Do I Need Mobile Phone Insurance?

Whilst insurance policies are, in theory, designed to save you money should misfortune befall you, they often turn out to be a false economy.

Phone insurance differs greatly from other kinds of insurance in that price you’ll pay is based entirely on the value of the cover you’re looking for. Unlike with car insurance, for example, other factors such as the demographic you belong to, are not factored in and even your history of passed claims is unlikely to be taken into account.

This means that, whilst you might benefit from lower car insurance premiums for having a track record as a safe driver, you will not be rewarded for being careful with your phone (aside from perhaps a nominal no claims bonus, such as a free battery after two years.) On the other hand if you are a serial loser of phones you won’t be punished with extra charges.

Therefore, if you are sure that you are too careful to need insurance you may wish to avoid effectively subsidising the carelessness of others.

If you are on a pay-as-you-go tariff then, even if your phone is stolen, the thief can only make use of the limited credit you already paid for, so unless you have a particularly expensive handset or feel you are very likely to have a mishap, getting insurance may be a bit much.

Instead you could ‘self insure’, by setting a little money aside each month, roughly equivalent to a premium, just in case of emergencies.

There are other situations in which you may not need insurance. For example, with certain premium bank accounts phone insurance comes free.

If you already have contents insurance your may phone may also be covered, even outside the home. It may be cheaper to add to your contents policy than to get separate insurance for your phone.

However, if you are accident prone, have an expensive handset or are on a contract phone insurance might be ideal. This is because if you have contract you will have to continue paying the monthly fee, even if you lose the phone or it is stolen. What is more you may have to pay for the thief’s phone calls.

Different Types of Cover

There are a number of different cover areas a policy might contain. Your average policy might contain two or three. “Full Cover” policies tend to cover 6 or 8. These are as follows;

Accidental damage: As long as the cause of damage is not neglect, the cost of repair or repayment will be paid. You can also get fire and water cover specifically to cover costs caused by those sources.

Loss: Cost of replacement will be covered, although this sometimes does not apply if the phone was lost in area with easy public access. The cost of accessories and applications and data stored on the phone are not usually covered.

• Theft: Replacement costs will be met. Be aware that definitions of theft vary between providers. For example many insurers do not cover ‘unattended theft,’ where your phone is taken by someone if you leave it lying around.
• Malicious Damage: The cost of your phone will be covered, unless the damage was done by you.
• Mechanical Failures: Covers the cost of the phone breaking outside it’s warranty.
• Fraudulent Calls: Covers the cost of fraudulent calls. Often the cover only kicks in from the time you report the phone as being missing.
• Overseas: Means your policy is effective abroad as well as at home.
• These policy areas will all have different financial limits on them and also different excesses (an extra cost you have to pay in order to claim.)

Getting Insurance

You will normally be offered insurance when you by a phone or take out a contract, as part of a deal or as an added extra. If you have seen a better deal elsewhere remember that you don’t have to take insurance from you contract provider. However, you could use the offer from elsewhere to bargain with your preferred supplier, as their offers are normally negotiable.

If you need a “full cover” policy you’re better off going with a third party, such as a dedicated phone insurance company. They are specialists and can offer more competitive prices.

It is best to shop around. The easiest way to this is to compare prices online and match your required cover to the best quotes on the market. These will vary according to the cover you need, the age of your phone and its value.

Any provider of insurance should be regulated by the FSA so beware of scam companies who aren’t on their register and don’t be persuaded to rush into buying insurance if you receive cold calls or are subject to a pushy salesperson.

Things to Look Out For

Some network work providers, not being insurance specialists, charge similar amounts for insurance regardless of the value of the phone, which can make it a bad deal. They can also be harder to deal with when making a claim fail to measure up in other ways.

Check out the following things;

• Do they have a data back up system?
• Do they have guaranteed replacement times?
• Do they have any admin fees?

Things You May Need to Make a Claim

If your phone is lost or stolen be sure to inform your insurance company as soon as possible, as the speed of response may effect your claim. If your phone is stolen you will need to report it to the police and get an incident number from them in order to process your claim.

To claim you normally need the following things; the phone’s make, model and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, the phone number and proof of purchase, such as a receipt or dispatch order.

You will also need your insurance documentation so be sure to file it in a safe place.

Whatever nervous thoughts you have running through your head, the last thing you need is to have in the back of your mind are worries about a lack of insurance cover. Given that the happiest day of your life may also be the most expensive, with the average wedding now costing a staggering £20,000, it is perhaps surprising that only 13% of couples take out wedding insurance.

Anyone who has ever attempted to plan a wedding will be quick to assure you that it’s an absolutely monumental task, when you consider the myriad, overlapping arrangements that have to be made in order for the operation to come off smoothly. There are a huge number of different arrangements that need to be made and so, naturally, there is a huge potential for minor mishaps, or, if your unlucky, a problem which really takes the sheen off of the proceedings.

