Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Online Insurance Rates Comparison - Use a Free Online Service to Compare Insurance Rates

Whether you are shopping for auto insurance, health insurance, life insurance, homeowner's insurance, or renter's insurance, it is important that you know how to compare quotes online for free. Why? Saving money has never been easier. Free comparison quotes mean you don't pay for the comparison and since you are comparing these rates, you should get the best deal!

Here comes the important question: How can you find a free comparison website for insurance? A standard internet search on Yahoo or Google will do. Get started by using the phrase "free --- quotes." In the blank --- spot; enter in the type of insurance you are seeking (such as health insurance). You will be provided with a list of links. These links should be to comparison websites, look for those that are free.

Once on a free comparison website, the process is pretty self-explanatory; just follow the directions on the screen. You will be asked some detailed information about your name, address, and so forth. Driving history and healthy history may be needed for accurate auto and health insurance quotes. What you will not need to provide during the early comparing stages in your social security number, credit card number, or driver's license number.

There are two benefits to using a free comparison website: you save time and no dealing with pushy salespeople. In terms of time, one online form will get you anywhere from five to twenty-five insurance rates to compare. The information should be compiled in an easy to format. Moreover, since all you do is fill out an online form and compare rates yourself, there is no need to deal with a pushy salesperson.

It is important to compare insurance quotes before getting signed up with an insurance policy. When you compare insurance quotes you can rest assured you are saving both time and money because you are guaranteed to get the lowest insurance quote.

Given the current recession it is important to make sure to prioritize your money and compare insurance quotes online. A good place to state would be an online website that actually allows you to compare insurance quotes online for free.

A good site to compare insurance quotes online can be found here: Find Cheap Insurance Online

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Steps You Can Take After You Receive Your Insurance Payment

Natural disasters happen in all different regions of this country, whether it is the horrible wildfires that spread across California to the hurricanes like Katrina that hit the southeastern part of the United States.? If you live in an area that continuously has problems like fires or flooding you should absolutely have insurance to cover your home in the event that your property gets damaged.? Northern Kentucky insurance restoration or Greater Cincinnati insurance restoration helps homeowners to get through the steps they need to when they need insurance repairs done to their property from experiencing damage to their properties.

It is overwhelming to either be evacuated from your home due to a hurricane or have your home engulfed in flames from a wildfire and the aftermath of such an enormous devastating event is quite hard.? When you have insurance, the company will do its job to get you the money you need to try to rebuild your home again or fix any repairs that must be done.? Many people do not know what to do or where to start when they receive their insurance payment.? There are special businesses that help homeowners with just that, rebuilding your home with your insurance payment, one step at a time.

If you have experienced water damage or flooding the first thing you need to do is have emergency water extraction as well as get as many of your furniture and items out of the home.? A restoration company may be able to provide you with a storage unit to put all of the salvaged items in until your property is restored.? They will not only help with the water extraction too but they do help with a cleaning of your home too whether it is damaged by wind, water or fire.? Once those initial things are handled, you will be on the right track to being able to fix your home.

Once your home is cleared out and cleaned of all of the debris that may have entered your home during a storm or natural disaster, it is time to figure out the repairs and restoring your home back to being livable again.? Many homeowners do not realize that a restoration company that works with insurance payments can also help with the repairs and even the design and decorating of your home to get it to be nice again.? Many of these businesses even have on site repairmen that can do emergency construction work to stabilize the framing of the home, for example to prevent any kind of collapse.

Designing and decorating is not something a lot of homeowners realize can be offered from your insurance payment by a restoration company.? They can help with a complete new design of a new kitchen including everything from the flooring, appliances, the type of countertops and colors to be painted on the walls.? Most people think of the basics like the heating and cooling systems and the actual framing and construction but not decorating or design.

Connor R. Sullivan has recently worked closely with a Northern Kentucky insurance restoration firm for help with his workplace policies. He also worked closely with a Greater Cincinnati insurance restoration firm for help as well.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Make Your Insurance Company Pay

Denied - Underpayment - Harassment

The story is a common one. A house catches fire and the insurance company refuses to pay the claim or offers payment of less than 40% of the cost to repair the damage. The policyholder tells the company about the new flat screen TV in the family room but she no longer has her receipt...since it burned in the fire. Does she wait to repair the damage while fighting with the insurance company or does she give in and agree to sign a settlement for a lower value just so she can move on with her life?

Our need to resolve losses and move on with our lives equals big profits at insurance companies.

What do you do when you insurance company refuses to pay or delays paying a claim...be it auto, home, business or an accident involving your property?

The same question applies when an insurance company pays only a portion of a claim or deliberately undervalues a claim.

When unnecessary delays, undervaluing of claims occurs deliberately or a policyholder is rushed to settlement of a claim, it is called "bad faith."

In all states, an insurance company is obliged to act with the best interest of the client or policyholder. It does not matter whether you live in Texas or Maine. The legal obligations of an insurance company remain the same. The laws governing specifically when and how such matters are resolved in the courts can vary from state to state. However, the basic tenet governing how an insurance company must operate remains static.

When an insurance company fails to act in a fair and honest way toward its policyholders or is dishonest in any way, "bad faith" is said to have occurred.

Situations in which bad faith can occur vary widely, including auto insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, homeowners insurance, medical malpractice insurance, etc.

Examples of insurance bad faith include but are not limited to:

Delaying payment of claims for an unreasonable length of time

Denying coverage

Denying payment on claims

Failure to investigate a claim in a reasonable manner

Withholding benefits without cause

Underpayment of claims

Undervaluing claims

Unfairly refusing to settle or reimburse claims

Abusive behavior toward policyholders or unreasonable claims processes

Cancellation of insurance policy unjustly

Anyone can bring a civil action against an insurance company when the individual suffers damage due to an insurance company's behavior. Such claims can be brought against companies for auto, home, business, professional liability, health, life, disability, and other types of insurance.

