4 Insurance-Policy Add-ons Worth the Money

A few inexpensive add-ons can add valuable coverage to your auto and homeowners insurance.

1. For your auto insurance, consider roadside assistance. For $3 to $12 every six months (versus $52 per year for AAA), you can get lockout service, towing, jump starts, and flat-tire fixes, says Cadie Patrizz, an independent insurance agent in Tarzana, California

2. Rental reimbursement can be worthwhile if you need a car while yours is being repaired (repairs must be due to a covered loss).
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Mercury Insurance, for example, charges $20 every six months to provide up to $40 per day for a rental car while yours is being repaired, for a maximum of 30 days.

3. Medical payments coverage takes care of medical and ambulance bills for you and your passengers. It may duplicate health insurance, but it can fill in some gaps if you have a high-deductible policy.

You’ll pay about $19 every six months for $5,000 in coverage, says Patrizz.

4. For homeowners, coverage for sewage backup is a big gap in most policies — leaving you to pay thousands of dollars to clean up nasty damage caused by water and sewage that backs up into your house. But you can often pay about $50 per year to get $10,000 to $25,000 in coverage.

source: kiplinger.com

PPI Claims Calculator

Many people today are claiming back their PPI (payment protection insurance) from their mortgages, credit cards, and loans. Payment protection insurance is actually an insurance protection plan which is mostly sold with a loan & is there to protect the borrower especially in the event that he or she is not able to make the minimum payments because of illness, injury, unemployment, hospitalization, accident, or even death. The cover is also known as loan protection, credit insurance, account cover, loan repayment insurance, ASU (accident, sickness & unemployment) insurance or payment cover. The insurance should make the minimum payments of the borrower for up to twelve (12) months when he or she is out of work.

Mis-Sold Plans

One of the major problems with payment protection insurance (PPI) is that it has been mis-sold widely to clients. One way it was mis-sold is that most clients paid for PPI without knowing that it had been added on. For instance, the lender may give a price for a loan which is fully protected without informing the borrower that he or she is paying extra for an insurance plan which is costly. Another way in which this insurance was mis-sold was by failing to notify the borrowers that PPI was optional.

How much can you get?

Before you choose to make a claim for your own payment protection insurance payments, you will want to figure out how much money you are owed. With the help of PPI claims calculator, you will be able to get a nice idea of the amount of money to claim. PPI plans are always sold in two ways; as a monthly payment, or as a single premium which is added to the loan`s total cost. You should have an accurate statement of the amount you were paying every month over the life of the insurance policy. This is important because it is the amount of money you will claim back. It is often tricky to figure out the amount you are owed as far as lump sum payment is concerned. This is so since the lump sum is part of the loan`s total cost. You should ensure that you go over the details of your current statements and the original agreement in order to find the correct number you were paying out every month as far as mis-sold plan is concerned. For sure, PPI claims calculator will help you know how much PPI to claim.

Making a claim

In case you have been mis-sold a payment protection insurance (PPI) plan, you are eligible to make a claim. Most lenders usually don’t keep original documents after a 6-year period. Therefore, one of the things that you should do first is to ensure that the insurance is still active, or that the insurance was sold within the last 6 years. Then, write to the person who sold you the insurance policy directly. Don’t write to the insurance Co. itself. This person is the loan officer, credit or banker provider and he or she is responsible for the original sales. In case they reject your claim, consider going to the Financial Ombudsman Service to register your complaint. You can also consider employing a claims company to act on your behalf.

In conclusion, PPI was meant to assist clients who are not able to pay their minimum payments due to reasons such as accidents, sickness or unemployment among others. In case you want to claim back your payments, PPI claims calculator will enable you to know how much PPI to claim.

source: everybodylovesyourmoney.com

5 Insurance Policies You Should Review

Since little Nora’s arrival in January, I’m confident we’ve doubled our possessions due to all the baby stuff that vomited all over our home. We only spent $150 to prepare for Nora’s arrival but we inherited a LOT of toys and clothes from family and friends. We recently met with our insurance agent to review our policies and to make necessary changes now that life looks a little different with Nora in the picture. One of the significant changes we made was increasing our property coverage in case a fire destroyed everything we have. We lean pretty hard on the minimalist side so we originally had only $25,000 coverage if we lost everything in our home. That probably seems way low but this might put into perspective how minimalist we were: When we moved to Calgary for 6 months we each packed one suitcase with clothes and then fit every single thing we owned in the smaller bedroom of our condo (minus a couch we sold before we left) since we were renting out the rest of our home to friends. We didn’t have much then and we still don’t have a ton now but it’s more than what we used to have. Here are a few areas we’ve reviewed and I have added a few more that you may want to look into to make sure your insurance policies are up to date and are covering the appropriate amounts.

Auto Insurance


What’s your current deductible? If you have a gem like our ‘99 Honda Accord that’s maybe worth a couple thousand then why would you pay hundreds of dollars if you’ll end up paying more for insurance than the car is even worth? If you’ve recently added another car you can qualify for discounts for having more than one car.

