We’ve all been guilty of doing double duty at one time or another?that is, talking on our cell phones while driving down the road. But as experts study the impact simultaneous conversing and driving has on our safety and car insurance rates, it is becoming more and more apparent just how hazardous doing both simultaneously really is.

Inattention to driving is the number one cause of auto accidents in the U.S., according to experts. And drivers splitting their attention between driving and talking on cell phones are amongst the most inattentive, increasing their risk of accident four to five times more than average, according to experts.

With over 200 million cell phone-holding drivers on the road, that presents considerable danger.

And what part do these statistics play in car insurance rates?

Increased risk of accident means higher auto insurance rates; it’s as simple as that. So if you want to keep your car insurance policy affordable, don’t use your cell phone while driving.

However, if you’re one of those people who couldn’t even think of jumping on the freeway without your cell phone in one hand and the wheel in the other, consider these tips to help you do so more safely?and keep auto insurance rates low:

• Know how your phone works before you get in your car. That way, you can use it without looking.

• Mount your cell phone where you can easily reach and see it, and keep both hands on the wheel at all times.
• Use a hands-free headset whenever possible.
• Program frequently-called numbers into your phone’s memory and/or use voice dial to reduce the amount of time you take your eyes off the road.
• When preparing to make a call, either pull off the road, wait for a stop light, or ask a passenger to dial for you.
• If you decide to pull off the road, be careful where you stop so you can protect yourself and your car from injury and accident.
• Don’t use your cell phone in heavy traffic or bad weather.
• Don’t take notes or look up phone numbers while driving. Having numbers pre-programmed and saving phone messages for later is the safest way to talk, drive, and store the information you need.

If you’re a cell phone user and driver, limiting your phone use when on the road is the best way to play it safe and keep car insurance affordable.

So practice safe driving and make those calls later. You?and everyone around you?will arrive where you’re headed safely!

About InsureMe

Penny Hagerman is a copywriter and insurance information expert with InsureMe in Englewood, Colorado. InsureMe links agents nationwide with consumers shopping for home, life, health, long-term care and auto insurance. The InsureMe network provides thousands of agents with insurance leads every year. For more information, visit http://www.InsureMe.com

Health insurance companies face increasing pressure to stay competitive in today?s marketplace. Having a competitive stance goes beyond offering affordable health benefits packages ? it also involves having superior service, such as an efficient billing and enrollment process, that provides a hassle-free experience for customers.

The majority of billing and enrollment tasks involved in administering your health benefits plan are the responsibility of your health insurance carrier. However, understanding the role you or your company?s benefits administrator plays in maintaining a current enrollment roster is integral to establishing a positive working relationship with your health insurance carrier.

Carefully reviewing your roster, making changes in a timely manner and understanding your carrier?s retroactive change policy will help ensure accurate billing and that your employees receive access to covered services.

Review your membership/enrollment roster.

Typically, your monthly health insurance invoice will include a membership or enrollment roster that indicates the current number of covered employees and their dependents. Review this roster carefully and communicate any discrepancies.

Notify your carrier of membership changes.

Throughout the year, it may become necessary to make changes to your company?s enrollment roster ? you hired a new employee, an employee had a baby or someone left your company. Whether you are adding or removing individuals, reporting these changes in a timely manner will help ensure that they are reflected on your next monthly bill.

Understand the importance of effective dates.

When making a change to your company?s membership roster, it?s important to clearly indicate the date the change should take effect. Furthermore, when adding an employee and/or a dependent, inform your health benefits company prior to the effective date. This enables your carrier to complete the entire enrollment process and helps ensure that the new member has access to covered health care services by his or her effective date.

Understand retroactive additions and terminations.

Retroactive additions and terminations are membership changes that are communicated after the effective date. Most health benefit companies have restrictions on how long employers have to make a retroactive change and also have policies about the types of documents that must be submitted with the request.

The process of making enrollment changes varies from company to company ? the above tips should only serve as a guide. Be sure that you or the company?s benefits administrator know your health insurance carrier?s specific policies. Knowing the process and how to navigate the system will help both companies ? yours and your health insurance carrier ? achieve the mutual goal of providing your employees with a positive and hassle-free health plan experience.

KRIS HAMMOCK is senior director of enrollment and billing for VISTA, a health benefits company headquartered in South Florida with more than 300,000 members. She spearheads the commercial enrollment and billing operations for the company. With 14 years of health insurance experience, Hammock has been involved in various aspects of the industry, including claims, customer service and utilization management. Reach her at http://www.vistahealthplan.com

Risk is an area often overlooked by landlords, but failing to protect the main assets of your business, which often have borrowings secured against them could lead to ruin.

Landlords often fail to understand the types of insurance risks that they are exposed to and are unaware that insurance coverage for buy-to-let investments is very different to the standard household insurance policies that cover owner-occupied dwellings.

Therefore, landlords are advised to seek the services of specialist insurance companies catering for the buy-to-let market.

