Insurance
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Van Insurance Policies The Extra’s
When purchasing commercial vehicle insurance there are many different options to choose from, do you need breakdown insurance, towing insurance or windscreen insurance? These different commercial van insurance extra’s will affect how much you pay for your insurance, and while you do want your insurance policy to be affordable you need proper protection for your transit vans and other commercial vehicles. That’s why its important to read the insurance policy carefully, look at a variety of insurance policies and decide what is best for you and your company.
The Types of Extra Commercial Vehicle Insurance
There are a number of insurance policies that can be purchased alongside the three main policies of ‘Third Party Only’, ‘Fire and Theft’, and ‘Comprehensive’. These minor insurance policies depend on the insurance company but usually involve things such as ‘towing insurance’, ‘windscreen repairs’, additional ‘auto-theft insurance’, and ‘breakdown insurance’.
Towing Insurance can be used when your commercial van is towed for a parking violation or needs to be towed due to a breakdown. In most cases a regular insurance policy will not cover this fee unless the transit van was in a accident. For a regular breakdown or a parking violation the Luton vans owner must cover the cost.
A windscreen repair policy covers all the problems you may have with your windscreen ranging from repairing basic cracks to replacing the entire windscreen in your transit van. Most comprehensive van insurance policies will cover windscreen repairs, but some do not. Anything less than a comprehensive insurance policy will not repair your windscreen regardless of how it happened.
Breakdown insurance covers minor breaks that occur from the usual wear and tear on your Luton van. If a fan belt breaks, rust damage needs to be repaired, the steering wheel is out of alignment and so on this insurance policy will help pay for repairs. Often this is combined with towing insurance. Again comprehensive insurance policies often cover for this type of repair but not always and it can raise your insurance premiums more extensively than having a separate insurance policy.
Additional auto-theft insurance should definitely be bought if you only have ‘third party only’ insurance for your commercial van. Auto-theft can and does happen so having an auto-theft insurance policy makes sense, and having insurance specifically for auto-theft rather than fire and theft insurance will help keep your insurance costs a little lower.
Why Purchase These Commercial Van Insurance Policies?
These minor van insurance policies can be very helpful and since they are fairly distinct they are individually cheaper than buying a large insurance policy that covers all possible problems that may happen to your Luton van.
The advantage of these commercial van insurance policies is that if you do have a frequent problem with your transit van, these policies provide extra insurance at an affordable price. If your commercial van is in a high risk area having additional auto-theft insurance on top of your regular insurance can provide you with a larger safety net for a cheap price. If your Luton van needs to be repaired slightly more than usual breakdown insurance will help with the minor costs that can quickly add up, and towing insurance will help get the Luton van to the repair shop without hurting your wallet.
Problems with Purchasing these Van Insurance Policies
However these commercial van insurance policies do add up and purchasing every commercial vehicle insurance policy in an attempt to cover all possible problems can become quite costly. A well thought out comprehensive insurance policy can insure against most of these problems for the same or slightly cheaper price.
The important thing to consider when looking at these different types of additional commercial van insurance policies is your needs. Do you need them? If you have a ‘Third Party Only’ insurance policy on your transit van, these additional commercial van insurance policies can help you weather misfortunes without substantially adding to your costs. If you have comprehensive insurance these insurance policies could help with minor costs and unexpected damages, but you should ensure they are not already covered by your commercial vehicle insurance.
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Insurance Consultants UK: Advice on Antiques Insurance
Hyde Park Insurance Consultants Ltd have offices in London, Sussex and South West
England. They were founded in London nearly 30 years ago, and are fully regulated by The Financial Services Authority. Professional Advice is given on most classes of Business Insurance and Personal Insurance. Premium terms are offered at highly competitive rates, and may be paid by instalments, credit or debit cards. We deal with all the major insurers, including Lloyds undedrwriters. We pride ourselves on the Personal Service we offer to all clients, and this includes the way we handle claims. Comments of thanks are often given to us for our service as compared with experiences some clients have had when dealing with so called “direct insurers” when responding to internet or TV advertisements.
The main categories of insurance are as follows:-
Property Owners: Office blocks and other commercial buildings. Residential flats, both purpose built, and flat conversions. Get professional advice on household insurance where we cover home buildings insurance, home contents insurance, home emergency insurance, travel insurance, family legal protection insurance and personal insurance.
Business packages: Manufacturers, retail, offices, restaurants and hotels. Combined policies could include cover for buildings and contents such as stock, fixtures and fittings, and where premises are rented, tenant’s improvements. Cover for Public and Employers liability is also included, and many other aspects which are necessary for businesses. Business insurance and corporate insurance to insure your business where we cover office insurance, public liability insurance, employers liability insurance, business interruption insurance, factory insurance, etc.
