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Every homeowner is familiar with the maintenance it takes to keep your home in good shape to avoid future problems. Keeping your property in good repair with regular preventative care is a necessity to make it a comfortable home - but did you know that poor maintenance can have other side effects besides a little damp or dry rot? In the event of a claim on your home and contents policy, insurers will look at your property’s upkeep very carefully, Should your care be found to be at fault, your claim could suffer. Poor maintenance can lead insurers to reduce their payment to you - or worse, refuse to pay altogether.

So how can you avoid this problem? Here are our top ten tips in our once -a-year guide to a well-maintained home. It’s the annual checkup no homeowner can afford to miss!

Start your care plan once winter is over - winter is the time when most problems reveal themselves due to the damage caused by wind, rain, snow and frost. In the springtime, you can assess them properly and take corrective measures. Choose any calm spring afternoon, or even take it up as part that other traditional Easter pastime - doing up the house! If you catch a problem early, it will be much easier to correct and could save you a lot of money, not just in terms of work but the insurance claim we mentioned earlier.

So here it is, our handy guide to home maintenance!

1. Check and clear all gutters - don’t forget any on freestanding buildings like the garage. Unless you have the proper ladders and safety equipment, this can be a dangerous job so you may want to hire a professional cleaner. Clean out leaves and debris. In the autumn and winter, as well as summer showers, gutters are in constant use. Overflowing gutters leak down walls, causing problems with damp inside and out, from redecorating to damp proofing as water penetrates the fabric of the building. A costly affair that can be simply prevented with the right preparation.

2. Examine your roof. You can use binoculars to help. Check for any loose, cracked or slipped tiles. You don’t want rain to get in - there’s no sinking feeling like the one you get on hearing the steady drip, drip, drip of water coming from your ceiling. In addition to nuisance, water can cause long-term, expensive problems like damp or dry rot. Not to mention having to redecorate! There could also be problems in high winds - a loose slate or tile could be blown loose and hit you or a passer-by. Not a risk you’d want to take.

3. Keep an eye on any exterior finishes and paintwork. These are continually exposed to the elements - summer heat can make paint or underlying surfaces expand and crack or blister. When winter comes, these damaged areas contract with the cold and more cracks can start to form, letting in moisture. Once water gets in, frost and ice expand it causing even more damage. It’s well worth tackling any surface damage early with a lick of paint or sealer.

4. If you’re lucky enough to have an old-fashioned fire, you need to make sure that the chimney is swept annually. Not only is soot build-up unsightly, it is a fire risk and a chimney blaze is something to avoid. In the warmer summer months you may not use your fire, but any soot will absorb damp from the air and this may start to affect the brickwork.

5. Check the damp proof course. Make sure it is still intact, and that there is nothing bridging it. Your DPC can’t work properly if it is covered by garden rubbish or other yard debris. If the damp proofing fails, it will no longer protect your property from damp and dry rot.

6. Standard trees and specimen shrubs can add to the look of a property, but some will grow very large indeed - consider that a tree has a root spread at least as far as the branches of its crown. If a tree is overhanging your house, its roots are under your foundations. Removing them - or getting them out of the drainage system - is a very expensive business. The most notorious trees for this are Willows, which love water, and Poplars. In fact if a new house is built within 150 feet of a Poplar tree, the foundations have to be reinforced.

7. Falling trees or branches can cause problems too. If damage is caused to your property from a tree on someone else’s land, you will be covered in the event of an insurance claim. But if you own the land on which the tree grows, its maintenance is your responsibility. If its branches are structurally unsound or the trunk rotten, then it is up to you to keep it in a safe condition or have it removed. While you can keep smaller plants in good order yourself, you may need to have a tree surgeon conduct an annual inspection to ensure that large trees are safe, and not likely to be blown over except in extreme conditions.

8. Rambling ivy or Virginia Creeper may add a touch of the rustic to your home, but climbing plants can cause a lot of damage to the brickwork. Removing them is hard too, with roots penetrating mortar and plasterwork. Any cracks caused will be exploited by bad weather. Ivy is the most damaging, and you need to be especially careful not to let it get in to damage the roof.

9. Have your gas checked by a properly qualified professional. Make sure you choose a Corgi-registered engineer, who will check your boiler, radiators and gas appliances as well as carbon monoxide levels. Springtime is best for this, after the high-use winter period is over.

10. Finally, check the loft. Birds like to creep into roof spaces to nest, with messy consequences, as do wasps. Squirrels can also nest in roofs, and they have one nasty habit that could have a dangerous or even fatal outcome - they like to chew the insulation found on wires. Block up any access to your roof an ensure they don’t take up residence.

