QuoteClicker Blog

Importance of Renters Insurance.

Tim@QC — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:19:23 +0000

Renters insurance is a policy that protects you from financial loss in the event that the contents of your rental unit are destroyed by fire, stolen or otherwise unusable. Insurance companies typically quote rental insurance policies that range between $150 and $400 a year, which is a very small amount when compared to how much it would cost to replace items needed for daily living, such as clothing and furniture. These policies can usually be paid on a monthly installment basis.

Types of Renters Insurance Policies

There are two main types of policies offered by insurance companies to people who do not own the property where they live. The first is referred to as HO-4 Standard Coverage and it covers property loss and the inability to use clothing or furniture that was inside of the rental unit during the time the policy was in force. In addition to providing replacement value for property, furniture and clothing, some rental insurance policies may also cover personal protection items such as guns, money, jewelry and other highly valuable items, but there may be an additional cost to insure them. Renters who are interested in this type of coverage should specify their interest when requesting a quote.

When the renters insurance policy pays out damage caused to property, it typically reimburses people for damage caused by fire, vandalism, plumbing emergencies, volcanoes, vandalism, lightning, hail, riots, fallen objects and damage caused by an airplane or automobile. Policies usually don’t provide coverage for severe weather or other situations that cannot be controlled by humankind, such as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. However, some insurance companies may be willing to provide the latter type of coverage for an additional fee and renters who desire this should request a quote.

The HO-6 Standard Coverage policy is strictly for condominiums and pays for damage to the building itself and to areas in the building shared by several tenants, such as hallways, elevators and attached garage stalls. It does not cover any damage which was sustained by a renter’s individual unit.

How Benefits are Paid

There are two main ways in which you will receive a benefit with a rental insurance policy. The first is actual cash value, which is an amount paid to you based on the current market value of your item. For example, if you bought a television brand new three years ago and it cost you $600, you would only receive what that television is worth today.

The second option is replacement cost coverage, which will pay you the actual cost of having to purchase each damaged or missing item as new. This may be the better choice if you own several pieces of high-dollar equipment, such as computers, cameras and other electronics.

How to Reduce Your Premium

Some insurers may be willing to give you a reduced rate for your rental insurance if you can prove that you have taken extra precautions to make your dwelling safe, such as installing a fire or burglar alarm system at your own expense. You can also lower your premium by increasing your deductible. Each insurer will rate a property differently. If finding the absolute lowest cost for renters insurance is your goal, make sure you compare a few different insurance companies.

What is Health Care Reform?

Tim@QC — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:50:23 +0000

What is Healthcare Reform?

Over 46 million people in the U.S. have no health insurance. Dollars spent on healthcare cannot keep abreast of inflation. If the situation continues, with the health and medical systems that now exist, could the United State go bankrupt within the next half-century? This could happen in theory but would also be dependent on other areas of our country, not just healthcare.

Health care reform is a program with several purposes:

• To improve the quality of healthcare.

• To increase the numbers of people covered by insurance companies, public welfare programs, or private insurance.

• To give more quality care to the population.

• To give consumers more flexibility in choosing their provider.

• To improve access to medical specialists.

• To lower the cost of health care.

The legislation under consideration includes the following provisions:

• Those that have insurance through their employment will be able to keep it.

• Health insurance exchange. To help individuals who have to buy insurance on their own, the program creates an exchange or marketplace, where people can shop and compare rates.

• Wider coverage for low-income people. The plan increases coverage for those who cannot afford to buy insurance.

• An individual mandate. An individual mandate will require people to purchase insurance. People who do not purchase insurance will have to pay a tax penalty.

• Research on better treatments. Scientific studies are to be undertaken to find which treatments are the most effective, and the findings will be published. This will provide fast and easy access to information for doctors, patients and insurance agencies, and will reduce the frequency of repeating procedures that do not work, eliminating much waste from the healthcare system.

What will be required as an individual mandate?

The individual mandate will require people to buy insurance, unless they qualify for a hardship exemption. People who do not buy insurance will have to pay a penalty on their taxes.

Pros and Cons

There are many potential benefits to the health reform program:

• May reduce cost of healthcare.

• Quality of care may improve.

• May increase quantity and choice of medical care.

