Auto insurance » Premiums

Different Types of Mortgage Insurance

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:14:21 +0000

There are different kinds of mortgage insurance. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is insurance that protects the lender – the mortgage company. Many home buyers cannot afford to make the traditional 20% down payment on a home. They can make SOME down payment, but they don’t have and can’t get the money necessary to make a 20% down payment. With less than a 20% down payment, the lender is taking a larger risk. PMI is their guarantee that they won’t lose money. The buyer pays the monthly premiums for PMI.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) are both governmental entities that guarantee mortgages. Borrowers must meet certain requirements in order to qualify for an FHA or VA guaranteed loan.

Basically, mortgage insurance works like this. Let’s say that you want to buy a home that sells for $264,000 – that was the average price of a home in the U.S. in October 2007. A 20% down payment would be $52,000. Not many people can come up with that much cash all at one time. If you can make a down payment of, say, $15,000, a private mortgage insurance policy will be written to insure the balance of the usual down payment, and the premiums will be added to the monthly payment.

Many people do not realize that the PMI policy can be canceled after the mortgage has been reduced and/or the home has appreciated in value.

In the past, buyers were not informed that mortgage insurance could be canceled when the loan-to-value ratio decreased to a certain point – usually 78%. The Homeowner’s Protection Act of 1998 made it mandatory for companies to inform buyers each year about the terms and status of their mortgage insurance and give them the option to cancel when it was no longer required by law.

By: Milos Pesic

Vision and Dental Insurance Deal

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:35:26 +0000

Yes, there are insurance plans and policies that give you a package deal on health, vision and dental coverage. Trying to find the right insurance companies is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Thousands of medical insurance companies are fighting for your business. Each of those thousands have hundreds of plans. It’s even more complex because each plan has different expenses, deductibles, and other large and small details that only lawyers can understand them.

There are many insurance companies that provide medical insurance with dental services.

These are the few points you want to consider before finding the right, cheap and affordable health, vision and dental insurance.

1) Can you afford the monthly premium?

As a customer you have to commit to a monthly premium payment, even if you do not use the insurance. It could be worst if you cannot afford the monthly payment and drop out of the plan, you loose all your previous payments.

2) Do you have to pay extra when you make a claim?

Some insurance plan make you pay extra at the time when you visit for medical treatment. These are the fixed amount out of your pocket every time you visit your doctor.

These costs differs according to what is stated in your policy and whether your doctor is in your insurance companies networks. Also based on what kind of medical treatment that you received and many more other factors.

When you were doing the insurance shopping, make sure these costs are clearly stated in your insurance quote.

3) What is your deductible?

Most of the insurance plan require you to pay a certain amount from your pocket before they begin your coverage. Since this amount is deducted from your benefits that’s why it is called deductible.

Deductible amounts will determine your monthly premiums. The higher the deductible amount, the lower your premium will be and vice verse.

Make sure that you know what your deductible will be when you compare your insurance quote.

4) More money from your pocket.

Sometimes you are still required to pay a small percentage of the amount even after the deductible. The percentage could be anywhere between 20% to 30% as stated in your policy.

Again be sure to understand these extra costs when you were doing your shopping.

Can you get treatment by doctors not listed by your insurance plan?

Most insurance plan have a list of doctors that they recommend. These list of doctors are referred to as the network

The insurance companies normally advised you to get your treatment from the doctors in the network, since you could only get maximum benefits from doctors in the network.

What happen when the doctors in the network are not accessible? Normally when you visit doctors that are not in your network you will receive less benefits from your plan and sometimes higher out of pocket expenses.

Be sure to be on the lookout when you study your insurance quote.

Regardless of whether you are buying the whole medical insurance with dental and vision services or just health, vision and dental benefits individually, the above points should be your rough guidelines in making your decisions.

Get different insurance quote from many different plan and companies, compare them and choose the best insurance and dental services for your family.

By: Zul Rahman

DUI Auto Insurance – Don’t Drink and Drive!

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:48:45 +0000

Driving under the influence in the USA is a serious offense which carries dire consequences on your DUI auto insurance. It is therefore very wise to reconsider that thought of driving a car even after a ‘small’ drink. Getting auto insurance after a DUI offense can be very difficult. Keep in mind that conviction of the offense could also mean arrest.

On finding out about your offense (and it is not possible to hide as most states require the offender to get an S-R22 form from their insurers), the first thing that could happen is that your auto insurance policy maybe canceled outright. If your insurance company retains you, then your premiums rates will be raised and you are listed as a ‘high-risk’ driver. In the event of a cancellation, you now have to look for another insurer who would willing to take you on. Chances are that they will be some of the less-famed companies, but be sure they will still give you auto insurance at higher rates.

You will go to the added expense of hiring an experienced DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) lawyer to handle your case in court. He or she may help minimize the effects of your conviction, but the impact on your auto insurance record and on your driver’s record will stay with you for a long time. The court could even suspend your driver’s license for quite a while. Did you know that your conviction can also affect the premiums on your life insurance?

According to drunk driving statistics, an alcohol-related fatality takes place every half-hour in the US. Don’t kill yourself and endanger the lives of others. And stay on the right side of your DUI auto insurance. Don’t drink and drive !

