Showing posts with label Life Insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Insurance. Show all posts

Aug 24, 2008

Five Features of Term Life Insurance

Five Features of Term Life Insurance


The term insurance provides protection against death of an individual for a give term period. It is one of the best policies for short-term protection of the family. There are many positive features of term life insurance policy give some kind of freedom to the insurer so that the customer feels more flexibility under the term life insurance policy.
The most important features are:

Convertibility: In term life insurance policy the policy offer convertibility from the term life insurance to individual whole life term or annual renewable term policy. It will be apply in all States. The convertibility provides facilities to the insurer to changing from term insurance policy to the individual whole life term or annual renewable term policy.

Decreased Term: The term insurance is always available in the decreasing term. In the decreasing term the premium remain same but the face value get reduce every year. It is good choice than the other term. But the reducing of the dropping value will affect you because it does not get death benefits as you expected if you live long.

Changes in Premium: The premium may be increase or decrease based on the proposed earning, mortality, tenancy or disbursals. The state authority has increase or decreases the premium upto define level. It is good that the premium amount may not be increase as utmost level stated in the policy.

Renewable: The term insurance policy is renewable. It permits the insurer to carry on with the present term policy with the all benefits. The insurer must have to follow the rules and he/she must perform the medical examination to extend the date of renewal. The premium will be changes depend on coverage and time period.

Term Rider Facilities: The term insurance provides term rider facilities for the child and the spouse. It is important to give term rider facility for child up to 18 years. While spouse rider available for 20-year period. The term rider facilities are available with some additional premium. It will convert it to individual whole life incase of spouse and child.

The term insurance is good for security for the family in the short-term period. It is very much flexible in nature and have always been considered as the best policy.

Christy Myers is a writer for Term Life Insurance Quotes , the premier website to find term life insurance, term life insurance quote, term life insurance quote online, term life insurance Company, term life insurance policy, term life insurance online and many more.

Life Insurance For Over 50s Gets Cheaper

Life Insurance For Over 50s Gets Cheaper


Most people don't really think about purchasing their own life insurance coverage especially when they are over the age 50. What happens is that people usually get life insurance coverage with their job, but as they move to different jobs, or retire, they just forget about buying their own life insurance coverage.
Many people think about life insurance when their kids are young, but as the kids grow up, the need to hold onto the policy soon fades. Also with recent increased mortgages and loan rates, people are extending their loan terms, so their payments usually last longer than age 50.

It doesn't matter if your children are older, they will still bear the burden of your debts if you were to die suddenly. Think about it. Not only do you have a mortgage, but if you are like most people, you have other expenses and debts as well.

It's a fact that life insurance coverage for those over 50 years old is needed even if you don't have insurance at the present time. Life insurance for older people assures family members that they will not carry the financial burden of the policy holder. Upon a person's death, there are many factors that are involved that require financial assistance that a life insurance policy can take care of.

First burial expenses alone may cost your family up to $10,000 or more. During this time, your family is already going through a stressful time. The thought of carrying extra financial obligations could be devastating to them. Having a good life insurance policy can relieve this burden.

The rapid increase in baby boomers who are age 50 and older has caused the life insurance market to become extremely competitive in reducing their rates for this group. In most cases affording life insurance is getting easier for people over the age 50. Another advantage to having life insurance is that the money put in the policy is usually tax-free income upon payment.

It used to be that for people over 50 years old, insurance premiums were terribly more expensive than for younger clients. Some life insurance companies give older policy holders no choice except to get the more expensive whole life insurance policy. Whole life insurance policies may not always be the best choice. So, you want to make sure to have full understanding of your policy before your purchase.

Here are some things to consider in reducing your life insurance rate if you are over 50:

- Take care of your finances by taking all measures to increase your credit rate. Pay your credit cards and other debt on time.

- Do the best you can to reduce debt so that more money is left for your family's everyday expenses. You don't want all of the pay-out to go to debt alone without helping supplement a lost family member's income.

- Premiums are reduced to those in good health therefore, make all attempts to stop smoking and increase your physical lifestyle.

When looking for life insurance for over 50 year olds, there are many factors that must be considered. The longer you wait, the more chance that your policy will cost you more. Although there are lower premiums available now, it is much better to lock in a rate at an early age than to start later in life.


If you are a baby boomer and need to take Life Insurance For Over 50s then visit Life Insurance Facts and learn more about the life insurance options available to you.

What type of life insurance should I buy?

What type of life insurance should I buy?


Find the most suitable and at a price we can afford There are many types of insurance in the market, find a most suitable life insurance policy for ourselves and for our family, life is unpredictable, but at least we are insured. It is convenient to find out what are the life insurance policies, what they provide us, just consult the experienced life insurance agent and the reliable insurance company.
There are many types of life insurance policies, the type of life insurance policy will determine the premium, choose the most suitable and at an affordable premium.

Term life insurance policy – this is the cheapest life insurance policy because it has no cash value, the buyer pays premiums for a specified term or period of time, may be 10 to 20 years or more, but upon maturity the buyer will not receive any money, within this term the buyer only covered or insured.

Universal life insurance policy – this is slightly more expensive compare to term life policy, but universal life insurance policy has cash accumulation, you can withdraw or you can adjust the premium and face value, you may increase your premium, but it will not expire.

Whole life insurance policy – this is the most recommended by many of the life insurance agents, the premium of course higher than others, but it has cash value, and the cash value may increase, or you can borrow the cash value in case you need money. Whole life insurance policy not only covers you, it can build your cash value as well.

Joint life insurance policy – this is designed to insure two or more person with a single premium, or may be set up as first or second to die, it may be of either term or whole life, it is normally bought to insure couple or for family.

Endowment life insurance policy – some called this a saving insurance policy, the premium of this policy is high, but on return it provides the buyer with high cash value, this is suitable for those who like to have forced saving, and withdraw a sum of cash in future. Whichever policy you wish to purchase, it is better than without one, but find out more on life insurance policies before you buy. You can read and find out more on what is term life insurance, for get more information on whole life insurance explanation, please visit http://www.affordable-life-insurance-tips.com.