There are also some glaring drawbacks to the plan:

• The public option: Critics maintain that employers, motivated by cost, will drop their coverage and send their employees to the public option, while proponents say it is critical for preventing over-profiteering from insurance companies.

• Cost: The program is not free. Insuring the many people who are not currently covered involves a huge annual cost.

The aim of health care reform is to decrease health care costs by requiring everyone to have health care. This means that every person will have to maintain an insurance policy, even if he or she cannot afford insurance. If a person cannot afford insurance because of their employment, the government will have insurance companies that work for low profit just to get everyone to sign up. The idea is that if everyone is required to have insurance, the insurance carriers would have to reduce premiums to meet and beat the competition.

What is your opinion?

Weird things insurance can cover.

Tim@QC — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:59:49 +0000

It is clear that the concept of insurance has been in use for a very long time. When the word “insurance” is ever mentioned, the first thought most of us will have is auto, home, life or health. Here is an interesting article discussing the various types of unusual ways that insurance can be used.

Weird Insurance Policies – Strange but True by Harvey McEwan
in Insurance (submitted 2010-03-09)

The weird world of insurance doesn’t stop at your bog standard health, life and car policies. No, in fact if you can think about insuring something the chances you probably can and someone’s done it already. Sit tight as we take you on a whirl round the weird world of strange insurance policies.

The first weird insurance policy is the most out of this world of the entire bunch. Alien abduction policies are proving more and more popular with London-based insurance company Goodfellow Rebecca Ingram Pearson having sold a total of 30,000 insurance packages to date. Alien abduction isn’t the only supernatural insurance policy on the market however with ghost, werewolf, vampire and even asteroid insurance all available to purchase.

Weather insurance might sound odd on paper but in fact weather insurance is the oldest kind of insurance around. Farmers’ earnings have long been tied to rain and shine but weather insurance now covers more than just farmers. Golf tournaments can insure against rain, hot air balloon companies can insure against lack of wind while film companies are big fans of weather insurance when it comes to shooting on location.

With film makers insuring against the weather, it wouldn’t be Hollywood without the A-listers getting in on the action as well. Mariah Carey is thought to have insured her legs for a gargantuan $1 billion dollars while supermodel Heidi Klum allegedly insured her catwalk perfect legs for an astonishing $2.2 million. Some quirky body part insurers include Merv Hughes – an Australian cricket player – who insured his iconic mustache for almost $400,000. The food critic Egon Ronay is also thought to have insured his taste buds for the same amount.

Planning a relaxing holiday to some of the world’s kidnap hotspots of Russia, Mexico, Columbia or Eastern Europe? You might want to take kidnap insurance with you! Kidnap and Ransom insurance is popular with wealthy people and their families should they be held hostage and a price demanded for their release. The only catch here is that the insurance company doesn’t pay for the person’s release first hand, instead they reimburse families after they have paid the kidnappers.

Finally, for anyone planning that ‘big day’, taking out wedding insurance might be a worthwhile option. With the average UK wedding costing upwards of £10,000 – excluding the honeymoon – you can protect your wedding against last minute cancellation. Couples can go further to cover individual elements of their big day such as the bride’s dress, drunken damage to the wedding reception or even poor wedding photography.

Protection against alien abduction, kidnap and drunken revellers; who would have thought that pet, travel and life insurance weren’t the only things you could insure.
About the Author

Harvey is an expert in insurance.

If you wish to read more from the author that wrote this article click on the link above. To read other QuoteClicker blog articles choose a category below.

Insurance Shopping

Tim@QC — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:45:43 +0000

Shopping for insurance while saving money is an always evolving topic. We found this article to be very helpful with the basic ways to save money while also finding adequate coverage. Most of the suggestions below are applied to auto insurance but this article does provide insight in ways to save on home, renters, life and health insurance.

HOW TO SHOP FOR INSURANCE

If you adopt some intelligent strategies, you can get excellent coverage at the best possible rates. For starters, stick with name brand companies. Young consumers are generally naive and prone to being taken advantage of, so select an insurer on which you can rely. We have been in business long enough to have a proven track record. You want a company that will be there-one you can trust-not only when you purchase your policy, but when you file a claim.

Next, shop intelligently for that first car. It might be exciting to own a sporty model, but you will pay dearly for that ego boost. Insurance companies adjust their rates based upon the type of vehicle you drive. Four-cylinder sedans cost considerably less to cover than two-seat roadsters. If you are sharing family vehicles, put the young driver on the least expensive car to insure. Dad’s station wagon will be cheaper to cover than Mom’s red road rocket.

