Saturday, August 8, 2009

Life insurance or life assurance

Life insurance or life assurance
Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual's or individuals' death or other event, such as terminal illness or critical illness. In return, the policy owner agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals or in lump sums. There may be designs in some countries where bills and death expenses plus catering for after funeral expenses should be included in Policy Premium. In the United States, the predominant form simply specifies a lump sum to be paid on the insured's demise.

As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner whereby a benefit is paid to the designated beneficial if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy.
The value for the policyholder is derived, not from an actual claim event, rather it is the value derived from the 'peace of mind' experienced by the policyholder, due to the negating of adverse financial consequences caused by the death of the Life Assured.
To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon the lives of the people named in the policy.
Insured events that may be covered include:

Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.
Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:

Protections policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance.

Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US anyway) are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Short Term Health Insurance - Flexible & Inexpensive Coverage

Short term health insurance provides inexpensive and flexible coverage against all injuries and illnesses. The medical coverage under this insurance plan ranges from 30 days to 12 months. They are specifically designed for individuals as well as families who do not need any coverage for pre-existing conditions. Mostly, these plans are open to those who are in-between jobs or waiting for another insurance coverage to become effective again. They make an ideal choice for fresh graduates, people waiting on healthcare, people in non-traditional jobs, people in career transition, temporary employees looking for medical benefits, self-employed, or even those seeking affordable option to have COBRA coverage. Foreign students can also avail this kind of insurance coverage.

These temporary health plans include hospitalization, emergency care, preventive health programs, and prescription drugs. Depending upon the plan, the insurer can avail the medical or healthcare profits and benefits. These plans often cost just one time. They are flexible and allow the holders to pay on monthly basis. They may even have a single payment choice. They are inexpensive as compared to regular individual health insurance policy. The main advantage is you can easily drop this temporary insurance plan whenever you wish.

Generally, these plans have a limited lifetime. Normally, they cannot be renewed. After the tenure of a plan is finished, the insurer has to find health insurance coverage with a plan designed for long term. If you need a long term plan, you can easily find it through the short term insurance providers.

Applying for Temporary Health Insurance Policy

The application process to get a short term health policy is very easy than any regular long term insurance policy. Short term health coverage starts within 24 hours of your application submission. If you want to start immediately, you just need to pay your first premium by furnishing a valid credit card number. Most of these insurance plans offer a 30 days minimum coverage. At the end of your health insurance policy, the health insurance companies will let you re-apply for another temporary plan, if required by you.

What you need to remember is this short term policy is not intended for people who want to have pre-existing medical coverage.

The Beneficiaries

This kind of plan is actually meant for healthy people. Since it is inexpensive and can offer high coverage, it is suitable for the following sections:

* Part time and temporary employees who do not need coverage against a pre-existing medical condition * Fresh college graduates seeking temporary health insurance policies.
* Youngsters over 18 years of age.
Thus, if you are looking for a temporary plan to have medical coverage for a short period of time to have protection against unexpected health related expenses, you can opt for this plan that offers many benefits like any other standard health insurance plans. Have security and stability with your medical coverage with this plan now. What you need is to conduct a quality research on the internet to find out which insurance policy can work best for you to get the best coverage for unexpected health alarms.

Need Private Health Care Insurance?

Whatever state you are living in you will know that there are a lot of companies that are offering health Insurance. If you have a limited amount of time as most do, it is difficult to know which ones to approach for quotes.
That is why the easiest way to get the best deals on Private Health Care Insurance is to use what is know as a price comparison website. These sites allow you to relax, because they do all the hard work in collecting all the different health care Insurance companies into one place.

In fact you can access quotes from all of them with just a few clicks of the mouse, which means that you won't miss out on any of the best deals.

It doesn't matter what type of policy you are looking for from Small Business to Group, to Individual and family as well as dental, Short term, Student and of course Medicare Supplemental.

It's important to make sure that the site is not connected in anyway to any Private Health Care Insurance companies rather than listing them, (meaning that the site is not selling policies itself, just acting an a provider of information).
If it is it means that it will not be able to list all of the different providers in your area and that users will be missing out on some of the best deals.

Once you have found a policy, do make sure to check all of the terms and conditions that come with i,t to ensure you understand everything that's involved.

Health Insurance For the Unemployed

Besides just losing your job you will also lose a lot of financial security. One's job can be a big part of their self esteem and when you become unemployed your health can suffer. That is why getting health insurance for the unemployed is so important. If your previous employer did not offer you with health care you need to get a completely new policy.
When your employer has offered you with health care insurance you can use such services as the COBRA and Kaiser Family Foundation to transfer your health insurance from your employer to yourself. If you did not have these services, it is advisable to get a completely new policy.