Property Insurance

Do you have any jewelry like wedding rings or other prized possessions insured? I didn’t realize this existed but if you have a significant amount of expensive jewelry you may want to consider covering it. Often insurance companies will offer another discount for bundling multiple types of insurance. We get this overall discount by having our car, homeowners, and property insurance all insured by the same company.

 Homeowners Insurance

The total worth of items in our home has definitely gone up over the past few years. We’ve added new furniture, electronics, and our beloved deep freezer over the past year. Do you have appropriate coverage? If you haven’t taken pictures of your house in awhile now may be a good time to do it assuming you got all of your spring cleaning done. If a fire occurred and your insurance gave you a blank piece of paper to write down all of the possessions you had in your home (toothbrushes and all), having pictures of your closets, kitchen cupboards, rooms, etc will be very helpful. We more than doubled the amount we’d like covered and it only added $15/year to the cost of our policy. It won’t break the bank to make sure you’ve got the appropriate amount of coverage.

Life Insurance

We recently bought term life insurance for my husband and are in the process of getting me covered. In my mind I’m not “worth” much since I stay home with Nora and only work a couple days each month but I have to consider the cost of daycare and a few other factors if Dave were to be on his own with Nora. Life insurance is the cheapest it will ever be for you TODAY because today is the youngest and likely the healthiest you’ll ever be. Getting coverage now can lock you in on a lower rate.

Health Insurance

Do you know what your coverage includes? You might be missing out on some benefits if you haven’t taken a look at what you can have covered. For example, I almost added a breast pump to our baby registry (those suckers can cost $100-$400!) until a friend told me to check if my insurance covered one. I ended up with a free electric pump! Another thing to re-evaluate is your deductible. It might be worth it to pay less money for the higher deductible if you never get sick or need any medical attention.

If you have an insurance agent and they haven’t reached out to you to review your policies, now may be the time to reach out to them. You could save money by cutting unnecessary expenses and you’ll have peace of mind knowing everything is up to date and accounted for.

source: lifeandmyfinances.com

4 Financial Steps to Take as You Prepare for a Baby

So, you’ve decided you want to have a baby.  For sure, this is an exciting and overwhelming decision.  There’s nothing more exciting than seeing your new baby for the first time.  However, before you get ahead of yourself, taking care of some financial matters before you even conceive can make the entire pregnancy and the months after go much more smoothly.


Consider these issues:


1.  Paid leave.

Does your employer offer paid leave?  If so, how long?  Is there anything you can do to bulk up that leave?  For instance, when I was employed as a college teacher, my employer didn’t offer paid leave.  However, each semester you could teach an extra class and “bank” that class.  Instead of getting paid upfront, I put that class aside, so to speak.  I didn’t have enough classes put aside for leave when I had my son, but when I had my daughter, I had already taught 4 classes that I was not paid for, so I “unbanked” those classes and got a paid semester leave in return.  This required a lot of advanced planning but was well worth it.


Also consider whether or not your spouse will get paid leave.

2.  Insurance. 


Some employers are wonderful about walking you through the process of adding your new child to your insurance policy.  Others may leave you in the dark, with terrible consequences.  Even though I had talked to my human resources department several times, no one told me that I had to “register” my newborn for insurance within 30 days of birth.  I found this out on my baby’s 32nd day of life, and my employer refused to insure him.  I had to wait for the open enrollment period 9 long months later to finally get him on my insurance.

3.  Day care. 


Will you or your spouse stay home to care for the baby?  If not, what will you do for day care?  Keep in mind that some urban areas have day cares wait lists of longer than a year.  In these areas, signing up to get on the wait list as soon as you confirm that you’re pregnant is not too soon.


If you don’t get off the wait list on time, what are your other options?

4.  Budget. 


Take a good look at your budget before you conceive.  I believe the reports that say that it takes over $200k to raise a child to age 18 are overblown, but still, there are a lot of expenses with a newborn.  If you decide not to nurse or can’t, formula alone is very expensive.  Add in diapers and day care, clothes and baby equipment, and you can drop quite a bit in the first year.  Your budget doesn’t have to be perfect, but you should have some extra money available to cover these expenses.



If you want to revel in the joy of your newborn baby, take these steps before you conceive.  Then, when the baby comes, you won’t need to worry about finances or insurance.


What other financial considerations would you add?

source: everythingfinanceblog.com

Why Renters Need Insurance

The majority of Americans who rent an apartment or home don't have renter's insurance, according to a new survey released by InsuranceQuotes.com. That's because many say that their apartment building has good security and mistakenly believe that their landlord's policy will provide the coverage they need. Those surveyed also thought that renter's insurance was a lot more expensive than it really is.


