Traditionally, people tend to purchase life insurance then forget all about it. Unfortunately, that is one of the worst possible things to do.
Learn why and when to adjust your life insurance with these quick life scenarios and other tips: Change of marital status
Whether you are newly married, recently divorced or widowed, it is important to update your name and beneficiary information as soon as possible.
Be sure to review the terms of coverage to make sure it provides the type and quantity of coverage required for your new status. Change of employment
If you are recently retired, unemployed or starting a second career, you may have different life insurance needs – especially if your employer no longer provides coverage. It’s easy to obtain life insurance quotes if you are self-employed or as a supplement to employer-sponsored coverage. Don’t forget to increase coverage in the event that your spouse has decided to stay home to care for children; the loss of income could be a double blow to your financial future without adequate life insurance and your ability to quickly restore a full income. Change of financial situation
The recent economic crisis has resulted in the reduction of many retirement accounts, pension plans and even the appraised value of other assets you may have counted on to provide income or assistance in addition to life insurance. Re-evaluate your net worth and supplement life insurance needs accordingly to make sure your loved ones are provided for despite the recent economic downturn. Change of dependents
While it’s natural to add life insurance with the birth of a child, few people remember to do so when granted the long-term care of parents or other dependents. Update life insurance to reflect the needs of adult dependents, aging parents, adopted children or others.
During tough economic times it can be tempting to cut back on car insurance. But there’s a fine line between saving money and putting your financial future at risk. Take this quick quiz to determine if you’re over-insured or simply engaging in risky behavior. Is the cost of comprehensive insurance coverage greater than the value of the car? In general, if the value of the car is equal to or greater than three years’ worth of premiums, it is a good idea to keep comprehensive coverage. Otherwise, you might benefit from reducing or eliminating comprehensive coverage for your old clunker. Just be sure that you have the ability to replace or repair the vehicle should a total loss occur. Do you have a second car or additional vehicle available? If so, you may be able to reduce comprehensive coverage on older automobiles as well as eliminate extras, like rental coverage, on the policy. Determine if the savings is worth the inconvenience before dropping coverage. Do you have enough money in savings to pay for small repairs out of pocket? If so, you may benefit from an increased deductible that lowers the cost of auto insurance. On the other hand, if you don’t have much money in savings or you are worried about cash flow, keeping a lower deductible is a quick way to supplement your emergency cash savings.
Most people shop for auto insurance after they have purchased a new vehicle, but for the best rates and biggest savings, it’s actually better to begin at the end.
Learn how to buy right to save big on car insurance costs without putting the brakes on the fun.
Shop Used Rather Than New
Not only will a used vehicle mean a slower rate of depreciation, but it’s often less expensive to insure a gently used car.
The sweet spot of savings is on vehicles roughly two to three years old and with less than 45,000 miles, although it varies considerably from car to car.
Keep Credit Tuned
Not only does good credit help reduce the cost of financing your new vehicle but insurance companies routinely consider credit score, driving record and other personal criteria in the cost of insurance.
Make it a priority to stay in shape by performing annual credit evaluations while steering clear of traffic violations in order to obtain the best rates.
Call for Quotes – Especially on Customized Cars
That super-charged engine or enhanced wheel package might look fantastic but tripping the light fantastic could cost you a bundle when it comes time to buy insurance. In fact, depending upon the type of work performed, it may negate the warranty and limit the terms of liability should damage related to the custom changes occur.
Safety Rating Rule
Perform a search for the most recent safety rating associated with the make and model of the car you are considering for purchase.
Title Matters
How you legally hold title to the vehicle is especially important when it comes time to purchase an auto insurance policy.
Parents or partners with poor driving records should pay special attention to how the title may impact the purchase of auto insurance.
With today’s economy, many have found themselves moving into smaller, more affordable homes, moving back with relatives, or renting as a way of biding time until the tide turns. To downsize does not mean to forget about your personal possessions or your potential liability risks with regard to insurance.
It is one of the most commonly repeated myths about insurance. Renters don’t need insurance because their landlord’s policy provides coverage for the renters’ property.
