Who Should Buy Long Term Care Insurance?

Who Should Buy Long Term Care Insurance? - Getting insured with long-term care usually comes with a high price tag. Therefore, it’s just normal to ask yourself, “Do I need long- term care insurance? What factors make purchasing a policy a good decision?”

About 70% of people aged 65 and above are estimated to require long-term care services. Meanwhile, about 40% of people between the ages of 18-64 years old might also require this type of care.

Who Should Buy Long Term Care Insurance?

Given these figures, who needs LTCI is more of a question of who can afford its cost, since it’s safe to say that the majority of us will require long-term care sooner or later.

Financial Strength
Income may come from your employment or from your retirement. Your wealth and assets are fruits of your hard work therefore, it’s given that you will intend to protect them. LTC insurance can do exactly that. Should time come that you need to avail of long-term care services, you can be sure that your nest will not be affected of this expense. Thanks to this insurance policy.

Those who are financially capable should consider long-term care insurance. If you have a steady stream of income at a moderate level, then you can consider yourself as such.

If you have a steady source of income, start planning now on how you can pay for long-term care premiums. You may consult a financial adviser on how you can allot an expense for long-term care insurance with how much you earn. Premiums may cost high, but purchasing is very feasible, especially if you are earning a reasonable income.

The rich and wealthy can self-insure and may decide against applying for this policy. On the other hand, the vastness of your wealth can shrink anytime. Furthermore, paying outright for long-term care services can decrease your wealth considerably. LTCI can still work for you as it can act as a safety net for your assets.

Health Condition
If your health is still at its prime, then you’re a great candidate to be a holder of a long-term care policy. Buying while you’re still healthy may entitle you to up to 10% discount off your premiums. You can also have better LTCI coverage if your buy at a younger age.

Some policies may not cover for preexisting conditions. If you already have underlying conditions prior to application, don’t fret. Some policies still cover care for this area; however, there can be a waiting period before benefits will start to kick in.

For Women
Women are expected to live 5 years longer than men. Given their life expectancy, they require long-term care more. 60% of policy holders are women and 70-80% of claims are paid to them. Not lonely do women have a higher life span, they also have a greater need to be covered when it comes to long-term care. (Source: For more full article pleas visit Who Should Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?)

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How Private Firms Step in to Cover Government’s Insurance Plan

Logic Insurance, How Private Firms Step in to Cover Government’s Insurance Plan -The private sector, which didn't quite warm up to the call to open Jan-Dhan Yojana bank accounts to increase access to financial services, is cozying up to the government's efforts to provide universal insurance.

With premiums close to market rates, companies including ICICI Lombard General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance are finding the government's new schemes attractive.

How Private Firms Step in to Cover Government’s Insurance Plan

The government last week launched the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana to provide life cover of Rs 2 lakh at an annual premium of Rs 330 and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for accidental death and disability at Rs 12 a year for a cover of Rs 2 lakh. The life insurance policy can be bought by people up to the age of 50 and the accident cover by anyone between 18 and 70 years old.

"The government is talking about insuring crores of underinsured and uninsured people," said Girish Kulkarni, MD and CEO of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance. "Risk estimates will emerge as we go forward."

From the Rs 330 premium, Rs 44 goes to distributors and intermediaries. Stamp duty of Rs 40 is also deducted from the premium, leaving insurance companies with Rs 246 for a policy of Rs 2 lakh.

"At a certain volume, it makes sense to be selling Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana," said Sanjay Datta, head of underwriting at ICICI Lombard. "We believe that the scheme will be viable if we rope in 40 lakh policyholders."

To make the scheme workable, insurance companies have asked the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority and the government to waive the stamp duty and allow reinsurance on the portfolio.

As per Irda rules, life insurance companies need to retain risks for policies of up to Rs 10 lakh. Since the sum assured with these policies is Rs 2 lakh, they cannot be reinsured. Insurance companies that have been in operation for a few years don't have the capacity and the experience to take on such risks, making it challenging for them to offer government's new policies.

"It is difficult for us to offer a policy at Rs 12," said Bhaskar Sarma, managing director and CEO at SBI General Insurance, a venture with Insurance Australia Group that started in 2010. (Logic insurance article source and writer: Shilpy Sinha)

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The Biggest Innovations that Actually Save Significant Money

The Biggest Innovations that Actually Save Significant Money, Logic Insurance, -There are countless startups sitting on mountains of venture capital money and promising to change the world. Most journalists have focused on the world of payments, and that focus only increased with the launch of ApplePay.

But ApplePay offers convenience, not value. While it is fun using an iPhone at a checkout (if you are lucky enough to find one that accepts ApplePay), it certainly won't help you prepare for retirement.

The Biggest Innovations that Actually Save Significant Money

Technology is finally being used to transform consumer financial services in a dramatic way. You no longer need to settle for 0.01 percent on your savings account. It has never been easier to shop for cheaper auto insurance. You don't have to pay 25 percent interest on that store credit card. You don't have to pay 1 percent (or more) to have customized financial planning. Even student loans can now be refinanced at dramatically lower rates, thanks to innovative startups, and not traditional banks.

Here are the five biggest innovations that can actually save you significant money and help you retire early.

• Branch-free banks deliver savings accounts with rates 100 times better than traditional banks. The largest banks are paying an average of 0.01 percent on basic savings accounts. If you have $25,000 in an account, you will earn a ridiculously low $2.50 interest over the next 12 months. You could easily earn $280 by switching to an Internet-only savings account paying 1.15 percent. And it is easy to find some of the best interest rates online, by using a comparison site like MagnifyMoney, which I operate. 
• Shopping for the best auto insurance premium is easy and quick. The majority of Americans use an agent to make a decision. But agents are tied to just a handful of auto insurance companies and usually cannot give you a full comparison. A number of new websites offer you the ability to compare auto insurance easily and quickly online. One of the best is TheZebra, which has compared over 1,700 products from more than 200 insurance companies. In just a few minutes, and without giving any personal information, you can very quickly see how much you could save on a quote. Even if you don't want to change providers, it is worth doing a quick test drive and seeing if you qualify. 
• Personal loan companies give you alternatives to obscenely high interest rates on credit cards. Store credit cards regularly charge 25 percent, regardless of your credit quality. And credit cards typically charge 15 percent or more. Historically, the only real way to save money was to surf your debt from one balance transfer to another. However, over the last few years, some dynamic new personal loan companies have been created. LendingClub is the most famous, and borrowers refinancing credit card debt cut their interest rates an average of 31 percent. Even better, you can apply for most of these loans without hurting your credit score. If you are looking to refinance your credit card debt and cut up those cards, shop around for the best deal. Go toMagnifyMoney's personal loan comparison page to find the best rate. 
• Low, flat fees for financial planning boost your return. If you go to a traditional brokerage, you will quickly realize that they make money from commissions on trading. As a result, they have a tendency to encourage frequent trading and more expensive products. The data is clear: consistently beating the stock market with actively managed mutual funds is virtually impossible over time. However, stock brokers still make plenty of money trying and failing to do just that. Many financial planners charge a percentage of assets (typically 1 percent) and provide better advice. All of that is changing with companies like Betterment. They charge a low, flat fee to provide financial planning. If you have $100,000 invested, you could save $55,000 over 20 years, by paying only 0.15 percent of your assets as a fee. 
• Companies can refinance student loan debt at lower rates.Interest rates on student loan debt can be extremely high, and America's student loan debt exceeds credit card debt. It isn't a surprise that innovative companies are looking to help qualified borrowers refinance student loan debt. The leader in this market is SoFi, whose variable rates start as low as 1.9 percent. The savings over a lifetime can be dramatic. 