How to Pay Less for Term Life Insurance by Reducing You Alcohol Consumption

How to Pay Less for Term Life Insurance by Reducing You Alcohol Consumption


Drinking alcohol is a part of our society and surprisingly can affect your term life insurance rates. Whether it is casual drinking, heavy drinking or alcohol abuse, alcohol manages to find a way into most people’s lives at some point. While some prefer beer, others prefer wine and others prefer liquor. Term life insurance companies consider each type of alcohol the same. For purposes of term life insurance quotes, the amount of alcohol you drink can affect your rates. Alcohol consumption can seem like a tricky and touchy subject. Tracking alcohol consumption can seem even trickier.
How do Term Life Insurance Companies Know Your Drink?

There are a few ways which term life insurance companies can tell if your drinking is something that should be factored into your term life insurance rates. The first way that the companies determine alcohol use is through the questionnaire during your application process. The questionnaire is typically given to prospective clients. The questionnaire asks multiple questions regarding many aspects of life. This includes, among other things, smoking, weight, and drinking. These questions serve as a basis for understanding the alcohol consumption of the applicant.

After the questionnaire, there are two other ways which a term life insurance company can tell if you consume alcohol excessively and if this should affect your term life insurance quotes. One way companies do this is by looking at the applicant’s driving record. If someone has information on their driving record that includes alcohol (such as a DUI) they would likely be considered a heavy drinker, and are putting themselves at risk. Most insurance companies see a history of driving while under the influence of alcohol as a red flag. Companies automatically assume that someone with this type of record heavily abuses alcohol to the point where it could become a liability to insure them.

After the driving record check performed by the term life insurance company, there is one final study that is completed to fully understand the use of alcohol by the client. The client must complete a medial exam before they can offer term life insurance rates. The company is looking for specific red flags in the medical exam that can tip them off to unhealthy issues. Because alcohol can affect the body through the liver and other organs, it can be easily seen through a medical exam. This is why it is important to refrain from giving false information to the company through the questionnaire. If the company finds out that you’ve lied, they can take notice, and consider the life insurance contract to be fraud. This can ruin the entire process.

Why do They Care?

Life insurance companies take drinking into consideration for term life insurance quotes for a reason. The company wants their clients to live a long life. This benefits both parties monetarily, depending on the type of life insurance policy you own. If someone is harming their body or is unhealthy, their life expectancy is statistically shorter. This is why term life insurance rates can go up. Someone who is drinking heavily is considered unhealthy, and therefore, adjustments are made to the rates to reflect the situation.

It Can Be Fixed

If you are a drinker, there is hope. Showing proof of the absence of alcohol in your life (through a renewed medical exam, and a renewed driving record check) can lead to lower term life insurance rates. Stopping alcohol abuse cannot only help your body, but can help your wallet with lower rates.

Sharon Taylor writes articles on life insurance related topics for eQUOTE Life Insurance, a premier Internet resource for term life insurance rates, quotes and useful life insurance resource information.

A Closer Look at Term Life Insurance Quotes

A Closer Look at Term Life Insurance Quotes


Are you looking for low cost term life insurance quotes? Term life insurance quotes are typically the least expensive that you will find, and they offer a death benefit for a pre-determined amount of years. At the end of this term, your policy coverage will end unless either you decide to renew it, or if there is an automatic renewal provision written into the policy.
Term life insurance quotes can definitely be an outstanding help for anyone who is working with a tight budget, but who still want to have the life insurance coverage and protection that they need to ensure protection for their family upon the event of their death.

As a benefit associated with this type of term life insurance, you may also be able to change your insurance policy into a whole life insurance policy at any time during the period of the term, as long as you are willing to pay slightly higher premiums as a result. Your beneficiary will not be charged either federal or state taxes upon your death, which is true among all life insurance policies, both term life and whole life insurance.

Here is a brief look at the different policies associated with term life insurance-

Annual renewable term life insurance - This type of policy is the most common of all types of term life insurance available on the market today. This is a low cost option that is affordable, and really tends to appeal to younger individuals who are just starting to plan a family, or who have a young family looking for early protection. The death benefit for remains level for the entire duration of the term of the policy, and it is more than likely used to pay debts off should the policy holder happen to die during the policy's term.

* The older you become, the more expensive this type of term life insurance coverage will become.

Decreasing Term Life Insurance - These policies work very well especially when it comes to protecting the mortgage on your family home. The policy will decrease the death benefit every single year that the policy remains in force, corresponding with the gradual paying off of the mortgage.

5 Year and 10 Year Term Life Insurance - These policies provide coverage but only for a small number of years. They are generally non-renewable, which typically makes them more inexpensive to purchase.

15 Year, 20 year, 25 Year and 30 Year Term Life Insurance - These policies allow you to select the length of time that you would like insurance coverage for, paying a set premium for that entire period of time. These policies are outstanding for families who have young children still living at home. If you have a five year old daughter, for example, and you want to make sure that she and your spouse are taken care of, you want to make sure that both have the necessary cash on hand to handle bills and expenses in your absence.

A twenty year or twenty-five year term policy would perfectly fit a need like this, making up for the regular day to day expenses that your family will face in your absence. Term life insurance policies like this are affordable which is why they are ideal for protecting family situations.

Sharon Taylor writes term life insurance articles and other helpful material for eQUOTE Life Insurance, providing customers with Term Life Insurance, no-obligation quotes, and other useful life insurance resource information.

When to Reevaluate Your Term Life Insurance Policy

When to Reevaluate Your Term Life Insurance Policy


Term life insurance can be a great alternative to permanent life insurance coverage, although it does depend on the person and the situation. When there is a major event in life, however, people often forget to change their life insurance to match the current changes. It is very important, however, to make the correct changes to your life insurance to be sure that you’re getting the most out of your coverage. No one wants to overpay for insurance they may not need so changing your life insurance plan accordingly may help to alleviate this problem.
Your Family and Term Life Insurance

A key consideration is that many people with families simply do not have enough term life insurance coverage. Life insurance makes sure that these family members are cared for should a situation arise that requires the payout of life insurance funds. At this point, if you are not insured, but are looking for term life insurance, a shorter term may be best. At the end of this term, you may change it into another short term, or you may convert the policy into permanent life insurance coverage that will change with your needs as you get older.