No, it doesn’t. Further, if someone slips and falls in your apartment or rented home, your landlord’s insurance usually won’t provide any coverage for you if you are sued.
Renters insurance is basically like homeowners coverage without coverage for the structure. It can cover your property and liability exposures.
As with homeowners insurance, keep track of what you own; be certain that your property is covered for replacement cost. For items of significant value, you should write down the model numbers, serial numbers, date of purchase and price. A photo or video kept in a safe place is good idea for showing proof of loss.
Always consider combining your auto and renters coverage with the same insurance carrier. Many companies will offer a premium discount if you have both policies placed with them.
Remember to include roomates and significant others for liabilty coverage. Any person living in the household has a potential exposure for liabilty…especially if one of your “possessions” is a dog.
Make sure you & your family are ready BEFORE a hurricane hits.
Plan for Hurricane Season.
I know it’s past the beginning of hurricane season, but since the northeast coast just missed a direct hit, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of the steps you should take to be prepared:
Keep safe and reduce possible loss to your personal property.
Three questions to ask about personal safety:
1) Am I prepared?
Identified ahead of time where to go if told to evacuate. Picked several places – a friend’s home in another town, a motel, or a shelter. Made arrangements to take pets.
Have the telephone numbers of these places handy as well as a road map of their locality in case there is a need to take alternative or unfamiliar routes if major roads are closed or clogged.
Planned how to assist elderly and/or disabled family members.
Reviewed American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) and FEMA (www.fema.gov) guidelines for disaster safety.
2) Is my family prepared?
Planned and practiced the family emergency plan.
Prepared to take these items when evacuating:
Prescription mediations and medical supplies, special snacks, pet food and pet supplies.
Bedding and clothing, including sleeping bags and pillows, bottled water, first aid kit, and flashlights.
Documents, including driver’s license, Social Security card, proof of residence, insurance policies, etc.
3) How will I stay informed?
Always have a battery-powered radio and extra batteries available. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or local radio or TV stations for evacuation instructions.
Know what hurricane WATCH and WARNING mean:
WATCH: Hurricane conditions are possible in the specified area of the WATCH, usually within 36 hours.
WARNING: Hurricane conditions are expected in the specified area of the WARNING, usually within 24 hours.
Three questions to ask about protecting personal property:
1) Have I prepared my home?
Completed and/or updated a written/video/digital inventory of personal property.
Taught family members how and when to turn off the utilities (water, gas, and electricity) at the main switches.
2) Will I be able to return to normalcy after an emergency?
Checked that there is adequate insurance coverage for all personal property.
3) Do I have a proper perspective on personal property?
Life safety and health are the most important considerations. Never put family or self at risk for personal property.
Hurricane Preparedness Resources
Ready.gov
FEMA
American Red Cross
FloodSmart.gov
Flood Insurance
Nothing can stop a flood and your homeowners insurance won’t protect you.
Homeowners insurance policies cover many things – fire, other natural disasters, theft – but not flooding. Without flood insurance, your home is unprotected.
I have three in college now! What to look for in insurance coverage; here’s my checklist:
1)Auto insurance–Be certain the carrier has the youthful operator listed and is aware of the distance between the home and the college.
2)Health insurance–Be certain that the student is covered as a dependent through school (check age limits). There are alternate policies available should there be no primary coverage.
3)Personal property–Be certain that the Homeowners policy extends coverage to the student’s location. You may want to look at seperate coverage for the laptop (college kids tend to spill things).
4)Life insurance–College age, healthy, and low debt is a great place to start a life policy. It should be the first place to invest your insurance dollars.
How easy and common it is to be the target of a lawsuit
How to get massive protection for just pennies a day
What you should know about what’s not covered with Umbrella Insurance
Tips on how to SAVE MONEY
Insurance jargon demystified! What are you really getting? Find out here… …and much, much more!
If insurance is for a rainy day, umbrella insurance is for a storm! A day when someone hits you with a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars.
Think it can’t happen to you? Just think for one minute about how lawsuit-crazy this country is. You can’t pick up a newspaper these days without reading about somebody suing somebody else for . . . anything. You read the article and say, “That’s crazy. There’s no way somebody should be able to sue for that.”
