Taking on credit in any form whether it is by way of a loan or spending on credit cards means that you are in debt until you have repaid in full. While you are working everything might be going smoothly, unless you get too far into debt, however if you were to lose your income problems arise if you cannot continue repaying. A loan insurance policy can be taken out to protect your repayments and this would allow you to continue paying if you fall ill, suffer an accident or should become unemployed.
If you cannot maintain the repayments then at the very least you will see your credit rating affected. You will get a bad mark on your credit file for being a none payer and this means that anytime you go for a loan in the future you could be turned down. Your credit rating is the first thing that all lenders will look at and if yours is bad then you can expect to pay a higher rate of interest even if you manage to get a loan.
Loan insurance has in the past caused much concern after it was brought to light in 2005 that mis-selling of cover had occurred. The mis-selling ranged from selling policies to those who stood no chance of being able to claim on them to failing to give essential advice. The cost of payment protection with lenders on the high street can work out expensive. Many people believe that just because they got a low rate of interest for the loan then they will also get the best deal on the cost of insuring the repayments. This in the majority of circumstances is not the case. Often when taking protection with the high street lender they will calculate the cost of insurance on the full term of the loan and then add interest on top. This means you pay not only interest on the amount you are borrowing but also on the protection for the loan as well.
If you choose to buy loan payment protection independently you will be given a quote for protection which is based on your age and the amount you wish to cover each month up to a certain amount. You would then pay the premium and if you should find yourself unable to work or become unemployed you would then begin to receive an income tax-free. You would have to wait for a period of time before the policy would begin to pay out. Usually this is between days 30 and 90, however some providers will backdate your policy to the first day of you being unemployed or of being unfit for work. All ethical providers will supply you with the key facts regarding their loan insurance polices. This is where you can find out when cover begins and ends and also what exclusions there are in the protection policy. All policies come with some exclusions but they differ, with some providers adding in more
By Simon Lance Burgess
Self-employed individuals need to make liability insurance a priority in the twenty-first century. Today more than ever, individuals and corporations are eager to file even the most frivolous lawsuit against business owners they hold liable. The following article offers some general advice for protecting yourself, your assets, and your family as a business owner or self employed professional.
A liability is anything you or your company can be held responsible for in a court of law. If you do business in the public - as most of us do - you will need to think seriously about how you will go about insuring yourself against unexpected harm or the accusations of even your best customers.
There are several options to consider here from general liability insurance, contractors liability insurance, and small business liability insurance. Depending upon your profession, you will want to choose the best coverage plan for your operation. A general contractor will have different considerations than a commercial real estate operator, for example. The options your premium includes will naturally depend upon what type of work you are doing on a regular basis.
Retail operators - or any self employed who opens his or her doors to the general public - will also need to consider the possible claims that might arise with people making use of business facilities. If one of your customers slips and falls on the way to the bathroom, you could be held liable. If one of your employees develops an illness while on the job, you could be held liable. Of course, many employers manage to defend themselves successfully in court against ridiculous claims, but it is always better to be safe than sorry in the world of liability.
To find liability insurance, I highly recommend searching for providers online. Many quality liability coverage providers advertise on the web and offer very user friendly websites so you can get a free quote without much trouble. Be sure you provide accurate information when completing these quote forms to avoid sudden changes to your quote down the road.
Finding good insurance coverage for your business is an important step to take so invest a fair amount of time doing research and looking into different liability insurance companies before making a final decision. With so many tasks to accomplish as a self employed business owner, time can be limited. Still, this is an extremely important component for the future success of your endeavor.
This is going to be unpopular with some, applauded by others, but this is my truth; all this talk about HIPAA is nothing but a lot of hype. The federal government has once again come up with something that’s supposed to be a positive step towards helping patients with things such as privacy and understanding of hospital bills. There’s supposed to be administrative simplification of information both electronically and on paper, and a standardizing of codes for insurance and tracking purposes.
I’m not sure how many folks who receive this newsletter also participate on any listserves. If you do participate, you realize just how complicated this HIPAA thing has become, and if you’re like me, you don’t get it. The latest buzz is that as of October 16, which is today, ICD-9 procedure codes are no longer allowed to show on outpatient surgery claims. The problem with this directive is that not only do most hospitals not know about it, but many insurance carriers didn’t know about it either, including many Medicare intermediaries across the country. My own local carrier, for instance, had something posted on their page as recently as September 14th saying to make sure to select the most correct ICD-9 code when submitting claims to Medicare as of 10/1/03. There was no further mention of this other ICD-9 directive, even checking earlier today before completing this newsletter.
