Financial Planning

When you look around your neighborhoods, it’s hard to find any good news. Friends and neighbors may have lost their jobs or be on short-time. There are foreclosed properties on every street. Shops and businesses have been closing down with increasing frequency. These are the signs of a real recession where unemployment and poverty stalk the land. The cause of all this pain is not hard to find. We have all been living beyond our means. When the banks and credit card companies offered us more money to borrow, we just took it. Why bother to save when the value of our homes only goes up? Let’s plan for our retirement by borrowing cheap money and buying stocks and other more risky investments. No-one ever loses if they follow the advice of the credit rating agencies. Well, we know better now. What goes up can also come down. What is given a triple A rating can be junk tomorrow.

In the midst of all this chaos, the credit card operators have been cutting back on the borrowing limits. This has forced pain on us for two reasons. Firstly, finding the money to pay down our debts more quickly means redesigning the family budget. Sacrifices have to be made. Secondly, the way the credit score is calculated depends in part on the extent to which we use the credit cards we have. If the limits are reduced, we look like bad risks because the amount borrowed is closer to the limit. We have less money available to borrow and cut down on card usage so we can repay faster. Put the two together and the score falls. This is a direct criticism of the methods used to calculate the scores. It produces a fundamentally unfair result during a recession.

This would not be a problem if the credit score was only used by banks and credit card operators. But it’s also used by companies to help decide whether to employ you, by landlords deciding whether to rent to you and by insurance companies deciding whether you are a responsible person. National figures show more than half all insurance companies use credit scores as a key factor in deciding your premium rate. This is extraordinary. There is only one possible effect of being in debt when it comes to the way in which you drive. If you cannot afford to repair your vehicle, you drive defensively to reduce the risk of an accident.

Some states like California and Massachusetts have banned the use of credit score for this purpose, but they are a minority. They cite discrimination as a reason for the ban. The majority of the population without access to banking services and credit cards fall into minority racial groups. When they do not have a credit score, they are forced to pay a higher premium simply because of who they are, not how they drive. So, when you are looking for affordable cover, get the maximum possible number of car insurance quotes to find the best policies. If you live in a state which refuses the regulation of the car insurance market, contact your local government representatives and tell them how much pain you are suffering because of this unfair use of credit scores.

The state of Georgia has some specific laws and regulations relating to automobile insurance. These have been developed keeping in mind all the problems that might be faced by motorists involved in an accident or any other automobile-related problems.

Georgia provides uninsured motorist coverage to those who cannot get insurance. Also, some insurance companies do not provide coverage in certain situations and so the money cannot be recovered from these companies even when the individual buys an insurance policy from such companies. The uninsured motorist coverage law takes care of such individuals. However, only those individuals who are able to prove that the insurance company is not covering the loss are eligible for this coverage. As with any other law, this law, too, has some exceptions that have been put into use by the judges.

The state of Georgia guarantees all insured citizens the right to be reimbursed for all the damages caused by the owner of an uninsured vehicle. All damages, be they property damage, personal injury or even wrongful death, that might have occurred as a result of the accident can be recovered from the uninsured party as per the automobile laws in Georgia. Another interesting law that has been passed by the state of Georgia ensures that in the event an accident involves two federal employees, the amount to be reimbursed can be deducted from the liability insurance up to a certain limit. This is when the subrogation liens provided by the federal government are counted as part of the reimbursement amount calculation. The insurance company would cover the rest of the amount to make up for the whole reimbursement cost.

Georgia motorist laws sometimes allow the guilty party to come up with the reimbursement amount. However, as with all the other laws, there can be certain exceptions to this also. The party wishing to stack all the insurance coverage must be eligible to do the same. Such stacking is possible only when both the automobiles involved in the accident are insured. When one of them is uninsured, then that party is not eligible to stack the insurance coverage and take care of the injured party. Also, all of them must be insured only under one person’s name, and being a part of another’s policy does not count.

Last but not least, Georgia has a law which states that, if the defendant motorist cannot be located or traced, and is also uninsured, then the injured party can move for a service by publication on the other party. In such instances, the absconding motorist’s vehicle becomes liable under the uninsured motorist statute as well as under the contract of the insured party.

The state of Georgia also has a number of laws concerning the common carriers such as the trucks and containers. When involved with an automobile accident, the best option would be to track down a good lawyer specializing in this field to help out with the case.

Home insurance is a must, but there are a lot of options to choose from, just like in auto insurance. There are four main categories in home insurance: Structure of the house, personal assets, liability, and off-premises living expenses.

