Insurer -

Looking around the US economy right now. Homes have been foreclosed, bankruptcy looms on private debts and the retirement 401ks have taken a serious hit. Life as we knew it has been turned upside down without anything in place to catch us as we fell. So how did we get into this mess? The economists tell us we have been living beyond our means. Credit was cheap and, with banks and credit card companies raising their borrowing limits, there seemed to be nothing we could not afford. There was no need for savings. Everything could be charged. If the limit was reached, the housing equity could be released as cash. Over a period of about twenty years, we switched from a country that saves to a country that spends on credit. In the period just after World War II, we had “prudence”. People mostly paid cash for what they wanted and, if they did not have enough, they saved. It was a revolution when, suddenly, everything could be paid for in affordable monthly instalments. In one sense, this is the easiest way to get into serious debt without noticing. When you only pay a few hundred dollars every month, it hardly registers the total debt is tens of thousands.

Insurance companies were the last of the hold-outs. For years, they insisted everyone should pay them a lump sum once a year. Then, slowly, there was a cave. First it slipped to every six months, then quarterly. Now almost every company across the nation accepts monthly. What’s the problem for the insurance companies? Well, they estimate the likely total cost of the claims they will have to pay over the next twelve months and divide that amount between all the policy holders as the premium. If the company has done its sums properly and everyone pays once a year, the company always has the cash in the bank to pay out on all the claims. If people pay monthly, they can easily change to another insurer. They can miss one month’s payment when the family budget is under pressure. That means the insurer may not have enough money to pay the claims. So, to encourage all you people with some savings (or some slack on your credit cards), they offer discounts if you agree to pay every six or twelve months. It gives them more security and saves you some money. Paying monthly costs you the most.

That said, paying monthly gives you flexibility. You can use the online search engines to find auto insurance quotes at the lowest price. Then for just one month’s premium, you can be driving. In effect, this becomes a monthly policy. You can keep shopping around for new premium offers from different insurers. If you find a better monthly rate, you can transfer at the end of the month. But if you pay once or twice a year, the insurer will hit you with high cancellation charges to lock you in. Whatever you might save disappears. Worse, if you change the make and model of your vehicle during the longer policy term, it can be too expensive to move the policy to a cheaper company. You end up paying the higher premium until the six or twelve months end. So make a wise decision. Auto insurance is never cheap. Avoid making it too expensive.

All businesses using commercial vehicles will need commercial car insurance as part of their insurance program. With a wide variety of options available, it is necessary to consult with the insurance agent or company to provide full details of vehicle use and ensure the correct coverage is chosen.

The following points should be considered:

How many vehicles and drivers need to be covered?

Coverage is often determined by the number of vehicles and drivers requiring insurance. Businesses with several vehicles and drivers should opt for fleet insurance. This is likely to be less expensive than insuring by individual and vehicle but there are other factors that vary from insurer to insurer such as the class of vehicle.

How is Commercial Use defined in the Policy?

The terms for commercial use of a vehicle will not be included in your personal policy so it is necessary to establish terms with a dedicated commercial policy. The policy should be determined following a consultation with your insurer. It is important that both parties understand the level of insurance required to guarantee coverage in the event of an accident.

Lowering Premium Costs?

The following can help to lower commercial car insurance premiums:

Business Location. – Premiums will be affected if vehicles are located in high-risk areas for theft.

Driver Records. – Qualified drivers with clean records will mean lower premiums.

Vehicle Type. – The lowest premiums are reserved for mid-sized hatchbacks/saloons.

Excess. – If your company can afford to share the risk by pay a high excess, premiums will be lower. Safety and anti-theft devices. – Premiums are sure to be reduced if vehicles are fitted with devices such as alarms, GPS, air bags and seat belts.

Special commercial Coverages and Considerations

Things to consider regarding commercial coverage:

If your business is subject to federal and state regulations, insurance coverage can be affected. For example, transporting cargo interstate requires specific terms must be met in line with the Department of Transportation. All such matters must be declared to the car insurance agent or company to ensure a clear understanding. If haulage involves equipment belonging to others, this should be reflected in the policy too.

Who is insured under the car insurance policy?

The structure of the business can lead to confusion over who is covered. Businesses with a large fleet of vehicles often form a separate company with the sole purpose of leasing the vehicles to the main company. In such cases, it is important to clarify this structure to the commercial car insurance company to guarantee the policy covers all vehicles, individuals and companies.

