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Monday, October 31, 2011

Companies Often Drop Health Insurance without Warning Employees



Health is most precious things than all. Health is wealth but wealth is also essential to have a good health. Medical assistance is not provided without any costs. A common person who works eight hours a day can hardly save any money for his medical costs. From last couple of years in this struggling economy common person had taken many blows. Now there is again one more and that’s elimination of health insurance without any notification by the employers.

Elimination of Health Insurance Benefits


There is new trend started in this struggling economy era and that’s employers are eliminating health benefits without informing their employees. The employees who already are suffering from this struggling economy became again victim of this unjust offense.

Though taking back health insurance benefits are an illegal maneuver in many states, but it’s not only happening, that’s on the rise also. There is a provision in the law that a company must have to give their workers 45 days notice if they are going to drop the coverage.

But many workers found that their coverage has lapsed when they go to the doctor’s office. It’s just because many businesses don’t follow the law.

You Can Complain If Same Happened To You


If any complaint will be filed in state’s insurance department then the employer will be given an opportunity to reinstate benefits and pay back the premiums to fill any gaps in coverage. If employer fails to cooperate then state will file a legal case against the company. The employees will be helped also by state insurance departments to understand their options for going forward.

Here it will good to mention a high-profile case of an airline CEO. That CEO terminated health benefits for over 300 employees without notification. He was charged one count of willful failure to pay group health insurance premiums.

The effect of health insurance removal will be worse on the employees. As already they are struggling to survive, this new maneuver can become a last nail to coffin. Lets lo and behold that what action government will take? Will it be good for common person or will benefit the employers? Best answer for this time will give; as the time will pass we get a clear view of this certain illegal offense.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Types of Infertility Insurance



Fertility insurance has become very common. It even helps those couples who cannot afford expensive treatments. Fertility insurance is a type of health insurance. People are more inclined to have this insurance so that they don’t face any financial problem in case of any emergency treatment.

You should visit a fertility clinic if your partner and you are facing problems in fertility. Fertility treatments, i.e. fertility drugs, IUI, and IVF, can help you get pregnant. As these measurements and tests are very expensive that's why many couples cannot afford. It is now commonly proposed by many different insurance providers, but before utilizing these treatments check out if you are covered by infertility insurance.

Infertility Insurance


Infertility insurance is health insurance for the payment of infertility treatments. For  every month insurance provider will give you health care planning that covers fertility treatment that consist of fertility test, artificial insemination and other  types of assisted reproductive technology. Till a specific amount your infertility insurer will pay but if you have pass through infertility treatment. Infertility insurance is mandatory in certain states and throughout United States its available for private purchase.

Reasons for Buying Infertility Insurance


The health care costs are continuously rising, that’s why need for infertility insurance is increasing day by day. Common and popular types of insurance are health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance and insurance for pets. People usually get insurance so that they can have money in times of need. With respect to increase in fertility treatment demands, infertility insurance has also become common. Fertility insurance is being faced by six million or more Americans, which is now being used as a necessity than a luxury. Fertility insurance is expensive for many couples. Per month costing about $1,000 with fertility medications and ART procedures costing $4,000, many couples are not be able to afford it as it is very expensive. Fertility insurance also gives you the trick to get the treatments you need without going bankrupt.

Infertility Insurance Types


There are three main types of infertility insurance.

Standard Health Insurance: Standard health insurance requires that in return of fertility insurance you have to pay premium per month.

Refund Programs: For refund programs one has to pay upfront for fertility treatments. In case, not having a baby you would be paid back between 70% and 100% of the money.

Financing: For infertility purpose you can take out the loans, if unfortunately you do not have baby than you will not have to repay full loan.

Eligibility for Infertility Insurance


Fertility insurance is not for everyone. There are specific requirements that you have to face before approval of fertility insurance. To qualify for infertility insurance, couples who already have insurance policy must be:

  • Under the age of 40.

  • Struggling with fertility for a long period of time.

  • Holding policy for at-least one year.

Couples that are already not having insurance coverage and are recently going for investigations for such cases will not be able to get approved for fertility coverage. In such cases, it is better to check if your fertility clinic offers any refund and financing ways to their customers.