Well, guess what? The courts are clogged with these “crazy” lawsuits, and sometimes the person bringing the lawsuit wins. But, do you really need coverage for crazy lawsuits? Maybe not.
But remember, a lot of lawsuits aren’t crazy at all. Some get settled. Actually, most get settled. Often, the person being sued winds up having to pay the person who brought the lawsuit. Not to mention the fees the defendant has to pay to his or her attorney.
How Far Will Your Current Protection Really Go to Protect You?
* Example. Say you’re at fault in an auto accident that causes serious injuries to the driver and/or passenger(s) in the car you hit. Your auto insurance has liability limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. (Which are pretty common limits, by the way, even for people with a lot of assets.)
How far do you think $100,000 will go, particularly if the persons involved suffer injuries that keep them from working for months, or years? The accident victims could sue you for medical bills, lost income, even pain and suffering. In this scenario, $100,000 is not nearly enough coverage.
Guess what happens if, say, you are hit with a judgment for $250,000 in the case of one person involved in the accident. Your auto liability insurance will cover the first $100,000 — and you’re stuck with the rest. Again, that doesn’t include the legal fees you have to pay to your attorney. And, in some cases you might have to pay all or part of the legal fees the other party or parties incur. Ouch.
Umbrella insurance is for these very rainy days. While it may seem unnecessary, it really isn’t, particularly for people with homes and other significant assets to protect. Do you really want to hand over your house and/or gains in the stock market to someone you injure in an auto accident? It could happen. But it doesn’t have to.
Umbrella Insurance: Massive Protection for Pennies a Day
Because it is designed for those very rare rainy days, umbrella insurance is cheap. It is also versatile. Umbrella insurance provides additional coverage not only for your auto policy, but also your homeowners or renters policy. Umbrella insurance covers things auto, homeowners and renters policies don’t.
In the insurance world, there’s something called “personal injury.” This is not damage to someone’s body, but to his or her career or reputation.
* Example. Imagine you say in public that a certain person is a lying, cheating, no-good so-and-so. Maybe you really believe this to be true, but the person is very offended. He or she can sue you for slander (if you say it) or libel (if you write it). If this happens, your umbrella policy will provide coverage, including legal fees, up to the limits of the policy.
Umbrella insurance also covers personal injuries such as invasion of privacy, wrongful entry, wrongful eviction, false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Some umbrella policies will provide coverage if you are sued because of your service on the board of a civic, charitable or religious organization.
* Note. Umbrella insurance doesn’t cover everything. For example, if you are sued and the court assesses punitive damages against you, those damages won’t be paid by your umbrella insurance. What are punitive damages? They are damages awarded to someone in order to punish the person being sued. Punitive damages are awarded for outrageous, totally reckless conduct — at least what a judge or jury perceives to be outrageous, totally reckless conduct.
You can usually buy umbrella policies with $1 million limits for $200 to $300 a year. If you need more than $1 million limits, you can usually buy each extra $1 million of coverage for $100 to $200. Think about this. For only a few hundred dollars, you can increase your per-person liability limits 10 times, 20 times, even 30 times — and it applies to both your auto and homeowners or renters policies as well.
Umbrella Coverage: How It Works…
Umbrella insurance actually “sits” on top of your auto and homeowners or renters liability coverage. Say you have a per-person liability limit of $100,000 on your auto policy. Say also that you cause an accident in which a driver or passenger in the other car is ultimately awarded $250,000.
Your auto policy will pay the first $100,000, and your umbrella will kick in the remainder. Well, almost the remainder. Like auto policies, umbrellas have deductibles. Usually anywhere from $250 to $2,500. But a deductible of even $2,500 is a small price to pay if you’re hit with a $250,000 judgment.
Because umbrellas are over the top of the auto, homeowners or renters liability limits, some insurers offering umbrella policies require you to have your auto and homeowners policies with these companies as well. That’s not typically a problem because most insurers are happy to be able to provide someone’s auto, homeowners or renters, and umbrella insurance.