Antiques insurance for both dealers and high value private collectors. Our antique insurance and arts insurance covers everything like painting insurance, jewellery insurance, tapestries insurance, coin collection insurance, stamp collection insurance, etc.
Hyde Park Insurance were founded near the famous Portobello Rd area of London. Over the years, we have built up a large clientele for this class of business in which we specialize. The policy cover is tailor made for each client, and, for dealers, includes shoplifting and accidental damage. Further, the special wording allows for increase in value as compared with cost price. For private collectors, valuations can be arranged and advice on security. Cover can be included as part of a normal Home Personal insurance.
Goods in Transit insurance: Insurance in this class covers a wide range of businesses. Policies can be arranged for the Insured’s own goods if they are not included in a package. Independant carriers also need this cover, and this includes Road Haulage Contractors operating both in the UK and Europe. Cover for hauliers can be either for full All Risks, or limited to conditions of carriage specified by the Road Haulage Association. For hauliers who operate in Europe, the policy can provide for CMR conditions regulated under international agreement.
Insurance for builders: Builders and their sub-contractors need Public and Employers liability insurance on an annual basis. Many also require annual Contractors All Risks policies if they are engaged in building from new. many will also want to insure their plant and machinery. Special cover, again tailor made, is arranged in all these categories.
Public and Employers liability insurance: Although this cover is usually included in a combined package policy, there are occasions when it can be arranged separately for businesses or organizations. A business could be an Interior designer or other individuals working on location.
Professional Indemnity insurance: This class of business is very specialized, and, at Hyde Park, we have considerable experience in this area. Architects, Solicitors, Accountants, Marketing and other consultants, and many other firms or individuals who give professional advice, require this cover to cover their liability if things go wrong.
Personal Insurance: Hyde Park Insurance have a very large database in this class of insurance. Policies are arranged for private houses and flats for buildings and contents. Cover is for All Risks and can include travel insurance and specified items of high value. Personal accident cover can also be included.
Builder Insurance Advice
Owner builder insurance products are a must for anyone deciding to owner builds their home. Don’t get lost with all the different protection and covered offered by different providers, find out which products you need.
So you want to build your own house and add that personal touch to your home? Owner building is becoming increasingly popular and ensuring that you have the correct insurance cover is vital. The key to a successful owner built project is to make sure that you are fully insured from the start.
The following insurance products are a MUST for any owner builder -
1. Construction & Liability Insurance
Also known as contract works insurance or construction all risk insurance which is insurance protection for people renovating, building or extending their home.
Construction insurance protects owner builders from most main risks that may be encountered during the construction and building process. This includes weather related damages, fire, issues with their workers or workmanship and more. (Consult your insurance broker to ensure what risks are protected).
The liability portion of this insurance is known as Public liability insurance. This protects the owner builder for their legal liability against injury or damage to third party property. As an owner builder you are responsible for the site safety and overseeing building works – without this cover you would be liable if anyone is injured at or near your building site. Although it is not mandatory to have construction and liability insurance cover it would be risky not to have it. Most local councils will however require you to have this cover prior to commencing any building work.
2. Personal accident or volunteer workers insurance cover
Building and construction sites are listed as being amongst one of the more dangerous places to work. As an owner builder you can choose to assist your tradesmen and builders with the construction. If you are injured or incapacitated during construction and cannot attend your normal form of employment, having the right personal accident insurance cover will offer you the right protection.
3. Builders Warranty Insurance
Owner Builder Warranty Insurance mandatory insurance required by the Home Building Act 1989. Although it is mandatory, the policy is for benefit of the house purchaser and does not provide any cover to the actual Owner Builder.
This policy protects the subsequent owner from any defective work on the property if you as the owner builder have died, disappeared or become insolvent. Builders warranty insurance is mandatory insurance cover. It is essential to take out Owner Builder Insurance before any work is started as otherwise the project will be difficult to insure. Standard policies run for 12 months but, if the construction takes longer, extensions are usually available.
Owner builder insurance is compulsory for all residential building works in excess of $12,000. If you are an owner builder and sell your property within 6 years of its completion or renovation you will ne to provide the with residential owner builder warranty insurance.
It is required by law to be taken out when selling within the statutory period – Statutory period for New South Wales and Victoria is 6years and 7 years in Western Australia.
An Owner Builder, who sells within 6 years of completion without any Owner Builder Warranty Insurance, or who fails to attach an insurance certificate to the Contract of Sale can be fined, amounts over $10,000. If a Contract of Sale has been entered into without Owner Builder Warranty Insurance, the contract can be voided by the purchaser at any time before completion of the contract. It is therefore in your best interest to ensure you have the right advice when owner building.
