Homeowners — just what are you buying?

The idea is simple. You pay a premium and the insurance company protects you. When you go out shopping, you read the labels before you buy, don't you. Well, the same should be your habit when you're buying a homeowners insurance policy. Never just use a site like this to get online quotes and then buy a policy because it's low cost or affordable. You should read it before you buy.

So what are you looking for? Well, let's get technical. The insurance company protects you against "perils" except where there are "exclusions" telling you that there may be limitations on that cover. Often, those exclusions are the smaller print coming near the end of the policy when the insurer hopes you're attention is wandering. Check out exactly what is covered. If it's not clear, ask someone before you buy. The first part of the home insurance policy usually deals with "property protection". So that covers the structure of the place you call home together with everything permanently attached like the plumbing, the electrical wiring and all the other stuff. All the other buildings and structures on the land will be included so long as they're all used for domestic purposes. That covers the garage, shed, patio and fences/walls. Pay special attention to any "loss of use" provisions - that should cover your out-of-pocket expenses if you cannot live in your home while it's being repaired.

Then we get into the everyday personal property (usually called the "contents") owned by you and the family who live with you on a permanent basis. Depending on the wording, you may be covered for the cash value or replacement cost. But watch out. If you have anything unusual that's more expensive or difficult to replace, that's got to be specially endorsed on the policy. Some things may be excluded like a firearm, the car covered under your auto insurance policy, and so on. Other things may be included like the charges the local fire department may claim if it is called out, the cost of removing fallen trees or other debris after a storm, and so on. Everything else will have to be separately negotiated and added on to the policy as an endorsement.

Summary

The article advises that before you buy any homeowners insurance policy, you read through to see exactly what is included and what is excluded. If something is missing, you should negotiate a separate endorsement to get the cover you need.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

What to do when COBRA runs out?

We're into murky waters with questions about losing or switching employment. No-one wants to think about times of uncertainty, but if the economy continues its current problems, you have to plan round the jobs you have and can get. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which took effect in April, 2003, was designed to give you some protection for health insurance coverage when you are switching between jobs.

To get HIPAA coverage, your most recent cover must have been through a health plan. In total, you must have had at least eighteen months of continuous coverage. There must be no entitlement under Medicaid or Medicare and you must have used up all your entitlement under COBRA. If you give notice under HIPAA within 63 days of losing your health plan coverage, you have the right to buy cover. The health insurers cannot refuse you a health policy based on your medical history or pre-existing condition, nor can they change you a higher premium to deter you. In fact, many states have laws to limit what health insurers can charge in this situation. Thus, you have a right to get health insurance for you and your family and the premiums may be controlled. This is something you should investigate. Here health insurance online quotes may be of great use for you.

There are also privacy provisions to help keep your personal medical history confidential while making it available to the "right" people to give you health insurance and handle claims for treatment. HIPAA sets out national standards for handling health data to reduce the risks that your data is lost or stolen. There are also penalties if your data is sent to an unauthorized person. In theory, this is supposed to make doctors, healthcare providers and hospitals more accountable if something goes wrong. As a first step, you have the right to a copy of your health records. Most data processors make a handling charge for preparing the copy, but it is usually small. You also have the right to know who has seen your data and you can lay down limits on access. It's in your interests to take an active interest. You should maintain the accuracy of your records and ensure that only authorized individuals are allowed to access it in appropriate circumstances.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

Out of work! Could it happen to you?

Hey, I know you don't want doom and gloom but one of us has to ask the hard questions. So, with the housing market in free fall and price inflation taking off, jobs are less secure. Now is the time to spend a few minutes thinking about what you would do if the unthinkable happened to you. The headline. If you've been wise with your money, you'll probably survive. It's a rerun of Aesop's fable called The Ant and the Grasshopper. The grasshopper spends all summer singing whilst the ant toils to fill his home with food for the winter. When it gets cold, the grasshopper dies of hunger. This is a dramatic way of telling you it's better to make save and preparations for the worst before the worst happens. If nothing happens, you're actually better off all round.

Let's start off with the most vital question. What's going to happen to your group health plan? All this time, you've been sheltered from the hard world of personal health insurance. What are you entitled to receive? Leaving to one side the questions of your severance pay, unemployment compensation and whether your employer will pay for outplacement services to help you find your next job, look at health insurance coverage through COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985).

