10 Home Insurance Money Saving Tips

Home insurance can be very expensive. By following a few simple tips you can save hundreds of pounds on your home insurance payments.

1. Don’t blow your no claims discount: Don’t claim for small loses. If you haven’t claimed for 3 years, it could easily cut 10% off your payments.

2. Buy a house in a low crime area: Insurance companies have databases with postcodes or zip codes and their crime risk levels.  The higher the risk in your neighborhood the more you will have to pay to insure the contents of your home. So research the crime rate, before you buy.

3. Choose a higher deductible/voluntary excess: The deductible is the part of the policy that the insurance company does not pay. If you had a claim of £1,000 and you have a deductible of £400, the insurance company would only pay out £600. The higher the deductible the lower the monthly payment.

4. Beef up home security: Install locks on all the doors and windows and install an alarm system.

5. Buy all your insurance from one company: If you have one insurance company that you trust, have a look at their packages. If you insure your home, the contents of your home and your car through the same company, it could work out much cheaper.

6. Don’t buy an old house: Older homes can have all kinds of problems with wiring and plumbing. For insurance purposes, the newer your house the better.

7. Don’t buy or build near water or on unstable ground: If you do that most companies won’t touch you and the ones that do will charge an arm and a leg.

8. Join the neighborhood watch: Not all companies allow a discount for this, so find out and then think about joining up.

9. Buy a house made from bricks: Wooden homes are more prone to fire and storm damage. That makes brick homes cheaper to insure.

10. Buy your policy online: The cheapest place to buy insurance is online. Go to multiple web sites. Complete their quote forms and compare their offers.

If you have any home insurance tips or a story to share why not leave a comment.

Protecting Assets with Business Liability Insurance

A business however big or small has responsibilities of many kinds. One of the things every business needs is liability insurance.

When running a small business as a partnership or sole proprietorship it means that both your business and personal assets are at risk. To protect yourself and the business, from financial disasters it is essential to insure yourself with some type of business liability policy.

There are four kinds of liability insurance:

  1. Vehicle Liability Insurance: If you have company owned vehicles you will need this cover. The policy covers damage to vehicles in an accident, injuries to the your employee and to those injured in such an accident.
  2. Professional Liability Insurance: Cover for professional companies such as solicitors, doctors, advertising or design companies.
  3. Employers’ Liability Insurance: This covers employee problems like on site work accidents.
  4. General Liability Insurance: This covers legal action related to the business premises, products, or services.

Here are some sensible tips to help you save on your liability insurance:

You should buy a business liability insurance policy from a reputed insurer. Always make the effort to do a background check on the insurer and make sure that they have no complaints pending at the FSA (Financial Services Authority - they license all financial service providers in the UK). Choose an insurance provider that follows best business practices.

Equine Mortality Insurance

Its estimated that in the UK the horse population is almost one million. Due to the greater value of horse compared to cats, dogs or other common pets and the fact that vet fees are higher too has made the UK equine insurance market is very competitive. Most horse owners will have some form of horse medical cover as a way to cover the high horse treatment fees.

You have made an investment in your horse - emotionally and monetarily. Equine mortality insurance or horse mortality insurance can help with the monetary investment in case your horse dies due to an accident, sickness or disease. Equine mortality insurance is very similar to human life insurance in many ways.

Some Equine mortality policies cover horse theft, others don’t so you will have to check that the policy you get has that, if you need it.

Nearly all equine mortality insurance policies will require that you have a vet check the horse out before they issue the policy. Also if the horse becomes seriously ill you will have to notify the insurance company.

Lifetime Equine Insurance: This is basically an umbrella insurance package which includes equine mortality insurance. Buying lifetime insurance will frequently work out cheaper than buying each of the necessary covers separately. Such a policy takes away much of the pressure with regard to vet fees and while there is a maximum funding amount per year, it will begin again when the policy is renewed, even for existing ailments. Lifetime also mean the full term with no small print excluding horses after a certain age.

Lost Horse / Horse Theft

Horse theft and the number of lost horses are very substantial and while many are returned unharmed and fairly quickly it can be hard work find and retrieving them. Many of the better equine insurance policies will offer assistance towards the cost of advertising for the return of a lost horse as well as a reward for their safe return. Therefore it is essential that you check out what horse cover you have with your policy.