Insurance companies have found that the most common problems occurring to couples on their big day include; damage to ceremonial clothing such as the all important dress, non appearances or cancellations by hired parties such as catering staff and musicians, and postponements due to illness, accident or bereavement.

Wedding insurance can often be paid for in a one off, relatively small lump sum, making it much less of a commitment, or ‘gamble’ if you will, than insurance for a car or your home’s contents. Cover can be very wide reaching and some top firms will even offer counselling for couples traumatised by particularly upsetting mishaps occurring during their nuptials.

The cover you get for your money is also very far reaching compared with other types of insurance. For example a one of payment of about £40 will cover for up to £10,000 in cancellation costs. In addition the excess required for pay outs in normally small compared to the size of the compensation, about £25 or so.

The higher the sum you pay the greater the limit of the payout you could potentially receive, however, the amount of cover rises disproportionately to the amount you spend, meaning the more you shell out the better the deal.

What Is Covered?

There are three main areas of cover that people normally use to protect themselves. These are cancellation cover, failure of suppliers cover and insurance to cover any damage that might occur to your wedding garments.

Insurance for your attire stretches further than just the dress, central to the occasion as it may be. It will often also cover the outfits of the bridegroom, bridesmaid, best man and in some cases even the parents of the couple.

Attire insurance can also be included in a single package which also covers cancellation costs or failure of suppliers. These policies will make sure you are compensated in certain situations where you are let down by those who have made a commitment to you.

For example the florist you have chosen to deck out the venue with carnations might go bankrupt between the time you make the arrangement and the agreed date of delivery. Such a scenario is normally covered, under failure to supply.

Plans are normally designed to make sure all areas are considered including, catering, music, venues, transport, photographers, clothes, gifts, rings, marquee covers and even legal fees. If you are adding extra touches to your weeding that require cover, there are often options available to add to your plan, for instance, for ceremonial swords and other such items.

If any costs associated with these areas are lost, such as the deposit paid to the florist in the example above, for instance, the insurance company will make up for them.

Remember that your rings will only be covered by wedding insurance packages for a set time, normally a week or so before hand and on the big day itself. Afterwards you might want to take out a separate insurance policy on them.

In some cases wedding insurance will allow you to sort problems out before hand, in others you’ll be reimbursed after the ceremony. For example, if the band you hire out split up the week before your wedding, your insurers can help you get immediate replacements. If your photos don’t come out they can be retaken. With some mishaps, however, such as a dropped cake, you can only really recover the cost later on.

You can even go so far as to add personal and public liability to your insurance, meaning that should any bizarre acts occur, you’ll be protected, a wise move when emotions are high.

What Isn’t Covered

There are, however, situations in which you almost certainly won’t be covered. For example ‘cold feet’ are not usually part of a wedding insurance and if you or your partner pulls out you’ll have to bear the costs.

Theft is not usually covered, so keep an eye on your rogue uncle if he gets too near the wedding gifts! Damage to clothes due to mis-handling is another area where payouts won’t be received and the same applies to marquees.

You also will be unable to claim for circumstances that you had knowledge of prior to taking out the policy or, in the event that you decide you cannot afford to go ahead with the event, you won’t be able to get a refund on your policy.

Heating cover and boiler cover are the same thing and they provide protection against exigent circumstances that cause a home central heating system to break down. Heating cover helps to avoid high cost repairs of broken down boiler or central heating systems.

Getting Heating Cover

You have two choices how you go about getting cover. Use an online comparison site that compares prices and product features. Or you could simply take a policy on offer from the suppliers listed below, they will also feature on any good comparison site.

• Domestic & General
• E.ON
• HomeAssist
• Scottish & Southern

The cheapest option may not be the right policy for you, make your decision on what is important in terms of service to avoid disappointment.

Note though, you do not have an obligation to your current gas and electric suppliers to use their heating insurance cover.

Why you need heating cover?

Heating cover assures that a qualified engineer will fix whatever problem arises and assures that the entire service is already paid for by your heating cover. Hence parts and labour are covered.

Heating cover also grants peace of mind should your heating system break an awful time like the winter when being without heating and hot water is a dreaded circumstance.

Without heating cover, you risk a long wait for a qualified engineer and will no doubt end up with a much higher bill than the annual cost of a heating cover policy. Hence you have piece of mind on what your costs are.

What heating (boiler) cover will suit me?

Two main products are available:

• A service contract – Includes annual service and maintenance inspection. Service contracts are subject to VAT at 15%.
• An insurance product – An additional annual service and inspection could be added with extra charge. FSA regulated insurance products are subject to an insurance premium tax (IPT) at 5%.