All employees, their spouses and dependents have a right to continue coverage under the basic group health plans (both medical and dental) for eighteen or thirty-six months. Wellness plans, life insurance, savings accounts and disability plans are excluded. So long as your employer had twenty or more employees, and terminates you without a justification of gross misconduct, the rights will probably apply. Your employer should have sent you and your spouse a notice about your rights. If your spouse and children are covered under the plan, they have separate rights to claim COBRA coverage.

You all have sixty days from the date coverage under the plan ends to elect for coverage under COBRA. You must make your first premium payment within forty-five days and thereafter at regular monthly intervals. You will lose coverage if you miss a payment. If there is a slight shortfall in the amount, i.e. $50 or 10% of the premium, your employer cannot terminate. This means it is always better to send some money rather than no money. If you are short, you get an additional thirty days to make up the payment. Use this breathing space to find new employment, secure in the knowledge that your health insurance needs are covered. That is, assuming you have laid the money by like Aesop's ant.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

Avoiding credit card's most expensive surcharge

A lot of credit cards have the right of substantially raising rates in case one misses a payment, or commits any other financial fault.

Just lay on your cash loan or a mortgage. Pay off your electric bills. Transcend your credit limit. Permit rating of your credit to get lower of what the credit card company supposes an acceptable level or be considered to be bearing too much liability.

Instead of paying 9% on your debt, you all of a sudden are paying 28% or even more.

Review the conditions of your contract, in order to pull out if your credit card company has the right of getting universal non-payment rates. Some of the companies are telling their customers of those penalties exactly on their monthly bulletin. Other companies send notice, with the bill or in a mail, to supply with that information. You also might phone your credit card company and ask.

If it is absolutely legal for them to do such things, it is absolutely legal for you to discover a credit card company that doesn't.

The option is making certain you aren't doing anything that would double, triple or quadruple your cash loan rates.

The two common conditions for being thrown into default are tardy payments and dropping credit scores to any creditor, according to the Consumer Action inquiry. The first thing to concentrate on is being on time, since being tardy also lowers your credit score.

One way of avoiding this is setting up automatic payments through your bank. Usually you can do it online. Thereby the bank distributes all your habitual monthly checks. Make certain you permit adequate time for the payment to vacate your account and reach your creditor by the needed date.

You will have more time on finding credit card companies that treat you properly, and enjoy the advantage of not worrying as much about the dark side of your card.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

More ways to save on air travel

One of the ways to make a boring flight more bearable is the knowledge you have the cheapest ticket on the plane. With all the security restrictions at air ports and the lack of comfort on the air planes themselves, traveling has lost its appeal. Now, it's just a way of getting from where you are to where you want to go. The recession is helping because the airlines are having to compete to fill their planes. This is bringing down the retail price of seats and there are a lot of attractive "special offers" being advertised. The fact of a bargain always helps to lift your spirits. The big question is therefore how to get the discounts. If you are planning in advance, there are savings if you book around two months ahead. This gives you a so-called "early bird" discount. When you want a flight in the next few days, the airlines know you probably have to travel and keep the price high. If you book too far ahead, there are uncertainties about costs, particularly of aviation fuel, so airlines tend to keep the price higher to hedge against possible rises in their operating costs. When you book, if possible, always fly as a round trip. One-way tickets are more expensive and, if you are looking for connecting flights, try to stay with the same airline.

Traveling on your own gives you the maximum flexibility. You can decide when you want to fly and how much inconvenience you are prepared to accept to get a discount. Most airlines start offering discounts for groups when there are at least six people in the party. So, if you are prepared to put up with the hassle of organizing friends into a package deal, the savings can be substantial. The emphasis here is on a package which includes hotels and other add-ons. There is another general rule at work here. Never rely on a single internet site for making a booking of any kind. Always get multiple online quotes and pick up the telephone to talk to the airlines and travel agents about travel packages. The moment you start talking about adding a rental car or hotel rooms, you have their undivided attention. Indeed, asking what the options are for saving money will often produce unexpected offers not mentioned on the websites. In this, remember to identify the consolidators or aggregators. These are the travel agents that buy tickets in bulk from the airlines and sell at a discount. Also remember that many of the no-frills budget airlines do not sell through the standard internet search engines. You have to approach them directly.