Most insurers offering umbrella coverage require you to have liability limits of a certain amount on your auto and homeowners policies. Typically, this minimum is $100,000 for homeowners and $100,000 per-person for auto.
You could chose to increase your auto and homeowners liability limits to, say, $1 million for each policy. But not every auto and homeowners insurer offers such high limits.
* Tip. An umbrella policy is usually a cheaper option than increasing the limits on your auto and homeowners insurance. Plus, you get the additional “personal injury” coverage that is not available in your auto and homeowners or renters policies.
Surprising secrets about what is and what is NOT covered in a standard Homeowner’s Policy for your boat
Clear up the common confusion about the different kinds of “watercraft” insurance…most owners don’t know this!
How to save money on boat insurance…
A special kind of insurance you may need to have…depending on what you do with your boat…
Insurance jargon demystified! What are you really getting? Find out here…
They are called pleasure boats or pleasure crafts, but, let’s face it, sometimes they’re a “pain.” They are expensive, to say the least — and potential danger comes with the pleasure.
They are, after your house(s) and maybe your car(s), possibly your most valued assets. You can choose to own and operate a boat, yacht or Jet Ski without insurance (although some marinas and yacht clubs won’t let you dock your craft unless you have coverage). However, that’s not a very smart choice.
* Note. If you have a homeowner’s insurance policy you may have some coverage for your watercraft but it is very, very minimal. A typical homeowners policy will pay as much as $1,000 to repair damage to your boat, but — guess what? — that damage has to occur while the boat is at your home. This is not exactly the kind of damage coverage you need. In addition, there may be some liability coverage. Some, but hardly enough.
You could gamble and not buy insurance for your watercraft, but that’s a big gamble. You’re risking not only losing or severely damaging the boat in an accident without compensation, but possibly your other assets if your boat causes damage and/or injuries to other boats and/or boaters.
Lots of Options…How to Choose
First, you need to know that there are three types of “boats.”
Anything less than 16 feet long is usually called “personal watercraft” by insurers. This includes Jet Skis, Waverunners, Tigersharks, Wet Bikes and Sea Dog “cycle” style models, as well as Jazz and Rage “mini boats.”
“Boats” are 16 feet to 25 feet, 11 inches.
Anything at least 26 feet long is classified as a “yacht.”
You will find that insurers have varying appetites for these types of watercraft. For this insurance, smaller is often not better. In fact, personal watercraft tends to be more accident-prone than most kinds of boats and yachts.
Some insurers won’t provide coverage for your personal watercraft at all or will only provide coverage if it is part of a larger policy. Your policy should include coverage for injuries to you and your passengers, the craft itself, liability (for damage and injuries to other crafts and people) and theft.
* Note. If you use your watercraft for water-skiing, you need to get coverage for this exposure as well. (It usually needs to be added to a standard policy.) You can also get coverage for the trailer(s) you use to transport the watercraft.
Insurance for Powerboats, Sailboats
In the insurance world, “boats” are usually smaller powerboats and sailboats. Standard policies for boats cover damage to the craft, usually on what is called an “all-risk” basis. In this case, all-risk includes damage caused by fire, lightning, theft, vandalism and windstorms.
The coverage is usually available for the boat itself, outboard motor(s), the boat’s trailer and personal property on the craft that is part of the normal operation of the vessel. Some insurers offer separate coverage for fishing equipment, cell phones and computers that are aboard the boat.
The standard boat policy also provides liability coverage, which is usually offered in increments of $100,000 to as much as $1 million. Therefore, it is similar to auto insurance liability in terms of what is available.
Many standard policies also cover medical expenses incurred by you, your family and any other passengers on the boat. Some policies also provide coverage for injuries caused by uninsured boaters or by boaters who don’t have enough insurance. If this sounds like uninsured motorist coverage in an auto insurance policy, it basically serves the same purpose.
* Tip. If you’re shopping for boat insurance, it’s wise to consider only those policies that offer this coverage. Discuss this with your agent.