Read the rest of this entry »
The worst possible time to find out what your health insurance does and doesn’t cover is when you need to claim against the policy. One of the most important parts of choosing a good health insurance policy for you and your family is to ask the right questions to discover which plan fits your needs and budget best.
The following list of topics can help you compile a list of questions to ask your health insurance provider so that you get the right policy at the right price.
Read the rest of this entry »
Packing for a holiday involves many things but one necessary item that travelers often forget to organise well in advance, is travel insurance. It is an essential item to plan for as not doing so could end the traveler up in dire straits in a foreign country if, for instance, you lose an expensive camera in Thailand or have to cancel a trip suddenly and are bombarded with cancellation fees and losing your deposits.
Naturally, shopping around for the best insurance providers is essential. Most people tend to buy cover directly from the travel agent who helped book the holiday; this is not always the wisest option. Some of these travel companies offer cover which is advertised as ‘free’ but it is unlikely that the insurance is actually free, as the cost is generally incorporated into the price of the holiday. To this end, the commission is a big method of revenue for travel agents and it is more prudent to get a better deal via an insurance broker or an insurer that sells its products direct to consumers. They often charge half as much as the travel companies.
Read the rest of this entry »
When you begin your own business it is important that you include business insurance in your start up plan. It is important that you protect your assets with insurance and there are many types to consider. You need protection from all types of possible losses. This can range from auto insurances, key man insurance, liability, and asset protection insurance. You may need all of the aforementioned or maybe just one or two of them but here we will give you a brief overview of each type so you can decide whether you need to check further into them.
Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best aspects of having a Health Savings Account is that you can control your medical care. If you want to have a medical test or procedure done that is not covered by your health insurance, you pay for it with pre-tax money from your health savings account. One of the processes of aging that scientists have been learning more about in recent years is glycation, and the formation of Advanced Glycation Endproducts, or AGEs. Here’s how to reduce this harmful process, and a simple test you can pay for from your Health Savings Account to see how you’re doing.
What is "Glycation" and what are AGEs?
When we take a piece of bread and put it in the toaster, it slowly turns brown. This is the result of a natural process called the "Maillard reaction", in which sugars react with proteins. It is this process that gives flavor to beer, pizza crust, and roasted coffee.
The same process naturally happens in the human body. (So in a sense, we all slowly "brown" as we age). When a protein in your body is "glycated", it has a sugar molecule attached to it, and can then bond to another protein in your body in a process called "cross-linking". These damaged proteins result in the formation of Advanced Glycation Endproducts.
Read the rest of this entry »
Co-Insurance is a clause imposed on most commercial property insurance policies that requires you to insure your property up to a certain limit of insurance (usually 80%-90%, sometimes 100%). This means that if you you fail to insure your property to full value, you have become a "Co-Insurer" on your property & in the event of a claim you could be looking at a penalty.
Now we understand that if we under-insure our property, in the event of a total loss, we are short the difference. Take that same concept & apply it to a smaller loss:
Read the rest of this entry »
Still haven’t made a list of your home’s belongings? What are you waiting for? If you read my other articles, you know it’s not as daunting as it seems. OK, I understand. You just haven’t found the right time to do it. You haven’t found a good enough opportunity to plunge into this task. Well, let’s make a deal. If I give you three good opportunities when you should do an inventory, will you do it? Great! Here are three good times to conduct a home inventory.
During spring cleaning. Now, I know I advise you to clean your home prior to conducting an inventory, so you can logically conclude that any time you are cleaning your home, it’s also an excellent opportunity to make a list of your stuff. Now, when I say cleaning your home, I’m not talking about when you move stuff around, because company is coming over. I’m talking about a thorough cleaning. Spring cleaning is the time when you move furniture away from the walls to mop behind it. While the computer desk is away from the wall, take a moment to copy down the serial number, make, and model of your monitor, printer, and CPU. When the entertainment center is away from the wall, get the information from the back of your DVD player, television, and stereo. You get the point. This is a classic opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Read the rest of this entry »