House Structure Coverage

Coverage for the structure of your home should anything happen is a must, but it is up to you how well covered you want to be. There is an option called extended-replacement value coverage which will replace your actual house 100% as opposed to a much lower percentage. Plus, an additional percentage is added for the event that the house would have to be re-built to help defray the costs of the current housing market prices. If you decide not to get the extended-replacement option, it is especially important that you take into account inflation in the housing market each time you renew your coverage amount, and any remodeling improvements you make to the house should be taken into account also when renewing coverage amounts.

Personal Assets Coverage

There is also an extended-replacement value coverage option for your assets as well. Basically, your assets can be defined as anything in the house that is non structural. Many people grossly underestimate what everything in their house would cost if it all had to be replaced. Therefore, it is suggested as good advice to literally take an inventory of everything in your house to get at least a rough estimate of what the cost would be to replace it all. If you had to replace it all, keep in mind however, that it would all be replaced with the new versions of what you currently own. Therefore, the cost to replace everything would be (most likely) much greater than their present worth. Also, be sure to know the time-frame for replacing your items, if any. And, when they would actually help pay, before or after the fact? Many insurance companies prefer to reimburse receipts as opposed to giving the money upfront. Would that work for you in a worst case scenario? Something to make note of when choosing insurance companies.

Floaters (also known as endorsements)

Floaters can be thought of as a way of floating more coverage over to your more valuable items. Coverage amounts are meant for insuring basic household items and so therefore, will be insufficient as a means for extravagant coverage on a particular item(s). That is when floaters come into play. You can purchase floater insurance for those items that are extremely valuable in price for sufficient coverage if anything should happen to them, even if they are lost.

Liability Coverage

Obviously, the more coverage you have for liability, the better. Liability costs has the potential to be more than anyone’s wildest imagination, and therefore, the better protected you are, the better off you will be should a worst case scenario occur. Liability coverage will cover you for damage done to others and their property, which can get very expensive, especially if they take you to court. It will also, therefore, pay the court fees and whatever the judge makes you dish out at the end of the day for damage costs. If you have pets that like to get out and cause damage, beware! You may want to up your liability coverage even more!

Coverage For Off-Premises Living

If a natural disaster causes your home to be unlivable for a while, you would have to live and eat elsewhere for who knows how long. Coverage for off-premises living would cover basic living costs during the time that you are unable to live in your own home. This is especially important to have if you live in a high risk area for natural disasters to occur. Make sure you know which natural disasters your insurance covers you for! Don’t assume it will be for all and any that occur. For example, most insurance companies do not cover for floods and earthquakes by default. You must pay extra coverage for them specifically if you want coverage for it.

Know What Your Coverages Contain

Coverages for each insurance company will be similar but the details will be different. For example, if you lose your purse at the store (that contained a lot of money) and you were unable to retrieve it, would your insurance cover it under your personal assets? A lot of homeowners insurance companies would because they cover all your assets, whether you keep them hidden or take them out with you, they are usually covered just the same. Many people horribly underestimate what their homeowners insurance company can and will do for them. So, it is good to know the details of the coverages as well as what they cover. What is the list of natural disasters? If a tree fell through your roof would you have coverage for that? Also, what is defined as “your house-structure”? If your unattached garage burned down to a stubble would you have coverage for that? The more you know about your coverages the better.

How Can I Save On My Homeowners Insurance?

Just like with auto insurance, the higher your deductible is (the amount you must pay before your insurance will help out), the lower your premiums will be (your monthly payment), which can save you a bundle of money. So, the highest amount you are willing to pay out of pocket for if anything happens should be your deductible. And, if you use a homeowners insurance company that also covers your auto insurance as well, chances are you will get the bulk, discounted rate.

Meeting Safety Standards

Fixing up the house to meet insurance standards will also decrease your monthly payments with most insurers. It is a good idea to have their check-off list, such as the certain kinds of alarms and locks needed. Sometimes even a housekeeper living with you can decrease your rates since that can be looked upon as a very good alarm system also!

Anything that poses as a hazard in the home will increase your rates, so to get rid of the hazardous stuff will really help with lowering rates. For example, smoking is a fire hazard (over 23,000 reported house fires a year come from smoking), the fenceless pool is a liability hazard, and the pet that scares the inspectors of your home will surely be the cause of higher rates as well.

Land

Unless you are worried that the very land your house sits on will be pulled out from under you like a big rug, leaving you with nothing but a hole in space, you probably don’t need to insure it. However, insurance companies usually add your land into the value of your home by default. If you subtract the value of your land from the value of your house and just cover for that, then your rates will be less because there will be less expense to cover.

How Can I Make Sure An Insurance Company Is Good?

