3 Secret Homeowners Insurance Tips

Unlike in previous years, homeowner's insurance is actually now being considered a luxury to have. As a matter of fact, it is so important that mortgage companies now make it a prerequisite before giving out house loans. Generally homeowner’s insurance policy is expensive, even without taking high risk areas into consideration. Since the policy is important, there are ways you could save up cash and still get the right coverage.

Install a Good Security System

If you have an alarm system that is monitored by a central station, it helps reduce your premium by about 5%. Insurance companies would require proof that you're being monitored by a central station or local police. This gives them the assurance that your home's burglary risk is reduced.

Install a Good Smoke Alarm

This is yet another alarm system that can help lower your policy premium. As a matter of fact, it can lower it by about 10%. Although modern houses are fitted with this system, installing them in your old house will give you this probable 10% premium reduction.

Raise Your Deductible

This principle applies to all kind of insurance policies. It is one of the best ways to reduce your premiums. If you raise your deductible, the premium rate will be reduced. In essence, you would have to bear the cost of loss or damages below your deductible.

Brief Introduction into Term Insurance

These are basically the two types of life insurance. The type you choose is totally up to you. Just like the name implies, Term insurance is bought to provide a temporary death protection benefit. Permanent insurance on the other hand is designed to provide protection for the entire life of the policyholder. As you may have rightly guessed, Permanent insurance is more expensive than buying Term insurance.  

If you have your children as your only dependents, then you may consider having a Term insurance. You could decide you want such insurance until all of them have graduated from college. In other words, you want the insurance policy to provide financial assistance to ensure all your children finish college, even if you pass away. Similar reasons like this are the reasons people settle for Term insurance.

A Term insurance can be canceled by the insurer only when the policyholder fails to pay premium for it. Usually most insurers give a 21 day grace period from the last due date for premium payment. If the policyholder is able to make payment before the expiration of the grace period, the Term insurance is still in effect. If the grace period expires, then policy is automatically canceled.

Whether the premium rate will change over time can only be determined by the kind of Term insurance you bought. Usually Term insurance policy is categorized into Level or Increasing policy when it comes to premiums. It is best you fully understand all that pertains to the policy before settling to buy it.

How to Handle a Dispute with Your Insurance Company

Sometimes, disputes with insurance companies will occur and you may be finding it hard to fight for your right – or maybe you just don’t know how to. These disputes come as a result of disagreements in paying of claims. If you want to resolve these disputes amicably, here are some steps you may want to consider.

Know Your Right!

Irrespective of the state or country that you may be in, the insurance industry is usually well regulated. An insurance company cannot misrepresent your policy or change the policy you both signed without informing you. They are legally bound to pay your claim if and when you meet the policy requirement – which is available to you to verify. They cannot delay you on purpose by giving you unnecessary forms to fill.

Use an Insurance Broker or Agent

This is why it is always advisable that you invest in a professional insurance agent or broker. These professionals are well-equipped with the right knowledge with all things pertaining to insurance. They usually have a relationship with insurance companies and can easily help you broker a good deal with the insurer.

Involve a Third Party

If things are still not going as you expect them to, then you may need to involve a third party. You can involve an independent agent or broker to help fight your cause. You could also get your state’s insurance department involved.

Usually these would resolve whatever issue is on ground. If it doesn’t, then your last step would be to take a legal action on the insurance company. There is no need jumping these steps. Just follow these steps and you will get your claims paid.

Cyber Insurance Hits the Spotlight

For a long time, when the topic of the economics of cyber threats is being discussed, cyber insurance is usually relegated. For so long, cyber insurance has been pleading to have the center stage but with the ever growing cyber threats, not only has it hit the spotlight, it's been encouraged to stay longer in it. Over the years we have seen governments of the world come together to fight the menace of cyber-attacks.

As the fight intensified, cyber hackers seemed to form a coalition of their own. Mostly targeted was the energy, aviation, health, financial industry. Obviously this caught the attention of all who were watching. In other to keep businesses afloat after such hits, governments started partnering with cyber insurance companies to help play the buffer for the risks.

