As you are checking out, you will be asked whether or not you want an insurance policy on your rental vehicle. Do you need this coverage, or is it simply an additional cost to put more money in the rental agency's pocket?
There are four basic types of coverage: loss damage waiver, liability insurance, personal accident insurance, and personal effects coverage.
Loss damage waiver covers your liability for damage to the vehicle if it is in a collision. The rental company's insurance will cover the damage to the vehicle. Rental cars automatically come with some liability insurance, because the state law will require it. Because most drivers need more liability coverage than what comes with the vehicle, rental agencies offer liability insurance.
If you or your passengers are injured in a crash while driving the vehicle, your medical care could be covered under personal accident insurance. Personal effects coverage, the final type of coverage, will pay for any theft of the things you are transporting in the rental car. Keep in mind that your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy probably already covers the theft of personal belongings, even while traveling.
Do You Need Insurance When Renting a Car?
Before you sign up for the car rental company's insurance policy, make sure you really need it. Some of the insurance products you already own may cover the same things that these insurance products will cover. If you have collision and comprehensive coverage, you are probably already covered for a rental. However, if you only have liability coverage, you may want to consider purchasing the loss damage waiver when renting a car. When you call your insurance agent, find out if loss of use, towing, and administrative charges are covered if you were to wreck the rental.
Another place to look for existing coverage is with your credit card company. Many credit card companies that offer rewards programs automatically insure the rental cars rented with that card.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements
Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements
The Texas auto insurance minimum coverage requirements were put in place to make sure that all drivers have some protection if they are involved in an accident. What Are The Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements?
In Texas, drivers are required to have the following insurance coverage in place:
$20,000 in bodily injury coverage to pay for medical expenses incurred by a single individual injured in an accident where you are the at-fault driver
$40,000 in bodily injury coverage for multiple people injured in an accident where you are at fault. $15,000 in property damage coverage to pay for the cost of repairing the other driver's vehicle. This type of insurance will also pay for damage to road signs, mail boxes, fences, and sheds.
Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements May Not Be Enough
Additional Coverage May Be Necessary
It's a relatively inexpensive way to protect your hard-earned assets if you are responsible for an accident.
As long as you are thinking about insurance anyway, why don't you ask your insurance company to give you a TX car insurance quote for coverage that will pay to repair your vehicle if it is damaged in an accident? If you are still making payments on your car, you may want to look at putting Gap insurance into place along with the Texas auto insurance minimum coverage requirements. This coverage will pay the difference between the Blue Book Value and the amount you owe on the vehicle if it is totaled in an accident.
The Texas auto insurance minimum coverage requirements were put in place to make sure that all drivers have some protection if they are involved in an accident. What Are The Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements?
In Texas, drivers are required to have the following insurance coverage in place:
$20,000 in bodily injury coverage to pay for medical expenses incurred by a single individual injured in an accident where you are the at-fault driver
$40,000 in bodily injury coverage for multiple people injured in an accident where you are at fault. $15,000 in property damage coverage to pay for the cost of repairing the other driver's vehicle. This type of insurance will also pay for damage to road signs, mail boxes, fences, and sheds.
Texas Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage Requirements May Not Be Enough
Additional Coverage May Be Necessary
It's a relatively inexpensive way to protect your hard-earned assets if you are responsible for an accident.
As long as you are thinking about insurance anyway, why don't you ask your insurance company to give you a TX car insurance quote for coverage that will pay to repair your vehicle if it is damaged in an accident? If you are still making payments on your car, you may want to look at putting Gap insurance into place along with the Texas auto insurance minimum coverage requirements. This coverage will pay the difference between the Blue Book Value and the amount you owe on the vehicle if it is totaled in an accident.
Automobile Insurance Rules - Will You Get Covered?
Automobile Insurance Rules - Will You Get Covered?
Automobile insurance rules cover a wide range of situations and aspects of insurance and often differ from state to state, as insurance laws are different across the country. Automobile insurance rules concerning international borders are important to understand. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is another area in which automobile insurance rules vary significantly from state to state. Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage is an optional coverage one can elect to have on their policy which pays for their medical bills when they are hit by a driver who has no insurance coverage. Some states, such as Texas, allow insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist property damage coverage in addition to the uninsured motorist bodily injury. The property damage coverage will pay to fix one's car if damaged by a driver who has no insurance.