Horse Accident Cover

Horses are finely tuned animals which are susceptible to strains as well as serious injury. Even the cost of a small strain can prove to be expensive, when taking into account veterinary call out, transport, medicines and time. This has attracted many to the competitive horse insurance UK market. While the increased cost of care is reflected in the premium levels, this is a market where a comparison of horse insurance policies on offer can yield rewards.

Best Boat Insurance Tips UK

Having boat insurance is an absolute necessity for all UK boat owners.

There are 2 main types of boat cover that you should have:

1. Physical Damage Coverage:This cover usually includes repair and maintenance of your boat and it’s parts if it’s vandalised, stolen or damaged by wind, hail, fire, lightning, or explosion.

2. Watercraft Liability Coverage: Sometimes even the safest captains can have a nasty accident on the water. This cover will protect you from legal and damage costs associated with accidents on water.

Ten things you should do to get the best boat cover out there:

1. Write down all the details of your boat, year of manufacture, number of owners, replacement cost, use and so on, also get all the relevant documentation about the boat together. Then look both online and offline to locate leading insurers who offer insurance coverage for the model of boat you own.

2. Once you have a list of insurance companies contact then online, offline or through agents. Ask for a schedule of benefits and the policy key facts from which you can determine important aspects of the policy like coverage, facilities, premiums, and so on.

3. Make a comparison of at least 3-4 insurance policies. Compare costs as well as coverage. This will take a bit of time but be worth it when you locate the best policy for your boat.

4. If you want to save time try an insurance agent that specialises in boat insurance. They will most likely be able to get a very good deal.

5. Different boats need different types of cover. Look for some boating sites online, that have specific information on your type of boat and what kind of insurance it needs.

6. Find out what agreed value/stated value; actual cash value; and exclusions and excess means and how hey affect you.

7. Most policies define navigation limits. Understand what it means as well as terminology like brown water and blue water.

8. Ask about umbrella policy. Umbrella policies are affordable around USD 150-500 per million.

9. Look up your prospective insurance company on the FSA(Financial services authority) web site to make sure they have a good history.

To enjoy ownership of a boat you need to ensure that your insurance policy works for you and that your interests and the boat are well protected.

Auto Insurance UK

In today’s market it is estimated that more than 75% of all auto insurance is done through the internet either directly or indirectly. The entry of more competition into the market has put downward pressure on auto insurance premiums in the UK. So insuring online is definitely the way to go.

Whilst the actual number of motor incidents fell by 4% between 1996 and 2002, the costs of personal injury claims associated with them increased at more than 3x the rate of inflation in that period. Since 1996 the level of motor vehicle theft has fallen by more than 50% as improved security systems in new vehicles have been introduced coupled with a growth in identification techniques for vehicles.

Car breakdown insurance

Car breakdown cover insurance is specifically designed to protect you in case your car breaks down. It is not designed to protect you from any other type of costs.

Having your car break down can be very frustrating. If you do not have adequate insurance then you will end up having to pay up for vehicle removal, a temporary car and repair costs. Which can add up to quite a bill. Many people assume that car breakdown insurance comes  standard with all insurance policies. This  isn’t true and in fact most insurers charge extra for it.

Understanding UK Car Breakdown Cover

What you need to look for in a good car breakdown insurance policy is fast service. If you get a break down, the last thing that you want is to wait for hours until help arrives. After all, you are paying good money for protection. So if it happens you want your insurer’s break down contractors to help you out as soon as possible.

There are different types of car breakdown insurance available. When you take out a breakdown car cover policy in the UK , there are a number of factors that it can cover. What you need to check for is roadside assistance, no call out charges, long distance recovery and local vehicle recovery . You should pick a policy that fills your need and fits your pocket.

One important thing to decide is whether you would like a courtesy car if you do break down. Some policies only include call out and towing charges. If you break down will you still be able to travel home and get out to work while your car is being fixed? The likely answer is no and so you will need to look into courtesy car options.

Overall I recommend at least basic car breakdown for all UK drivers. However you should understand the different types of breakdown cover and carefully consider your needs before applying.