I lived in the Silicon Valley during the first dot-com boom. Sock puppets were trying to sell us pet food, and financial services were left largely untouched. All five of these new business models present existential threats to the profitability of big, entrenched banks and financial service companies.

That is great news for consumers. Hopefully everyone will be moving their emergency fund to an online bank, refinancing their credit card and student loan debt to low interest rates, slashing their auto insurance premiums and virtually eliminating investment fees. Technology has the power to put more money in our pockets. It is now up to us to use that power. (Logic insurance article source: Daily Finance)

About author

Nick Clements is the co-founder of MagnifyMoney.com, a price comparison website that helps you find the cheapest bank accounts, and the best interest rates on your savings and your debt. He spent nearly 15 years in consumer banking, and most recently he ran the largest credit card business in the U.K. You can follow him on Twitter @npclements.

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Why Insurance Policies Need a Checkup

Why Insurance Policies Need a Checkup - Logic Insurance, The insurance industry often urges customers to check their policies every once in a while to make sure everything is up to date. While that sounds like self-serving advice because you know any conversation with your insurance agent will end with a pitch to buy more insurance it's actually a good idea.

As Bill Swymer, an adjunct finance professor at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, observes: "The No. 1 reason people need to be reviewing all insurance policies is because circumstances change, and you do not want to be left underinsured or paying for insurance you no longer need."

Why Insurance Policies Need a Checkup

If you bought life insurance when you were married or after your first child was born, and you're now on baby No. 4, you're probably long overdue for an upgrade. Or maybe after you bought a new car, your insurance policy covered you for every possible circumstance. If you're now driving a clunker that isn't worth the gas you're putting in the tank, you are probably vastly overpaying for your coverage. Some other things you might realize in a review.

You probably have a lot of insurance policies health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance. There may be an error or two or three in one or more of those policies. For instance, Aflac, which provides supplemental health insurance, found in its annual employee benefits study, which surveyed 5,209 employed adults and 1,856 benefits decision-makers at companies, that 42 percent of workers waste up to $750 each year on insurance benefit mistakes.

Ken Davidson, co-founder of Dallas-based Eagle Independent Insurance, points out that you may lower your premium if you regularly compare insurance quotes. "Insurance premiums can frequently change for several reasons," he says, citing homeowners insurance as a type you'd want to look at fairly often. The crime rate, for example, could go up or down, changing your rates. You may have purchased your homeowners insurance policy after recent storms inflated rates, and perhaps yours haven't come down but competitors' rates have.

"So only by comparing different policies at every renewal period -- or even more frequently -- can consumers ensure they're getting the best deal at that time," Davidson says.

Your life doesn't just change. What you cover does. Leigh Needelman, CEO of Florida Assurers, an insurance agency in Miami Beach, Florida, recalls a client whose diamond ring was stolen in a home burglary. Fortunately, it was insured, and the client was sent a $6,000 check. So the client went to the jeweler to replace the diamond ring. But she wasn't able to replace the diamond ring -- or if she did, she had to kick in a lot of her own money. "When the jeweler was given the check to replace the diamond ring, he advised [her] that the ring had appreciated to $18,000," Needelman says.

Even if you aren't concerned about insuring your engagement ring -- maybe you're single or need a microscope to see the diamond and figure it isn't worth the trouble -- if you've been around a while, you have probably collected some stuff over the years, and perhaps a lot of it is expensive.

For instance, maybe you locked in your home insurance rates when your new home was filled with secondhand furniture. If all of that has been replaced with sofas and a dining room table purchased from an actual furniture store, and that 20-inch TV was swapped for a 60-inch set, it may be time to discuss these upgrades with your homeowners insurance agent.

Sure, you'll likely see your rates go up, which is painful, but if a disaster occurs, you'll actually be covered for what you own. According to Liberty Mutual New Beginnings Report, which surveyed 1,936 American adults, fewer than one in five Americans adjust their insurance policy after making a major purchase. 

Only 18 percent have formal documentation of their belongings, meaning, apparently, that everyone else just makes an estimated guess and stores all the information in their heads. One-third of Americans don't know the value of their household possessions, and almost 10 percent are unaware that they should check to make sure they have enough coverage to protect their belongings from theft or damage, the study found.

If you have four different policies with four different carriers, you might want to bundle a few. That is, have your homeowners and car insurance with one company, for example. You can often get discounts of at least 10 percent when you start bundling, says David Spencer, a senior vice president at ACE Private Risk Services, which offers insurance for high-net-worth individuals and businesses.

Why Insurance Policies Need a Checkup

Yes, your insurance agent may talk you into buying more insurance, but at the same time, you may learn that you're due for some discounts. "Homeowners can earn credits on premiums by installing safety devices like burglar alarms, water leak detection systems, battery backups for sump pumps and automatic standby generators. When combined, these credits can reduce homeowners' premiums by 30 percent or more," Spencer says.

Think about that. If you bought a security system months ago, or years ago, and you didn't tell your homeowners insurance agent, you have probably been overpaying on your homeowners insurance for some time. (Logic insurance article source and writer: Daily Finance by Geoff Williams)

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Market Timing Tips & Rules for Insurance Investor

Logic Insurance, Market Timing Tips & Rules for Insurance Investor  - It’s a long held belief that market timing and investing are mutually exclusive, but the two strategies work well together in producing solid returns over a number of years. 

The effort requires a step back from the buy-and-hold mindset that characterizes modern investing and adding technical principles that assist entry timing, position management, and if needed, early profit taking.

While investment advisors proclaim that index funds held for 20 years or longer haven’t lost money in the last 90 years, they don’t tell you how awful it feels to hold positions that are deeply underwater 3, 5 or 8 years after purchasing them. 