When it comes to accidents, automobile insurance rules are usually consistent from state to state with one exception. Accidents in which one driver strikes the other from the rear almost always result in the fault being placed on the driver who strikes the other from the rear. If one is applying for insurance, he or she will pay a higher rate if he or she has no existing coverage. In other words, insurance companies charge people with gaps in their coverage higher rates than people who have no gaps, also known as "continuous coverage."
Automobile insurance rules cover a wide range of situations and aspects of insurance and often differ from state to state, as insurance laws are different across the country. Automobile insurance rules concerning international borders are important to understand. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is another area in which automobile insurance rules vary significantly from state to state. Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage is an optional coverage one can elect to have on their policy which pays for their medical bills when they are hit by a driver who has no insurance coverage. Some states, such as Texas, allow insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist property damage coverage in addition to the uninsured motorist bodily injury. The property damage coverage will pay to fix one's car if damaged by a driver who has no insurance.
When it comes to accidents, automobile insurance rules are usually consistent from state to state with one exception. Accidents in which one driver strikes the other from the rear almost always result in the fault being placed on the driver who strikes the other from the rear. If one is applying for insurance, he or she will pay a higher rate if he or she has no existing coverage. In other words, insurance companies charge people with gaps in their coverage higher rates than people who have no gaps, also known as "continuous coverage."
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Cutting Insurance Budgets Creatively -- Tips For Paying Far Less
Cutting Insurance Budgets Creatively -- Tips For Paying Far Less
You can cut on your insurance budget creatively without putting yourself or family at risk. Here are great tips for paying far less for much more...
1. All professions are not equal -- At least as far as auto insurance is concerned. Scientists are the cheapest to insure while business owners get the highest rates. Statistics, for example, shows that scientists (due to their discipline and way of life) are better risks than every other profession.
If you want to know where your vocation belongs and what to do, ask your agent. Just bear in mind that each insurance provider might maintain a slightly different position.
2. A CLUE (comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report is essential for every home buyer. This report will show you things that could make you pay a lot more for home insurance.
For example, some people do NOT know that they'll pay more if the town they live in has just a volunteer fire service and NOT a full time service. In the same way, The distance of a home to the nearest fire hydrant is a factor in calculating home insurance rates as well as how close it's to a police station.
Get such useful information before buying a house. You could spend less for the house and end up paying much more on insurance.
3. Although this does not affect your homeowners policy directly I'll add it since it affects what you'd have to pay for before you'll be said to have the right coverage for your home. Those who have homes in flood-prone areas pay an additional $400 yearly on flood insurance.
Every mortgagor will insist that you buy it if your home is in a flood-prone locality. Making an adjustment in the region you get a home will lower your insurance budget.
4. Get and compare quotes for all your insurance policies. To do this effectively, make sure you visit at least five or more reputable quotes sites. This simple exercise will easily save you thousands premium dollars if you do it right.
Here are great pages for insurance quotes...
InsureMe Insurance Quotes
Insurance Quotes
Chimezirim Odimba writes on insurance.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chimezirim_Chinecherem_Odimba
You can cut on your insurance budget creatively without putting yourself or family at risk. Here are great tips for paying far less for much more...
1. All professions are not equal -- At least as far as auto insurance is concerned. Scientists are the cheapest to insure while business owners get the highest rates. Statistics, for example, shows that scientists (due to their discipline and way of life) are better risks than every other profession.
If you want to know where your vocation belongs and what to do, ask your agent. Just bear in mind that each insurance provider might maintain a slightly different position.
2. A CLUE (comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report is essential for every home buyer. This report will show you things that could make you pay a lot more for home insurance.
For example, some people do NOT know that they'll pay more if the town they live in has just a volunteer fire service and NOT a full time service. In the same way, The distance of a home to the nearest fire hydrant is a factor in calculating home insurance rates as well as how close it's to a police station.
Get such useful information before buying a house. You could spend less for the house and end up paying much more on insurance.
3. Although this does not affect your homeowners policy directly I'll add it since it affects what you'd have to pay for before you'll be said to have the right coverage for your home. Those who have homes in flood-prone areas pay an additional $400 yearly on flood insurance.
Every mortgagor will insist that you buy it if your home is in a flood-prone locality. Making an adjustment in the region you get a home will lower your insurance budget.