An important step is deciding if you would like full heating system coverage or coverage for just the boiler and the controls. Boiler only products are usually cheaper but offer less cover.

When comparing prices, it is important to check what is covered. Heating cover products vary by price, exclusions and the extent of coverage.

Gas appliance care and maintenance

If you aren’t qualified to fix your own heating system, do not attempt to because you could endanger yourself and the life of your heating system. It is better to call someone registered with CORGI.

Purchasing a CO detector will make early detection possible and could save your life.

FSA Regulated Products

Heating and boiler insurance is deemed an insurance product and as all insurance policies are regulated by the FSA, your policy is.

Who are the FSA?

The Financial Services Authority is a non-governmental body with statutory powers awarded by the Financial Services and markets Act of 2000. One of their aims is to help ensure retail customers get a fair deal.

Single trip travel insurance

Single-trip insurance covers one holiday, while annual trip insurance covers any trips during the year. If you travel a lot, annual coverage can be a great deal as it is about two-and-a-half times the cost of a single week’s coverage. Read the fine print carefully: some policies limit the coverage to 21, 35, or 45 days at a time.

Annual travel insurance

Annual policy coverage starts at the date you choose. While it may seem logical to start on the first day of your trip, it doesn’t cover cancellations until that date: you may be better off starting coverage when you book your trip.

Family travel insurance

Family policies cover everyone in the family under one policy. Some companies offer varying rates depending on the number of children and parents covered, while others have a flat fee for families: this can be a great deal if you have a lot of kids.

Anyone under the age of 18 can be considered a child. Family coverage can cost as little as £50, which is about the same as coverage for adults alone. Make sure to check the terms of the policy carefully to make sure it suits the needs of you and your family.

Business travel insurance

Business insurance is typically sold as an annual policy, as it is assumed you will be traveling multiple times as part of the job. These policies will typically cover office equipment like laptops PDA’s, and sometimes sports equipment for times when you need to make a deal on the golf course. Some business travel insurance offer cover for a colleague’s trip expenses if you are ill.

Over 65s travel insurance

In the past, options have been limited because companies were not willing to insure “high risk” age categories; however, a price comparison tool lets you compare quotes for this age group, letting you shop for policies without visiting a travel agent or specialized provider.

Like business insurance, travel insurance for over 65s is tailored to its customers, with more coverage for medical expenses, which can be as high as £10 million instead of the typical £2 million.

Every Mum and Dad says the same thing when their child asks for a new pet: do you know how much responsibility pets call for? The funny thing is, most of us grow up and forget that very lesson when we get pets of our own.

Our cats, dogs, reptiles, birds or other pets become like parts of our families, and we care for them when they are sick, mourn for them when they pass. When these times come the costs can be devastating, and every day people put down pets they simply can’t afford to help anymore.

But now there is a better way out. Pet insurance offers the same protection and peace of mind more traditional kinds of insurance guarantee, only for our four or little two legged friends.

Pet insurance can cover veterinarian appointments, burial costs, liabilities incurred by damage your pet may do to another person or their property and even the reward if your pet runs away and is returned.

There are, like all insurances, a variety of options and a little bit of online shopping can help you find the best insurance policy for your pet.

Make sure to go over the fine print on this (or any) contract before you sign—too many fly by night companies offer cut-rate pet insurance, excluding important coverage. Also, if your pet has an existing health condition, most companies will not cover its associated costs with any new policies (though they will help for other expenses in the future).

Tesco, E&L, Sainsbury’s and M&S among other insurers all offer competitive rates for pet policies—check out their websites for full details and shop around. You can find a deal that will help you meet your responsibilities at a price you can afford.

Health insurance is insurance to cover health-related expenses, including dental and vision. Health insurance also can meet disability, custodial care, and long-term nursing care needs. It’s obtained either from private insurance companies or from government sponsored social insurance programs, such as Medicaid or Medicare in the United States.

Individuals in the United States can obtain insurance from whichever insurance company they choose, or participate in company-sponsored plans, which cover employees as a group.

The United States has a market-based type of health system, with both non-profit and for profit insurers offering services to customers, who are free to choose from among numerous providers.

Once they choose a plan, they then pay premiums, on a monthly basis or as an annual tax, for the coverage which they chose. Many companies offer coverage to their employees through a certain insurer, and portion is taken from the employee’s paycheck each time to pay for the insurance coverage.

Once a policy is chosen, the individual or the company enters into a contract, with obligations spelled out for both parties. The insurer specifies what kind of services and how much of the cost they cover.

The individual insured also has financial obligations, such as deductibles or co-payments -costs to cover out of pocket.

Health Insurance in the UK

In comparison, the system in the United Kingdom is very different. The National Health Service (NHS), which offers health coverage to all residents of the U.K, is publicly funded through general taxation.