SavillHicks Corp is a leading Australian insurance broker that specializes in owner builder insurance. Savill Hicks will assist you by being actively involved with owner builders from permit stage right through to the sale. We will talk you through all the vital products required at a cost effective rate. Visit our website for more information on owner builder insurance, builder warranty insurance and construction & public liability insurance.
Different Types of Builders Insurance –
Learn how to differentiate the different builders and tradesmen insurance products. Learn which ones are mandatory, what each covers and who can provide you with the best information and service on selecting these products.
Insurance for Tradesmen – (trades insurance)
Even the most careful and skilled tradesmen can make a mistake or have things gone wrong. In such a scenario it would be unfortunate to not have the adequate insurance cover to protect not only your self but also your employees, contractors and tools.
What types of insurance should tradesmen get?
Public Liability Insurance – This will cover injury to 3rd party at or around the building site
Mobile Plant and Equipment Insurance – this will ensure that all your mobile plants and building equipment are protected not just at the time of damage but throughout the policy term.
Other builder’s insurance products at a glance:
Builder Warranty Insurance
With this insurance cover the building contractor is required to obtain the builder warranty insurance for every project they work on that exceed $12,000.
Construction insurance
Construction insurance or contract works insurance/construction all risk insurance offers protection for people renovating, building or extending their home.
This cover protects builders from most main risks that may be encountered during the construction and building process including weather related damages, fire, issues with their workers or workmanship and more.
Professional Indemnity Insurance:
This insurance covers members of a particular profession that adhere to a code of practice and have minimum educational stipulations or requirements. This would typically cover any loss from the conduct of consultants or sub contractors if under the insured’s direction they would not be covered themselves.
Directors and Officers Insurance: which deals with the civil liabilities that directors can incur personally? It protects people in these positions against wrongful acts during the period of capacity
Owner Builders need to take out:
Public Liability Insurance: Again this will protect owner builders from injury to 3rd party at or around the building site
Personal Accident or volunteer’s workers insurance – this covers the owner builder from any injury or damage should they choose to assist the tradesmen during construction. This cover can also extend to the owner builders family/friends (up to 10 volunteers on site for a nominal premium)
Choosing the right insurance broker to help you find the products and cover suitable to your business and budget can be tricky. Savill Hicks Corp has found that by offering a personalized service they take the time to listen to you needs. Being specialist providers in builder warranty insurance, owner builder insurance and home warranty insurance we offer you comprehensive cover, over the phone service and same day quotes. Visit our website for more detail.
What types of insurance should tradesmen, builders or anyone in construction invest in?
1. Public Liability Insurance – This will cover injury to 3rd party at or around the building site
2. Mobile Plant and Equipment Insurance – this will ensure that all your mobile plants and building equipment are protected not just at the time of damage but throughout the policy term.
3. Builder Warramty Insurance – This requires the building contractor is to obtain builder warranty insurance for every project they work on that exceeds $12,000. This is mandatory insurance so should not be overlooked.
4. Construction insurance – or contract works insurance/construction all risk insurance offers protection for people renovating, building or extending their home. This cover protects builders from most main risks that may be encountered during the construction and building process including weather related damages, fire, issues with their workers or workmanship and more.
5. Professional Indemnity Insurance: This insurance covers members of a particular profession that adhere to a code of practice and have minimum educational stipulations or requirements. This would typically cover any loss from the conduct of consultants or sub contractors if under the insured’s direction they would not be covered themselves.
6. Directors and Officers Insurance: which deals with the civil liabilities that directors can incur personally? It protects people in these positions against wrongful acts during the period of capacity
Anyone deciding to owner build their own home shoud ensure they are correctly covered for any accidents that may occur during the process. Owner Builders need to ensure that they have
1. Public Liability Insurance: Again this will protect owner builders from injury to 3rd party at or around the building site
2. Personal Accident or volunteer’s workers insurance – this covers the owner builder from any injury or damage should they choose to assist the tradesmen during construction. This cover can also extend to the owner builders family/friends (up to 10 volunteers on site for a nominal premium)
This is an overview of all the insurance products you need to understand if you are in the building and construction industry. Savill Hicks Corp is a leading insurance broker catering to the building and construction industries.
Home Warranty Insurance
Home warranty insurance is acquired by a builder and has to be issued to the homeowner to protect them against loss due to completion, defects and any other statutory breaches.
It is a legal requirement that all builders take out this insurance. Unfortunately the insurance does not cover any contractual disputes or defective/unsatisfactory work by a builder. This can however be taken up via tribunals under the consumer protection legislation.
