not the most optimal thing to do. Of course, having high coverage amounts will give you some piece of mind but do you really need to spend all this money on insurance? If you want to have adequate coverage for a fair price there are some things you should consider when deciding on coverage amounts: state requirements, minimum coverage, coverage options, and your personal needs.

State requirements

All states have different minimum amounts of coverage to be carried with your policy in order it to meet the requirements. To learn what requirements are set in your state, browse the Internet or contact your state insurance department. State minimums are usually represented in the following form: 25/50/20. The first two numbers refer to the bodily damage that the policy should carry, where the first number means $25,000 for a person, and the second - $50,000 for an accident. The third number stands for $20,000 of property damage liability.

Minimum coverage

When you have learned the state requirements now it's time to see what the minimum coverage does really pay for and will it be enough to cover you if something happens. The best way to do that is to learn what the medical are and repair costs in your area and compare them to the amount of coverage you get. If you find that the minimum coverage won't cover your costs in full you should get more in case you don't want to pay for medical costs or property damage out of pocket.

Coverage options

You may find that there are many coverage options that are not included into a standard insurance policy and are not required by state laws. However, some of these coverage types can be really helpful for certain situations and specific locations. For example, having flood coverage for your car will be very useful in an area with frequent floods or heavy showers. Learn what types of coverage are available additionally and get the ones that you really need, as there's no real sense in buying coverage against damage during earthquakes if you drive in an area with no seismic activity.

Your personal needs

What car are you covering? How old it is? How much money can you spend on auto insurance? These are all questions connected to your personal needs. When comparing car insurance quotes you have to place your personal needs first and get the policy which meets your individual requirements. That's why before going online and looking for competitive car insurance quotes you first have to define what your are needs. There are many options offered with auto insurance and it's really easy to fall into something you don't really need, paying additional money for it. In order to avoid such a mistake shop only according to your requirements and not advertisements. This way you will be able to get just the right amount of coverage for the right price.

Reasons for not canceling your life insurance policy

When facing economical downshift, it can be quite tempting to minimize costs by refusing certain things you might feel as useless or luxury. However, insurance should be amongst these things. Having your life insured may look like a loss of money now, but when the moment comes it can be a great deal in sustaining and supporting your spouse and children from the financial point of view.

If have your life insured, having your policy cancelled can turn into a big mistake from the financial point of view in the long run. Of course, it is very hard to resist such a temptation when having to pay high premiums that do you no favor in means of lowering your expenses. But you have to see the whole picture rather than concentrating on details. The following are six important reasons for refusing to cancel your life coverage policy.

1. Insuring your life is an investment.

When people choose to insure their lives they provide a valuable investment to their loved ones that can be used after certain circumstances. Of course, it's very hard to grasp the situation when you are gone and the relevance of your needs, but think about your family. Losing a key person will lead to serious hardships that will affect the financial situation of your spouse and children as well. And when you insure your life you ensure that your loved ones won't be experiencing financial problems.

2. Life insurance premiums have already been paid.

This will sound as the most logical reason for those who are thinking about the "now" situation. Just think of all the premiums you have already paid. This especially refers to those who had their policies for a while now. Unless you have special types of insurance policies, all the premiums you have already paid will simply turn into a waste of money.

3. You can raise the cash value of your policy with time.

In case you have universal or variable life coverage policies, you probably know that they are typically financed through mutual funds. And if the funds increase, so will the cash value of your policy, which will definitely be a nice feature for you and your family.

4. Some policies allow you to skip premium payments.

Some types of universal insurance policies will allow you to skip a certain amount of premium payments after a specified period of time. And when facing financial hardships it may be wise to use that option. Such policies aren't typically associated with cheap life insurance options but in the long run you get more benefits when using them.

5. Lower the coverage amount to reduce the premiums.

The premiums you will pay are directly related to the amount of coverage carried by your policy. If you lower the coverage amounts your premiums will go down respectively. However, keep in mind that reducing the coverage amounts below a certain point will make your policy senseless, because it won't be able to meet your insurance needs when the moment comes. Define the minimum required amount of benefits to be received and go on from there.

6. Finding good life insurance quotes will be tough in case you cancel.

If you decide to cancel your current policy now and find another one after some time you may be surprised to find out that your rates will be much higher than with your initial policy. Insurance companies tend to give higher life insurance quotes to those who have cancelled their policies before end of term, and you will probably be older when getting the new policy - a factor that also strongly influences the final rates.