Cyber insurance companies have assisted in billions of dollars worldwide. As the awareness grows, more businesses are buying cyber insurance policies. With the spotlight came a new demon. Overtime, businesses with average cyber security started falling prey to these cyber-attacks. This meant cyber insurance companies had to pay for claims filed. It had to come to a point were some insurers had to place a limit on coverage. For instance, some insurers place coverage limits to $100 million. This means if the damage or loss is more than $100 million, you would have to bear the remaining cost.

Two Reasons Why Your Business Needs to Buy Cyber Insurance

Whether you have a big or small business, cyber insurance is one insurance policy to include in your for your business insurance. If you are still in doubt, here are some of the reasons we believe you should buy a cyber-insurance policy.

It’s not as expensive as you think

This is usually one of the biggest turn offs for many small businesses. When they think of cyber insurance, they think of several hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions. The reason for this is because the policy is still very new and there exist several variations of the policies and different insurers offering different premium rates. It is best you consult with a professional cyber insurance expert to tell you all there is to know about the available policies and matching premiums.

It offers more coverage than you know

Most people are not aware than cyber insurance policy can much more than just recovering of data. Policies that offer ‘first party’ coverage go as far as paying the business for things like business interruption, cost of hiring a public relation company for reputation damage and control. For small business, business interruption coverage can go a long way in helping the business stay afloat while it tried to stand back on its feet financially. 

Demand and Supply: Can Insurance Companies Provide Enough Coverage?

With the ever growing cyber risks to businesses all over the world, cyber insurance policy insurers have been projected to record gains in this policy in the next 5-10 years. As surprising as this may seem, it shows there is no solution in sight to curbing cyber-attacks. As the world becomes more and more aware of cyber risks to business, the demand for cyber insurance has skyrocketed over the past few years.

It is no longer a matter of whether businesses are willing to purchase cyber insurance policies; it’s more about if these cyber insurance companies can provide enough for the growing need. In recent times, there has been an increase in the premiums for buying and renewing cyber insurance. The world is now technologically driven and many businesses have taken their business to the internet.

As good as this may seem, it predisposes them to the effect of cyber risk. Since cyber insurance stands as the only viable solution for businesses, the increase in demand for such policies will continue to grow. To avoid limitation or placing of caps, governments all over the world have to come together to support these insurers to help provide coverage for businesses.

Changing Beneficiaries on Your Life Insurance

As long as you are the owner of the life insurance policy, you can change your beneficiary anytime and to whomever you want. The ease at which this would be done will largely be determined by your insurance company. Usually they require that you meet certain conditions first before enacting such changes.  

When applying for a life insurance, there is an option that would allow you indicate if you want the beneficiary to be irrevocable. If this is done, it means you would need the consent of the beneficiary before changes can be effectively made. If there is a need for a change, the best and first thing to do is to call your insurance agent and notify him/her. The agent will help you fill out the form for a beneficiary change.

The initial beneficiary will still have right to your policy buy you can add more beneficiaries to share from the policy. If you do not have an insurance agent or cannot reach the agent, you can call your insurance company directly and explain things to them. Insurance companies like Greater National Group always have a life insurance expert on call at any time to help address issues like this.

Understanding the Basics of Insurance Contracts

An insurance contract can also be called an insurance policy. It is a written contract between you (known as the insured) and the insurance company (insurer). Insurance contract contains clauses or agreements pertaining to the level or extent of coverage to be given. All of these clauses or agreements will be met and provided for after payment of a premium. Paying of this premium gives you entitlement to file for a claim if you have a loss or damage. The amount of coverage in an insurance policy is always well spelt out in the contract. Ensure you do well to understand it.

Usually the first page of the insurance contract is where you find the agreement summary. This initial page is known by different names, depending on the type of policy. It is also known as a Declaration page, benefit summary page, etc. This page will contain who is covered, what is covered, the effective dates of coverage, and the amount of the premium. The number of the policy will be listed, along with your name and address and your insurance agent's name and address.