Marriage and Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance should be evaluated when couples get married. After a wedding there is a spouse to take care of and making sure each is covered with term life insurance is very important. There is generally a lot of debt accrued during the early years of marriage, and this debt, most likely, would be difficult for one person to handle. Assuring there is insurance coverage in case something happens to one of the members of the marriage ensures that the other is not left with a large monetary burden. Newly married couples usually do not need large policy coverage. Even buying cars and a house can be huge debts; this does not necessarily require high dollar policies of insurance early in life. This is because people are generally expected to live longer lives today. Whether they are permanent or term life insurance plans, you may be able to purchase a reasonable policy for a reasonable premium. If one or both members have life insurance pre-marriage, this is also a good time to re-evaluate the insurance coverage, making sure the policy can be amended to cover each other.

Unfortunate Circumstances and Term Life Insurance

If you’ve been unfortunate to be a widow or divorced, you may want to reevaluate your term life insurance policy. Because of the situation, you most likely have a current life insurance plan that gives you too much coverage and a high premium, and is more coverage than you may actually need. Changing your term life insurance policy to cover only the financial burdens that may exist now as opposed to when your spouse was still alive. By doing this, you may be able to save on your annual premium.

Children and Term Life Insurance

If you’ve recently had a child, this is an important time to look at your term life insurance coverage, since you’ve recently added someone to your family. It is important to reevaluate your term life insurance policy. You should make sure the coverage covers your financial needs with the addition of a child. It’s no secret that having a child, and taking care of a child until adulthood can be expensive.

Term life insurance needs change as your life changes. Things can happen, whether they are positive or negative, that will affect your coverage needs. You may be under-covered. You may be over-paying. Reviewing your policies to ensure that you have the correct coverage can be beneficial both emotionally and financially.

Sharon Taylor writes articles on life insurance related topics for eQUOTE Life Insurance, a premier Internet resource for term life insurance rates, quotes and useful life insurance resource information.

Key Considerations About No Medical Term Life Insurance Promotions

Key Considerations About No Medical Term Life Insurance Promotions


Have you seen those too good to be true television commercials reporting that you can easily obtain term life insurance coverage for $10 a month without requiring a medical exam? These television offers traditionally claim that you can obtain a relatively large no medical term life insurance policy, for an amount of $50,000 or more. You need to beware of these no medical term life insurance promises though, because many are not quite as straightforward as they appear to be.
First of all, you will never be able to secure the maximum amount of term life insurance coverage by paying such a nominal premium. The insurance company providing the term life insurance would go bankrupt if they offered these extremely low rates for so much insurance coverage, especially when it comes to providing term life insurance without requiring a medical examination of any kind.

The low premium amounts that are offered are only going to offer low benefit amounts. While no medical term life insurance is affordable by nature, nothing is that affordable. People who tend to buy no medical term life insurance are generally the more risky people to insure because they have pre existing conditions or have aged considerably and are still seeking insurance coverage. When it comes to larger insurance policies, the term life insurance rates for no medical term life insurance have to be equally as high.

People who are already in good health are usually willing to go through the time associated with going through a medical examination, since they know that their good health will play a part in determining the low rates for their term life insurance. People, who are in relatively poor health on the other hand, are generally aware that their term life insurance rates will be higher, requiring them to seek no medical term life insurance as their primary alternative.

No medical term life insurance is therefore much more popular for people who are older, or who have poor health and whose term life insurance rates will suffer as a result. For many consumers however, "no medical term life insurance" still may not be the ideal alternative. This is because it may be just as easy to work to improve your health, to get a real term life insurance policy with low rates. Many people who seek no medical term life insurance rates are actually in such poor health that if they were honest on their applications, they would not qualify.

Even if you think no medical term life insurance may be your only option, you should still go out and get a medical exam. This is good not only for your insurance, but also for your life as well. Once you know exactly where you stand in terms of your health, you can begin to take the steps and actions necessary to improve it. It is never too late to work to improve your health, no matter how old you are, or how far gone you believe your health to be.

No medical term life insurance may be an option, but it is not necessarily your best option, and if the policy seems too good to be true, it probably is. No term life insurance policy is one size fits all, and it is important to explore all of your options before you select the insurance policy that you will use to protect your family.

Sharon Taylor writes informative articles for eQUOTE Life Insurance, a premier Internet resource for term life insurance, no-obligation quotes, and other helpful insurance resource information.

May 24, 2008

Report Predicts Good News For Insurers

Car insurers are set to make a profit for the first time in 14 years according to a report released this year. They will make a profit in 2009 because of rises in insurance premiums the report has said. This year the industry faces a loss but the market will make a profit of £30 million pounds next year because the cost of premiums will outstrip the cost of accident claims, the Market Analyst Datamonitor revealed.

According to research, the industry has not seen profit for 14 years due to an increase in claims, including personal injury and accident claims which have increased overall costs for insurance firms. Now though, insurance premiums have become so high that next year they will account for these losses and the market will see serious growth. Intense competition has thwarted any attempts to raise insurance premiums until now, but the researchers have said that since 2001 insurers have been more interested in expanding their market share than addressing the accidents claims bill which damages their profits.

An article in The Herald explored the issue and Andrew Haslip who was involved in writing the report, said: "2009 could be a historic year for the private motor insurance market, putting an end to a painful 14 consecutive years of losses. While insurers have needed to raise their prices, they've been unable to do so due to the level of competition between insurers and the fact that the vast majority of consumers buy on price."

He also told the paper that this profitability would not last as competition peaked again and insurers were forced to lower their premiums due to public demand, he predicted that a year later the companies would once again be trading at a loss. However, despite these revelatory research findings the AA have issued a statement that they believe these predictions to be inaccurate.

In fact, the CEO of the AA recently said that the cost of claims is actually showing no sign of stopping or lowering and that the cost of damage to vehicles is rising by approximately 5% each year. Additionally, he said that accident claims are increasing by 10% each year.” So even as premiums rise so will the costs insurers face. He described the situation in an article online: “It remains a very volatile and competitive market and we don’t see that changing in the immediate future.”

According to The Herald Tribune, “Royal Bank of Scotland , the country's biggest motor insurer, and others have indicated they see the tide turning, but rivals like Admiral warn the pace of change is still very slow, with competition from price comparison websites eating into insurers' profits.” So it’s clear to see that the only way for insurance companies to claw back profits is to raise prices and also that consumers will not let that happen.

For the large majority of customers the policy and insurance company they choose depends on the price of the premium, so to remain attractive to these customers’ insurance companies must strive to under-cut each other, essentially trading at a loss. The popularity of price comparison websites where customers can browse for the best insurance deal and the ease with which accident claims can presently be made against companies means that the industry is in trouble until litigation laws change or consumers have an incentive other than price on which to base their decisions.