Laws for Fertility Insurance in Different States


According to the habitat, there are different laws for different places. Some states are having a law for employers who have more than 50 employees. It’s necessary for such employers to provide their employees health care coverage, which includes some type of infertility insurance. These states are:

  1. New York

  1. New Jersey

  1. Ohio

  1. Montana

  1. Massachusetts

  1. Arkansas

  1. California

  1. West Virginia

  1. Texas

  1. Connecticut

  1. Hawaii

  1. Illinois

In all these above mentioned states it’s necessary for employers to provide fertility insurance to their employees. While in other states its not mandatory.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What You Must Know About Long Term Disability Insurance?


According a general survey one person is having 25% of risk of getting disabled in his life during working years. I wonder why the disability insurance is not advertised in same way as life insurance. Many of us know about different life insurance policies. Only few know about the disability insurance policies.

In my opinion the people who are having working age must look for purchasing a disability policy as soon as possible. It’s best to secure the future.

Why it’s Necessary to Have a Disability Insurance?


There are many things which make it important to have disability insurance. Let’s say that you got injury or illness. In this case you may have to quit your job or take an extended leave of absence. If your illness prolonged or you got any permanent disability you will ran out of money within weeks or months, even with the best of emergency funds. In long illness or disability may be your employer allows you for an unpaid leave of absence while keeping your benefits. In this way your medical costs will be covered by the medical insurance but what about your living costs. How those will be covered? This is where disability insurance comes into play.

Most of younger age people think that they don’t need disability insurance. Because they think they don’t have any dependents so there is no need for that. While truth is that younger people need more disability insurance because they are having less savings and liquid assets. Those will not be sufficient in case of any disability or illness.

Though social security does provide limited disability benefits for covered workers but their definition of disability is quite strict, and one can hardly qualify that. Even after qualifying the amount you will get will be less than your actual income.

Types of Disability Insurance


There are two types of disability insurance policies:

  • Short-Term Disability Insurance
  • Long-Term Disability Insurance

1 – Short-Term Disability Insurance


Short-term disability policies are usually covered by the employers.  This policy covers your expenses from 30 to 90 days. This type of policy is good for things like a planned surgery from which you will make a full recovery. But if you are having a good emergency fund, which cover at least 6 months of expenses, a short term disability policy is probably not necessary for you.

2 – Long-Term Disability Insurance


Long-term disability insurance is the one which gives you a hand for longer disability. As short term policy usually benefits you for 30 to 90 days, while long term policy goes a long way. This is the policy on which this article will emphasize. A little sacrifice of money today for long term disability insurance will help you on long run.

Things to Remember For Looking a Long-Term Disability Insurance


When you are looking for a Long-Term Disability Insurance then must see that it has following characteristics:

1 – Own Occupation


Own occupation is the policy that will pay benefits even you cannot do your own. That’s why must see that the policy you are buying is “own occupation”.  Let’s say you are a surgeon and now your hands wont work or you are a secretary and now you developed a condition which prevents sitting for long periods of time. In such conditions this policy pays you.

2 - Benefit Amount


It’s best to look for such long-term disability insurance policy which at least cover your 80% of salary during the disability period. So never buy any policy which have fix dollar amount.

3 – Benefit Period


The policy’s benefit’s period must be till age of 65 years. Though having a 5 years fix period results in lower premiums but it’s not a good option for someone in their 50s or younger.

4 – Inflation Adjustments


To keep up the policy with inflation pay little extra so that benefit will be adjusted with the annual cost of living.  For example, if you get disable for 30 years, and want to draw benefits for more 30 years, you will not like to receive the same dollar amount at the end of time.

5 – Elimination Period


Best elimination period is 60 to 90 days in which your emergency fund can cover you. But if you want to have lower premiums then you can have longer elimination period policy.

Purchasing Disability Insurance


Generally employers are having both long and short-term disability insurance, and may even pay you one or both. For more information you can talk to your HR-director or benefits manager.

In the case your employer is not offering you a policy or you want to buy an additional insurance for that get several quotes and purchase the best suitable policy. But before buying long-term disability insurance policy keep the above mentioned policy characteristics in mind.