Market Timing Tips & Rules for Insurance Investor 

Just ask American investors who lost more than 29 trillion dollars in realized and unrealized losses during the 2008 crash.

Investors can avoid these doomsday scenarios as well as a host of mini crisis exposures, and still enjoy a generally passive approach to their portfolios through technically-oriented risk management principles applied to prospective positions. Start with this set of technical tips that can guide your investments through a gauntlet of modern market dangers.

Become a student of long-term cyclesLook back and you’ll notice that bull markets ended in the sixth year of the Reagan administration, eighth years of both the Clinton and Bush administrations. These historic analogs and cycles can mean the difference between superior returns and lost opportunities. Similar long-term market forces include interest rate fluctuations, the nominal economic cycle, and currency trends.

Watch the calendarFinancial markets also grind through annual cycles that favor different strategies at certain times of year. For example, small caps show relative strength in the first quarter that tends to evaporate into the 4th quarter, when speculation on the new year reawakens interest. Meanwhile, tech stocks tend to perform well from January into early summer and then languish until November or December. Both cycles roughly follow the market adage to "sell in May and go away".

Buy in ranges that are setting up new trendsMarkets tend to trend higher or lower about 25% of the time in all holding periods, and get stuck in sideways trading ranges the other 75%. A quick review of the monthly price pattern will determine how the prospective investment is lining up along this trend-range axis. These price dynamics follow the old market wisdom that "the bigger the move, the broader the base".

Buy near support, not near resistanceThe worst thing an investor can do is to get emotional after an earnings report, using it as a catalyst to initiate a position without first looking at current price in relation to monthly support and resistance levels. The most advantageous entries come when buying an equity that’s broken out to an all-time high or coming off a deep base on high volume.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) breaks out of a 2 year trading range in 2012 and gains 45 points in 16 months before easing into a new range that also lasts 16 months, before yielding a fresh uptrend. Investors felt bullish in the upper half and bearish in the lower half of the 2014 range, although buying into the most negative sentiment at the bottom of the range offered the most profitable entry.

Build bottom fishing skillsTraders are taught not to average down or catch falling knives but investors benefit when building positions that have fallen hard and fast, but show characteristics of bottoming out. It’s a logical strategy that establishes preferred average entry and capitulation prices, buying tranches around the magic number while the instrument works through a basing pattern. If the floor breaks, execute an exit plan that disposes of the entire position at or above the capitulation price.

The descent continued to the 50% harmonic level at 56 while monthly Stochastics crossed the oversold level for the first time since 2009 and price settled on the 50-month EMA, a classic long term support level. Investors have another four months to build positions within the evolving base, ahead of an uptrend that reaches an all-time high in 2014. (See more in: Use Weekly Stochastics To Time The Market Effectively).

Identify correlated marketsAlgorithmic cross-control between equities, bonds and currencies define the modern market environment, with massive rotational strategies in and out of correlated sectors on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This exposes the portfolio to elevated risk because seemingly unrelated positions may be sitting in the same macro basket, getting bought and sold together. This high correlation can destroy annual returns when a "black swan" event comes along.

Mitigate this risk by coupling each position with a related index or ETF, performing two studies at least once a month or quarter. First, compare relative performance between the position and correlated market, looking for strength that identifies a sound investment. Second, compare correlated markets to each other, looking for relative strength in the groups you’ve chosen to own. You’re firing on all cylinders when both studies point to market leadership.

Buy-and-hold until there’s no reason to holdIn a passive approach, investors sit on their hands regardless of economic, political and environmental conditions, trusting statistics that favor long-term profitability. What the numbers don’t tell you is they’re computed with indices that may have no correlation to your exposure. Just ask shareholders who bought into the coal industry in the last 10 years. As a result, it makes sense for investors to identify a capitalization price for each position.

Your profitable investments may also require an exit strategy, although you initially planned to hold them for life. Consider a multiyear position that finally reaches an historic high going back between 5 and 20 years. These lofty price levels mark strong resistance that can turn a market and send it lower for years so it makes sense to take the profit and apply the cash to a more potent long-term opportunity.

Market timing rules using classic technical analysis benefit investments and other long-term positions by finding the best prices and times to take exposure and book profits. In addition, these timeless concepts can be utilized to protect active investments, raising red flags when underlying market conditions change significantly. (Insurance latest news article source and writer: Alan Farley)

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Tax-Free Muni Bond ETFs

Logic Insurance, Tax-Free Muni Bond ETFs - If you’re looking for a safe investment that is likely to deliver slow yet steady returns over the long haul, and where you don’t have to pay federal or local taxes, a tax-free municipal bond might be a good option. 

In order to avoid local taxes, simply invest in a local (city or state) municipal bond. If you invest outside of your own area you might have to pay taxes, which wouldn’t make a tax free municipal bond as appealing as some other safe investment options, such as corporate bonds or certificates of deposit (CDs).

Tax-Free Muni Bond ETFs

There are four big benefits to investing in a tax free municipal bond exchange-traded fund (ETF): liquidity, diversification, safety, tax free. As far as liquidity, unlike open-end municipal bonds or individual municipal securities, tax free municipal bond ETFs allow you to move in and out of your position if necessary. 

There are also no front-end or back-end sales charges. And expense ratios are lower. This last point plays a big role in choosing the right tax free municipal bond ETF. What follows below should help guide you in the right direction (numbers are as of Jan. 30, 2015).

With more than 80,000 issuers of municipal bonds in the United States, you have many more options than the tax free municipal bond ETFs listed above. Just keep in mind that these ETFs offer a lot more diversification.

If you choose not to go the ETF route, you should know that there are two types of bonds: revenue bonds and general obligation bonds.

Revenue bonds are issued by transportation systems, hospitals, power systems, sewer systems, water systems and the like. These bond issuers generate revenue by selling tickets and collecting on bills. Part of this revenue is then returned to you, the investor.

General obligation bonds are issued by states, cities, towns, school districts and so forth. The bond issuer relies on taxes to in order to repay the bonds. Taxes can mean income taxes, corporate taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes and more. 

So instead of complaining about taxes perhaps it’s time to invest in municipal bonds, which will be tax free (in most cases), and allow you to collect on other people’s taxes. (For more, see: Avoid Tricky Tax Issues on Municipal Bonds).

It would be difficult to go wrong investing in tax-free municipal bonds or municipal bonds in general for that matter. However, the former provides you with a lot of diversification. (Author: Dan Moskowitz does not have any positions in MUB, TFI, SHM, or SMB)

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Longevity Annuities Arrive in 401(k) Plans

Logic Insurance, Longevity Annuities Arrive in 401(k) Plans - The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently approved the use of longevity annuities inside of target date funds in 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). They can be included in target date funds used as default investment alternatives, thus qualifying for the safe harbor protection for plan sponsors as outlined in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

In recent years many experts in retirement planning and income have written about the benefits of retirees having the option to annuitize all or part of their retirement plans in the same fashion as a defined benefit pension plan. 