Sarah Othman is an author of several articles pertaining to accident claims. She is known for her expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles. See http://www.accidentsdirect.com

May 23, 2008

US Employers Aren't Paying Accident Insurance

It was recently revealed that thousands of workers in New Jersey are getting hurt at work and finding out that their employers have not taken out insurance to cover their injuries. The Star Ledger reported that the problem is a “small but growing slice” of the state's litigious system which pays out a total of $1.8 billion a year in accident claims.

Experts say that the uninsured workers are an unnecessary burden on hospitals, charities and other social services. It is posited by the paper that the US government is not doing enough to tackle the issue and that administration is slack. “An uninsured worker who files a claim for benefits faces a complicated, onerous court system where one in 10 such claims [will drag on] for five years.” An article in The Star Ledger says: “Lawyers openly say they are reluctant to take cases involving the uninsured because they and their clients rarely get paid.”

State officials are failing to adequately track cases and have only looked at 10,000 cases in the past 7 years. Shockingly, people who have applied to state funds which were established 20 years ago in order to get help pay for medical treatments rarely receive any money. Only 1% of those who have signed up receive funds are awarded it and it has been admitted by US officials that they cannot afford to pay out for the worst and most incapacitating injuries.

Criticisms are that the state is spending increasingly less time finding and punishing employers who fail to pay their insurance, despite the fact that audits are unearthing more than 25,000 employees without worker insurance each year. Two thirds of businesses in New Jersey are operating without insurance but little is being done to remedy the situation and this leads to lazy employers ignoring regulations and taking chances with the lives of their staff.

In the Star Ledger expose` Bill Burns who works for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said: "If [employers] do get caught, they attribute it to the cost of doing business.” But it is clear that for some workers the costs run far deeper.

One man was pleased when his employer agreed to pay him $13 an hour in cash to work as a carpenter. The man was up a ladder in October, 2004 when he slipped and fell. He caught his left foot on the ladder and shattered a lower bone in his leg. The accident left the man destitute and seriously injured; he also spent 5 days in hospital. The cost of the man’s treatment was $47,000. He then spent 4 months on crutches. Because he was unable to work and his employer had not insured him for accident cover, he was unable to pay rent and was evicted. He was then homeless. Years after the man’s initial fall the case was still officially unsettled. However, more recently a civil court awarded the man $525,000 for an accident claim which he brought against his previous employer.

The problem for many people who are injured while working for uninsured employers is that the system is failing them and that the litigation process is long and drawn out. Accident claims are the only relief for employees who have suffered and these employees continue to suffer by having to deal with shoddy administration and a lack of interest from government agencies.

Sarah Othman is an author of several articles pertaining to Claims and Insurance. She is known for her expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles. See http://www.accidentsdirect.com.

May 17, 2008

Orphaned Life Insurance Clients

It is obvious to any successful life insurance agency that that orphan leads are important and should not be discounted. If someone has purchased a service from you, keeping them happy and current can help both parties involved. The problem, however, arises from trying to make the seemingly simple phone call to get the orphaned client with a new advisor.
“The problem is simple,” says Rene Lacape, Marketing Manager for Equote Life Insurance. “When you have a client who has not been assigned to an agent for quite some time, it’s quite possible this may be the first time they have heard from your company in years. This is not something they think about daily. Suddenly getting a phone call from a new agent can be confusing and basically a strange feeling at best.”

The call is not about apologizing for the years that have passed since they talked, however. The call is not about trying to impress them and lure them into something else, either. The call is about developing trust and building a new relationship with the customer encouraging them to meet and talk about things. Since it’s likely a new agent is now on the account, getting them to meet for the first time is crucial.

“It’s all about going back over things and getting the client to come in and chat is the best way to rekindle and improve the relationship,” advises Rene Lacape. “They do not want a sales pitch. They do not want a pity party. You have to find a way to connect to the client in a way that will make them interested. If you can get them to feel that it is important to review everything with you, you can make your job a lot easier.”

“One of the most important outcomes is simply a review of their current life insurance policy. You have to get them to go over what they have in a way that makes them feel as if they are not pressured. The key is to not bring up the word “review.” You have to get them to realize that you are new to their account, and that going over the policy together is not to make sure that it is ok. It is often more about getting you both on common ground, and seeing if they need coverage or even change the type of life insurance they have,” said Rene Lacape.

The appointment is just that, an appointment. This is not a policy changing experience. It does not have to be a high-pressure situation that makes the client feel uncomfortable. If you can get them to realize this, you have a much better way of getting them to that appointment. A phone call and e-mail can only do so much. Use these as tools to get to that appointment to get the ball rolling on the advisor/client relationship. It may be difficult, but trying new approaches and a more cautious approach may be more beneficial in the long run.
Jonathan Carlson is a veteran freelance writer covering the life insurance industry.

May 14, 2008

Fat Tax For Life Insurance

A new “fat tax” is being introduced by insurers to punish the obese. The cost of seriously overweight customers will be up to 50% higher when taking out new life insurance policies, the threshold at which the higher rate begins is also going to be lowered.
A new “fat tax” is being introduced by insurers to punish the obese. The cost of seriously overweight customers will be up to 50% higher when taking out new life insurance policies, the threshold at which the higher rate begins is also going to be lowered.

Legal & General, Britain’s biggest life insurer, has confirmed that 13% of new life insurance applicants are facing increased premiums, which currently apply to anyone who has a body mass index of over 30, which is the point people are classified as medically obese.

People with a body mass index of over 30 can face up to a 400% rise in their policy price depending on the insurer’s terms, other high risk categories such as smokers or people with existing or previous medical conditions will also face a hike in price.

For example a 55 year old man who is a healthy, average weight non-smoker will pay approximately £1,000 per year for a £150,000 life insurance policy. If the same man were obese the annual price on a 25 year policy will cost up to an extra £500 per year.

Britain is currently experiencing an epidemic of obesity, weight problems can lead to cancer, heart problems, diabetes and liver disease. 16% of children and a quarter of adults have weight problems which threaten their health, last year doctors wrote more than a million prescriptions for obesity drugs, compared with 127,000 in 1999.

Legal & General’s director of underwriting and claims, Russ Whitworth, said: "Most people understand that poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to health problems but they might not realise that being significantly overweight would also make their life insurance more expensive.