Taxes on Disability Insurance Benefit


There won’t be any taxes on your policy benefits if you pay your own premiums. If the premiums are paid by your employer then the benefits will be considered ordinary income. If you split the costs, the amount of taxes which you will pay will be equal to the proportion of the premiums that your employer paid.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

20 Best Tips for an Affordable Auto Insurance Policy


A policy is called affordable when its premiums are low and it’s easy for you to pay.  So o have an affordable auto insurance policy there are two ways. First is that you lower the cost of your policy. Second is that get a new auto insurance policy, which offer lower premiums.  Here I will talk about the both ways and also will tell you some tips that how you can take to lower your auto insurance.

Here are the tips:

1 – Make it sure that your policy is accurate


The first and foremost thing is that you make sure that your current policy accurately reflects your situation. It means that your policy must be having all your vehicle information, such as age and make. Another important thing which you will have to see is that your yearly estimated mileage is properly stated. But if you commute very short then make sure that your policy reflects that for that vehicle.

2 – Must Know about State Minimums


Every state in United States is having minimum set of auto insurance liability coverage requirements. You can find these at your state’s insurance commissioners website. The minimums are described about the bodily injury liability limits and property damage liability insurance. Be sure that you know the minimums, which you must have to maintain.

3 – Be Well Informed About Financing Requirements


The financing companies are having additional requirements of their own for you to maintain in insurance coverage. By that your deductible will be affected, so be sure you know your required limit before you raise your deductible.

4 – Raise Your Deductible


If you raise your deductible then remember you will be responsible for that amount if you get into an accident and it’s your fault. If you had already set up a nice emergency fund, you’ve already self-insured to a degree. That’s why raising your deductible is not a bad idea and as I know raising your deductible has the biggest impact on your auto insurance rates.

5 – Consider Dropping Specific Coverage Items


Every insurance policy is having different levels of coverage. Some are necessary, some are recommended, and some just aren’t needed for your situation. I won’t talk about all coverage types here, but will discuss main three and when you could consider lowering the coverage.

  • Liability:  This type of coverage pays to others, such as for personal injury, medical expenses, lost wages and property damage. The damage you do to their vehicle or property is paid through this. As it’s mentioned above most of states are having minimums, liability is one from that. This is baseline of insurance coverage. If you are having a nice car and only few assets to protect then you probably will get 100/300/100 level coverage. There is no way to economize in this area.
  • Collision: This type of coverage pays for the damage to your car. If your car is worth of only a couple thousand then its best to drop this coverage, since you’ll only need a couple thousand to replace it.
  • Comprehensive: This type of coverage is for any other type of damage to your vehicle, but anything other than an accident. For example, your vehicle is stolen or it’s damaged in a flood. Same like collision type considers here also that how much is your car worth.

After meeting your requirements, take plenty of liability insurance and about collision and comprehensive factor in the value of your vehicle.

6 – Drop Extras


There are many extras in insurance policies which you really don’t need. For example emergency road side assistance is extra, which I think is not really needed to pay for it on my policy. So discuss with your insurance agent and know about what extras you are paying for. Then evaluate which one’s you want to drop.

7 – Consider Every Discount You Can


Easiest way for this is to call your insurance company or agent and ask them for a list of all their discounts. After that write them all down and the insurance company will systematically work through the list to ensure you’re getting the full discount.

8 – If You Are Married Then Combine Policies


This really can save a lot of money to newly married couples. Just call the insurance company and tell them to combine your policies.

9 – Pay Insurance Premium in Full


If you start saving now and pay your auto insurance premium in full next time, it will save your extra fee which you have to pay from month to month installments.

10 – Online Insurance Quotes Website Insurance.com


Insurance.com is very helpful website. It allows you to run one check and get back several auto insurance quotes. Like this it becomes easy for you to see who is offering the best deal.

11 – Get Direct Quotes


You can get direct quotes from Allstate, Hartford, GEICO, etc. its best to go straight to the source with out any middle person.

12 – Multi-Policy Discount


When you go for a new policy then check with your home insurer to see if they have a discount for multi-policies. There is a possibility to save money by bundling insurance policies.

13 – You Can Have Advantage of Multi-Car Discounts


It’s best to go with same insurer which your spouse has before going for new policy.  There are big savings for keeping all cars under your roof within one policy.

14 – Group or Organization Discounts


Being employee in an organization or as a member of trade organization, you may be eligible for a discount.

15 – One Car is best


There is no need for an extra car if one from you works from home. Going with one car is just best for you. Because this will save you on payment, maintenance, and insurance could be in hundreds also.