What is Longevity Annuities Arrive in 401(k) Plans?

They argue that defined contribution plans put the onus of managing retirement on the shoulders of retirees who may or may not have the skills needed.

QualificaionAs part of the new rules this portion of the investor’s 401(k) or IRA will be exempt from the required minimum distributions that would normally kick in at age 70 ½. The annuity contract must meet the specifications for a qualified longevity annuity contract (QLAC): 

• Only 25% of any employment retirement plan or IRA can be invested in a QLAC. 
• The cumulative dollar amount invested across all retirement accounts may not exceed the lessor of $125,000 or the 25% threshold. The $125,000 dollar amount will be indexed for inflation. 
• The limitations will apply separately for each spouse with their own retirement accounts. 
• The QLAC must begin its payouts by age 85 (or earlier). 
• The QLAC must provide fixed payouts that can be adjusted for inflation. 
• The QLAC can have a return-of-premium death benefit payable to heirs should the retiree die before or after the benefit begins. 

There are still many questions to be answered surrounding these new rules. Here are a few thoughts on these new deferred income annuities for 401(k) plans.

Deferred AnnuitiesPayments may be deferred as far out as age 85. The thought process is that these retirees will at least have something left if they overspend during their early years of retirement and/or if their investment results are not sufficient to keep the value of their nest egg at a point where they will not outlive their assets.

How Will the Annuity Be Selected?One question is how the annuity provider will be selected for a 401(k) plan? Since they will be included as part of the target date fund family offered in the plan will the fund providers bring in their own annuity provider?

In the case of the “Big Three” providers, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) all already offer annuities so it would not be inconceivable that they would partner with the insurance companies they already work with to create a QLAC offering.

Many insurance companies are already in the 401(k) business and will likely see this as a huge revenue opportunity and will offer QLACs in the various target date funds they offer to 401(k) plan sponsors.

A likely scenario is that the responsibility for selecting a QLAC product will fall on the plan sponsor who already is charged with selecting the investment choices offered within their plans. They in turn will likely rely on the plan’s outside investment advisor or in the case of some plans the insurance agent or registered rep servicing the plan.

In the latter arrangement the commission on these annuities will be a real boon to the agents and registered reps and plan sponsors need to be extra diligent in monitoring the selection process to ensure the best interests of their employees are being served. 

Are They Portable?It is not uncommon for people to work at five or more employers during the course of their career. What happens if an investor allocates a portion of their 401(k) plan assets to the purchase of one of these annuities and then leaves that employer? Can the annuity benefit purchased be rolled over to a new employer’s plan or to an IRA? Or is the retirement plan participant just out the money used to fund the premiums?

Is This a Good Deal for Participants?Any decision as to whether to buy an annuity to fund a portion of one’s retirement income will in part depend upon the terms of the annuity offered. What are the contract’s underlying expenses? If an annuity is a viable option is this the way for an investor to go? Are there better alternatives available outside of their retirement plan?

A part of the decision will hinge on the participant’s situation. Are they comfortable managing their own investments and more importantly with managing the withdrawal process during retirement? Do they have a trusted financial advisor in place to assist them in these areas?

What other retirement resources do they have? Are they covered by Social Security or a defined benefit pension plan? If they are married the retirement assets of both spouses should be considered.

Clients will have many questions once QLACs become readily available in their 401(k) plans and financial advisors need to become knowledgeable about these products in order to properly advise their clients. For example, they may rightly ask if earmarking a portion of their 401(k) account to an annuity that doesn’t kick in until later in retirement is a good way to diversify their retirement income stream.

As mentioned earlier retirement plan sponsors will have questions about these products including whether or not to even offer them. Financial advisors who advise 401(k) plans as a part of their practice can be an even bigger resource to their clients by becoming knowledgeable about QLACs and being an expert their plan sponsor clients can turn to. 

The new Treasury and IRS rules allowing for deferred income annuities in 401(k) plans and IRAs potentially open up some new opportunities for retirement savers. Now that QLACs are here, many questions remain. Both retirement savers and retirement plan sponsors will have questions and will need help deciding if this is a good route for them to go. Knowledgeable financial advisors can be at the forefront of providing this guidance. (Author: Roger Wohlner)

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Global Insurance Market Trends

Logic Insurance, Global Insurance Market Trends - Across the world, insurance markets are adapting to the aftermath of the economic crisis. 

Many multinational insurance companies that hunkered down to conserve capital and trim expenses are now ready to invest in global markets that are poised for significant growth.

Global Insurance Market Trends

Insurers enter new domainsExpectations are pointing to insurers entering new domains, as well as expand their presence in current markets. While there are signs of stabilization, consumers and businesses continue to tighten their purse strings. For much of the European and US insurance markets, these conditions continue, with only slight improvement.

In Europe, for example, 2011 will likely be another year of low GDP growth, low interest rates and moderate equity market performance. On the life insurance side in Europe, low interest rates reduce the probability of people saving or putting capital into investment products like life insurance and annuities. Insurers that seek greater flexibility in their distribution relationships may be able to counter the stagnant sales environment.

Consumers and businesses tighten their purse stringsSluggish consumer and business spending similarly strains the US property/casualty and life insurance segments, causing revenues and earnings to fall in 2010. The decline in net premiums occurred at the same time that investment yields were torpid. Insurers are further pressured by a competitive insurance market, with pricing barely budging in 2010 and no expectations for significant movement in 2011.

Insurer surplus in the US is at an all-time high, and this, too, is driving enhanced competition for business. As in Europe, US insurers that invest in more efficient distribution methodologies and more cost-effective operations can drive stronger performance at home and abroad.

Investment in foreign marketsIndeed, with capital and surplus overflowing for many if not most multinational insurers, there are tantalizing opportunities for prudent investment in other foreign markets, depending on the region. In Asia-Pacific, for instance, significant opportunities beckon.

Domestic markets in many countries are growing fast — now that a middle class has burgeoned. More people are buying homes, cars and other seeming luxuries beyond their grasp a few years ago. And more businesses have sprung up to provide these goods and services.

While more mature markets in the region are saturated from an insurance penetration standpoint, emerging markets and those continuing to develop offer varying opportunities for growth, especially for early movers willing to invest now for long-term potential. Strategically, such insurers might consider investments that seize upon the evolving distribution strategies in the region, especially for life insurance sales.