Life is precious. People say lots about life. Comments such as "Don't take life too seriously" and "What doesn't kill you make you stronger "can be dubious. What is the reason for that? First of all we should take life too seriously because mistakes sometimes can not be erased. We live only once to take it for granted. What doesn't kill you can make you paralyzed or wounded. Do you want that? Surely not.

Can you make sure you are insured for life?

Yes there is a way to insure yourself from danger or any harm you might meet in your life. What do you need for that? You have to knock on the insurance company door and ask them for protection. They have an insurance that will not come too expensive. It is called lifetime insurance. It is good for those people that don't want to head into the insurance company's office every now and then. You ca insure yourself today and stay calm about your tomorrow and even the day after it. This insurance doesn't cover you for a particular period of time. It covers you for good. A significant benefit with the insurance company's long-term insurance that covers life is that it also builds cash value. It is totally tax-deferred until the time comes when you can withdraw the money and borrow against it.

What possibilities are there with a whole life insurance once you got it?

There are certain choices you can make within your insurance. The most popular of those would be - traditional, interest-sensitive, and single-premium insurance that involve your whole life. Now let us introduce all of these policies to you so you can definitely make the right decision. The traditional policy is offering you a minimum rate of return on the part named your cash value. The second one is called interest-sensitive policy. What is really beneficial about this policy is that its rate can differ so you can adjust it to your own preferences. With the help of this policy you could easily raise your death benefit without having to lift your premiums up. And the last but definitely not the least comes the single-premium policy. It works perfectly well for those people with a good fortune behind their backs that also want to insure their life ahead of the time. You can save some cash on your insurance as this one is a cheap life insurance.

Why should one go for a life-long insurance instead of any other insurance?

People want to hear about financial benefits when raise this issue. Usually a life-long insurance saves money. When you choose insurance that only covers a certain period of your life you end up losing money at some point. What is good about this life-long insurance is that lets some of the premium money to be transferred towards your cash value. A big advantage is also the fact that the premiums are not raised with time. They remain the same throughout the whole period of time. You don't have to pass any medical exams with the life-long insurance. You do it once and the record is kept for the rest of your life. You can save lots of money on your taxes which is also great. Who would not be interested in this? Life-long insurance is also a cheap life insurance compared to other ones. Don't hesitate to get it today!

No matter how many times the prices on vehicle insurance decrease, New Jersey remains the state that has them most expensive of all. Of course, there is another state that tops the insurance prices but what we want to say is that if you happen to be the resident of the New Jersey area with a car - we wish you well with your coverage.

USA states vary in lots of things including policies, rules and price variations. New Jersey is a good place to live in but a terrible area to save money in. Despite of the fact that New Jersey drivers are very attentive ones, the insurance companies in the country are quite an expensive treat. There have been a few attempts to decrease the prices on vehicle insurance and back in 2004 it happened so that the price went down by 9.6 percent which is very good for the state. Still people find it hard to afford a good company that would take care of your auto.

Before we start judging the insurance companies that make their prices so hardly affordable it makes sense to figure out the reason why all the residents of the state have to pay such big sums for the car protection services. Here are some of the factors that definitely played their part and affected the payments people make. First of all it is fair to mention that the medical providers charge lots for their services. Secondly, the car reparation process is not an easy or cheap one either. Yes, we did mention the fact that New Jersey drives are attentive but still accidents occur and you can't escape easily once you are a part of it. When the insurance company sets the prices up it takes into consideration every little detail so everything matter and everything can make the price go up.

There were some changes made in the legislation and due to these changes some of the policies were reviewed. New Jersey auto insurance companies were benefited and they took total control over their activity. But we cannot say this about everyone. Some companies could not keep up with the pressure so they either moved to another state or closed down for good which left citizens less choice. The companies that remained knew their importance and charged double for the regular services. That is how some of the very simple things became less and less affordable.

Now the situation in the state seems to have improved a bit. People that live in New Jersey do realize the importance of the car insurance business and they know that it is something worth paying and saving for. There are several insurance companies in New Jersey and they are very flexible. They are ready to help people find what they need according to their financial possibilities. You should not think you have no chances if you are poor. Car insurance companies can be found online and those can really be what you search for today.

Please consider researching on your auto insurance now and you may walk out with the best deal tomorrow. You and your car can be totally safe in New Jersey. Let's make this happen! You know you truly deserve it and that is how it should be.