16 – Consider Lowering Your Commute


By lowering your commute your auto loan insurance policy will get lower also. So try to work near your home or work most of time in home. You can also take alternative transportation to work also.

17 – Move to a Different City of State


This can help you for saving on your auto insurance policy.  Different cities or states are having different requirements and also very different premiums.

18 – FICO Score


Improve your FICO score because your FICO score determines that how safe driver you are. A better FICO score also lower your insurance premiums.

19 – Get a Different Car


Consider driving a different vehicle, the one which is less likely to be stolen.

20 – Strategy & Planning


Your strategy and planning counts a lot with that you can save a lot on your car insurance premiums. A best strategy you can make after a search. So do make your search to make a strategy which work for you on long run.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

5 Types of Insurance That You Don’t Need



There are different type of insurance policies some are compulsory and some are not. According to law one must have to purchase car insurance and health insurance in order to secure car damaging and health problem costs. People buy insurance policies to cover the possible future financial losses. There are so many types of insurance policies but it’s not like that all of those are essential. There is some type of insurance policies which you really don’t need.

The other type of life insurance policies like life and disability are also important but not obligatory.  These types of insurances are beneficial for securing your future, depending on a particular situation. These above mentioned type of insurance policies are important as it benefit you for your future problems, but there are various insurance policies that really are not essential for you to buy. You will get many insurance agents that will sell you insurance which you actually don’t need. Though such types of insurances would give you some sort of protection, but on the whole those are unnecessary.

Here are the insurance types which really are not so necessary to buy:

1 – Mortgage Life Insurance


Some insurance agents would try to convince you to buy mortgage life insurance. This life insurance is designed to payoff your mortgage if you die before your mortgage terms are fulfilled. As a matter of fact this type of insurance in most of cases is not needed. Because your life insurance policy will do same, so it better instead of buying a separate mortgage life insurance you should make sure that your regular life insurance coverage is sufficient to pay off your mortgage.

Never combine or mix your mortgage life insurance with private mortgage insurance (PMI). If you cannot have 20% for your down payment then there is a chance that you have to buy PMI to help protect the lender in the event that you default.

2 – Identity Theft Insurance


As identity theft is a fast growing crime now a days that’s why many people are concerned about it. You must have to watch over your accounts and credit reports for identity theft. It’s good to have more security on your reports and making it difficult for credit accounts to be opened in your name. Identity theft insurance won’t do anything more than as you can do. But difference is that identity theft insurance is not free of charge and it may not provide to adequate protection. In this case identity theft insurance is not so important that one must borrow it.

3 – Cancer Insurance


If you are healthy and still no health problem then it’s rare that you will end up with cancer. So it’s necessary to buy cancer insurance as can insurance can void some of the coverage in your regular health policy. Cancer policies are also having many loopholes in them, which can prevent a payout. Its better that you double check your health policy before going for a specific disease coverage policy. Check you health insurance that it is adequate for hospitalizations. Same like that stroke and heart attack insurance is also not necessary as your comprehensive health policy will cover that all.

4 – Payment Protection on Your Credit Card


This is for making payment for your credit card when you are unable to pay those due to of certain conditions. This payment makes minimum payments for you, until you are not able to pay back yourself. But this protection will get pricey as it’s based on your credit card balance.

But for such condition you can have better options such as consider disability policy that includes debt payments. Same like that life insurance policies can pay off your credit card debt also. You can also build an emergency fund which will help in such situations.

5 – Collision Coverage on Old Cars


Though auto insurance is obligatory but on old cars its comprehensive coverage is not necessary. As your car will get old and its value will decline, your car will not be worth to have collision coverage. Calculate if your car collision coverage is costing too much for what you could get potentially from the insurance. Its best to break down what each portion of your coverage costs, this will help you to decide that comprehensive coverage on your car is worth or not.

Friday, October 21, 2011

What Type of Life Insurance Suitable for You?


We cannot deny the importance of life insurance, because it really secures our future to some extent. Many of you may know its importance and might have also life insurance through your employer. Sacrificing a little today will pay you huge amount in future at time of your need. About life insurance almost everyone knows. But how much one should buy? This depends on your needs, buy life insurance after figuring out you needs. When you will know for which purpose you want the life insurance policy it will become easy for you to determine that how much life insurance policy you should buy.
Thinking about life insurance gives a little sense of financial security to family also. That they might be having some coverage amount if you won’t be able to work anymore or died.