No matter what you do – please consider staying safe. There is nothing more precious than life and realization of it makes you not wise but also caring about others. There are so many people on the road with us everyday and we owe to think about them too. They don’t have to pay for our mistakes. You car and you are one and the same. Make both of you behave well!

Insurance is a program that lets you pay instalments now against the risk of expenses in the future. With something like fire insurance, you get a quote for rebuilding your home or business premises from the ground up. That represents the maximum amount necessary to put you back into the position before the fire struck. No matter how optimistic or pessimistic you are, you and the insurance company can put a price on the potential loss. Unfortunately that does not work so well when it comes to medical costs. The young and optimistic have perfect health and prefer not to think about the risk of accidents or illness. These are things that happen to other people. But, sooner or later, there is greater realism. As the years roll by, most recognize the probability of illness is increasing and put some level of protection in place. But the basic question of optimism and pessimism never goes away. Do we assume the injury or disease will come and go quickly? Will there only be a few tests, no major interventions and no continuing costs? Or will the problem prove more serious, require major surgery and long-term care? Until the recession hit, we could all afford to be reasonably laid back. Those more inclined to provide against the darker possibilities would add a few dollars a month to the premium instalments and sleep well at night. But with every family budget coming under pressure as the economy tanks and unemployment stalks the land, the question becomes more difficult to resolve. Those few extra dollars a month have to be justified.

Why think about it now? Well, let’s take the worst case scenario. Suppose you or one of your family are struck down. Suddenly, you are looking at big bills and worried about the extent of the cover available under the policy. This is not the best time to open negotiations with the insurer. You are emotionally weak. Worse, the reality of large losses will color the reaction of your insurer. The best time for these negotiations is when you are calm and all the losses for the insurer are in the future. This allows everyone to deal with hypotheticals and not get alarmed when big numbers are mentioned. So why do insurers start talking about big numbers? The national statistics show claims for long-term care almost always fall into the range of three to five years. That’s a big bill when you add in all the different services potentially required, whether in your own home or a nursing facility.

So what happens to people without long-term health insurance? The worst happens to those who have built up assets. Instead of providing for their families, they find all their assets sold to cover the apparently endless series of bills. Of course, some families have one or two who can be persuaded to act as carers. They sacrifice their earning capacity to provide home nursing. This, of course, is the worst case, where the losses just keep mounting up as families cope with the emotional and financial costs of the care. Health insurance provides protection for retirement savings and the assets readied for the children to inherit. Long-term policies cannot remove the emotional burden of living with an injured or dying loved one, but it can make the time less financially stressful.

The least pleasant and most stressful moments of home insurance is of course filing a claim. Insurance companies are rarely happy to receive a claim from their customers, although it their direct job to handle these things. And most people, especially when having and insurance situation for the first time, are quite nervous about contacting the company. To make it a bit easier both for you and your insurer, here are some steps to follow in order to file a claim and get all the benefits of your policy when they’re needed.

1. Inform your company about filing the claim as soon as possible. Contact your insurance agent to discuss any damage that you think your insurance policy should cover. This is the person that will help you with information and advice on how to proceed according to the coverage your policy delivers. It’s better to have all the information regarding your policy and your agent’s contact information somewhere outside your home (in the wallet for example). It is also recommended to record all your conversations with the agent to have a reference if needed.

2. Evaluate and document the overall damage to your property for the claim. The best way to do that is to have a digital video or photo camera to record all the damage along with comments and documentation immediately after the property was subjected to any influence. Keep these recordings and documents available when needed, having multiple copies will also be handy.

3. Make intermediate repairs before your policy kicks in. You have the responsibility for your property after the damage and should prevent it from getting even worse. If there’s a leak in the roof, try stopping it in order to avoid getting your house flooded. Remember to store all the receipts from the store when buying repair supplies, but keep the expenses reasonable in order to avoid reimbursement denial from the insurance company.

4. List all the items on your property you think are missing or damaged. Ask your family for help, inspecting one room after another and listing all the items that are damaged. It is very important when you have replacement cost coverage, because all of the damaged items will be replaced by new ones even if the old ones were much cheaper in value. Having an inventory list of your property before the damage done will be very helpful for processing the claim so take your time to do that after taking even a cheap home insurance policy.

5. Be patient. In case the damage was caused by a natural disaster with the whole area being affected it may take a longer time for you to get coverage, because those with more serious damage are likely to be covered first. Keep track of what is going on with your claim and speak to your insurance agent from time to time. In case you suspect that your insurance claim is not processed properly and laid off, even if it’s cheap home insurance, you should contact your state insurance department with a complaint. This is especially important if the damage to your house makes it impossible to live in it.