On the subject of sharing family cars, if you as a young driver still live with your parents, getting all of the family insured by the same company will probably be best. Virtually every insurance company gives multiple car discounts, with even cheaper coverage if the company also insures your home. [The same rule applies even if you live on your own. Save dollars by getting homeowner's or renter's insurance from the same underwriter.]

Since young drivers statistically have higher rates than “older” drivers (quick reflexes losing to experience and “good judgment”), look for a company that rewards for good grades and good driving habits.

Of course, you want low rates, but do not settle for inadequate coverage. Look for the best rates based upon the same level of coverage. While you are shopping for the best deal, get the highest deductible you can afford. If you are willing to pay more in case of an accident, your premiums will drop. Compare different coverages to discover what is inadequate, what is desirable, and what may be excessive.

These strategies will save you money and get you cheap, quality insurance. And there is one other tool you can use to get the best possible automobile insurance deal: Quick Quotes.

Quick Quotes makes it easy to shop for insurance, allowing you to compare coverage and rates before you buy. Quick Quotes compares the policy offerings and rates of the top ten major insurers-companies with a history of treating their customers well. This service is free and will get you the best insurance policy at the most reasonable price. Try it out before you look anywhere else. You’ll be glad you did.

Dervin Mcbride
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dervin_L_Mcbride

The internet makes the insurance process much easier not only from a purchasing standpoint but by also allowing for easier claim reporting and policy maintenance. If you are the type of person that likes to pay bills via the web, an important deciding factor on the insurance company you decide to do business with should be that they need to offer the option to pay and manage your account online. Most companies will have current websites but not all will allow online policy access. Consider this before purchasing. If you wish to read more from the author that wrote this article click on the link above. To read other QuoteClicker blog articles choose a category below.

What have you done lately?

Tim@QC — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:42:34 +0000

What I mean is what have you done for someone else lately? We are over 10% into the 21^st century. Technology is all around and our lives are consumed by our careers, cell phones, internet and television. Most of the time we are so involved in our own lives we forget those who are less fortunate. Obviously getting out and doing some good volunteer work is a great way to contribute to a good cause. If you are bound by a somewhat tenacious schedule that seldom leaves available time for volunteer work, donating to a local charity is a good option. Here are a few facts to think about.

6,926,717,114 World’s population as of the time this post was written, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (the number increases every second).

3,000,000,000+ (43+%) The amount of people (almost half of the world) that lives on less than $2.50 a day. Envision if you only had $2.50 every day to live on. How would you live?

2,200,000,000+ (31+%) The number of children in the world.

1,000,000,000+ (14+%) The number of children that live in poverty.

640,000,000+ (9+%) This is the number of children that live with inadequate shelter.

400,000,000+ (5+%) This is how many children do not have access to a water source.

270,000,000+ (3+%) This is the amount of children without health services available to them.

22,000 The estimated number of children that die each day due to living in poverty.

One child dies every four seconds due to living in poverty.

If you are interested in donating to a local cause a good website to check out is CharityNavigator.org. They have virtually every non-profit organization listed, complete with company information and reviews. If funds are strained in your household and donating isn’t an option, there are other ways to consider. Again volunteering your time is a great way to show your support and contribute but there are other things you can do. Simply talking, writing, emailing or blogging about charitable organizations can help get the word out. Forward or share this post with as many people you know and you will be doing something to help those in need. A simple and easy way to contribute on the internet is by going to a Charity “click” website. These are sponsored sites where you can click on an advertisement, banner, answer a question or play a game and you will be donating. The advertisers or “sponsors” will donate an amount to charity just for you being on the website. You are donating for free! What a cool concept and some of the sites are pretty fun too.

My favorite charity “click “ websites:

www.freerice.com

www.thehungersite.com

www.freepoverty.com

There will always be people in need of help. If everyone that is capable took time to do something for someone else, the world would be in much better shape than its in. Please do your part.

Some of the statistics provided by www.census.gov & www.globalissues.org.

Chron.com Flyer Board

Tim@QC — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:10:55 +0000

http://chron.paperg.com/flyerboard/quoteclicker-insurance/1559/46133.html