Unemployment will be a tax on ones self esteem and through that it will have an effect on your health. When you have the least extra money to spend, your health will usually start to show symptoms of different diseases. This is because extreme stress will cause you to get sick, and when you don't have money to pay for the medical costs, you will stress even more. That is why it is important to get a health insurance for the unemployed so that you can afford to go to the doctor when needed.

Without your health you have nothing. And if you are sick you are unable to search for a job. That will lengthen then time spend unemployed and make it even more difficult to get back on the saddle. You should do everything you can to prevent a financial crisis and getting an insurance to cover your health care is one of the best things you can do.

Affordable Family Medical Plans - 3 Tips to Follow When Looking For a Quality Plan

Coverage Can Be Much Different from Plan to Plan
Sorting through family medical plans and the different options can be a challenge. There are many companies that have substandard plans, but many companies that have quality plans at affordable prices. Here are three tips to follow when looking for the best plan.

Check the Company's Financial Rating and Reliability
It's easy to find out whether you're dealing with a reliable company or not.

  1. 1) First of all, if you know someone who's insured by the company, ask them about their claims and customer service experiences.
  2. Second check the company's financial rating at AM best or standard and Poor's. It will give you peace of mind to know the company ensuring you or your family has the financial means to back up its claims.
  3. Third, check the better business bureau for complaints against the company, percentage of resolutions, and complain details to get a feel for how reliable the company is.

Check for Low Benefit Limits

  1. Many companies only pay for one surgery or operation if you need two or more surgeries resulting from the same accident or medical event. Be sure that you know how your company covers accidents and surgeries.
  2. Find out what your annual maximum benefit is for the year. Also find out what your lifetime maximum benefit is for you or your family.
  3. Ask your agent or the insurance company wants other limits apply to your policies benefits.

Find out How Your Family's Deductible Works

  1. 1) Depending on what insurance company and plan you choose, the way your deductible works can vary. It's important to know whether your deductible applies to your family as a whole war each individual family member.
  2. If your deductible applies to each family member, find out how many people must meet the deductible before the family deductible has been met. This way you'll know when your medical benefits will kick in. Understanding your family's deductible and how it works can save you heartache in the long run.

Follow these three tips to ensure your family gets the best medical plan, at the most affordable price.

Affordable Family Medical Insurance - Choosing the Right Deductible

For a family, choosing the right deductible can be an impactful decision. Some plans work differently than others, making it important to do your research before choosing a company and plan.

Family Deductibles Many companies offer family, or bucket, deductibles. This means that your family (as a whole) meets this deductible before your coverage starts. This is the simplest and most straightforward way of understanding the risk associated with the deductible you choose. Your family deductible is your maximum risk, not including any co-insurance you may be responsible for, after meeting the deductible. Single Deductibles Other companies offer single deductibles with a family deductible of two, three, or four times the single deductible. This can be deceiving when comparing plans because you may be looking at a true family deductible with one company, and a single deductible with another. It's easy to look at two companies that offer of $3,000 deductible and believe they work the same way. However, you could really be looking at a plan with a $3,000 family deductible and a plan with the $9,000 family deductible. Out-of-Pocket Maximum Similarly, it's important to review the out-of-pocket maximum in this same way. The out-of-pocket maximum is the most you will spend in one year after the deductible. To make things more confusing sometimes the deductible is included in the out-of-pocket maximum, and sometimes it is not. It's Important to Know Be sure when you are choosing the deductible for your family that you are aware of how your deductible will work.

A local independent health insurance agent is an excellent free resource that your family can use to find you the right plan.

To connect with a local agent and to get started finding affordable family medical insurance,
Also, to learn more about affordable family plans, While you're there, be sure to claim your free copy of my eBook titled "Seven Money-Saving Health Insurance Tips.

If you found this article helpful, please rate it using the five star rating system below. Thank you and good luck in your search for an affordable health plan!

Price Wars Are Cause Health Insurance Companies to Reduce Their Rates Drastically

In the United States, health-insurance rates see daily change. It's extremely likely that your rate has changed if you've held onto a health-insurance rate for the past 120 days. The same coverage could be available at a cheaper rate. Customers are not contacted about new and cheaper coverage - a troubling fact when insurance companies change their rates up to three times a month.

The consumer has a significant advantage over insurance-companies right now - the current recession is fueling an intense pricing war between insurance companies. If you're willing to find these cheaper rates, be aware that it can take at minimum half of a day. Finding a single quote for you is extremely difficult and drawn out, purposely designed that way by major insurance-companies. You must schedule at least half of a day to find a cheaper rate.
Without having to speak to a single sales agent on the phone, several private companies have provided Internet tools that will easily compare cheap rates from insurance companies - all for free.

To get all rates from major health-insurance-companies, once a huge feat for an individual, takes only 15 to 20 seconds for the search engine. There is no reason that any consumer with health insurance shouldn't compare their present and competing insurance companies to find the cheapest rate.

Why pay more for the same coverage? This is the perfect time for the average consumer to use these tools and lower the cost of their health insurance.