By: Maria Mbura

Auto Insurance Ripoffs

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:15:59 +0000

When you pay your monthly car insurance premium, you may wonder why its so high, and whether you are being scammed. In fact, however, the culprits are usually the people with the insurance, and not the companies providing it. Want to know why? Here are some of the most common auto insurance ripoffs:

Sometimes people will use their insurance to get a new car when their old one is just about to give out. If the driver gets into an accident just as the engine hits 150,000 miles, for example, you have to wonder.

Other dishonest drivers stage a low speed accident, and then claim thousands in medical bills, sometimes going so far as to claim permanent disability.

Taking this a step further, the scammer may even bring a few friends along for the accident, and then claim that these passengers also suffered injuries. The friends settle for a goodly sum, and then give the primary culprit a percentage of their take.

What may seem like a relatively minor scam, but can actually run into serious money is the person who, wanting to make sure that parts are replaced and not just repaired, will intentionally cause additional damage after the accident.

Finally, it may not be the owner of the car but the repair shop who devises the scam. Some shops will drastically inflate the costs of repairs, reasoning that the money isn’t really coming out of anyone’s pocket.

Insurance companies that provide auto coverage have a few defenses against scams. One is the use of deductables. Since the insurance holder has to pay out of pocket the full amount of the deductable before the company has to pay anything, this theoretically reduces the incentive to use insurance. Second, making a claim against your insurance can result in a significant increase in premiums, and this increase can be applied for years. Again, this discourages frivolous and fraudulent use. Finally, fraud is a criminal offense, and offenders can be prosecuted. Those convicted may face jail time.

In the end, though, the people who are hurt most by fraud are the innocent people who do nothing wrong. They are the ones who have to make up for fraud losses in the form of higher premiums. Because every auto insurance quote has some amount factored in for fraud.

By: Aiden Matthew Wilson

Commercial Auto Insurance – How’s It Different From Common Insurance Coverage

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:17:46 +0000

Commercial auto insurance may not be as commonly availed as other types of insurance. But it’s sort of essential for the class it’s meant for – the small and medium sized business enterprises. Incidentally, that’s the chief difference between commercial insurance for automobiles and other common types of auto cover. This coverage specifically caters the companies having several vehicles.

In order to get more business, various companies engaged in selling commercial policies generally offer various kinds of discounts and reasonable premiums. This type of coverage generally comprises six different types of policies. Only some of the types, like third party insurance are mandatory as per law. Due care should be taken to include only those options on your policy that are relevant to your needs. Otherwise, you will end of up paying too much as premium, because all options have their separate premiums. Having understood the basic difference between auto insurance and other types of policies, it is not out of place to look at some other aspects of commercial policy.

Commercial Insurance – Understanding The Significance

Commercial insurance for vehicles is actually a measure to safeguard your company against possible losses owing to accidents involving vehicles belonging to your company. It is not too hard to imagine the catastrophic effect that accidents involving vehicles of your fleet might have on the financial affairs of your company.

Is It Available Online?

Like other types of indemnity, commercial auto insurance is also readily available online. In fact, you will find much better offers for insuring your fleet online than you would in case of companies having physical locations. Online companies offer handsome discounts as well as comparatively low premium amounts.

However, getting policy entails payment of more money compared to common types. Therefore, you must be doubly cautious to steer clear of fake companies operating through Internet. Even when you procure coverage from companies whose reputation is established, don’t ignore to read the terms & conditions in totality.

What Is It Composed Of?

There is no difference in the composition of a commercial policy and other types. In fact, all indemnity policies are divided into three parts: declaration, insuring agreement and terms & conditions. While it’s important to go through the complete document, specific emphasis must be laid on perusing the terms & conditions part. Careful scrutiny is especially important in case of commercial insurance, because it’s actually a combination of different policies. You should get exactly what you require and what you pay for.

By: Andrina James

Cheap Full Coverage Auto Insurance

admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:22:50 +0000

If you are in the market for cheap auto insurance, you are bound to be confused by the wide variety of choices available. It pays to take some time before you make a decision. It is therefore important that you consider several aspects before you take a definite decision. Once you are armed with the basics, you will be ready to go ahead and choose the perfect auto insurance plan for your needs. You can — and should — of course, seek some help. When you hear the phrase “full coverage auto insurance”, do you know what it means? This is simply a comprehensive coverage that would cover you, personally, in every aspect and possible type of insurance the company offers.

For example, coverage for medical costs may be optional with some insurance policies. But if you have a full coverage auto insurance policy, you can have your and your passengers’ medical costs covered, should you be in an accident where injuries are sustained.

A full coverage auto insurance policy also covers liability. This means if you are at fault during an accident, the coverage will enable your policy to compensate for the damages caused by you. It is always advisable to have liability coverage in your auto insurance. Although you may always claim that you had never been at fault, you can never be sure where the blame will ultimately be placed in an accident. It is always better to be on the safer side with auto insurance.

The premium to be paid and the policy period will differ based on the insurance company, your age and also your gender. The age of your vehicle also determines whether you should go for full coverage or not. Supposing yours is an old vehicle on its last legs, it is not necessarily a good decision on your part to go for full coverage, as you will end up paying a higher premium. You may end up paying more premiums than the current market value of your car. Newer cars, or any vehicle for that matter, are better served with cheap full coverage auto insurance policies. There are other comprehensive policies that can cover you in cases of vandalism or arson, as well, though they are not as commonly purchased by people.

You can always check out the various online resources available for more details on cheap full coverage auto insurance. Also, don’t be afraid to get in touch with insurance agents, as they can provide you great information on the current trends in cheap auto insurance.

By: Jennifer Bailey