Health insurance can be a little tricky in that employer provided insurance is limited by Federal laws known as ERISA, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. In other words, if you get your health insurance through your employer and a claim is denied, your ability to sue that insurance company may be limited. The laws in this area are in a state of constant change so do not assume you cannot sue. Talk to an attorney first.

How does it work?

Insurance companies employ entire departments of people called actuaries. One definition of an insurance actuarial is "An Actuary is responsible for analyzing the possible outcomes of the types of events that could potentially cause policyholders to make claims against their insurance policies." That about says it all.

It is the job of actuarials to also weigh the likelihood litigation will take place in the case of a loss, the likelihood a policyholder will seek and obtain competent legal counsel, pursue a claim, etc. This is referred to as "risk management," and while these people do not make decisions regarding claims, they do provide the decision makers in insurance companies with the "odds."

On the face of it, forcing a policyholder to pursue litigation can make sound economic sense. If the claim is $50,000, the policyholder is going to have to spend a great deal of time getting their money. So, the claim gets lost, delayed, is undervalued all in a ruse to frustrate the policyholder and drive them to agree to settle for an amount much less than the actual value. It works all too often.

Payment of claims, however, is by no means an easy business. Insurance policies are complex and few policyholders carefully review their policies to assess the exclusions, omissions, etc. prior to filing a claim.

On the other hand, lawsuits have proven that ssome of the nation's biggest insurance companies have denied valid claims in an attempt to boost their bottom lines. These companies have even rewarded employees who would not pay claims, and when all else failed, engaged in outright fraud to avoid paying claims.

Stall. Delay. Fill out more forms. Wait them out!!!

Legal case histories are full of insurance companies routinely delaying claims, knowing full well that many policyholders will simply give up. Some have gone as far as to lock paperwork away in safes. Undoubtedly, the most shameful use of delay tactics has been by long-term care insurers, who often take advantage of their policyholders' age and ill health.

In the words of one regulator, "the bottom line is that insurance companies make money when they don't pay claims . . . They'll do anything to avoid paying, because if they wait long enough, they know the policyholders will die."

Get Qualified Help!

If you or someone you know is battling with an insurance company over a claim, the best course of action is to find an attorney in your area with trial experience in insurance bad faith. This specialty is unlike all others. It is critical that you ask how many actual insurance bad faith trials the attorney has participated in to assess their experience level. If the number is low, keep looking.

It is easy to claim experience and another thing entirely to have built a career fighting insurance bad faith.

The best free and accurate source of finding an insurance bad faith attorney in your area is at http://www.martindale.com. Attorneys are listed in this industry specific directory by specialty and the directory will provide vital information such as years in practice, professional credentials, etc. Martindale Hubbell is considered the legal bible.

Finally, remember that not all insurance companies are out to refuse payment of claims. Mistakes do occur that derail claims, human errors can lead to inappropriate findings. If, however, you have made your best effort to resolve your claims with an insurance company and the result remains unsatisfactory, seek the advice of a qualified insurance bad faith attorney.

Bruce E. Sulzner is a San Diego-based trial attorney with more than 30 years experience in insurance bad faith, personal liability and medical malpractice defense. For more information, please contact: Bruce E. Sulzner, 619-238-8550.

What to Consider If You Are Thinking About Taking Out PPI?

PPI or Payment Protection Insurance is a kind of cover, which is often sold with various types of credit including credit cards, loans, store cards, catalogs etc. This kind of protection is offered to cover debts related repayments in some events like illness and disability of the policyholder.

Under these payment protection insurance policies, the repayments can be covered for a specific period and for a considerable number of consumers, this sort of cover often proves quite calming and gives them their required peace of mind. However, it is often quite expensive and those who are considering getting this cover must keep certain things in mind.

If you are considering taking this cover, the first thing you need to check is to find out the eligibility requirements for this kind of cover. You must ask yourself whether this kind of cover will prove beneficial for you or not? You must not think that this kind of cover will not be offered to you if you haven't been found eligible for it.

Most of the time, the providers of this sort of cover don't check your eligibility and requirement for PPI. Often this expensive cover is sold to you and you can't even make claims against it.

If you are going to purchase a PPI or any other kind of insurance policy, you must look for the small prints and try to understand its different exclusions and benefits. This act will prove quite helpful for you to find out whether the cover that you are going to take will prove effective for you or not. Often retired and self-employed persons don't have any set employment income to protect and this kind of cover is of no good for them.

This cover is quite expensive and you must keep two things in mind before going to have this sort of cover. Ask yourself twice before getting the policy that whether this cover is affordable for you or not. It's true that this kind of cover can provide you peace of mind, but you must also keep this fact in mind that you have to pay a considerable amount to get this peace of mind. Another thing that you need to give proper attention is that whether this cover will affect your other repayments or not.

The miss selling of this kind of protection is a common thing, and you must realize the problems that can occur because of these PPIs sales. You must avoid becoming a victim of this kind of miss selling. Most of the time providers try to convince you that a PPI can prove very effective and helpful for you to get peace of mind. They only do so to get more and more finance, otherwise, they are not interested in bringing peace of mind to you. You must be aware of their traps and decide the things after going through complete investigation and giving proper attention to each of its aspect.

Simon P Jennings is a financial expert. Take opinions of professionals and advise for Unenforceable Credit Agreement now at http://www.claimsadvicecentre.com