"Although it is not an exact science, we find that BMI is the best indicator of the risk of being overweight, so it pays to stay in shape."

Other insurers have also confirmed they charge up to 50% extra for their cheap life insurance policies. Norwich Union, the UK’s second largest life insurer, admits it raises life insurance premiums once people’s body mass indexes hit 35. Friends Provident, the third largest life insurance premium, begins to increase policy prices when the body mass index is over 33.

A spokesman for Association of British Insurers said: "If you are obese, you are at greater risk of contracting certain diseases. It is just the same as increasing the premium for a smoker or somebody with previous medical conditions."

Endless details are required by life insurance applicants, including their exact weight and height. If you lie to keep the price of your policy down you will face strict consequences from your insurer when you are caught. Your policy may even be invalidated and your insurer is unlikely to pay out if you are classified as obese but do not tell your insurer when taking out your policy.

In a recent case, a 37 year old man told his insurer when taking out his policy that he was 6 foot tall and weighed 16 stone. Five months later he died of a blood clot, but his life insurance claim was not valid because he was found to be 5 foot 9 inches and 21 stone. If his insurer had known his true weight and height his policy would have been increased by 275%.

Life insurance is a protection for your loved ones if something happens to you, it is therefore important, for the sake of your family, to be totally honest when taking your life insurance policy out.
Jemma is an author of several articles pertaining to Mortgages, Insurance, Debts, Credit, Loans, Life Insurance, Bike Insurance, Van Insurance, Health Insurance, Remortgaging, Refinancing and other Business and Finance related articles.

Apr 29, 2008

Buying Life Insurance Online - Is it a Really Good Idea?

Buying Life Insurance Online - Is it a Really Good Idea? By: Michael Challiner
The advent of the internet has opened up the possibility of cheaper life insurance for all.

In years gone by, if you were considering life insurance you would probably have invited an insurance salesman from your favourite insurance company to meet you or alternatively gone to your local insurance broker. But rarely would you have been courageous enough to get competitive quotations. It just wasn't done. You trusted the salesman to do the best for you and surely you thought, life insurance is somewhat technical and requires specialised knowledge. All very cosy. All very expensive. How life has changed!

People now realise that life insurance is not that complicated. If on a scale of 1 to 10, buying car insurance online rates 9, life insurance must be a 7 or 8. This has opened up the Internet as a prime arena for cut-price life insurance. That's not to imply that life policies bought on the Internet are in any way substandard. No, you're most likely to end up with a policy from one of the UK 's big insurers like Norwich Union or Legal & General and they'll be exactly the same policies as you could buy anywhere else. It's just that the intense competition on the internet and efficiency and simplicity of the system, means that most online brokers decide to cut the commission and roll back the savings into lower prices.

Ah yes I hear you saying, 7 or 8 implies that life insurance is more complicated than car insurance. Yes it is - but that doesn't mean that it represents a problem. The companies selling life insurance online recognise that many clients feel that some level of personal advice is useful and indeed, necessary. They accommodate this with a mix of useful information on the web site and more often than not, with a short telephone conversation with a life insurance adviser prior to you buying. This provides reassurance and helps to ensure you really do get the policy options you need all at rock bottom prices.

Buying online certainly is a good idea.

Apr 27, 2008

Weighing Up Your Life Insurance

Britain, as a nation, is getting bigger. Obesity costs the UK an average of £20 billion per annum in disability pay and lost tax payments, and around £15 billion per year for NHS fees, as obese people tend to visit the doctor more frequently. The Government estimates that by 2025 33% of girls and 25% of boys will be of a weight which is hazardous to their health, or clinically obese.

Naturally, these predictions are causing the life insurance companies some concern. On many applications you are asked your current weight – i.e. your weight on the day you fill in your form. If the insurer doesn't like the answer you may find yourself with a significantly raised premium, or even refused cover altogether.

The toll that extra weight takes on a body is well-known by insurers. Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart problems, among other things, all of which make you an insurance risk. For example, a 40 year old man, 5'10" tall and weighing 12 stone could pay a much lower premium than a man of the same age and height weighing 18 stone. Likewise, women weighing more than 16 stone tend to be quoted more than their lighter counterparts.

Of course, if you are overweight and paying a high premium, this can be reduced by losing weight; either by diet and exercise, anti-obesity medications or, in extreme cases, gastric bypass surgery. The latter isn't suitable for everyone but can help a severely overweight person to begin losing weight.

Never be tempted to shave a few pounds off your weight in order to get lower premiums; if you have to make a claim it could be refused because you weren't honest with your application.

Save money on your life insurance by leading a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is a major factor in term assurance premiums. Lose weight - your life assurance might just depend on it.

Online Life Insurance Quotes - Where to Get the Cheapest

What have you bought online lately: books, CDs, DVDs, life insurance? Life insurance? Yes, you can find great prices on online life insurance quotes if you know where to go.

And Where Do You Go?
The best place to go online for fast, accurate, and competitive life insurance quotes is an insurance comparison website. Insurance comparison websites contract with insurance companies to provide you with quotes.

You can get quotes from several companies at once, making it easy to comparison shop and choose a policy that combines good coverage and a cheap price. Better yet, the service is completely free!

When you check out an insurance comparison website, make sure you select one that ...

* Offers reliable A+ rated life insurance companies. The website should state the rating of each company, but you can always check it yourself by going to a credit agency such as Standard & Poor’s (standardandpoors.com), or a consumer rating site like J.D. Power and Associates (jdpower.com).

* Has an online chat feature so you can get answers to any questions you may have from and insurance expert.

* Keeps your information private and secure.

What About Choice?
In addition to being fast and free, insurance comparison websites also offer you choices. Not just choices as to which insurance company you'll select, but choices as to which type of insurance you want:

* An inexpensive term life policy that just provides protection for your family for a set term

* A costlier whole life policy that combines protection with an investment feature

* A universal policy that also includes an investment feature but offers more flexible payments

* A no load policy that offers the benefits of a whole life policy but with limited fees

By going to an insurance comparison website, you can explore all the options available to you. So don’t stop your online shopping with the latest bestseller. Go online to find the best possible life insurance to protect your family.

About the Author: The authors, Brian Stevens and Stacey Schifferdecker, have spent 30 years in the insurance and finance industries, and have written a number of articles on getting cheap online life insurance quotes.