Technically, the NHS it isn’t an insurance system, since there are no premiums, deductibles, or copayments. The organization provides a wide array of services, including long-term care need, dental, vision and hospitalization.

The NHS means free visits to your doctor for all, but there are prescription charges; however those on benefits or the elderly can get their prescription drugs for free. There are NHS dentists too where you can get free or subsidised treatment, again depending upon your financial circumstances.

Private health insurance is also available in the UK. Individuals may choose to have some form of private coverage as a fallback plan, to avoid lengthy waiting lists that the NHS is famous for, and for perceived better service and treatment.

However, private insurance doesn’t cover as many services as does the NHS.

When seeking out health insurance, it’s always good to research several insurers, the coverage plans they offer, and understand the total costs involved. Use an online comparison site. This will help you find the best, and most affordable, plan to meet your specific needs. ]]> http://www.financenet.org/health-insurance/feed/ 0 http://www.financenet.org/life-insurance/ http://www.financenet.org/life-insurance/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:55:20 +0000 admin http://www.financenet.org/?p=70 Life insurance provides monetary protection for families or businesses in the event that the policy holder passes away. The policy holder is usually the main financial contributor of the family, or owner of a business. The family member or business the money is given to is called the beneficiary.

There are two types of life insurance policies.

• Term Life Insurance covers the policy holder during a specified amount of time for a fixed amount of money, for example: £100,000 coverage for one year. Once that time has lapsed, the policy holder is no longer covered.
• Permanent Life Insurance, which includes Whole, Universal, Variable, and Universal Variable, covers the policy holder until the time of his death as long as premium payments are made. The premiums can be fixed or flexible depending on the policy.

The insurance company invests the premium, creating a cash value, which can create a larger death benefit for the beneficiary or as the policy matures can be used to make the premium payment.

The advantage of these policies is that the policy holder can borrow from the cash reserves tax-free. The disadvantage is that the premiums are higher and the investment could lose money.

Life insurance in the USA is regulated by each individual state and insurance sales persons are required to be licensed by the state. It is relatively easy to get insured.

The insurance company has forms to fill out covering medical history, family history, credit history, and they may require a physical examination. All of these items determine the premium amount.

A young, non-smoking, healthy man will pay a much lower premium than an older, smoking, overweight man. In some cases the insurance company will even decline coverage if the risk is too high.

Finally, life insurance, when paid out to the beneficiary is free from income tax.

Building or Dwelling Insurance
This part of the insurance policy covers the actual building. This means the insurance company will pay the amount necessary to repair or replace the house structure, plumbing, electrical wiring, heat and cooling systems, and built-in appliances in the case of a damaging event.

Contents Insurance
This part of a home insurance policy covers the personal property of the people who live in a home, such as clothes, furnishings, appliances, and other personal items. Cars are not included. If a robbery occurs, then this part of the policy will pay for the items stolen.

Legal Requirements
If a person borrowed money from a lender to purchase a home, the lender requires the homeowner to purchase home insurance to protect the lender’s investment. The home policy coverage must be at least the amount of the mortgage.

Ways to Reduce Premiums of Home Insurance
1. Shop around
2. Increase the amount of deductible
3. Don’t insure the price of the building lot, just the replacement value of the house structure
4. Use the same insurance company for cars and home policies
5. Install dead bolt locks, security systems, and good fire alarms
6. Have no claims against the insurance company and maintain a good credit rating

Finding Home Insurance
Finding a home insurance policy can be as easy as perusing the internet. There are online insurance quote services which compare insurance company rates. Also check consumer guides and with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for information on various companies. Talk to local agents to find an agent that is comfortable to work with.

Things to Watch for
1. Read policies very carefully. Check to see what is covered in the policies and what is not. Home insurance policies have exclusions and exceptions, and some will place caps on the amount they will pay for personal property items.
2. Make sure the insurance company is financially stable.

No wonder people often didn’t bother going through the rigmarole and simply renewing with the same old insurance company and losing a potentially better deal into the bargain.

Well, thankfully, this is no longer the case. When you use an online insurance price comparison site you’re using a one-stop shop, one that is cheap, safe, simple and convenient and free to use – not even the cost of a phone call. And, because a price comparison site is often comparing quotes from dozens of different companies, and then calculating the best deal in a matter of minutes, it’s one that can save you a considerable amount of both time and money.

But what price comparison site to use? Their popularity has ensured that this is definitely a growth market and the choice can seem bewildering. The best known ones are obviously the ones with the memorable marketing slogans and the most eye-catching ad campaigns, but all you need to know is that there’re regulated and authorised by the FSA and that they are impartial. So whether it be to compare insurance for home or car, life, health, pet, or holiday cover, it’s certainly the simplest and quickest way to get the right deal.

This is a guest post and views expressed here are entirely of the author. FinanceNet takes no responsibility for the content of external sites linked to from this page.