As a homeowner it is advantageous to ensure that a builder has home warranty cover as it ensures that the builder is fully registered. Home warranty is required for a builder’s registration. It also promotes the builders adherence to standards as they need to consistently produce good work to remain registered.
Evaluate Your Current Life Insurance Policy
Taking stock of your current life insurance policy should be a regular event, but the reality is you probably haven’t given it much thought beyond making your premium payments. If that is the case right now is a great time to evaluate your life insurance coverage for a number of reasons. Economic conditions have put large life insurance providers in the news so it’s a good idea to check into how much protection your life insurance policy has against industry trends, and the life insurance market has fundamentally changed over the last several years.
Life insurance trends
Let’s take a look at that last trend; that the life insurance industry has fundamentally changed over the last several years. If you’ve had your current life insurance policy for five years or longer most likely you can find a much better deal right now. Because life expectancy is rising life insurance – particularly term life insurance – rates are dropping. A good way to take advantage of this trend in term life insurance and still retain access to whole life insurance is to purchase term life insurance with a convertibility feature to eventually turn your life insurance policy into whole life insurance.
Economic conditions and life insurance
Looking at current economic conditions brings two factors into consideration. The first is you want your life insurance provider to remain in business, and if for some reason your life insurance provider can no longer honor your policy you want to ensure you are protected against any loss. To keep tabs on the financial health of your life insurance provider check with all the ratings services such as Standard and Poor’s and A.M. Best on a regular basis. Maybe even weekly. If your life insurance provider’s rating is dropping do take the time to look into the ramifications, financial and otherwise, of leaving your current life insurance provider for a new company.
Is my policy protected?
That becomes a major question when your life insurance provider can no longer honor the policy because of financial problems. The good news is life insurance policies have quite a bit of protection, not unlike bank deposits. If a life insurance company goes under, policy holders get paid before shareholders in the company. Life insurance policies are also backed up by state insurance guarantee associations. It is good idea to find out the limit your state will pay in the event your life insurance provider suffers financial collapse.
Hefty Health Insurance Request Shocks Hernando County School Officials
As President Barack Obama prepared to take to the airwaves to defend his health care overhaul last week, Hernando school officials got a little insurance sticker shock of their own.
The district’s insurance carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is seeking a 21.5 percent rate increase.
“We expected increases in health insurance, but you don’t really expect 21 percent increases,” said Heather Martin, the district’s executive director of business services. “It’s very disappointing in these economic times.”
The actual increase will likely come in at least a few percentage points below that, Martin said. Last year, for example, Blue Cross started with an 18 percent increase. By tweaking plans and raising deductibles and co-pays, the two sides brought that down to 12 percent.
Martin said she’s hopeful this year’s increase will be closer to 15 percent and that the district’s insurance committee — composed of staffers and members of both unions — had made progress toward that number during talks with Blue Cross on Wednesday.
Blue Cross declined to comment beyond a written statement issued through spokesman Mark Wright.
“The specifics of our negotiations with any client are confidential. However, I can say that for groups such as this, projected claims experience for the upcoming plan year is the determining factor for premium rate calculations.”
In other words, the company uses the district’s claims history and estimates for what next year’s claims will be to justify the rate increase.
The district’s history isn’t exactly pretty, Martin acknowledged.
Claims have been “relatively high” in recent years, she said. Last year, Blue Cross paid more than $14 million in claims.
“We are not an extremely healthy district,” Martin said. “We have not improved it.”
Martin noted, though, that the district is “punished” for the lack of urgent care facilities in the county. That forces employees to go to hospital emergency rooms, an expensive way to get urgent care that drives up the district’s clams, she said.
The School Board has agreed in past years to have the district absorb most or all of insurance premium increases and should try to do the same again this year, said board member Sandra Nicholson.
“If there’s any possibility of us being able to eat the increase, I think we probably will,” Nicholson said.
That could be a tall order, considering this year’s proposed budget has only $1 million in reserves that aren’t set aside for some purpose.
But it would help employees who have seen out-of-pocket costs rise, said Colin Davies, president of the Hernando United School Workers.
Davies said some employees have decided to go without insurance because they can no longer afford it, and he predicted that number could rise.
“You choose whether to eat or have insurance,” Davies said.
The unions accepted smaller pay raises last year in exchange for the district covering more insurance premium costs. Insurance will likely dominate negotiations again this year, said Joe Vitalo, president of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association.
Vitalo expressed the kind of sentiment voiced by many Americans and that Obama says is motivating him to get health care reform done sooner rather than later.
“It’s probably the most legalized form of extortion there is,” Vitalo said.