Learning how to save on air tickets is not difficult but it does take up time and requires some effort. You should also be wary. Many discounted air tickets come with restricted rights to change flight times, exchange tickets, or cancel and seek a refund. Always read the small print before confirming the purchase. You should also use your credit card because many have insurance provisions that cover you should you fall ill and be unable to travel.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

Travel by air without breaking the bank

A while ago, before the price of gas rocketed up to stratospheric levels, there was some research on travel habits showing that men preferred to drive long distances whereas women preferred to do the same journeys by air. When the price of crude oil did reach record levels, both genders were hit. The drivers were paying $100 to fill up the tanks of their guzzlers and surcharges were making the price of seats on an airplane ever more expensive. Now we have a different problem with the recession. The price of gas may have dropped but people no longer have the same amount of disposable income to pay for their travel. The business and holiday travel industry has taken a big hit. Aircraft are flying with empty seats. Hotels are half empty. So the big question is whether you can still afford to travel by air.

If you look around the internet, watch TV or read the newspapers and magazines, there are advertisements everywhere promising to save you big dollars. As with all advertising, some of it is true, while the rest is just the standard come-on to hook your interest. In some cases, there are real airfare wars with limited time promotional fares being offered by the major airlines feeling the need to generate some cash flow. If you are flexible on when you travel and, for holiday purposes, where you go, some of these deals are very attractive. But, for the more general traveler, let's start with the simple tips that work no matter which website or agencies you use to buy the tickets, and no matter where you want to go. The first could not be more straightforward. Fly midweek on a Tuesday or Wednesday. These are the "dead" days of the travel industry and most airlines offer between 8 and 10% discounts if you are flexible enough to travel on these days. Saturdays are also discounted to some extent. The same applies to the unpopular time slots, i.e. the "red-eye", late-night flights, and those flights that are the first off the ground once it's officially morning. Flights with at least one stop are also cheaper than direct flights.

The second general way of saving money is to survey the prices from all the airports near you. Assuming you are flexible and prepared to travel to slightly more distant and smaller airports, you can often save several hundred dollars on your air tickets. It's all about supply and demand. If there are fewer people traveling to and from from an airport, you can save on air tickets. The same logic applies to the landing fees. The smaller, secondary airports have lower landing fees. The airlines will still pass them on, but the savings can be significant. For example, if you are going to New York, you can save up to $200 if you fly into and out of Newark or Philadelphia. Now the only question is whether the cost of the extra time and transport from the smaller airport to your final destination is less than the savings on the tickets and fees.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»

Most people fail to think ahead

Most people fail to think ahead. That means they get caught up in a panic when an emergency arises and, more often than not, end up taking short-term finance at very high rates of interest. This does nothing more than make the emergency worse. So, even though you may already be on the margin and living paycheck to paycheck, there are a few simple steps you can take to save yourself from the pain of these high-priced loans. The first involves joining a credit union. Almost every major city across the US has a credit union and their membership rules are reasonably easy to satisfy, being aimed at working families. Running a basic checking account is free at many credit unions or charged at a nominal level if you have your paycheck paid into the account. With an account in place, you are entitled to apply for a personal loan if a crisis arises. In most cases, approval comes through within one or two days. Some unions allow people to hold an application form on file so that a loan can be processed more quickly. The majority of unions charge around 18% for smaller amounts of short-term finance. The rules for larger amounts varies but the aim is to provide affordable finance to families in need. When other forms of finance can be charging 200% and more interest per year on short-term loans, credit unions are well worth investigating.

If you prefer conventional banks, some offer short-term loans of up to $500 if there is a crisis. You need to read the small print carefully before you sign up. The terms vary. Some banks require you to hold the account for a given period of time before you qualify for a loan, others have penalties if you fail to repay the loan within preset periods of time. Worked out over a year, the interest rates rise above 100% but they are still cheaper than the other short-term loans. Some credit unions and banks allow you to have a credit card linked to an overdraft facility. Under normal circumstances, a check written with inadequate funds in the account will be refused payment. But with the right agreement in place, the unauthorized overdraft will be considered a cash advance on the credit card. This is more expensive than a conventional overdraft but it will give you access to funds you might not otherwise get. Finally, you can search for a company still offering a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) facility. These have become more difficult given the credit crunch and falling property values, but if you do still have a reasonable equity in your home, you may be able to find a bank or finance company prepared to lend. If you are lucky, you should never sign up for a significant amount of money. Go for the minimum amount available. This is only intended as an financial emergency facility to avoid you having to take a payday loan.

Klik disini untuk melanjutkan »»