Essentially there are five broad categories of landlords insurance:

– Landlords buildings insurance

– Landlords contents insurance

– Emergency assistance

– Legal expenses insurance

– Rent guarantee insurance

Landlords buildings insurance

These are the core policies and will generally provide coverage for a number of perils including fire, flooding, burst pipes, malicious damage and owner’s liability.

It is worth checking the policies of each insurer as the perils covered may vary. Other issues to be aware of are the amount of money the insurance company will pay out in the event of damage occurring, types of tenants (student tenants are perceived to be higher risk) and consent to let from your mortgage lender, as failure to gain consent will render your insurance void in the event of a claim.

Landlords contents insurance

Many landlords insurance specialists will offer the option of limited or full contents insurance.

Limited contents policies are designed for properties that are let unfurnished or part furnished. A typical policy would provide cover of up to ?5,000 for items such as curtains, carpets, white goods and light fixtures. Most policies will also provide employers and landlords liability cover in relation to these products.

Liability cover is important, as the number of personal injury claims relating to contents has risen at an astonishing rate since the 1990s, with awards in excess of ?100,000 not uncommon.

Full contents policies are for fully furnished properties or for limited contents that would cost more than ?5,000 to replace. When applying for full contents insurance, ensure you value the contents for the cost to replace them, opposed to the actual value that you think they are worth.

Emergency assistance

Cover is provided for general property emergencies, such as failing electricity supplies and cooking facilities, plumbing problems, leaking roofs and guttering, and damage to doors and windows.

Typical policies will provide parts and labour up to a specified cost, along with a 24-hour call out helpline number.

This sort of insurance is most suited to landlords who do not live near their property and have not contracted their managing agent to provide such a service.

It should also be noted that these policies only cover emergency call-outs and are not a general repair service required through lack of routine maintenance.

Legal expenses insurance

Problems can always occur with tenants and in many cases it is a change of personal circumstances such as job loss, accident or illness that will affect the tenants ability to pay rent or look after the property correctly.

Resolving such situations will usually involve expensive legal costs, sometimes running into thousands of pounds and legal expenses insurance is generally recommended.

Rent guarantee insurance

These policies guarantee that rent is received regardless of the tenants personal circumstances or ability to pay. These policies are most useful for landlords who have a mortgage on the property and are relying on the rental yield to service the loan. Policies will often guarantee rental payment for periods of six or twelve months.

Regulation

It is always advisable to shop around for insurance and understand what each policy provides. Always ensure that the insurance provider is a member of the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) and is fully regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Please note that this article is for information and guidance purposes only. With all financial matters you should seek professional advice with respect to your own specific circumstances.

Don Suter is Managing Editor of the UK Property Portal (http://www.ukpropertyportal.co.uk), an online directory and magazine for UK property sales, rental, surveyors, mortgages, conveyancing, property insurance, removals, news, investment and development

For many Americans, buying a home is the single biggest financial investment they will make. Understandably, such a large financial investment should be insured for certain types of unforeseen risk. Consequently, home insurance is something homeowners should consider essential.

Home insurance protects homeowners from unforeseen events that occur that are beyond their control. For example, most home insurance policies protect homeowners in unforeseeable circumstances like theft, fire, and vandalism, and more.

Some people many not want to spend money on home insurance because they do not see the direct benefit associated with the cost. To the contrary, it may be more expensive to not have it. Can you imagine what would happen is something unforeseen happened to your home, like a fire, and you have no home insurance? Could you afford to pay thousands of dollars to repair your fire-damaged house? This situation could financially devastate your family. It would be more prudent to budget for the small amount of money every month for the premiums. Then you can rest assured that your home and its belongings are insured.

Before you purchase home insurance, be sure to research all of the different home insurance policies and make sure you understand its coverage. Most home insurance policies do not cover mold, water damage, natural disasters, dog bites, and intentional damages, and more. If you want comprehensive coverage, you may have to buy supplemental policies in addition to your basic coverage. Be sure to research the different insurance companies and if you have any questions call an insurance representative from that company. You can find out a lot of this information on the internet. You can also get free home insurance quotes online.

When it comes to buying home insurance, you need to ask yourself if you can afford not to insure your biggest asset.

Grey Gregory is a successful webmaster and publisher of purchaseinsurancenow.com/ She provides more home insurance secrets and solutions at her website.

Life insurance settlements, which began during 1980s, refer to purchase of existing life insurance policies of either senior citizens or ill people. For example, if an insurance policy holder is in bad need of money for the treatment of his serious disease like cancer, heart problem or AIDS, he/she can opt for life insurance settlements with some other people. They will sell their policies to the highest bidder and get around 50 to 60 percent of the face value of the policy, which they can use for the treatment and the purchase of expensive drugs. Even senior citizens over 65 years of age can sell their policies to others for the amount more than the cash surrender value. There are some companies who have expertise in the business of purchasing existing policies from senior citizens. Therefore depending on the purpose of the sale, one can categorize life insurance settlements into Viatical settlements and Senior Settlements. Further life settlements have become a very important tool for many areas as under.