The contract will contain all the clauses and limitations of the policy. Most people either become weary of reading or do not fully understand the policy provision before appending their signature. Do well to go through each agreement or clause. If you do not understand any clause, meet with insurance experts to help breakdown that aspect of the policy. Never assume things!

Tips to Having Cheaper Auto Insurance

These are necessary tips all car owners looking to buy insurance should know. We asked some auto insurance experts at Greater National Group and they revealed some of these tips.

Drive "Low Risk" Cars

If you are driving an old car, the premium rates for such a car will be determined largely by the past claims history of the vehicle. With such information, the insurer is able to ascertain the risk level of the car being stolen or involved in an accident. The more expensive a car is, especially for new cars, the higher the premium on it.

Do Your Research on Premium Prices

The standard for coverage on auto insurance may be the same in your city, state, or even country. This doesn't apply for premiums as they are uniquely fixed by the insurer. It's best you do a detailed research on premium pricing for different insurers to ensure you are getting the best base price.

Multi-Vehicle Discount

If you own more than one car, ensure you insure all of them on one policy. Many insurers offer discounts for such arrangements. They also do this if you insure both your home and car with the same company. This is sometimes known as a "multi-line discount". These discounts go a long way in helping you save money.

Increase Deductibles

The basic idea for buying insurance is to take care of damages or loss you cannot afford. So instead of relying on insurance for everything, increase your deductible to like $1000. This means you would take care of any damage below this amount; the higher your deductible, the lower your premium rate.

Cyber Insurance Review

My business was already about 3 years old when I bought cyber insurance from Greater National Group. I have a home insurance policy with them before, so it was easy to get on board when I fully realized the importance of cyber insurance. About 18 months afterwards, my business had its first major data breach. As a flight booking agent, my company has thousands of personal information of clients. The hackers got into our system and reversed most of the booked flights.  

I was confused and afraid I would have to deal with one form of litigation or the other. When I contacted GNG, they quickly sent over an expert to fortify our firewall to prevent further hacks and data manipulation. Long and short of it all, GNG was able to restore my data and ensure our systems were upgraded with better protection. Cyber threat is real and it can be devastating. It is good to know my company had a trusted hand to keep us from falling. 

What Can Void Your Life Insurance?

Although we are required to fill out forms correctly with all necessary information when purchasing a life insurance, what happens if you leave out some details? Another probable question is if future health decisions can void your life insurance. While this may seem strange to some people, there are many people who fall into this category. You could choose to refuse treatment for an illness that affects your life on the grounds of religion. You could also prefer alternative medicines to mainstream ones, etc.

If you falsify or withhold certain information in your form, I can actually make your policy null and void. There seems to be an exception to this. According to life insurance experts at Greater National Group, in most cases, once the contract is already signed you are still covered by the terms in the contract. Life insurance policies will still cover you if you refuse to take treatment or refuse a certain kind of surgery. The policy can only be void if it was discovered before the policy is written.

For this reason, many insurance companies often include a two-year contestable period. During this time, the company has the legal right to rescind on your policy if there is proof that you misinformed or falsified information on the contract. Anything beyond this period, your claim will be paid to you nonetheless. 

Insurance Company - GNG review

Toward the end of last year I left my previous employer who actually provided a good health insurance for me. The most painful part of it all was me thinking I would never be able to afford the entire coverage on my own. This also doesn’t put into perspective the fear of undergoing through a very stressful process. Luckily for me, I had a car insurance policy with the Greater National Group. In my confused state I reached out to them to see if they could help me with the entire process.

The guys at GNG took away all of my worries and fears. I never knew filling of such forms could be painless and less stressful than I had imagined. The company offered to cover me privately and the premiums cots far less than I was thinking they would charge. Words would fail me to genuinely appreciate Rob Sinclair and the team for the great work they are doing. It is good to know you guys take joy in putting smiles in the faces of your clients.

Is Life Insurance Really Important?