Customers are seeking to buy insurance products outside the established agency and independent financial advisor channels, which will require insurers already in certain markets to retool their existing distribution models. For insurers entering the markets, they might consider adopting more flexible sales approaches that leverage the Internet, mobile platforms and other evolving technologies.

Indefinitely postponing a response to the current market opportunities seems ill-advised, given the chief attraction of the Asia-Pacific market and its remarkable growth rate.

Industry highlights More people and businesses are equipped to buy insurance and the regulatory systems in many locales have become more sophisticated. 

While insurance penetration in more mature markets is hindered by relatively high saturation, fast-growing developing and emerging markets offer important growth prospects over the long-term.
Insurers seeking opportunities will need to consider strategies that address the fast pace of local and global regulatory and accounting developments. 

Access to reliable capital sources to support investments in specific regions and developing distribution strategies that take into account consumer buying patterns and demographic trends are other avenues for growth. 

Growth prospects in Asia-PacificAsia-Pacific presents significant opportunities for insurers seeking growth, as many markets in the region have enlarged due to an increasing number of consumers looking to purchase insurance. Additionally, the regulatory systems across much of the region have become more sophisticated.

Growth drivers vary on market-by-market basisSome challenges, of course, remain. Since Asia-Pacific is a highly diverse super-region with respect to different countries' economic development and insurance penetration, the rate and drivers of growth vary on a market-by-market basis. Mature markets, for example, are more saturated.

Developing and emerging markets, on the other hand, offer greater growth opportunities for companies prepared to invest for the long haul.

We anticipate further regional evolution, but not revolution, in Asia-Pacific markets in 2011. Each insurer's strategic prioritization and response to the opportunities presented may reap significant rewards. Early movers may especially benefit by their immediate actions, while the insurers who wait to discern the short-term mistakes of others may similarly attain valuable traction.
Poised for opportunity

Indefinitely postponing a response to the current market opportunities seems ill-advised, given the chief attraction of the Asia-Pacific market and its remarkable growth rate. This alone helps explain why many multinational insurers are either preparing plans for further investment in the region, or are in the thick of implementing them.

As life insurers examine how to reduce the capital strains caused by guaranteed products, the prolonged low interest rate environment will depress the yields for new cash flow and maturing bonds. 

Europe in 2011 offers a financially stronger insurance market than in 2010, given strengthening of the credit and equity markets and improvements in the insurance industry's capitalization, solvency and profitability. 

While GDP is expected to decrease slightly in 2011, inflation should remain steady at 1.5% to 1.6% — levels that pose no immediate threat to growth. 

Litigation, fraud and catastrophe-type exposures also are increasing in the region. As insurers prepare for the implementation of Solvency II and Basel III, they must develop ways to maintain, if not increase capital.

To seize growth in 2011, insurers will need to quickly address and adapt to the changing regulatory and accounting environments, enhance the flexibility of their distribution systems, develop new markets and products and improve management of capital.

European insurers challenged to prosper amid uncertaintyThe European insurance industry entered 2011 financially stronger than it was at the beginning of 2010. As the credit and equity markets recover combined with reductions in claims frequency in 2009 and 2010, the industry's capitalization, solvency and profitability are improving. Efforts to maintain and increase capital will continue in 2011, as insurers prepare for the impending implementation of 

Solvency II and Basel III. Macroeconomic conditions indicate that 2011 will likely be another year in Europe of low GDP growth, low interest rates and moderate equity market performance. Even if the economic recovery continues, insurers may find that the assets underpinning their balance sheets have decreased in value.

Questions concerning the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis also remain, albeit the effect may vary for individual countries. Certainly, the macroeconomic conditions will challenge the skills and resources of insurers to generate superior investment returns and maintain balance sheet strength.
Macroeconomic conditions suggest sluggish economy

The sluggish economy and low interest rate environment challenges all segments of the European insurance industry to achieve superior growth. Non-life premiums across the region were poor in 2010, while profitability in both the non-life and reinsurance sectors will continue to be challenged by the soft market, the need for continuing expense reductions, and the end of loss reserve releases supporting profitability.

Business demand for traditional non-life products will remain especially listless in 2011 due to the slow business growth. At the same time, risks relating to continued advancements in technology, catastrophic weather events as well as fraud and litigation exposure are increasing. A key question is how catastrophic losses in 2010 might affect pricing this year.
Aging population creates opportunities

On the life side, premiums improved modestly in 2010. As Europe's population ages and grapples with demographic challenges to their social welfare systems, especially those parts related to retirement benefits, it creates opportunities for insurers to provide products and services in the retirement space. The downside is the low interest rate environment, which reduces profitability of guaranteed products. 

Continued high unemployment also makes it difficult financially for many individuals to purchase new products. A key question facing life insurers is whether the emerging capital requirements will hinder their ability to meet consumer needs. (Logic insurance article source Inguard.com)

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The Insurance Industry Trends and Innovation in 2015

Logic Insurance, The Insurance Industry Trends and Innovation in 2015 - New technologies and innovations have permeated the insurance industry and upped-the-ante in quality and efficiency for products, claims and business practices. 

Though insurance has been historically viewed as a slow-moving industry, recent technology integrations and evolving customer needs have created a significant shift; and next year will only continue to change the game.

Insurance trends in 2015 will revolve around increased data intelligence, improved accuracy in underwriting, and an emphasis on customer-center services and processes.

Important Insurance Trends for 2015

Growing connectivity between the real and digital worlds will determine major and innovative trends in 2015. Insurance companies will continue to invest in digital tools needed to enhance products and services delivered to policyholders, increase operations efficiencies, and better connect networks of partners and providers.

Below are four technologies insurance companies should strive to integrate in 2015. If these aren’t already on your radar, they should be.

Big Data Analysis Analysis based programs can help insurers improve their efficiency in a variety of ways, such as assessing fraudulent claims or improving the rate at which your business changes to meet changing client needs and expectations. The evolving data dashboard, which compiles metrics from multiple locations into a visualized platform, will provide insurance professionals with more comprehensive insights into business performance and changes over the next year.

Mobile
Thanks to advancements in mobile and wearable technology, digitizing life activities became the new standard in 2014. Across platforms, from tablets to mobile phones and the up-and-coming smart watches, consumers are looking for ways to further mobilize their spending and management practices in nearly every aspect of life.

Most major insurance companies already offer mobile apps for easy access to accounts, insurance quotes, claims support or even roadside assistance. The key in 2015 will be to further connect policyholders to the insured in order to more quickly exchange information and expedite the claim report and response process. 

