Archive for April, 2008

Computer Insurance

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Investing in a personal computer is not less an amount. It is next only to investing in a house or a car. So, it’s not unwise an idea to insure your computer and its allied accessories like peripherals and software. However, how much coverage you get for what accessory depends on individual market offer. There are several threats your computer might face. Such as virus attack, data corruption, system crashing down, peripheral malfunctioning and many more. Thus, it is important for you to protect your investment by proper insurance coverage. There are certain aspects of computer insurance you must know.

Coverage under homeowner or renter’s policy

In most of the cases if you have homeowner or renter’s policy your home accessories and assets are also covered in that and so is your computer. It is covered against all the threats and disasters listed in the policy. Thus, if your computer gets stolen or gutted in fire you can claim for the damages. However, your computer gets covered only for the amount listed in your policy.

Replacement cost and actual cash value

Though replacement cost is 10 percent more expensive as compared to Actual cash value, keeping in mind that things depreciate fast, this is a very wise move. The reimbursement you get on replacement cost is the same as the current cost of your computer and not the petty depreciated cost you would get with actual cash value policy.

Coverage for Laptop and portable computer

Laptop and portable computers are considered personal possessions away from home under the homeowners or renter’s policy. Thus, they are also covered under this policy. However, there is a dollar limit on personal possession that are stolen or damaged away from home.

Computers don’t only get covered under the homeowners or renter’s policy. A number of insurance companies offer individual insurance policies for computers as well. It is important to remember that when you buy a computer insurance policy you must retain the receipt of the policy as well as that of the computer and its peripherals very carefully.

Computer insurance is vital for students, business professionals, small business owners, schools, home users with heavy usage and many more people who use computers for their critical applications. Computer insurance does not cover certain items such as maintenance costs, electrical or mechanical breakdown, wear and tear, fraud and dishonesty, consequential loss, and loss or damage caused by sonic bangs. However, they are well covered under the warranty/extended warranty of the equipment.

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the insurance site http://www.insure121.com/ where you will find information, news and links to the leading providers of insurance in the UK. If you found this article interesting you may find more articles of the same nature in the insurance guide located on site.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Health Savings Accounts - What You Should Know!

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

Maybe it took the State of The Union address from President
Bush to bring the concept of Health Savings Accounts out
into the open for all to see. Whatever the case, this is an
idea and reality that is long overdue and a great solution
to health insurance for many people. Health savings
accounts, coupled with a companion low-cost high-deductible
health care insurance plan, will take the bite out of
monthly health care costs for many consumers, and provide a
powerful savings component at the same time. Let’s look at
the details.

While Congress passed the legislation creating Health
Savings Accounts in 2003, it has taken a while for the word
to get out. In a nutshell, the deal is as follows: Health
savings accounts are tax-free savings accounts, which are
necessarily paired with a high-deductible insurance policy
for catastrophic medical expenses. You are able to put as
much as $5150 (family) or $2600 (individual) annually into
these accounts, which are in turn used to cover normal and
customary medical expenses, like doctor’s visits, routine
checkups, etc. Some of the neat things about these accounts,
besides the tax-free part, are that you may carry over
unspent money from year to year, and it does not matter
where you work or for whom. They are completely portable.
Also in most cases, it’s very possible to realize large
savings on your yearly insurance and medical expenditures.
When you are in charge of how much you spend and where, the
possibilities are eye-opening. Plus, you are not tied to any
plan’s particular doctor or medical group: you are free to
choose whoever you want. Health savings accounts, when set
up properly, can not only save you lots of meony, but also
cannot be cancelled except by you.

Another enticing option regarding health savings account is
the savings aspect. If you have a traditional IRA or 401(k)
you get a deduction for all contribututions made yearly, but
after age 65 all distributions are taxed at both the federal
and state level, including capital gains. (Roth IRA’s don’t
apply) With a Health savings account you get the same
benefits as with IRA’s and 401(k)’s, with the major
difference being that monies withdrawn for qualified medical
expenses are NEVER taxed! Also, with health savings accounts
there is no age restriction on when you may withdraw funds
like there are with the others. As far as using these funds
for retirement purposes, health savings accounts are able to
be withdrawn after age 65 for any purpose, without penalty,
though in this case you would pay income taxes. This looks
even better when you realize that account appreciation on
health savings acounts is tax-free, and look even better for
those who are self-employed, who may write off 100% of
health care premiums. So in effect, you are buying a high-
deductible insurance plan, paying the premiums from your
business, and savings oodles of cash tax-free in your Health
savings account. Of course, should you become sick, you’ll
not only have the ability to pay for your care, a major
illness won’t be the family-finance disaster it often is
these days. More than 1 million Americans each year end up
in medical bankruptcy becasue of inadequate coverage. Don’t
let this happen to you!

Health Savings Accounts are a train long overdue finally
arriving at the station. Make sure to climb onboard!

Keith Thompson is the webmaster at http://health.insurance-plans.info/health-savings-accounts
For more information on health savings accounts visit the
site today!

Tags: , , , , , ,

Business Insurance Policies

Friday, April 25th, 2008

There is no denying the fact that success of a business depends on the hard work of the team but one disaster can wipe out your efforts and bring down the profits to dust. So, to avoid such an instance, you need to insure your business, whether it is a small enterprise or a large corporation.

There are insurance companies, which have policies that combine protection for all major property and liability risks in one package. You can also opt for separate coverage. Such a policy is called a business owners’ policy (BOP). Larger companies may purchase a commercial package policy.

BOPs include property insurance for buildings and equipments owned by the company. If there is any loss of income due to disruption of operation and business because of accidents like fire, it can be covered under the Business Interruption Insurance.

There are liabilities, which cover the company’s legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others. It is the result of your company’s failure to do the business operations. It can also be the bodily injury or property damage caused due to defective products, faulty installations and errors in services provided.

However, BOPs don’t cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation or health and disability insurance. Separate policies are needed for professional services, vehicles and employees. Generally, floods, earthquakes and terrorist attacks are not covered in the business insurance.

Protection Against Flood Damage

If your office is in the flood zone area, you must definitely go for a policy, which provide coverage against flood. Try to find out whether the place had been hit by flood in the past. Make sure you do something in advance to make up for the loss. Otherwise you may face trouble.

Protection Against Earthquake Damage

Earthquake is also not included in most property insurance policies such as homeowners and business owners’ package policies. Special Earthquake Insurance Policy or Commercial Property Earthquake Endorsement can cover you if you live in an earthquake-prone area. However, earthquake policies have different deductibles.

Business Interruption Insurance, which reimburses you for the lost income during a shutdown, applies only to the damage covered under your business property insurance policy. There won’t be reimbursement for the loss caused due to the closure of business because of the earthquake. For it, you must have an earthquake coverage policy.

Protection Against Terrorist Attack Losses

In the US, loss due to any terrorism is covered only for those businesses that have optional terrorism coverage. It comes under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act 2002. Still, there are exceptions in workers’ compensation, which include injuries and deaths due to acts of terrorism.

Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the insurance site http://www.insure121.com/ where you will find information, news and links to the leading providers of insurance in the UK. If you found this article interesting you may find more articles of the same nature in the insurance guide located on site.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Close
E-mail It