Insurance for Yachts
If your watercraft is 26 feet or longer, you will need to buy yacht insurance, which provides basically the same coverage as boat insurance, but the terms are different. Under a boat policy, coverage for damage to the craft is called “physical damage.”
Under a yacht policy, the term is “hull.” Liability coverage under a yacht policy carries the name “property and indemnity,” which insurance people often abbreviate to P&I. As with boat liability coverage, P&I is available in increments of $100,000. Depending on the size of your craft, you can buy P&I limits from $2 million to as much as $50 million.
* Note. Like boat insurance, you should seek a yacht policy that offers coverage for medical payments (for you and your passengers) and uninsured boaters.
The cost of your boat or yacht policy is based on a variety of factors: horsepower; how fast it moves (it can cost as much as 50% more to insure a speedboat than it does a sailboat of similar size); where it is to be used; age of the craft and experience of the vessel’s operator.
* Tip. Insurers often offer premium discounts of 5% to 20% to those boat/yacht owners who have taken an approved boating safety course. (In some states, such courses are required to operate a boat or yacht.) Premium discounts are available, from some insurers, for newer vessels and protective devices (depth finders, ship-to-shore radios, burglar alarms). You can also save money on the policy by electing to take a higher deductible.
Like boating itself, watercraft insurance is not cheap. As such, it truly pays to shop around. There are a lot of different policies and coverage options available. Some policies might be significantly cheaper than others, but they don’t offer the coverages you need.
* Tip. This is a complex area of insurance with lots of options. Talk to your agent. Let him or her assess the many options out there and find the coverage that best suits your needs and best protects your assets.
It Can Be a Serious Health Risk for Some People and
a Huge House Risk For All
Mold in your home is certainly an annoyance, but it can also be a serious health hazard for certain individuals and cause substantial damage to your resident.More bad news:Your homeowners’ policy may not provide coverage for damage to your house caused by mold, which has been found in residences in all 50 states.Mold can grow in areas of a home that are constantly wet, whether it’s a result of leaking roofs or plumbing, or overflowing washing machines or showers/baths.
There have been a few cases in which the presence of toxic molds in homes has reportedly caused people to cough up blood or lose their memories.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “These case reports are rare, and a causal link between the presence of the toxic mold and these conditions has not been proven.”There have, however, been high-profile cases in New York, Texas, Ohio and California where toxic molds are alleged to have caused serious injuries or even death.The CDC does warn that individuals with chronic breathing difficulties such as asthma or immune disorders are at increased risk for health problems related to mold.
Structural Damage Could Be Severe
While the health risks associated with exposure to mold are not definitive at this time, there’s no doubt about the structural damage mold can cause.Mold around wood can lead to dry rot, which can have a domino effect on wooden areas of a home, spreading throughout the wood fiber and weakening the structural integrity of your home.
1.There are sunken areas in baseboards or trim, or baseboards are separated from the floor.
2.There are whitish areas under carpet or linoleum, or behind furniture.
3.There are mushroom like growths or “fruit bodies” – flat, as much as half an inch thick, and a pale olive gray, brown or black – that are present on the underside of flooring or cabinets.
4.Plaster or sheetrock is swelling or crumbling.
5.There are vine like branches from the soil to the foundation, framing or the underside of flooring.The branches are typically white, brown or black.
If mold is found in your home, you should clean as soon as possible and try to eliminate its source by fixing whatever problem is causing an area to be constantly wet.When you clean the mold, make sure you are not experiencing any symptoms of allergies.
Wear a mask and rubber gloves.Concoct a solution of water and bleach (a 10 to 1 ratio), as well as soap to cut any dirt and oil.Make sure the area is well ventilated by opening as many windows as possible.
You can also take several steps to make your home as mold-free as possible.
1.Keep areas of the house where moisture is present well ventilated.
2.If necessary, use air conditioning and dehumidifiers.
3.Fix plumbing leaks as soon as possible.
4.Make sure there’s adequate insulation for windows, pipes, exterior walls, the roof and floors.
5.Don’t install carpeting over areas that are constantly damp or wet, such as bathrooms or concrete floors with leaks or frequent condensation.