Re-Engineering Underwriting
Assessing income risk is more thorough than ever. Using spatial data, such as information from Google Maps to public statistics on crime, education, income and health care, will help insurers assess risks and liabilities in new and sophisticated ways in the coming year.
Cloud/Client Computing

About half of insurance carriers today are “in the cloud,” and this tech trend should continue to grow this year. Cloud computing is a tech term for the practice of sharing a network of remote Internet servers to store, manage and process information. Operating in the cloud enables organizations to optimize IT and will prepare businesses for everything from product growth to potential data loss disasters.

Insurance Industry Trend in 2015

Technology in 2015 will require insurers to be agile, think connectively, and be prepared to assess and utilize data in new unprecedented ways. More importantly, failure to adapt could bring new risks to your business, including anything from data loss to consumer dissatisfaction with delivery of products and services.

Standards in business, customer service and insurance continuously evolve, and it is the responsibility of our industry to meet these changing needs. If insurance businesses recognize tech trends, evaluate the opportunities they present, and actively incorporate relevant processes and programs into their business model, they will find themselves outpacing and outperforming the competition. (Latest insurance news article author and source: Parker Beauchamp - Inguard.com)

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Long Term Care Hybrid Products

Logic Insurance, Long Term Care Hybrid Products  - with many people unwilling to purchase long-term care insurance policies due to the cost, insurers are rolling out new products that combine long-term care insurance with either a life insurance policy or an annuity. 

These new products have been on the market for awhile, but they are gaining in popularity due to a law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2010, making distributions from life insurance and annuities tax free when used to pay nursing home costs.

Even though long-term care costs continue to rise, long-term care insurance has not become widespread. Long-term care insurance is expensive and many people do not want to pay premiums for something they might not need. 

More Option with Long Term Care Hybrid Products 

A hybrid product has the benefit of combining two products into one. If you don't use the long-term care insurance, you can still benefit from the life insurance or the annuity.

The products vary in the details, but the general idea of a hybrid life insurance policy is to allow a buyer to purchase a cash-value life insurance policy and to use a portion of that policy for long-term care benefits, if necessary, and keep the rest as a death benefit that will be paid to the purchaser's beneficiary. If long-term care benefits are used, the death benefit may be reduced.

Hybrid annuity products also vary significantly, but in general they allow a buyer to purchase a fixed deferred annuity with a long-term-care rider attached. The annuity may pay out for a specific number of years or for life. For example, a purchaser could deposit $150,000 into an annuity. 

The annuity would provide approximately $4,700 a month of long-term care benefits for 36 months. For an additional cost, the purchaser could get the $4,700 monthly benefit for life.

While a two-for-one product may seem attractive, these products are not for everyone. For one thing, you may have less flexibility with a combined product than you would with a stand-alone product. Hybrid products may not cover home care or include inflation protection, for example.

In addition, hybrid products may not offer enough long-term care coverage for what you need. It is impossible to predict exact coverage needs, but click here for more information on how to figure out how much insurance to purchase. 

A hybrid product is likely less expensive than purchasing two separate products, but it is often more expensive than purchasing a stand-alone long-term care insurance policy.

As with any major purchase, you need to evaluate it carefully before purchasing. Before deciding what to buy, get advice from an impartial investment advisornot a sales agent who makes a commission off the sale of policies. (ElderLawAnswers)

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Long Term Care Insurance Costs

Logic Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance Costs - Rates for long-term care insurance, which can help pay for care in your own house or in a nursing home, rose this year an average of nearly 9 percent, a new industry report finds.

Still, rates vary greatly depending on the insurer and the specifics; increases for some policies were much larger, and in some cases — like certain policies covering couples — quite modest, according to Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, a trade group.

Each January, the association compares top-selling policies offered by major insurers to determine average rates. This year’s analysis includes rates from 10 insurers, using policies sold in Tennessee, a “representative” state, Mr. Slome said. Factors behind the rates include higher claims costs, he said; in 2014, insurers paid out $7.8 billion in claims, an increase of nearly 5 percent.

Long Term Care Insurance Costs

A healthy 55-year-old man can now expect to pay, on average, $2,075 per year for $164,000 in initial benefits, up from $1,765 last year, the report found.

The cost for a healthy, single woman of the same age is higher: Her average premium is $2,411, up from $2,307. Insurers take gender into account when pricing long-term care policies, since, statistically, women live longer and are more likely to need long-term care.

Last year, the National Women’s Law Center filed federal sex-discrimination complaints against four insurers, challenging such gender-based pricing on the grounds that the practice violates a provision of the Affordable Care Act barring sex discrimination in health care. The action is pending with the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office for Civil Rights.

Couples generally get a discount if they buy a joint policy; the rationale is that one or the other is likely to provide some care for a spouse initially, Mr. Slome said. A married couple, both age 60, would now pay $3,930 combined, up from $3,840, for $328,000 of initial coverage.

The numbers assume a “three-year” policy that uses a daily benefit of $150 to compute a maximum payout, and includes inflation protection — a 3 percent compounded annual increase in benefits. Eliminating inflation protection greatly reduces the cost — the average premium for a single man would be cut roughly in half — but that means you will probably have to pay more out of pocket if you eventually need care. A middle option, which costs more than the base premium, allows the choice of adding inflation protection later.

The rates cited in the report are for new policies. Premiums for outstanding policies, particularly older ones, have been increasing as well, in part because people are living longer and insurers had underestimated the level of claims.

Insurers generally must get state approval before increasing rates on existing policies. In many cases, however, even with large increases, premiums on older policies are still lower than they would be if the policyholder had waited until now to buy a new policy, said Michael Kitces, director of research at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md.

Mr. Kitces said consumers can try to hold down premiums on new policies by making sure that their coverage is tailored as much as possible to their situation. For instance, he advises checking rates for care facilities near your home — or near a family member’s home, if that’s where you would likely receive it — to make sure you’re not overpaying for a high daily benefit rate if rates in your area are lower than national averages.

One way to make premiums more affordable generally, Mr. Kitces said, might be to lengthen plan deductibles, known in industry lingo as the “elimination period.” That’s the length of time during which you pay for care out of pocket, before the policy begins paying.

Most plans sold today have a 90-day elimination period. But if the window were significantly lengthened — say, to two or even three years — in exchange for expanded benefits afterward to cover events like very long, financially catastrophic nursing home stays — premiums could be much lower. Policyholders could then use the savings to help fund a deductible.

One barrier, however, is that most states prohibit elimination periods of longer than one year, Mr. Kitces said — a consumer protection holdover from a time when people didn’t live as long and plans were less costly. Here are some questions and answers about long-term care insurance:

When is the best time to buy such insurance?

Premiums typically will be lower if you buy when you are younger — say, in your 50s — rather than waiting until your 60s or 70s. Coverage not only becomes more expensive as you age but also becomes more difficult to qualify for at all, since health problems are more likely as you age.