Actually, any insurance a landlord may have will cover only the structure, not tenants' belongings. Even if a building is in a safe area and has a security system, there's still the risk of disasters such as fire or water damage from a leak. Without a renter's insurance policy, any damage to a tenant's property wouldn't be covered. The good news is that this coverage is quite inexpensive.



The average annual cost of renter's insurance is just $185 per year, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. So that works out to just a littler more than $15 a month, which is a small price to pay for coverage against losses from fire or smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm and water damage (not including floods). If your home or apartment is damaged by a covered event and you have to live somewhere else, most policies will reimburse you the difference between your additional living expenses and normal living expenses. Plus, renter's insurance helps cover legal costs if you're taken to court because someone is injured at your residence. The primary reason that renter's insurance is less expensive than homeowner's insurance is because it just covers belongings -- not a dwelling, says Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com.

Adams says that renters should shop for policies based on the specific amount of coverage needed. So you need to take inventory of what you have and determine a value for your belongings. You can get either a replacement-cost policy, which will pay to replace your possessions up to the policy's dollar limit, or a cash-value policy, which will pay only what the items are worth when stolen or damaged. You should expect to pay about 10% more for replacement-cost coverage, according to the Insurance Information Institute.




If you have expensive jewelry, collectibles or art, consider adding a floater to your policy to provide more coverage. Standard policies offer only a limited amount of coverage for these items. You'll need receipts or appraisals for items to be covered by the floater. And Adams says that if you have a high net worth or the likelihood of getting involved in a lawsuit, consider increasing the standard liability coverage,which is usually $100,000, or getting a separate personal umbrella policy (see Why You Should Have Umbrella Liability Insurance).

When shopping for policies, get quotes from several companies. You can compare costs at Web sites such as NetQuote.com and InsWeb.com. Make sure that the primary cost factors are equivalent when you compare policies or as close as possible so that you have an apples-to-apples comparison, Adams says. These include the types of coverage you buy, the amount coverage you buy and the deductible (the amount you pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in), she says.

Also ask about discounts. For example, you might have to pay less if you have a security system, smoke detectors and deadbolt locks. Insurers also offer discounts to customers who have multiple policies with them, have good credit or are 55 or older. So be sure to ask about ways to lower your premium.

Price is certainly an important factor, Adams says. However, the value of choosing a reputable and service-oriented insurer shouldn’t be overlooked. See Find Out How Insurers Handle Claims for advice on checking a company's complaint record.

source:  kiplinger.com

How do I Get Insurance if I no Longer Have a Car?

Question: Do you have to have insurance on a car that has been totaled and not replaced? Our insurance cancels soon and we haven't found a new car to buy. Our agent said we should keep insurance or we will be penalized when we buy insurance for the new car. Is this true? Who will sell us insurance if we do not have a car?

Answer: No, you don't have to keep insurance on a totaled-out vehicle. In fact, there is a type of coverage meant specifically for people in your situation.

After the insurance settlement is completed on a total loss claim, many insurers will cancel your policy, effective the day after the accident -- if you ask and don't already have a new vehicle to transfer the coverage to.  (See “Can you cancel your policy after an accident”)

What your agent said is correct.  Without continuous car insurance coverage on you and your husband, when you get a new vehicle to insure your rates could go up due to what insurance companies see as a gap in auto coverage.

To be considered a preferred driver, and thus be offered the best rates by most car insurance companies, you need to be continually insured with an auto insurance policy.

Being without car insurance makes you a higher risk to many insurers due to how their rating systems are set up (those with gaps typically cancel due to non-payment, or cancel on their own after getting an insurance card and thus are higher risks to insure).  In fact, some insurance companies won't offer you a policy unless you've continually had car insurance for at least six months before applying for auto insurance with them.

The non-owners policy

The insurance industry understands that there are licensed drivers without a car to insure, but who still want car insurance coverage.  For these individuals, there is non-owners car insurance coverage offered by some auto insurance providers.

Non-owners can be used as secondary liability coverage if you borrow a car while searching for your replacement vehicle or, depending upon the terms of your policy, may be primary liability coverage when renting a car.  For details about a non-owner policy, see “What is non-owners car insurance?”

A non-owner policy is relatively cheap to obtain (typically $200 - $300 a year) because it can't be purchased or used when you own a car.  If you obtain such a policy to cover you and your husband while you are without a vehicle, once you purchase your replacement vehicle you'd need to inform your car insurance company to transfer your policy to an owner's policy and give the insurer the details of the car so they could calculate your new rates.

Since your agent brought up this issue about continual coverage, and you cannot keep coverage on a totaled out vehicle, you should contact your car insurance company to see if it offers a non-owner insurance policy.  If it does not, then shop around for a carrier in your area that does offer a non-owner policy, such as Progressive.

And you don't have to stick with the same insurance company that you get a non-owners policy with.  While shopping for a new car, also shop around for how much car insurance will cost with various auto insurance providers so that you can get the cheapest car insurance rates possible for the new vehicle.  (See “Pocket $1,102 just by shopping around”)

source: foxbusiness.com