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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Compare Auto, Homeowner, Health Insurance Quotes

Everyone knows that insurance premiums can be affected by your credit history or perhaps a spotty driving record in the case of auto insurance. But few people realize that an insurance company's loss experience is one of the biggest factors for determining how much they will pay for coverage. How so? Well, say for example an insurance company paid out a large amount of homeowner insurance claims due to a particularly catastrophic year of floods and fire damage. The same insurance company may also provide auto insurance coverage. To compensate for the losses experienced under their home owner insurance division, they may raise premiums for their car insurance customers even if they had no accidents or tickets. Or, they could simply increase the insurance prices for house insurance policyholders in another state.

Insurance is a business, and like any other business it needs to generate profit. Monetary losses from an excessive amount of insurance claims are usually shifted to the consumer in the package of higher insurance premiums. If the insurance company had an extremely profitable year, they may lower rates to attract more customers and increase the number of policyholders they have. For this reason, insurance rates vary greatly from one company to another.

Health and life insurance rates are very low right now in this competitive insurance industry. However, some health and life insurance companies offer low initial rates to gain insurance customers and then gradually increase these teaser insurance rates over time. The best way to ensure you are getting the best price for your insurance needs is to review your policy rates regularly and compare them against what other competing insurance companies are offering. You can do this by requesting insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Friday, August 22, 2008

How to say no to an insurance agent?

You are a terrific person. The mere fact you realize that the only irreplaceable thing we have is time - part of our life - speaks volumes. Others have said that "they are accustomed to it" are correct, but that does not mean that salespersons like to hear a "no". Here is how to get it done:
1. Until you have made a decision, when/if they call say, "I'm still gathering information. I'll call you back when I have made a decision." Don't engage in further discussion. You don't owe them any more of your time - they have had their chance at your business.
2. When you have decided, sign the papers with the salesperson who earned your business. Then DO call all the others and say, "I've signed papers for a plan that suits me better than what you proposed. Thank you very much for the time you invested with me." Once more, don't engage in further discussion. By doing it this way:you will strictly speak the truth, you will honor their time, you will preserve YOUR time.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The difference between accidental death life insurance and regular life insurance

There is really no difference between the two. They are both life insurance. The words "accidental death" is to entice the consumer to purchase it. It's like saying "Extra Special Life Insurance Just For You." lol.

This is how life insurance works:
You pay premiums into the policy for a certain amount of coverage. If you add "Waiver of Premium" rider to it, this will allow you to use some of the face amount in case you become disabled. If you die (natural or accidental), your beneficiary will get the face amount. If there is cash value in the policy, this will be kept by the insurance company (kind of sucks since you're the one who paid for it)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Parties to contract

Insurance Quotes
There is a difference between the insured and the policy owner (policy holder), although the owner and the insured are often the same person. For example, if Joe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. But if Jane, his wife, buys a policy on Joe's life, she is the owner and he is the insured.
The policy owner is the guarantee and he or she will be the person who will pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it. The beneficiary receives policy proceeds upon the insured's death. The owner designates the beneficiary, but the beneficiary is not a party to the policy. The owner can change the beneficiary unless the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary designation.
With an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary must agree to any beneficiary changes, policy assignments, or cash value borrowing. In cases where the policy owner is not the insured (also referred to as the cestui qui vit or CQV), insurance companies have sought to limit policy purchases to those with an "insurable interest" in the CQV. For life insurance policies, close family members and business partners will usually be found to have an insurable interest. The "insurable interest" requirement usually demonstrates that the purchaser will actually suffer some kind of loss if the CQV dies. Such a requirement prevents people from benefiting from the purchase of purely speculative policies on people they expect to die.
With no insurable interest requirement, the risk that a purchaser would murder the CQV for insurance proceeds would be great. In at least one case, an insurance company which sold a policy to a purchaser with no insurable interest (who later murdered the CQV for the proceeds), was found liable in court for contributing to the wrongful death of the victim (Liberty National Life v. Weldon, 267 Ala.171 (1957)).
Insurance quotes
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_insurance#Parties_to_contract

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Life insurance

Life Insurance

Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual's or individuals' death or other event, such as terminal illness or critical illness. In return, the policy owner (or policy payer) agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals or in lump sums.

There may be designs in some countries where bills and death expenses plus catering for after funeral expenses should be included in Policy Premium. In the United States, the predominant form simply specifies a lump sum to be paid on the insured's demise. As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy. Insured events that may be covered include:

Serious illness Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion. Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories: Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment.

A common form of this design is term insurance.Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US anyway) are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.

Life Insurance
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_insurance