There is no doubt about that insurance is all about displacing risks, and its human nature to take precautionary measures against those risks for self and family security.

But how much life insurance one should buy?

Income Replacement


Do you need life insurance for paying your recent and future expenses and it also pay to your family after your death? If yes then it means you need life insurance for income replacement.

So to find out that how much life insurance policy you should buy, take your income divide it by your beneficiary’s expected return on investments, then subtract any assets he/she would have easy access to, such as saving accounts, a second property etc. This will give you an idea that how much life insurance you should buy to replace your income.

If you are only income earner then also calculate the cost of your benefits, like health insurance and 401k match. Probably in future your family would sell the big house, but remember to include the carrying costs and the impact moving can have on social structures.

Pay Off Debts


If you need a life insurance to pay off cars, credit cards, or mortgage, then it means you need life insurance for debts repayment. It will be better for you to buy your own regular life insurance policy for this purpose instead of credit life insurance or mortgage life insurance.

It’s best to make your own life insurance if you want a decreasing term-type protection to go down as your liabilities. Any type of life insurance in which life insurance amount remains level; you can always reduce it to the allowable minimum. Like this your premiums will go down and you will be able to snowball debt even faster!

Just take revision that there may be other expenses you’re leaving out. It’s a great thing to payoff your debts. But what about the rest amount, is that will be enough for your family’s survival? Final expenses could become expensive. These all things keep in mind while buying life insurance policy. It’s better to have a little too much life insurance than not enough.

Supplement Retirement


If you want to have a good life after retirement and you are not sure you could meet your goal if one of you two died unexpectedly then it means you need a life insurance to fill the retirement gap.

This is an easy plan as you already know that how much money you need saved for retirement and how many more years you have to go. If not, then it’s better to figure it out now. When you have your retirement number, subtract the amount you have saved up. Then you will know exactly that how much life insurance you need and the how long you need it to last.

College Savings


Some people buy life insurance so that their kid can go to college, even if they won’t be around to see them.

College expenses increase 5-8% every year so you must have to plan accordingly. When you will figure out that how much life insurance for this purpose need then it will be easy for you to compare the insurance quotes.

Stay-at-home spouse


Every person in the family haves its own value even if he or she don’t bring home an income. You can figure out in two ways that how much life insurance for stay-at-home moms or dads. In first way write down everything and price it out. The other way is just conversation about how much you would realistically need. The right number will be somewhere between 1x to 2/3x the income of the other spouse or partner, but it’s a personal choice. The thing which matters here is communication.

Bottom Line


It’s not necessary that you will be having any above mentioned things will be your reason to buy a life insurance. You can have combination of these goals and that’s good. If you have multiple goals then add the numbers to get a starting point. Talk with your family and loved ones to see if you should move it up or down. In your multiple goals if income base replacement is included also then use it alone as your base.

There are other plenty of reasons you might need life insurance too. Such as, estate planning and business continuation often involves life insurance.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Unemployment Insurance Benefits Time Period



You can claim for unemployment insurance when you lost your job or had your hours reduced through no fault of your own. It’s easy to find unemployment division of the state where you worked through online search. For example, if you worked in California just put word “California unemployment” for online search and you will get find the state unemployment office website.


Unemployment insurance program is jointly administered by the individual states and the U.S Department of Labor. Guidelines can be different in your state, but federal laws can provide you guidance about most common unemployment questions.

How Long You Can Collect the Benefits?


According to federal laws for each one year claim period you can collect the equivalent of 26 weeks of the total unemployment benefits. The payments need not be consecutive or of a consistent amount. For instance, if you worked on a job for five years, and you were laid off in May. When you will claim for unemployment and receive checks for ten weeks. After that you are hired again and work for few months more then again laid off.  Then you will file another unemployment claim (technically you are re-opening your existing claim). When you will file again you will receive the equivalent of 16 weeks payments not of 26 weeks, because your claim year ends in May.

The maximum amount of benefits you can receive within your claim year would be 26 times your Weekly Benefit Rate. For example, if your Weekly Benefit Rate was $300 then you will get amount of $7,800 for one year claim period.