Bankruptcy

Sometimes in case of insolvency situations, the policyholders may sell their policies to meet their obligations to their creditors. Even the companies which are under turn around stage can sell the insurance policies which they think no longer needed.

Trust or Estate Planning

Whenever any trust is finding difficulty in paying premiums of the trust?s policies, when the beneficiaries are deceased, when there is a change in tax laws or when the policy taken long back not performing well now, the trust authorities may sell off the insurance policies.

Charitable Grounds

Some policy owners may donate their life insurance policies to the charitable organizations. If the charities do not want to take the pains of making payments of premiums, they can sell the policies.

Commercial Lending Purposes

Some people may take an insurance policy for the purpose of a loan and so once the loan has been repaid completely, the policyholder may sell off the policy and life settlements can be looked into.

Retirement

If the policyholder is going to retire from his employment and if he thinks that the premiums on his insurance policy is about to increase in future, then the policy owner can opt for life insurance settlement.

In life insurance settlement, the amount paid in lump sum can be used either to purchase a better cost effective insurance policy, for medical treatment purposes or for purchasing another investment. If the policy holder still needs insurance coverage for more time but the policy is not performing well, then the policy owner can replace the insurance coverage with some other policy while selling off the old policy. It is advisable for the policyholder to consult lawyer or legal advisor before going for life insurance settlement to get the complete idea as to the tax implications of his policy.

Generally it will take six to eight weeks for receiving a bid in life settlement. Most life settlement contracts will be done through institutional funders as mediators. These institutions involve in a contract with the policy owner in which all the terms and conditions of the life settlement transaction are detailed. Once the policy owner accepts this contract, the settlement funder credits the amount in the account of the owner and submits all the necessary documents to the insurance company asking for the change of ownership and the beneficiary of the policy. These institutional funders are known as life insurance settlement companies.

On the other hand, corporate employers also purchase life insurances like Corporate Owned Life Insurance to cover the fringe benefits of one or more employees under retirement plans. The amount so obtained from the settlement of these insurances can be used by the employer to meet the financial obligations to the employees at the time of their retirement. However, both the corporate employer and individual life insurance policy owner should be very careful before entering into the contract of the settlement contract. They should identify the tax implications of such settlement proceedings and should go for only licensed settlement broker. They should understand the detailed process of settlement before hand.

Life Insurance Settlements provides detailed information on Cash Life Insurance Settlements, Corporate Life Insurance Settlements, Life Insurance Settlement Loans, Life Insurance Settlement Options and more. Life Insurance Settlements is affiliated with Insurance Settlement Loans.

Beautiful boating weather; many boat owners are only able to dream about it. However, if you live in or around the Chula Vista area is likely that you do not have to dream about beautiful boating whether. This is because the majority of the time you are blessed with calm, but beautiful waters, which are ideal for boating. While your foremost concern may be with the weather, it is not the only thing that should be on your mind.

When it comes to boating, there are many boat owners who are uninsured. If you are one of those individuals you may not only be putting your boat at risk, but your own personal finances as well. If you are currently without Chula Vista boat insurance, you are encouraged to at least consider obtaining it. With a small amount of research and careful examination, you may be surprised with all of the different ways that you can benefit from having a Chula Vista boat insurance policy.

Perhaps, the greatest benefit of having Chula Vista boat insurance for your boat is that it is protect. While your boat insurance will not prevent your boat from becoming damaged, it will help to protect your boat afterwards. In the event that you need to file an insurance claim and your claim is approved, you will be given money to pay for your boat repairs. This means that if you have a Chula Vista boat insurance policy, you do not have to have secondhand repairs. Your boat deserves the best and with a valid insurance policy, you may be able to give it the best.

In addition to offering your boat protection, you will also find that a Chula Vista boat insurance policy will also help to protect your finances. As previously, mentioned you will be awarded money to repair your boat, if you have a valid boat insurance policy. If you do not have Chula Vista boat insurance coverage, you will find that you have to pay for your own boat repairs, often out-of-pocket. Depending on your current financial situation, you may find it difficult or impossible to make the needed repairs.

Another benefit of Chula Vista boat insurance is that it may not only help to prevent you from having to pay for your own repairs, but it may also help to prevent you from being sued, especially in the event that a tragic accident occurs. If you boat is involved in an accident, it is possible that your onboard passengers or another boat?s passengers may suffer some injuries. Depending on the Chula Vista boat insurance plan you choose, your passengers and others may be covered. This means that those individuals would be less likely to approach you in civil court to pay for their personal injury expenses.

As you can see, there are a number of benefits to having your boat covered under a Chula Vista boat insurance plan. In fact, the above mentioned benefits are just a few of the many. Once you make the decision obtain boat insurance, you will likely see just how many benefits there are to being properly protected.

Ashton Skylar is a writer for Free Insurance Quotes 4 You.com where you will discover great information on Chula Vista Boat Insurance and other related information.