How to Buy a Life Insurance?

Are you interested in buying life insurance? Though buying a life insurance is quite simple, there are some things you should know before you go out and buy one.

• Determine the amount of cover you need: First thing to do is to find out what is the level of life cover you should buy. This is very important as higher cover will attract higher premium and if you don’t need it, extra cover will be wasted. On the other hand, if your cover is quite less, it will not be sufficient to provide you with requisite protection, should you need it. in case, you are not sure what is the optimum cover for you, then contact an independent insurance broker.
• Decide on what your policy should cover: One important thing when buying a life insurance policy is to decide what your policy should cover. This can save you money as redundant cover can needlessly cost you money. E.g. if you already have a separate disability cover, you can skip this rider while buying a life insurance.
• Choose the type of life insurance policy: There are various types of life insurance policies available in the market. They range from the cheapest term policy to the most expensive unit link insurance policy.
• Fix the term of the policy: Decide how long you want the policy to cover you. If you want the policy to cover you till you die, go for whole life plan. In all other instances, you will have to renew the cover once the policy expires.
• Ask for life insurance quotes: After you have decided on the cover, exclusions and term of the policy, you must ask for life insurance quotes. The premium charged for your age and for your life cover will vary amongst the different insurance companies. So it is better to ask for life insurance quotes from various companies to get a fair idea of the amount you will have to pay as premium.
• Compare the life insurance quotes: After you get life insurance quotes from various insurers, study them thoroughly. Find out what each of the policy covers and what it excludes. Shortlist the policies that fulfill your needs.
• Get a feedback about the customer service of the selected insurance companies: Visit the various consumer forums, consumer review websites to find out the user experiences about the customer service of the short listed companies. The important thing to observe here is how soon the company settles the claims. Also find out what happens in case you misplace the policy and the surrender value of the policy, if you are unable to continue paying the premium.

To buy a life insurance, you can either contact the insurance company directly through their website or customer care number. Alternately, you can contact an independent broker who can tell you the benefits and drawbacks of various policies and who gives you the choice of selecting between policies offered by various insurance companies. You can rest assured; you will get an unbiased advice from an independent insurance broker.

About the Author:
Business Planner and Marketing Manager Online Employed with
Bharti AXA Life.

Apr 24, 2008

Getting the Best Life Insurance Quote

Getting the Best Life Insurance Quote By: Stacey Zimmerman

Your life insurance quote is primarily dependant on a number of personal factors, namely your health, family history, lifestyle and age. It's not possible to physically change any of these factors and you definitely shouldn't lie about any of them when applying for a life insurance quote. However, there are ways you can ensure that you get the best deal out of your life insurance quote. It is important to remember, though, that we aren't talking about the cheapest life insurance quote. This is because the easiest way to get the cheapest life insurance quote is to exclude a number of factors from your policy. This may not give you the coverage you require so you should be aiming to combine the best price with the best coverage for you.

What coverage do I require?
This is a very important question and that you shouldn't answer on the spare of the moment or without careful consideration for your circumstances. By taking out a cheap life insurance policy that offers you very little in the way of coverage you are putting your family and their livelihoods at risk. Of course, nobody can answer the question properly except you. You know, or can work out, how much money your family will need to bury you and to replace your lost income. You know how much money your family needs to live on and how much the mortgage and bills cost. You should carefully consider all of these before deciding how much coverage you really need.

Getting your life insurance quote.
By this point you should have all the information you need regarding the level of coverage and other factors. This information is what your life insurance quote will be based on so you need to double check everything to make sure you are going to get exactly what you want and exactly what your family need. If you aren't the money earner, or one of the money earners in your house and you don't have young children then you only really need to cover the cost of being buried whereas being the carer of young children of being the principle wage earner will necessitate a much larger level of coverage and, therefore, a more substantial payout.

When you have the answer to all of these questions you should shop around as much as possible. Clearly express exactly what you want from your policy and make sure that this is what is being offered. If it isn't then the life insurance quote you are getting is not for the life insurance policy you need. Always compare your quotes on a like for like basis or you are unlikely to be getting the best deal you can.

Author Bio
Stacey Zimmerman is the owner and webmaster of Free Insurance Quotes. His site offers free online insurance quotes for homeowners, auto, life, health, car and long term care insurance. Be sure to visit his site www.freeinsurancequotes.us for the latest articles, news and tips on all types of insurance.

Life Insurance - Money Saving Top Tips

Life Insurance - Money Saving Top Tips By: Michael Challiner
More and more people are buying life insurance online and the numbers seem to be doubling every two years. The reasons are clear. Prices are lower on the Internet and life insurance is fundamentally a simple insurance product.

Despite the underlying simplicity of life insurance, most web sites channel their online clients through a telephone based help and advice service manned by experienced personnel. They represent your safety net so if a little technical knowledge is called for, help is at hand.

But it's always a good idea to have a few Top Tips in your back pocket when you're shopping online for life insurance. They'll help you ask the right questions and find the best policy.

1. Always have your Life Insurance policy "Written in Trust".

This means that in the event of a claim, the money goes directly and immediately to the person(s) you nominate when you first take the policy out. It also avoids all possibility of your estate having to pay Inheritance Tax on the proceeds of your policy and that could represent a 40% tax saving !

All you have to do is tell the online brokerage organising your policy that you want your policy "Written in Trust" and the names of the people who the life insurance company pay in the event of a claim. They will then sort it all out for you. The extra good news is that this service is invariably free of charge. So it's a win win situation and there aren't many of those around these days !

2. In the early years a Reviewable Life Insurance Policy will be cheaper but a Guaranteed Policy will work out a better buy in the longer term.

With a "Guaranteed Policy" the insurance company guarantees never to increase your policy's premium.

With a "Reviewable Policy" you agree that your insurance company can review the cost of your policy at regular intervals. But don't be kidded - in our experience a "review" is just another word for a price increase. After all, who's ever heard of an insurance company passing up a chance to charge you more! The review intervals are usually between 2 to 5 years but this does vary between insurance companies. You will find the details of the review intervals on the documents sent to you before you accept the insurance - these are called The Key Features Documents.

So, comparing otherwise like for like policies, in the early years the premiums for a "Reviewable Policy" will undoubtedly be lower than the premiums for a "Guaranteed Policy". Thereafter, the premiums for a Reviewable Policy increase eventually catching up with and overtaking, the premium for a "Guaranteed Policy".