Regulators Investigate Blue Cross’ Grip on Insurance Market
State regulators say Pennsylvania has one of the least competitive health insurance markets in the nation and they want to find out why.
The state Insurance Department has launched a formal examination of the four nonprofit Blue Cross insurers in Pennsylvania – Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Capital Blue Cross, Highmark Inc. and Independence Blue Cross – to determine if they engage in anti-competitive or unfair trade practices that violate state law.
The examination will focus on whether Pennsylvania consumers could reap the benefits of lower costs and greater choices from having a market that is more competitive, department officials said.
Pennsylvania’s market is less competitive than in nine other populous states because of a key indicator, state Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said in an interview Monday.
That indicator is the market share of the Blues compared to major national commercial carriers.
The combined Blue market share is almost 60 percent in Pennsylvania, compared to Blue market shares ranging from 18 percent to 48 percent in other states. Texas has a Blue market share of 18 percent, New York 33 percent and California 24 percent, according to a department document.
That means national commercial carriers such as Aetna, UnitedHealth and Health America have a smaller market foothold in Pennsylvania than in those other nine states, Ario said.
The examination will explore whether the Blues’ territorial licensing agreements in Pennsylvania, under which each Blue does business only in its own region, are anti-competitive in nature.
If the Blues compete with each other instead of dividing up territory, then the national insurers and state-based insurers such as Geisinger Health Plan will have more of an opportunity to compete for customers, too, added Ario.
Other issues are whether the Blues use their market power to unfair advantage to force prices on providers and whether they have agreements among themselves that hinder competition.
Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. have a business relationship dating back to April 2005, when Highmark invested $34 million to buy a 40 percent stake and several board seats of two of the local Blue Cross’ subsidiaries. Highmark-appointed directors were given control over any major corporate changes.
They strengthened their business ties in 2007, as the Wilkes-Barre-based Blue Cross moved several popular insurance plans into one of the subsidiaries co-owned by Highmark. The shift meant more than half of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s 585,000 customers at the time were subscribed to health plans partly owned and fundamentally influenced by Highmark.
“We welcome state regulators’ periodic reviews of market conditions,” said Anthony Matrisciano, spokesman for Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, in a statement.
He said Blue Cross of NEPA has special obligations that affect its market share.
“As a Blue plan, we do have a unique position in the market in that we are the only insurers required to serve those considered uninsurable or high risk by other carriers,” added Matrisciano. “We are also the only carriers in the state statutorily mandated to serve as the ‘insurers of last resort.’”
The examination will start months after the collapse of a proposed merger between Highmark and Independence Blue Cross in January. The two companies withdrew their application several days before Ario had planned to deny the merger.
The commissioner said the merger didn’t satisfy the competition test, and a consolidated company would have had a 51 percent market share – an unprecedented level in a single state.
An examination is similar to a fact-finding process where the results will be made public. The department can enter into agreements with the Blues as a result or offer proposals for lawmakers to consider.
The department hired the law firm of Hangley Aronchick & Segal to serve as examiner.
The four Blues pay the cost for their own examination, Ario said. Therefore, he doesn’t think the undertaking will have a great impact on the department’s budget.
Choosing an Insurance Provider
When buying insurance – auto insurance, health insurance, home insurance, life insurance or renters insurance – choosing your insurance provider is a big part of the decision process. When you compare insurance quotes it’s easy to see the different prices offered by different insurance providers, but cost alone may not go into your insurance purchase decision. Your insurance provider should help you get the best possible coverage at the best possible price.
Your insurance provider must be licensed to sell insurance in your state so make use of your state’s insurance department. This department can provide you with recommendations for insurance providers and it keeps a file on insurance providers with complaints and recommendations. Check into any complaints to find out why some customers had problems with different insurance providers. Also don’t be afraid to use your social network and friends for recommendations on insurance providers.
It should go without stating, but on the subject of insurance licensing make sure your insurance provider is licensed to sell insurance in your state and absolutely avoid any unlicensed insurance providers.
It’s also worthwhile to look beyond the lowest price when choosing an insurance provider and take experience into account. Insurance agents are paid the same commission percentage regardless of their experience level. Often a more experienced insurance provider can help you maximize your coverage while saving you the most money over the long term.
A regular review of your insurance policy is a service you should expect from your insurance provider. Before buying insurance, ask the potential providers how often they will look over your policy with you. These reviews ensure your insurance policy is not outdated in any way and that you have the coverage you want.
A final consideration when choosing an insurance provider is they are your support and assistance when accidents, catastrophe or disaster strikes. You want an insurance provider who will fight for your side to resolve any claim you have to make on your insurance.