Life Insurance

If you are planning on travelling overseas it is vital that you take out travel insurance. Unexpected things can happen, such as natural disasters or accidents, or you may become ill while away, and without travel insurance you could find yourself facing huge expenses.

Natural disasters and accidents

We certainly never plan for accidents to happen and natural disasters can strike anywhere out of the blue. This is why having travel insurance is so important as it is at least the one thing you can organise and if something does go wrong then you covered. You may require medical assistance or find that you need to be flown home. Travel insurance can cover your medical expenses, which in a foreign hospital can cost you thousands if you are not covered. If you require further attention you may need to be flown home, and a medical evacuation can reach in to the tens of thousands of dollars.

Illness

If you become ill overseas you may need to be admitted to hospital, and when in a foreign country this can be extremely costly as you won’t be covered by their health system. If you need to return home early these additional costs can be covered if you have travel insurance. Your insurance will cover your hospital stay and any medical emergency costs.

Lost or stolen belongings

It is important to have travel insurance while travelling overseas in case you lose your belongings, or if they are stolen. Travel insurance will cover your luggage and any documents, such as your passport and visas, as well as any cash.

Death or disability

If you become permanently disabled you will find that most policies will cover expenses, or if you happen to die as a result of an accident then your travel insurance can cover this too. It can be extremely costly to transport remains, for example from Europe it can cost around ten thousand dollars to fly a body home. The stress of having to come up with this huge sum for a grieving family would be terrible, so it is worthwhile having the cover. (more…)

There are insurance companies and reinsurance companies. The insurance companies are the folks that have their name on your insurance policy. They aren’t the insurance agent that sells it to you, but rather a big corporation with lots of assets, collecting money from hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, and putting it into a pool, and when one person has a calamity, accident, or situation they can pay it off without having to worry.

The rest of the money is invested in the stock market, emerging markets, and other investments and the insurance company makes lots of money on the increased value of their investments, while keeping a large percentage available in case of the onslaught of massive claims, which sometimes occur due to natural disasters, or other black Swan events.

Now then, the reinsurance companies are gigantic and enormous companies that insure all the insurance companies. You see the insurance companies don’t want to be on the hook for everything, so they take out an insurance policy with the reinsurance company that has even more massive assets. Generally what might happen is the insurance company covers the first so many millions of dollars worth of losses in the event of a natural disaster, and the reinsurance company kicks in after that. There are a few well-known reinsurance companies like Munich, and AIG.

Both of those reinsurance companies were hit extremely hard after the Japanese earthquake and Tsunami. Both recorded net losses for that quarter, and assume that it will take a bite out of their next quarter as all the claims come in and the payouts are made. In the United States perhaps you remember the Alabama tornadoes, or the big tornado that hit Joplin Missouri, or the massive floods from the Mississippi River in 2001. Yes there have been a lot of natural disaster claims and it was a tough first half of the year. (more…)

In this modern age one thinks nothing more of just booting up the computer, going online, browsing a few web sites, seeing what is available, and comparing prices. This is all well and good, but when you are considering the insurance of your motorcycle, you might have to think twice, especially if you have a motorbike shall we say that is not the standard motorbike that can be seen everywhere. Most companies that deal with insurance and this is across the board, will generally have assume that you are a normal citizen and require normal insurance be it for a car, home or other type of insurance.

Motorcyclists by their nature are individuals, and like to stand out from the crowd, and this is often reflected with the type of bike they ride, how many times have you stopped in your tracks when walking down the street, and seen a beautiful custom built motorcycle, perhaps you have gone to a rally, and you will notice no custom built motorbike is the same, they have different engines, designs and styles. In amongst these fantastic motorbikes you will also often see vintage bikes which have been lovingly restored, they come form a time when perhaps the thrill of the open road really lent itself to motorcycling.

Well in saying all this, if you are the owner of a custom or vintage bike, it may well be that little more difficult to obtain an insurance quote through one of the many companies and brokerages on the internet, as they may well not be able to handle your request. Therefore it is often easier to browse through the yellow pages and just pick up the phone and speak to a live person, who you can explain in detail exactly the type of bike you have and the requirements you need for your insurance cover.

If you own a classic motorcycle and it is over fifteen or twenty years old then you will be able obtain a classic policy for your bike. The insurance companies will ask for some verification as to your bike being a classic, and this may result in them asking you for any receipts that you have when you did the restoration of your bike, and you will also be asked to give them some photographs of your classic motorcycle showing in detail the make and model of your bike. (more…)