4. Get and compare quotes for all your insurance policies. To do this effectively, make sure you visit at least five or more reputable quotes sites. This simple exercise will easily save you thousands premium dollars if you do it right.
Here are great pages for insurance quotes...
InsureMe Insurance Quotes
Insurance Quotes
Chimezirim Odimba writes on insurance.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chimezirim_Chinecherem_Odimba
Insurance Savings -- Simple Time-Tested Steps You Shouldn't Ignore
Insurance Savings -- Simple Time-Tested Steps You Shouldn't Ignore
There are many ways to reduce what you spend on insurance without downgrading the quality of coverage you enjoy. Let's take a quick look at a few more ways you shouldn't ignore...
1. Take courses in defensive driving. More than making you a better driver, it will help you get cheaper auto insurance.
2. Ensure you have fire extinguishers in your home at very strategic points or near all fire sources. Your kitchen is one crucial point to have one or more working fire extinguishers. You must as well make sure it is adequate for your type and size of kitchen.
And, always remember that you must keep them within easy reach. This may seem insignificant but you'll pay more if you don't have them in your house.
3. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a painless way to lower your rate. This just means your insurance provider withdraws your premiums automatically from your account at specified periods without mailing you payment notices. This saves an insurer's overhead by eliminating the necessity of payment notices or checks. This is why this results in cheaper rates.
4. You will save a lot if you can shop around and do thorough comparison. And to do this right you need to get and compare quotes for each of your insurance policies across five or more reputable quotes sites. Anything less would be doing injustice to the process.
This is because each quotes site will return quotes from about five insurers. But don't forget that there are over 2,000 insurance companies in the US. You can ensure that you get the best deals by getting quotes from a higher number of sites.
Here are great pages for insurance quotes...
InsureMe Insurance Quotes
Insurance Quotes
Chimezirim Odimba writes on insurance.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chimezirim_Chinecherem_Odimba
There are many ways to reduce what you spend on insurance without downgrading the quality of coverage you enjoy. Let's take a quick look at a few more ways you shouldn't ignore...
1. Take courses in defensive driving. More than making you a better driver, it will help you get cheaper auto insurance.
2. Ensure you have fire extinguishers in your home at very strategic points or near all fire sources. Your kitchen is one crucial point to have one or more working fire extinguishers. You must as well make sure it is adequate for your type and size of kitchen.
And, always remember that you must keep them within easy reach. This may seem insignificant but you'll pay more if you don't have them in your house.
3. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a painless way to lower your rate. This just means your insurance provider withdraws your premiums automatically from your account at specified periods without mailing you payment notices. This saves an insurer's overhead by eliminating the necessity of payment notices or checks. This is why this results in cheaper rates.
4. You will save a lot if you can shop around and do thorough comparison. And to do this right you need to get and compare quotes for each of your insurance policies across five or more reputable quotes sites. Anything less would be doing injustice to the process.
This is because each quotes site will return quotes from about five insurers. But don't forget that there are over 2,000 insurance companies in the US. You can ensure that you get the best deals by getting quotes from a higher number of sites.
Here are great pages for insurance quotes...
InsureMe Insurance Quotes
Insurance Quotes
Chimezirim Odimba writes on insurance.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chimezirim_Chinecherem_Odimba
Rules for Insurance Coverage
Rules for Insurance Coverage
Insurance is essentially a contract between the insurer and policy owner. Insurer agrees to pay an amount to the person insured or his nominee at any unfortunate event (according to the policy) or at the date or maturity or at death of the policy owner. Policy owner has to pay a fixed amount called premium in periodic intervals (monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly). Premium amount varies depends on many factors like age of the policy owner, scheme, type of the policy, sum assured etc.
The various types of insurances are:
Car Insurance
If you use an automobile for your business activities - for example, transporting supplies or products, visiting customers, or ferrying employees or customers - you need to make certain your automobile insurance will protect you from accidents that occur while on business. Car insurance takes care of all this.
Health & Disability Insurance
Health insurance is needed to cover the medical costs if you fall ill or hurt yourself and Disability insurance is needed if you are unable to work because of sickness or injury. Insuring Workers
Once you hire an employee, it becomes your duty to compensate to cover what it costs if the employee is hurt on the job and needs medical treatment and income until he can return to work. Compensating injured workers insurance policy takes this load off your head. Umbrella Policies
An umbrella policy offers you extra liability insurance that pays for a loss when the limits of your policy are reached. Suppose, if you're responsible for someone's injury that requires Rs.1, 50,000 of medical treatment and the liability limit in your underlying policy is Rs.1, 00,000, your umbrella policy will pay the additional Rs.50, 000.