Maximum amount for your compensation is determined by your Weekly Benefit Rate. You can receive full amount during each week in many cases, and your benefits will end after 26 weeks. While sometimes your weekly payments can be reduced so that you can receive payments longer than 26 weeks but not more than the maximum amount. There are different reasons for having less payment than your Weekly Benefit Rate, such as:

  • Part-time earnings
  • Pension or vacation pay
  • Severance pay
  • Worker’s compensation

It’s like this if your Weekly Benefit rate is $300. Then your maximum yearly amount of claim benefits will be 26 x $300 = $7,800. And when you will be having a part time job which pays you $100 a week then your weekly unemployment benefits will be reduce to $200. While your maximum yearly benefit will still remain $7,800.

Extended Unemployment Benefits


The federal government and the states had taken measures to extend the period of unemployment benefits to workers who have use up regular unemployment insurance benefits. To have guidelines about that check your state unemployment office website.

Monday, October 17, 2011

7 Tips for Reducing Your Car Insurance Costs



The car insurance policy rate is becoming financial rates are burden for average household. There are lots of people who want to get inexpensive car insurance. It is possible to find low rate for your insurance policy. As everyone knows that all car insurance companies are not equal. A cheap insurance is good if you got a reliable insurance company, otherwise it turns into a horrible nightmare.  At end of the day inexpensive car insurance may not turn out to be the most affordable option when making claim.

When you go to a discounted insurance company do not instantly take the quick car insurance quote, which is provided to at a low price. Always look forward and find more about the company that why they are able to give you such a good quote.

You can reduce the price of your car insurance even with the best firms, there are such ways to do that. Here are some tips for getting a cheap car insurance policy:

  1. First see what the deductible amount is. This is the amount that you will pay for any claim you make. The rate of the policy at the end is relevant to this amount. So many people who are having their car policy from long time never think about whether they should vary their deductible. If you are having a good driving record and you want to increase the risk of paying a bigger amount in the event of claim then you can save a lot of money by simple increasing your deductibles alone.
  2. The type of car can have impact on your insurance. While certain type cars attracts a bigger cost. The cars like sports cars and prime theft candidates will cost much more to insure. When you buy a car, you must look out which company and model you are buying and the insurance price for it also.
  3. Your careness in driving is related to your cheap car insurance because its dependent on the factors relevant to your risk profile. If you are having any speeding fines and accident on your profile then you will not get an inexpensive insurance. Big discounts are always given to the careful and safe drivers.
  4. Install a safety and anti theft device in your car. It will reduce the risk of being stolen and will most likely be cheaper to insure.
  5. When you policy come to renewal time never pay it immediately.  Because there can be some parts you can change in your policy, which will ultimately effect the overall price. Always ask questions to your insurance firm before renewing your policy.
  6. Find out who your other insurers could be. There are many insurers who offer a large discount on multiple policies so find out what discounts they can give you.
  7. Before paying your insurance policy receive an instant car insurance quote from other companies. As you’ve been with them over previous years so never settle for the same insurance policy. Because insurance rates vary all the time, that’s why it’s beneficial to receive comparable quotes before renewing.
There are ideas for you to get a low price car insurance policy. Always remember that never accept the first insurance quote, which you receive. Always compare the car insurance quotes and get the best price and policy.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

How to Get an Insurance Agent License?



Insurance agents are the agents who are dedicated in helping people for finding and purchasing the most suitable policies for life, health, property, casualty, and other types of insurance. So many insurance agents work for insurance companies and offer the customers their company’s insurance plans. There are individual insurance agents also who work as brokers; they are not employed by a specific company. They investigate various companies for their offered insurance plans and then they choose the best one for their clients.


In insurance sales there are different laws, regulations, and industry-specific procedures involved, that’s why professional insurance agents are required to hold a specialized license. To have the professional insurance agent license you must be having a college degree and field experience and also you will have to prepare for an extensive written or computerized examination.

There are some insurance agents who are having high school diplomas but majority of brokerage firms and insurance companies prefer to hire people with college experience. It will be a plus point for you in getting insurance agent license if you are having a bachelor’s or master’s degree in economics, finance, business administration, or similar subject. In college you are having great opportunity to learn the different mathematical functions, statistical analysis, and management tactics involved in the insurance business. College students and other individuals who want to become insurance agents usually look for part- or full time jobs in sales, customer service, or administrative assistant work to gain experience dealing with clients.