Can I find policies now that offer longer elimination periods?

You may be able to find a policy with an elimination period of up to a year, but the amount saved with a 12-month deductible, compared with a three-month deductible, may not be significant, Mr. Kitces said.

How can I find the best rate?

Mr. Slome advises comparing rates from several insurers, as premiums vary widely. The latest analysis found the difference between the lowest- and highest-cost policies for the same coverage ranged from 34 percent to as much as 119 percent. A 55-year-old woman, for instance, might pay as little as $890 a year or as much as $1,829 for a similar policy without inflation protection, depending on the insurer. An insurance broker can help sort things out, but since some work exclusively with one insurer, you may need to talk to more than one.

An article on Saturday about long-term care insurance misstated the maximum length of time an insured person may be required to pay for care out of pocket before the policy begins paying. In most states, that period — the so-called elimination period — cannot be longer than one year, not three months. (Ann Carnns)

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An Introduction to Long Term Care Insurance

Logic Insurance, An Introduction to Long Term Care Insurance - With nursing home care in some parts of the country costing as much as $10,000 a month, a long-term need for care can deplete even the best-planned estate. 

As a result, many seniors buy long-term care insurance to cover this risk. One great advantage of this insurance is that most policies now cover home care and assisted living care as well as nursing home care, causing some insurance agents to describe it as “avoid nursing home insurance.”

An Introduction to Long Term Care Insurance

Unfortunately, the long-term care insurance industry is still relatively young and continues to experience growing pains. Until Congress began regulating the industry as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, many of the policies were poor, containing bars to coverage that could make them unavailable just when needed. 

Some companies that went into the business with great optimism have found that they were not making money and have retreated from the business or dropped out entirely. In recent years, insurers have been hit particularly hard by the climate of historically low interest rates because companies’ profits rely on returns from investing policyholder premiums. In addition, policyholders are living longer and fewer are abandoning policies midstream than actuaries had predicted. 

Between 2010 and 2012, three large insurers – MetLife, Unum and Prudential – ended long-term care insurance sales to some or all markets. Companies still writing policies are raising premiums, some precipitously. Others have put up roadblocks to claims on the policies. One long-term care insurance company in particular, Bankers Life and Casualty, has gained a reputation for not paying claims.

Still, having the insurance can be a lifesaver for a senior needing care, as well as for his or her spouse and children. The biggest problem with policies now is the cost the premiums being out of reach for most seniors and the refusal of insurance companies to guarantee their rates. 

Another problem with long-term care insurance is that by the time many people purchase policies, they are uninsurable due to health problems. One solution to this problem, of course, is to purchase policies while you are young and healthy. The other solution is to shop around. Every company has its own underwriting criteria. (ElderLawAnswers)

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LongTerm Care Insurance Benefits

Logic Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance -The most commonly utilized and misunderstood aspects of the U.S. Medicaid program are its long-term care (LTC) benefits. Medicaid is not synonymous with long-term care insurance, but many who plan to rely on it are unaware of this. As a result, they find themselves without the care they really need or desire.

Before you "plan" to have Medicaid cover your LTC needs, it is important to understand its coverage and how it differs from LTC insurance. (One program is for the poor; the other is for the elderly. Learn which is which in What's The Difference Between Medicare And Medicaid?)

LongTerm Care Insurance Benefits

Medicaid is a multi-part program designed to provide a wide variety of medical and custodial services to those who cannot afford it. It evolved during the so-called war on poverty in the 1960s as a program for the truly poor - the indigent population who were surviving on less than about 125% of the official poverty level. (For more on poverty guidelines, see the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

Medicaid LTC is a great benefit for those people who didn't necessarily have the chance to accumulate much, and now need LTC services beyond what their families can (or will) provide.

Some individuals, however, deliberately decide not to buy long-term care insurance, "planning" to use Medicaid instead. There is an entire legal specialty that focuses on helping older Americans bankrupt themselves in order to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Unfortunately, many of these people find out too late that Medicaid does not offer what they desire - the same choice, benefits or coverage options provided by LTC insurance.

Unlike Medicare, which is largely a federal program, Medicaid is primarily state-run, resulting in varying degrees and types of LTC coverage.

Medicaid LTC Benefits and Requirements

Generally speaking, for qualifying people, Medicaid covers custodial care in a nursing home in all states. Custodial care is for when you can't perform some or all of the activities of daily living (ADL) without assistance:

• Dressing
• Bathing
• Transferring
• Walking
• Feeding
• Toileting/continence

Medicaid generally requires you to be unable to perform at least two of these six ADLs independently - much like LTC insurance policies. (See Long-Term Care Insurance: Who Needs It?) If you qualify for Medicaid by meeting the ADL requirement and your state's income and asset requirements, you can probably use Medicaid to pay the entire cost of care in a nursing home. (Janet Arrowood - http://www.investopedia.com/articles/05/031005.asp)

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A Strong Insurance Educational Webinar Series

Logic Insurance, A Strong Insurance Educational Webinar Series - A strong outbound insurance lead generation program can and should include an educational insurance webinar series. Agencies, brokers and wholesalers which have incorporated insurance webinars into their marketing initiatives have seen impressive results, registration often ranges from 50 registrants to over 300 registrants, and a 60% or greater attendance rate can be achieved with educational content and interesting topics. Insurance webinars are effective for essentially any agency, broker or wholesaler, but are most effective when targeting groups such as transportation, construction, benefits/health, etc.).

Webinars help showcase expertise, demonstrate thought leadership and elevate the conversation from insurance sales to partner and consultant. Where can agents and brokers find topics and speakers? 

 Insurance Lead Generation Program

Leverage internal experts, external partners, carrier partners, consultants, CPA,s tax advisors and industry consultants to create a well respected and well attended webinar series. And to ensure an optimum result, insurance organizations can either leverage their internal marketing team or outsource the initiative to a proficient insurance marketing agency.

The marketing catalyst for insurance webinar series rests upon email marketing and social media marketing campaigns. Both can prove highly effective in driving registrants to an insurance webinar series. Insurance email marketing initiatives should be handled by digital marketing professionals, ensuring agents and brokers are adhering to CAN-SPAM and opt-in email marketing best practices. Email marketing initiatives are only as good as the underlying email marketing list. 

Agents and brokers who do not have a comprehensive prospect and client email list should work on building one immediately, and if they are unsure how to accomplish this, should seek qualified outsourced guidance on this important topic. A high quality target list is not only the foundation for successful insurance digital marketing, it is an important and valuable digital asset for every agency and broker!

