| Beat the rising costs of home insurance
With the costs of insurance tipped to increase for the remainder of 2009 and beyond, savvy home owners can still ensure they are getting the best deals by remembering the following tips when they are looking for home insurance. 1. Check any monthly payment terms. To help budget many of us will opt to pay our insurance on a monthly basis, however this can in a many cases cost more. It's not uncommon for APR rates of 20-30% to be charged for the benefit of paying monthly for your insurance, this can be as much as an additional 15% of your annual premium over the year! Instead check the payment terms you require and if necessary look to spreading the payments out over a 0% credit card, or look for an insurer who offers interest free payments, it could work out cheaper over the year 2.
Local Health Care Debate Forges On After Durham Town Hall
Another problem is that people are feeling entitled to health insurance or health care. When are we ever entitled to a good or service for free? Health care is the work that specialized people perform in offering the service - why should anyone be entitled to what someone else has or can do? Also, people do not understand that Health insurance is a risk product - like car or home insurance. Companies that provide insurance are supposed to make a profit. The profits help pay for people who need care (like home insurance when a hurricane moves through). Insurance is not a savings account! Perhaps it is that health insurance in trying to keep costs down help pay for preventative care so their risk is minimized in the long term - a regular doctor visit you pay a "co-pay" the reason for the co-pay? Well simple - no co-pay and people will always take more of what the perceive is "free" a "co-pay" basically makes people think if they really need to see the doctor before going! So you think health care is a right - everyone can already get healthcare.
Homeowners 'should always compare home insurance'
With building insurance premiums on the rise, one newspaper has offered homeowners some tips on cutting the cost of their policy. The Daily Mirror said one of the best ways to reduce outgoings is to compare home insurance offers in order to get the best deal on both premiums and level of cover. Other money saving tips include checking policy terms to ensure there are no extra charges for paying monthly and opting for a higher voluntary premium, which will reduce the overall cost of the policy but will result in the homeowner having to pay more in the event of a claim. Homeowners can also get discounts on their premiums if they improve the security of their property with a burglar alarm and British Safety Standard locks on doors and windows. When it comes to contents cover, home insurance customers should be particularly careful when they are calculating the cost of their belongings to ensure they are properly covered without paying too much because they are over-insured.
Buying vs. renting: How do your insurance needs change?
But insurance needs change drastically when moving from a home to a rental, and prospective renters should take a long, hard look at their changing insurance needs before they move. Renters Insurance - What Does it Cover? Home insurance covers quite a bit. The ceiling, the walls, the television set, the living room furniture-nearly everything is covered. But that's not the case with renters insurance. Renters insurance provides a more narrow breadth of coverage, offering liability coverage and theft or loss protection for a tenant's personal belongings. But the landlord's insurance will cover everything, right? Think again. Many renters believe their landlord's insurance extends to their personal items, but they're mistaken.
Britain's burglary capital named as Nottingham
Four postcodes in Nottingham feature on the list of 20 areas with the most insurance claims. Five more are in London.
The study suggests that a crimewave linked to the economic downturn is pushing up insurance premiums.
Claims have soared in the burglary blackspots where cover can cost 20 per cent more than elsewhere. In some districts firms are refusing even to offer insurance.
The figures - produced by moneysupermarket.com - are based on 2.6million home insurance claims and quotes.
Julie Owens of the comparison website said: 'We are in the midst of recession and recent industry statistics show the cost of burglary insurance claims topped �100million for the first three months of this year, the highest figure for three years.' A spokesman for Nottinghamshire police said: 'We view this as a rather unscientific study which appears to be unfair to the areas it has identified within Nottinghamshire.' .
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