Four key rules of insurance coverage:
1. Insure against the big catastrophes and disasters only. Differentiate what you can't afford to pay for out of pocket and always remember that "the cheapest insurance is self-insurance".
2. Carry the largest possible deductibles you can afford. The larger the deductible, the more you are self-insuring and the cheaper the premium will be.
3. Trust only the best-rated insurance companies. You need insurance companies you can depend on and no hidden costs and conditions.
4. Choose your agent carefully. He should not be a mere third party, rather he should be the first person you contact in case of an emergency knowing that he will take a prompt action on the insurance front while you take care of the damage.
5. Study your insurance plan very carefully and discuss every situation possible. Also study the feedback given by previous or existing customers of the company.
Read more articles http://www.FinanceMeter.net
Tarang Bhargava is the CEO of Vexat Inc. and has an affiliate marketing experience of six years. The website http://www.EarnCashOnline.in is Affiliate Marketing invitation that provides an opportunity to Indians to make money through internet using his experience.
Read articles by him at http://www.ArticlesDirectory.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tarang_Bhargava
Insurance is essentially a contract between the insurer and policy owner. Insurer agrees to pay an amount to the person insured or his nominee at any unfortunate event (according to the policy) or at the date or maturity or at death of the policy owner. Policy owner has to pay a fixed amount called premium in periodic intervals (monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly). Premium amount varies depends on many factors like age of the policy owner, scheme, type of the policy, sum assured etc.
The various types of insurances are:
Car Insurance
If you use an automobile for your business activities - for example, transporting supplies or products, visiting customers, or ferrying employees or customers - you need to make certain your automobile insurance will protect you from accidents that occur while on business. Car insurance takes care of all this.
Health & Disability Insurance
Health insurance is needed to cover the medical costs if you fall ill or hurt yourself and Disability insurance is needed if you are unable to work because of sickness or injury. Insuring Workers
Once you hire an employee, it becomes your duty to compensate to cover what it costs if the employee is hurt on the job and needs medical treatment and income until he can return to work. Compensating injured workers insurance policy takes this load off your head. Umbrella Policies
An umbrella policy offers you extra liability insurance that pays for a loss when the limits of your policy are reached. Suppose, if you're responsible for someone's injury that requires Rs.1, 50,000 of medical treatment and the liability limit in your underlying policy is Rs.1, 00,000, your umbrella policy will pay the additional Rs.50, 000.
Four key rules of insurance coverage:
1. Insure against the big catastrophes and disasters only. Differentiate what you can't afford to pay for out of pocket and always remember that "the cheapest insurance is self-insurance".
2. Carry the largest possible deductibles you can afford. The larger the deductible, the more you are self-insuring and the cheaper the premium will be.
3. Trust only the best-rated insurance companies. You need insurance companies you can depend on and no hidden costs and conditions.
4. Choose your agent carefully. He should not be a mere third party, rather he should be the first person you contact in case of an emergency knowing that he will take a prompt action on the insurance front while you take care of the damage.
5. Study your insurance plan very carefully and discuss every situation possible. Also study the feedback given by previous or existing customers of the company.
Read more articles http://www.FinanceMeter.net
Tarang Bhargava is the CEO of Vexat Inc. and has an affiliate marketing experience of six years. The website http://www.EarnCashOnline.in is Affiliate Marketing invitation that provides an opportunity to Indians to make money through internet using his experience.
Read articles by him at http://www.ArticlesDirectory.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tarang_Bhargava
Secrets Your Agent Doesn't Want You To Know About
Secrets Your Agent Doesn't Want You To Know About
Let's take a look at these issues. An agent makes approximately 10%-15% on workers' compensation and 15%-20% on property and general liability policies every year - some cut special deals with the insurance carriers for higher commission rates. Some are as high as 30%. This is a percentage of the total premium. In addition to this, the agency gets an additional contingent amount of money if the agency writes a certain volume of profitable business with an insurance company. So in fact, there is an incentive to write business with some insurance carriers over others - how much commission up front, how much back in profit sharing.