Believe it or not, there were homeowner insurances that tried to refuse payment to those insured when Katrina hit. Knowing the history of handled claims is a good indicator of how good a company is. Ratings online can be checked, which indicates how well they pay their claims. You can compare quotes online at http://www.foxquotes.com

It is estimated that over 1.4 million of patients are diagnosed with different types of cancer in the US each year, resulting in 560,000 deaths. But in case you manage to survive this risky condition without reclusion you will still have another big problem on your hands – insuring your life.

Insuring own life can be quite troublesome for cancer patients, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s impossible. The likelihood of getting a good policy depends on a set of factors such as type of cancer, stage it was treated at and even the treatment plan itself. And there’s a direct relation between the rates you will have to pay and how it is likely for your cancer to be cured. For example, most insurance companies don’t regard skin cancer as a serious illness and having a history of it may even not influence your premiums at all.

Those patients who were diagnosed with breast or prostate cancer at treatable stages can still cover their lives, falling under “standard” rating if everything is ok. However, those with leukemia or colon cancer will be classified as “substandard” or “high substandard” (which means higher rates), or even get a denial of services. Patients with metastasized forms of cancer will almost always get a denial. This also applies to those who are still undergoing cancer treatment, regardless of type and stage.

How to get cheap life insurance if you have survived cancer?

In case you have survived cancer, you have more reasons to purchase life insurance. And here are a few tips on how to make it both easier and more feasible for you:

• Compile all of your medical records, reports and even prescription labels, especially if they have to do with cancer. Your insurance provider should have all the information on your condition, and will request it sooner all later. Helping your insurer with all the records means that your application process will be faster and you will be regarded as of a less risk. Insurance companies are very suspicious when clients do not wish to provide all the information and will usually charge more for their services. So don’t make such a mistake and cooperate for better life insurance rates.
• Cooperate with your doctor even if it is a routine check-up after the treatment. Your insurance provider will most likely wait for the results of the check up before signing you up. So the earlier you pay your doctor a visit the better.
• Get your quotes from various providers and the more the better. Insurance companies have various methods of calculating their risks and if one company classifies you as a very high risk, another one can view you as standard. Use this to your advantage and shop around.
• If you can get group insurance options from any organization you make part of it will be the best option for you. Group insurance always has better rates and more preferential approach from providers.
• Think about getting a “graded” policy (providing limited benefits) in case full death benefits are not allowed. Graded policy has special periods. If the insured person dies during such a period due to cancer condition then the policy will pay only a part of the death benefit. If the person dies after the period due to another condition, the policy will pay its entire face value.

Most of you are probably well aware of the fact that different age groups of drivers get different insurance rates, and the difference can be quite significant. Why the discrimination, you might ask? Well, don’t haste with accusing insurance company with unfair pricing, as there is a set of reasons behind such practices. When speaking about age groups and pricing, you have to understand how the insurance companies assess risk and set the rates you get when quoting.

The primary factors determining the price you will pay for insurance are risk and claim history within your demographic group. Insurance companies analyze the costs of insuring each age group and set their rates respectively. And due to a set of reasons, young adults are considered to be the most risky car owners, thus the high rates a young driver will receive when getting insurance quotes. That’s because young drivers have a larger claims history as a group, and the accidents they end up in tend to be more devastating and costly. Of course, it doesn’t mean that all teenagers and young adults get crazy on the road and have serious accidents. But that’s the situation when one has to pay for other’s mistakes, and unfortunately there’s little you can do about it.

But little doesn’t mean nothing. If you are a young driver looking for cheap car insurance, you still have chances of getting better rates if your follow some of the following advices. Of course, they won’t drop your rates instantly and dramatically but by combining them you will be able to get quite reasonable car insurance rates.

Be a good driver

Being a good driver with a clean driving record with no accidents or traffic violations always pays of no matter how old are you. But you can go beyond that. Enroll in special driving schools and employ a defensive driving style – having proof of your good safe driving abilities will definitely give your significant discounts from the insurance company.

Buy a safe car

When you are young, you want to be fast and furious. That’s your right, but if you buy a fast sports car don’t expect to get advantageous auto insurance quotes for it. Sports and muscle cars are considered to be risky and have high insurance costs, so insurance companies will always charge more for owning a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo than for a VW Golf. That’s why you should think about the car you want to drive before actually buying it.

Do some comparison shopping

Shopping around has never hurt anyone. In fact, getting more auto insurance quotes from different companies will help you find a really competitive policy. Some companies give young drivers lower rates than others, so why not spending a bit of your time on comparing car insurance quotes if you can save quite well on it? Besides there are so many free quote sites out there that it would be simply a crime to leave such a great opportunity for saving some money on car insurance unnoticed.