In our experience, you can expect the monthly premiums for a Reviewable Policy to exceed those of a Guaranteed policy in about 7 to 10 years and then within the following 10 years, more than double again. If your budget is currently tight then by all means choose a Reviewable Policy - after all your salary may increase in coming years and ease the strain. On the other hand, if the premiums for a Guaranteed Policy are affordable, we think they represent your best buy.

A footnote. Many insurance companies have stopped offering "Guaranteed" rates for standalone critical illness insurance policies. This because they have experienced much higher claim rates than they initially expected. However, you may still find a Guaranteed life insurance policy that also provides critical illness cover. As we have explained, "Guaranteed" rates are especially good value and if you can get a quote for a Guaranteed life policy that includes critical illness cover, you may have a real bargain.

3. Thinking about a Joint Life Insurance Policy?

A Joint Life Insurance policy is usually written on a first death basis. This means that the policy will pay out on the death of the first policyholder, subject to the policy being in force at the time. This leaves the second person uninsured and older. Older people can struggle to get life insurance at an affordable premium, so rather than a Joint Policy consider taking out separate policies now. Overall it will work out a little dearer - but you get twice the cover and double the peace of mind.

4. Taking out a Life Insurance Policy? Now would be an ideal time to include Critical Illness cover.

Are you likely to need Critical Illness Insurance in the future? Yes? Then consider adding it now to the life insurance policy you're arranging. Why? There are three reasons.

Firstly, a Life Insurance policy combined with Critical Illness cover will work out significantly cheaper than buying two separate policies. Secondly, as we have already explained in the footnote to Tip 2, you may be able to buy a combined Life and Critical Illness policy with a guaranteed premium. That could be a real bargain. Finally, premiums for critical illness cover increase rapidly as you get older - so the sooner you take it out, the cheaper it will be.

5. Don't confuse Terminal Illness cover with Critical Illness cover.

There's world of difference between Terminal Illness and Critical Illness cover so it's important to understand the difference.

Terminal Illness cover pays out the insured lump sum if a Medical Doctor diagnoses you with an illness from which the Doctor expects you to die within 12 months. Most good life policies automatically include Terminal Illness cover at no extra cost. It's basically an early, and welcome policy payout.

A Critical Illness policy pays out the insured lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a wide range chronic illness and there is no life expectancy criteria. Indeed, with many of the insured illnesses you could expect to survive for many years. For example: certain cancers, heart disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, loss of speech, sight or hearing, onset of Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease, third degree burns etc. Say you were an engineer aged 40 and you lost your sight. A Critical Illness policy would pay out immediately and that money could well be vital in helping you and your family through many difficult financial years ahead. If you just had Terminal Illness cover there'd be no chance of a payout.

So as you can see, Critical Illness cover is far more comprehensive than simple Terminal Illness cover and for that reason critical illness cover always costs you extra.
Author Bio
Michael Challiner has 15 years experience in financial services marketing at senior level, the last 5 of which specialised in online marketing. Prior to that he spent 15 years in advertising with two of the world's top advertising agencies, J Walter Thompson and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Apr 21, 2008

Eight Rules for Buying Insurance of Any Kind

By mass the octad rules explained here, you crapper spend money, and meet as
important, you crapper spend yourself from making earnest mistakes when you class for and verify shelter policies.

Rule 1: Buy Insurance Only for Financial Risks You Can’t Afford to Bear on Your Own
The determine of shelter is to counterbalance catastrophes that would scourge you or your family. Don’t impact shelter as a quantity to counterbalance every your losses no concern how diminutive or insignificant, because if you do you’ll consume absent money on shelter you rattling don’t need. For example, if your concern caught blast and destroyed down, you would be pleased you had homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s shelter is worth having, because you probable can’tand you sure don’t poverty tocover the outlay of rebuilding a house. On the another hand, insuring an senior clunker is a squander of money if the automobile is exclusive worth $800. You would be throwing absent money for something you could counterbalance yourself if you had to.

Rule 2: Buy from Insurers Rated A or Better by A.M. Best
Insurance companies go bust, they are bought and sold, and they undergo the aforementioned scheme travails that every companies do. Between 1989 and 1993, 143 shelter companies proclaimed bankruptcy. You poverty to garner a sure consort with a beatific road record.

A.M. Best is an shelter consort monitoring assist that rates shelter companies on reliability. Look for insurers rated A or meliorate by A.M. Best, and periodically analyse to wager whether your underwriter is maintaining its broad rating. If your underwriter goes downbound a notch, study uncovering a newborn shelter company. You crapper belike intend A.M. Best’s directory of shelter companies at your topical open library, and you crapper encounter A.M. Best on the Web at www.ambest.com.

Rule 3: Shop Around
There are many, many, whatever kinds of shelter policies, and insurers don’t promote by price. You requirement to do whatever legwork to correct your needs with the cheapest doable policy. Talk to at small digit brokers to move with. Look for no-load shelter companiescompanies that delude policies direct to the open without a broker attractive a commissionsince they commonly substance cheaper prices.

Rule 4: Never Lie on a Policy Application
If you taradiddle and intend caught, the consort crapper equilibrate your policy. If you untruth on an covering for chronicle shelter and expire during the prototypal threesome eld you stop the policy, the consort module equilibrate your policy, and your beneficiaries module obtain nothing. Health, life, and impairment insurers separate scenery checks on applicants finished the Medical Information Bureau, so you crapper intend caught lying. The scrutiny communicating you verify for chronicle shelter crapper also invoke up a lie. For example, if you preserved baccy in the preceding year, it module embellish up in the test.

Rule 5: Don’t Buy Specific-Risk PoliciesBuy General Policies Instead
When it comes to insurance, you poverty the broadest news you crapper get. Buying shelter against cancer or an uninsurable driver defeats the determine of having an shelter policy. If you impact ulcers, your cancer shelter module not support you. Get broad scrutiny news instead.

Uninsured driver shelter is questionable to protect you if you intend impact by someone who doesn’t impact automobile shelter or doesn’t impact competent automobile insurance. But, in my opinion, you don’t requirement it if you impact competent automobile shelter yourself, as substantially as health, disability, and chronicle insurance. I should saucer discover that whatever attorneys apprize you to circularize uninsurable driver shelter because, by doing so, you haw be healthy to better restitution for “pain and suffering.”