When you receive your insurance proposal does it list the commission on the premium page? Does it tell you what the agency will get if they write business with that carrier? Most agents do not give you the commission amount and agents never say what the contingent profit sharing plan is with each of their carriers. Does your agent work for you? No, they operate a business just like you and it is for PROFIT, but their profit is your loss unless you are savvy enough to know how to navigate the waters. How much profit should they get?
Insurance agents and insurance carriers should make a profit. All for profit companies should. However, it seems that their profit at times is a bit large. Consider that as a consultant we average a savings of 35% on 98% of the accounts we work with in our company. Consider that every year we find a client where we save them 50% or more. This years large savings is over 75%. How can that happen? Are the business owners asleep at the wheel of their own business? No, it is the system that sets it up this way. It is a product that most do not fully understand. Until recently the system only had the "insurance experts" of insurance agents to help business owners out with this process. They are "the system". The best avenue is to look beyond "the system" and that is with independence.
You can hire a full time insurance specialist but they need to be in the insurance industry and know as much as possible about the insurance market place or you can hire a consultant, both need to be paid directly by you - the client. The goals in mind should be coverage for least cost, with excellent service. Who do they work for, one person, you. Why? Because you are paying them to do so - not the insurance companies by how much you pay. The best part of this is some consultants - like our company - believe so strongly in what they do - that they offer the service to companies as a win/win. They are only paid if they save you money without jeopardizing your coverage or quality of carrier in any way. The key to saving yourself from paying to much for business insurance is to know what is available to you and using it. Those that pay the most are those that delay the process or avoid it completely.
Andrea LuoniPresident/ConsultantPremium Rate Analysis, Inc.http://www.pracentral.comMs. Luoni is the President of Premium Rate Analysis, Inc. operating in California and Colorado. She has been consulting business' for over 25 years in the management of their business insurance portfolio and consistently reduces the cost by over 35%.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Luoni
Let's take a look at these issues. An agent makes approximately 10%-15% on workers' compensation and 15%-20% on property and general liability policies every year - some cut special deals with the insurance carriers for higher commission rates. Some are as high as 30%. This is a percentage of the total premium. In addition to this, the agency gets an additional contingent amount of money if the agency writes a certain volume of profitable business with an insurance company. So in fact, there is an incentive to write business with some insurance carriers over others - how much commission up front, how much back in profit sharing.
When you receive your insurance proposal does it list the commission on the premium page? Does it tell you what the agency will get if they write business with that carrier? Most agents do not give you the commission amount and agents never say what the contingent profit sharing plan is with each of their carriers. Does your agent work for you? No, they operate a business just like you and it is for PROFIT, but their profit is your loss unless you are savvy enough to know how to navigate the waters. How much profit should they get?
Insurance agents and insurance carriers should make a profit. All for profit companies should. However, it seems that their profit at times is a bit large. Consider that as a consultant we average a savings of 35% on 98% of the accounts we work with in our company. Consider that every year we find a client where we save them 50% or more. This years large savings is over 75%. How can that happen? Are the business owners asleep at the wheel of their own business? No, it is the system that sets it up this way. It is a product that most do not fully understand. Until recently the system only had the "insurance experts" of insurance agents to help business owners out with this process. They are "the system". The best avenue is to look beyond "the system" and that is with independence.
You can hire a full time insurance specialist but they need to be in the insurance industry and know as much as possible about the insurance market place or you can hire a consultant, both need to be paid directly by you - the client. The goals in mind should be coverage for least cost, with excellent service. Who do they work for, one person, you. Why? Because you are paying them to do so - not the insurance companies by how much you pay. The best part of this is some consultants - like our company - believe so strongly in what they do - that they offer the service to companies as a win/win. They are only paid if they save you money without jeopardizing your coverage or quality of carrier in any way. The key to saving yourself from paying to much for business insurance is to know what is available to you and using it. Those that pay the most are those that delay the process or avoid it completely.
Andrea LuoniPresident/ConsultantPremium Rate Analysis, Inc.http://www.pracentral.comMs. Luoni is the President of Premium Rate Analysis, Inc. operating in California and Colorado. She has been consulting business' for over 25 years in the management of their business insurance portfolio and consistently reduces the cost by over 35%.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrea_Luoni
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