Follow our ten tips, and your home should be equal to almost anything the weather can throw at it. You will also be protected in the event of a claim on your home and contents insurance, knowing that your maintenance is up to standard.

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One of the most popular forms of life insurance is the variable life insurance policy. With variable life, one gets permanent insurance (like whole) along with the opportunity to isolate specific investment opportunities at which premiums are directed.

One can invest in any number of opportunities with a variable life insurance plan. In essence, the insured is able to control the investment of the policy’s cash value instead of relying upon the pre-established rate of return provided in a whole life solution. This makes variable life insurance very attractive to those who believe the rates of return offered by more traditional insurance policies can be easily outstripped with superior investment strategies.

However, variable life insurance policies carry with them a level of risk directly proportional to the skill of the investor and the quality of his or her decisions. Although variable policies create an opportunity for tremendous growth, they also allow a market decline to decimate the cash value of the policy. Fortunately, there is some safety net, as variable life policies will retain a death benefit that will not fall below the amount of insurance initially purchased. As such, even an errant investor cannot decimate the true insurance value of the policy, even though he or she may do tremendous harm to its cash value.

Absent consideration of the investment component, variable life policies are quite similar to whole life policies. In both cases, death benefits remain fixed, regular premiums are fixed and the insured can borrow against the cash value of the policy. Also, in both policy types the cash value accumulated by the policy is tax-deferred. The investment component inherent in variable life insurance policies requires they be considered a security by the federal government and a prospectus is issued for all variable life insurance policies. This “security” labeling does not significantly alter the behavior of the plan when compared to other insurance plans, however.

Variable policies provide an opportunity to retain appropriate levels of death benefits while having the simultaneous opportunity to invest premiums on one’s own in hopes of generating a higher cash value for the policy. This creates a tremendous potential upside for variable life insurance policies, but also opens the door for potential losses in cash value depending on investment performance. Although one will not see a change in death benefits if investments fail to adequately perform, they will see a decline in cash value that can significantly reduce the policy’s utility as a source of supplemental retirement income or as a means of handling financial emergency.

Alternatively, a savvy investor can use a variable life policy to create a sizeable retirement nest egg while deferring taxes until dispersal. Successful investment can produce a cash value for the policy that could conceivably dwarf the value of whole life policies. The flexibility of variable life insurance plans and the possibility of generating significant cash value gains makes them a very popular life insurance for those with the skills or insight to invest wisely.

Evan C. Davis works in Medicare customer service and is the webmaster and owner of Easy Insurance Finder. Find out about variable life insurance and online life insurance quotes at http://www.easy-insurance-finder.com.

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If you are employed full-time outside the home or self-employed, finding a health insurance plan that meets the needs of your family can be daunting. The majority of employers have subscribed to an insurance package that they offer their employees and within this package they normally offer several choices. If you are self-employed, it may take a bit more work to find a family health insurance provider that will offer you the coverage you need at an affordable cost.

Gathering family health insurance information

For the individual who is working full-time, talk with your company’s benefits health specialist and request information on the family health insurance package offered. Before you look over the information consider listing what is important for you and your family such as:
* Deductible
* Prescription coverage
* Dental Exams
* Eye Exams
* Extra costs for spouse or children
* Any other items that are pertinent to your family

Once you have your list, review the information you received. Write down any questions and present them to the benefits specialist at your place of employment.

A bit more work is required for the individual who is self-employed. You will have to make a few calls or use the convenience of the Internet and then compare your needs with the offers you have received. In addition, talk to other individuals who are self-employed as well as contacting Chamber of Commerce in your local area.

Family health insurance premiums are based on several variables

Premiums are based on several factors such as:
* Single or married
* With children or without children
* Pre-existing conditions
* Prior hospitalizations
* What options you choose
* Amount of deductible

What are some of the benefits of securing family health insurance?

The benefit of procuring family health insurance is the peace of mind that comes if you or a family member where to need medical care. In the unfortunate event that a family member needs hospitalization you can relax knowing that a major part of the financial expense is covered by the insurance plan you have chosen. In the event that you or a family member require prescriptions on a daily basis it is comforting to know that most, if not all, of the expense will be covered by your insurance.

The importance of looking at your medical history when applying for health insurance coverage

Insurance companies look at family history when making the final approval of an application for family health insurance. Some of the factors that are considered include:
* Prior hospitalizations
* Chronic illnesses
* Family history (your mother and father)

This information is important in assessing the appropriate health insurance coverage that will meet the needs of your family. By taking the time to review the information, looking closely at the needs of your family, and asking questions of the provider, you can be confident in your choice of a family health insurance plan.

Check out http://www.health-insurance-made-ez.com/ for more articles on travel health insurance and cheap temporary health insurance.

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