Rule 6: Never Cancel One Policy until You Have a Replacement Policy in Place
If you equilibrate a contract without effort a replacement, you module be uninsurable for still daylong it takes to intend a newborn policy. And if hardship strikes during this period, you could be financially devastated. This conception goes for everyone, but especially for grouping effort on in years, since senior folks sometimes impact pain effort upbeat and chronicle insurance.

Rule 7: Get a High Deductible
You spend money by having shelter policies with broad deductibles. The payment for high-deductible policies is ever lower. Not exclusive that, but you spend yourself every the pain of filing a verify and needing to dicker with shelter consort representatives if you impact a broad allowable and you don’t requirement to attain as whatever claims.

People who acquire low-deductible policies commonly do so because they poverty to be awninged baritone every circumstances. But the cost, for example, of a $400 fender- delivery is commonly worth stipendiary discover of your possess incurvature when compared to the coverall outlay of existence individual for $400 accidents. Statistics exhibit that most grouping impact a fender-bender erst every decade years. The $400 hurts to pay, but the outlay of insuring yourself for much accidents over a ten-year punctuation comes to farther more than $400.

One another thing: If you impact a baritone deductible, you module attain more claims. That effectuation you embellish an pricey aching for the shelter company. That effectuation your rates module go up, and you don’t poverty that to happen.

Rule 8: Use the Money You Save on Insurance Payments to Beef Up Your Rainy Day Account
While you crapper spend money on your shelter premiums by mass the rules
mentioned earlier, it’s belike a bounteous nonachievement to ingest that money for, say, a activate to Hawaii. Instead, ingest some money to physique a nice-sized inclement period money that you crapper entertainer on to clear deductibles. A bounteous sufficiency inclement period money crapper counterbalance both periods of unemployment and your shelter deductibles.

Bellevue WA certificated open businessperson & communicator author L. admiral comptroller has cursive more than 150 books. His bestselling aggregation is Quicken for Dummies, which oversubscribed more than 1,000,000 copies. His books impact oversubscribed more than 4,000,000 copies in arts and impact been translated into more than a dozen another languages.

Understanding Insurance Contracts

Almost every of us module hit condemned discover whatever variety of insurance. Whether it be automobile insurance, bag insurance, upbeat shelter or movement shelter to study foregather a few, we module every hit paying over goodish sums of money to an shelter consort in mercantilism for the pact of nous that comes with lettered that should hardship strike, you are insured. However, how whatever of us hit full apprehended the info of the commendation we are incoming into?

Within every the substantiation that comes with whatever newborn shelter contract, there is contained whatever of the most Byzantine jural viands and contractual outlay that you are probable to encounter anywhere. Insurance companies clear jillions on lawyer’s fees and hit teams of professionals constantly up dating and amending the outlay of their contracts to counterbalance for every doable eventuality. You on the another hand, belike hit rattling lowercase instance to clear effort old with the table of your shelter lessen and module only spring over the important points that are highlighted by the shelter company.

However, there are a pair of things that you crapper do to attain trusty you hit at small a commonsensible discernment of the lessen you are signing. All shelter contracts essentially hit the aforementioned determine and methods. They verify on the venture of an event, which haw or haw not become and clear the outlay of it if it does. This haw be whatever event, but the most ordinary are automobile accidents, concern damage, scrutiny communication and the like. Life sureness is slightly assorted in that it guarantees to clear discover on your death, which alas is ease a quality that is extremity to occur. However, the timing of modification is doubtful and in this significance there is ease a rattling actual venture that you module expire at a instance when your children or relative is completely interdependent on you.

There staleness also be whatever business outlay to the occurrence. The underwriter staleness be healthy to hit a commonsensible intent of the outlay of the expiration if they are to be healthy to intend the toll of the payment accurately. Therefore, patch scrutiny expenses and forfeited earnings are retrievable low insurance, the discompose and suffering, or the unhappiness of losing a idolized digit module not be retrievable low an shelter contract.

Therefore, what you module rattling be hunting for in an shelter lessen is what just is covered. In which circumstances module the lessen clear discover and which occurrences are not covered. Then there are the exclusions and conditions you staleness foregather to ready the lessen valid. This strength allow ownership your entranceway locked or having upbeat checks. Make trusty you see what you hit to do low the lessen and do it.

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the shelter place http://www.insure121.com/ where you module encounter information, programme and course to the directive providers of shelter in the UK. If you institute this article engrossing you haw encounter more articles of the aforementioned nature in the shelter pass settled on site.

Apr 20, 2008

Buying Term Insurance Online - Helping You Get The Most for Your Money

There are individual scheme sites that earmark you to begin the constituent shelter acquire impact on line. The enthusiastic abstract most it is that you hit the concern at your digit tips (mouse) and you are in control. You intend to garner and opt which shelter companies and/or agents that you poverty to do playing with.

Armed with you base underwriting information, much as age, gender, bounds and constituent you crapper do a Google wager for on-line shelter companies and encounter a patron of them. Submit your base aggregation and you hit begun the process. The shelter companies strength wage you a origin excerpt immediately, but wait to center from the businessperson with the full underwritten quote.

One of the benefits of purchase constituent shelter online is that whatever of the sites hit tutorials on chronicle shelter and glossaries of terms. You intend a quantity to do whatever schoolwork before the businessperson contacts you. You crapper be conversant and attain knowledgeable decisions.

You crapper also analyse up on the shelter consort to wager if it’s financially sound. AM Best is an authority that tracks the business solvency of shelter companies. A some clicks on their place module wage plenteous aggregation to earmark you to road shelter companies that are not financially sound.

You strength also poverty to analyse with the shelter division of your state. Check to wager if there are some complaints against the shelter companies you are considering. Lets grappling it, you poverty to impact with a financially good and honored company.

One word of advice, do not untruth on your on-line covering in an endeavor to intend a modify rate. Your covering is utilised to become up with a payment and some shelter consort worth its coefficient module support your online covering with you (in the circumstance you unknowingly clicked non carriage when you rattling meant to utter smoker).

Be an conversant online constituent shelter purchaser.

View our Recommended Life Insurance Company, a ultimate place that has an cushy to modify discover application. It also has a aggregation of enthusiastic content most Home Owners Insurance and Health Insurance