Image Source

Social media marketing is often an untapped resource for agencies, brokers and wholesalers, as it is now common for 50% of registrants to be gleaned from LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, assuming agents and brokers have a viable insurance social media marketing initiative in place. LinkedIn remains the most important social media platform for B2B centric insurance agencies and brokers, while Facebook should be the go to platform for B2C campaigns. 

That said, with there are many good and inexpensive tools now available to post simultaneously to all major social media platforms. For example, let's say a broker wanted to announce a new "ACA and Compliance Update Webinar". 

This message could easily be posted to LinkedIn, LinkedIn groups, Facebook and Twitter at the same time, and the posts could be automatically tracked. There are many cost effective cloud based solutions now available to do this.

Webinars combined with professional email marketing and social media marketing campaigns can provide an impressive educational foundation for agents and brokers seeking to differentiate themselves from the pack. 

Web Seminars can target prospects, clients or both, to help keep agents and brokers establish and maintain their "digital" relationship. These live webinars can then be recorded, and used as video fulfillment to augment insurance websites, resource libraries, and YouTube channels to extend the reach of any agency, broker or wholesaler. (Alan Blume)

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The Business of Insurance is a Bet, Just Like Casino

Logic Insurance, The Business of Insurance is a Bet, Just Like Casino - If you won an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas, would you do any gambling while you were there? Yes, no, well maybe? When my daughter was maybe 16 or 17 years old (you probably remember that time in your life that you were almost an expert at anything) we took a family vacation to Las Vegas. 

We walked into Caesar's Palace and she saw a sports car on top of a group of slot machines. The car was the grand prize to be awarded to the lucky winner on that series of slot machines. She promptly informed Mom and Dad that SHE was going to be that lucky someone.

Do you consider yourself to be like our daughter and want nothing to do whatsoever with gambling? Are you one of those people who think that you never, ever gamble? Well I hate to tell you this, but the insurance industry and insurance policies are built on a gambling premise.

You will be well served to remember this basic principle: The business of insurance is a bet. Insurance is nothing more than a large company (as is a casino), with a large balance sheet, playing the odds against you... on your health, risk of an accident, storm damage, theft, death or other potentially catastrophic loss. 

Insurance companies educate themselves in extreme detail on the odds of actually having to pay out money on a claim. From this data, they calculate how much they can charge you based on the possibility that you will file a claim, and they still will be able to make a profit!

When you own any kind of property, whether that property is possessions like furniture, clothing, an automobile or a house, when you purchase an insurance policy you are gambling. You are gambling your money every time you make a monthly premium payment. You are betting the premium amount that you spend that something unfortunate will happen to you.

The insurance company is betting also, they're just not betting with their own money. Not yet, that is. They are betting with a promise! Their promise is that if you experience a loss, they will spend a little bit of their money to make things right for you. The thing is, the insurance company is like the casino. All the odds are stacked in their favor. 

They pay large amounts of money to actuaries, specialized number crunchers, to determine the odds of you winning the game (having a covered loss). You see, as far as the insurance industry is concerned, the only way you win as a policyholder is for you to lose and have to file a claim. If you don't win, you lose (you lose your premium payments). If you do win, you lose (something bad has happened to you). What a great game!

Source: Logic Insurance

If you don't lose, you lose your premium money. If you win, the best that you can hope for is to break even by receiving the money that you need for your repairs from your insurance provider. Even then you can't break even because of a little something known as a deductible. You really can only get to within a deductible of breaking even!

Whether someone wrecks your car, you have a major medical issue, or your house gets damaged, you, the policyholder, have to lose to receive any money from your insurance company. And here's the real kicker! By using those number-crunchers and their sophisticated software programs, insurance companies know in advance just how likely it is that you will file a claim. If they determine that you are more likely to file, they increase the odds in their favor by forcing you to gamble with more of your money, as in charging you a higher premium.

Isn't It Fun Playing the Insurance Game?

Insurance is a definite necessity in this day and age. We can't just run out to the back forty and cut down some trees to rebuild our home. We can't run down to the nearest auto assembly plant and grab a handful of new car parts to fix our own cars. Just please realize that insurance is a gambling game which is stacked against the policyholder. 

If you have purchased an insurance policy, and something unforeseen happens to you, don't feel too bad for the insurance company. They set up the game in their favor and made you a promise. They calculated the odds and set the game up in their favor. They collected their premiums. Now they need to make good on their promise. They promised to take care of you like you deserve (minus your deductible that is).

Here is another thing the insurance company is betting on. They are betting that if something bad does happen to you, you will lack the knowledge required to get everything you are truly entitled to.

Dragon Restoration has been assisting homeowners for more than 16 years. Let us assist you too. (937) 371-3416. We are the Miami Valley's premier structural drying company. (Mark L Huey)

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Comprehensive Real Estate Insurance

Logic Insurance, Comprehensive Real Estate Insurance  - One of the most demanding markets today is the real estate industry. And this is because in this particular industry, client expectations are usually hard and tricky to meet. Realtors would usually find it difficult to fully determine what their clients actually want or require based on sporadic personal interactions alone.

Real estate agents are also not safe from or immune to legal complaints or lawsuits filed by their clients. A lot of these buyers or clients would usually be agreeable to or happy about pretty much everything about the property and close the deal happily. 

However, later on, the buyers would come back to complain about how the property they have purchased turned out to be what they did not expect. Such issues can further escalate and in the end, the property investors would file a legal complaint against the realtor.

 Real Estate Professional Indemnity Insurance 

To prepare for such unfortunate situations and to protect their practice or company, licensed realtors and real estate companies need to have professional indemnity insurance. This particular type of insurance provides financial protection to any real estate firm or practitioner against a number of claims for alleged negligence or breach of duty which arose from an act, error or omission in the performance of their professional services. By having professional indemnity insurance, your real estate business can still remain open and continue its operations even if a legal claim against your company has still not been settled.

Different providers of real estate professional indemnity insurance offer various kinds of coverage. And if it is your first time to invest in this type of insurance, you have to know the extent of coverage the insurance will provide your practice. Below are some of the civil liabilities that the professional indemnity insurance for real estate agents should cover:

• Unintentional defamation, including libel and slander
• Breach of professional duty
• Loss, damage or destruction of any documents, files or records
• Any bodily or physical injuries and property damage claims acquired from or caused by a third party
• Claims investigation costs
• Unintentional infringement of another person's patent, trademark or copyright
• Any expenses incurred resulting from attendance at any inquiry

As a licensed realtor, having professional indemnity insurance will give you a certain level of peace of mind. The cash flow of your business won't be seriously affected even if you are in the middle of a lawsuit. And with the help of this insurance, starting anew after the legal battle can be made easier whether compensation was required to be granted or not, since the personal assets of your business are fully protected.(Steve R Barnes)

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