When you will get a job at an insurance company or private brokerage firm in the beginning you will be assisting established agents, performing receptionist duties, and observing them in their work. In this way you will learn about certain policies and also will learn how to handle different situations from experienced sales agents. Before you are allowed to sell the insurance policies, you will have to pass insurance agent license exams.  Insurance agent license exams are administrated by the state or country government boards.

In different states insurance agent license exams are having different content, but most exams measure new agents’ understanding of confidentiality, ethics, general sales procedures, and specific insurance laws. There is lot of content available in bookstores, libraries, and websites about insurance agent license exams. You can get useful tips from them and can prepare for exam in better way. The licensing test can be written or online and it costs a small fee that is frequently covered by a person’s employer. When you will pass the insurance agent license exam, you will receive the credentials that allow you to start recruiting clients and selling policies independently.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

What is Malpractice Insurance?



Professionals purchase mostly Malpractice insurance, usually medical professionals to have a financial back up in the even they are sued for malpractice. Causing damage of injury to a person or persons during professional duty of intentional wrong doing is called Malpractice. The medical professionals like doctors, nurses, surgeons and other professionals are needed to purchase malpractice insurance before being employed in the hospital or opening a private practice. Malpractice is also called personal liability insurance.

In medical field malpractice or personal liability is purchased mostly but in other fields it’s required also.

Basically Malpractice is designed for medical professionals to give them a financial back for lawsuit. There are other policies also that provide personal coverage. A malpractice insurance policy covers up several million dollars. Anyhow the amount of necessary coverage varies from state to state because different statutes apply to malpractice law in different areas.

Most of people think that malpractice insurance policy is only purchased by doctors or surgeons, it’s because mainly these people are sued. And such doctors are having higher malpractice insurance premiums than others. But doctors are not the only one who gains the benefit of malpractice insurance. Other professionals like dentists, nurses, therapists, optometrists, and also diagnostic laboratories are also required to purchase the malpractice insurance. Medical institutions that provide the medical education also carry the malpractice insurance for covering their faculty and students.
Malpractice insurance is one of the most expensive insurance policies. Its premiums are adjusted according to the type of medicine practiced, the type and amount of coverage needed, and whether that insurance cover a group of persons or an individual. The location of the practice and particular area’s laws can affect the malpractice premiums. Majority of doctors and medical professionals never use their malpractice insurance because it’s rare that they need it. But they have to purchase the malpractice insurance as a safety net and it’s also required by in many locations.

Friday, October 14, 2011

What is an Insurance Claim?



Application for benefits provided by the insurance company in actual is insurance claim. Policy holders have to file first insurance claim before any money can be disbursed to the hospital or repair shop or other contracted service. It depends on the insurance company that they approve or reject your claim depending on their own assessment of the circumstances.

It’s necessary for the people who purchase the home, life, health, or automobile insurance policies must deposit the premiums on regular basis to the insurers. Usually these premiums are to settle another person’s insurance claim or to enhance the available assets of the insurance company. But sometimes accidents also happen which cause the financial damage, for example automobile wreck, tornado or a work related accident. In such cases the policy holder is having the right to file the insurance claim for receiving money from the insurance company.

The insurance claim is filed to the local representative of the insurance company. The local representative is responsible to inquire about the specific details of the insurance claim, and negotiate the payment from the main insurers. A recognized authority such as doctor, repair shop, building contractor can file the insurance claim forms directly with the insurance company. Sometimes policy holders do not file an actual insurance claim if the damage is minor or other party agrees to pay out of pocket for their mistake.

When the insurance claim is filed then insurance company send out an investigator, which is called adjuster or appraiser. The investigator’s job is to assess the insurance claim and decide if the repair estimates are reasonable. This is done to prevent the possible fraud by contractors who may inflate their bills for additional compensation. Investigator’s assessment is final word for insurance companies on the insurance claim.

Sometimes insurance claims are not approved by the insurance companies for any number of reasons. That can be because of claimant’s premiums, which are not paid in full, or the policy itself is not active. In case of automobile insurance policies if the damage caused by carelessness then the insurance company is having right to withhold payments.

Insurance claim remain only a claim until the insurance company assess the situation. Insurance claim is the only way to officially apply for benefits under an insurance policy.