While many people do not like the topic of general insurance, life insurance tends to put them off on a whole new different scale. As much as death is inevitable, many of us have refused to accept the fact that it will surely come. So help better explain this avoidable subject, we decided to do an interview with some of Greater National Group’s insurance experts. Here are some of the questions they provided answers for.

Who Needs and Does Not Need Life Insurance?

Anyone with a dependent is an ideal candidate for life insurance. By dependents we mean spouses, children, and sometimes elderly parents. Young and single individuals do not necessarily need life insurance because they have no dependents – someone to care for.

How Can Someone Know the Exact Type of Life Insurance to Purchase?

The truth is that temporary insurance is able to meet most people’s needs. The premium is less expensive than permanent life insurance. Just like a commodity, it can be bought form a very wide range of top rated insurers. Unlike permanent life insurance, it is relatively easy to understand.

How Can Someone Know the Amount of Coverage they need?

With life insurance, the primary focus is your dependents. So the amount of income they will need when you are no longer able to support them should be the determining factor.

Why You Should Work with Insurance Professionals

In all honesty, insurance has grown a whole lot more complex than it used to be. There are just too many companies and brokers offering different types of packages. If one is not careful, you can fall prey to insurance policies with limited. This is why it is important to work with insurance professionals like those in Greater National Group. They will help you with one or all of these:

Analyze Your Insurance Needs

There are lots of insurance policies out there. A good professional insurance broker will help you determine which policy is right for you at the moment.

Evaluate the Best Budget-Friendly Insurance Policies

Having insurance policies is good but sometimes it is just not economically feasible. The professional will look at your available budget and help select the types of budget you need to have in place.

Answer Questions & Resolve Problems

This is where professionals differ from amateur insurance brokers. A professional will always encourage you to ask questions and provide answers in the most simplest of way. They also resolve issues that may arise along the way.

Annual Review of Policies

This is a vital part of any insurance policy. It's always advisable to do this to ensure coverage is still intact as it was. Professional insurance brokers will be willing to hold these reviews with you when scheduled

Filing a Claim

Professional insurance brokers work hand-in-hand all through the process of filing for a claim. They understand it is their responsibility to ensure you get payment for claim requested. You can only enjoy the full benefits of buying insurance when you work with a professional insurance broker.

Understanding the Gaps in Life Insurance

This is an insurance that doesn't necessarily benefits the direct holder but goes a long way to help others. Taking into account the advantages of having a good income and great saving abilities, you would still need a good life insurance as backup. This will help give your family and friends the kind of life they had while you were still alive.

When situations change, your life insurance policy can also be affected. To better understand this, let's use a change of job. If you change jobs, your insurance policy would need to be reviewed. If your previous employer offered permanent life insurance and the new one offers a limited temporary life insurance, you are no longer as covered as you once thought you were. This gap in life insurance has cost so many people later on. Always review your policy to make sure it still supports the coverage as it once did. GNG insurance experts always advise that clients make it a duty to visit the company when there is a change in life patterns. 

Understanding the Gaps in Home Owner's Insurance

It doesn't seem comforting to know that there are gaps in something as important as your insurance. Just like any signed contract or policy, there arise misunderstandings when one party doesn't fully understand what the exceptions or limitations of the contract states. At top insurance companies like Greater National Group, insurance experts are at the disposal of clients to ask and re-ask questions until there is proper understand.

When buying home owner's insurance, it's important you know what the policy covers and especially what it doesn't. Many insurance companies always guarantee coverage for all kinds of loss. The truth is that each policy has a cap of amount to be given out as claim, unless special premiums are paid. This gap can be closed up by ensuring you hire a building contractor to give an estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild your own. With this information, you'll know if truly the insurance policy can cover situations where you'll need a home replacement.

Always review your policy annually to make sure it still covers what was claimed coverage. Schedule a face-to-face meeting with an insurance broker and don't be afraid to ask questions. Never fall into the habit of assumptions. Don't assume things; ask for clarification. They're the experts insurance and not you. It's totally ok not to understand things.