Three tips when picking small business insurance
Published December 27, 2011 | 
There are three key things you need to look out for when settling on your small business insurance. From the easiest of elements to the hardest, it’s important to ensure that you’re paying attention to the things that you need, and ensure that you’ve got the right insurance for you.
1) What does the insurance cover? First and foremost, you’ve got to make sure that the insurance you eventually choose covers everything you need it to. If it doesn’t, you need to find out why and what you can do to fix that. If you’re unsure of whether the insurance you’ve chosen covers what you need it to, ask your sales person, or look online. Small business insurance needs to cover different things in many cases than housing and other insurances, so be sure you’re choosing the right one for the job.
2) What are the premiums? Cost prohibitive insurance can stop you from renewing it, but at the same time, it might save you money should the worst happen. So, weigh up the cost against its benefits and ensure you’re getting a good deal.
3) Is there a better deal on the market? Once you’ve looked at the first two criteria, you’re often in a better position to compare other deals on the market. Ensure that you’re looking at a strong deal by buying the best deal for your needs.
Insurance Brokerage Firms
Published November 26, 2011 |
Insurance brokerage firms play a key role in business development of both life insurance and general insurance companies. On one hand, they act as intermediary between insurer and client, helping to assess the client’s business and risk profile, and accordingly suggesting appropriate coverage. On the other hand, they also act to convince the insurer to assume the risk involved in underwriting particular policies. Although insurance brokerage firms draw their salaries from insurers, a firm’s top priority is to see to the client’s interests. Moreover, firms do not charge any commission for services provided to clients. When a client makes damage claims, the firm interacts on behalf of the client with surveyors, photographers and structural engineers appointed by the insurer.
The insurance broker also relays data relating to the potential client’s business and risk profile to the technical division of the insurance company. The broker’s role may vary according to the size of the insurance company it serves. For big insurance companies, brokerage firms may operate in specialized areas, while elsewhere they may be required to look after the entire range of policies that an insurance company may have to offer.
Insurance brokerage firms are also supposed to manage knowledge and information flow relating to their clients and the markets in which they operate. Accordingly, they have to maintain detailed records. Not only that, but they also collate data from other sources and then analyze them to see the big picture. In addition, they identify new industry trends and developments on the basis of collated data and evaluate various insurance products on the market.
In many countries, in fact, insurers are already selling their products mainly through brokerage firms. In other words, brokers have emerged as the sole distributor of policies for the insurance companies in those countries. Nevertheless, this trend is yet to evolve into a global practice.
Importance Of Insurance
Published October 2, 2011 |
Insurance is a defensive measure used against future conditional losses to hedge the possible risks of the future. It is a legal contract that protects a person from contingent risk of losses through financial means and provides a means for individuals and societies to handle some of the risks faced in daily life.
These contracts of insurance are called policies and are provided by insurance companies. The Insurance companies charge a regular amount from the customers, which is paid back, either in part, or entirety, to the customers in case of a definite loss. This regular amount charged from customers is called Insurance Premium.
REASONS OF INSURANCE:
Sometimes in life it is not possible to avoid the losses. For example People may become ill. They may die of illness or accidents or their homes or other property may undergo damage or theft. So in all these cases and they have to face the loss of income or savings. So insurance is a manner of financially insuring that if such an incident comes about then the loss does not affect the present well being of the person.
DOCTRINES OF INSURANCE:
1 There should be a certain definite loss taken place at a known time, in a known place and from a known cause. Therefore the time, place and the cause of loss should be clear enough.
2 The incident that represent the cause of the claim should be accidental or beyond the control of the beneficiary.
3 The size of the loss must be significant from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums should cover both the estimated cost of losses, plus the cost of policy, regulating the losses, and providing the principal required to logically assure that the insurer would be able to reimburse claims.
4 The amount of premium should be affordable.
5 The possibility of loss and the cost of compensation should be calculable or estimable
TYPES OF INSURANCE:
Below are some kinds of insurances.
LIFE INSURANCE:
Life insurance policy insures the life of the insured. The insurance company is legally bound to provide a monetary benefit to a decedent’s family or the beneficiary after the death of the policyholder. The proceeds are paid to the beneficiary either in a lump sum amount or an annuity
MEDICAL INSURANCE:
Medical insurance is also called medclaim. Under this policy the insurance policy pays the amount to the insured for his health purpose. This amount covers the cost of medical treatment.
DISABILITY INSURANCE:
There are two types of disability insurance.One is simple disability insurance and the other is total disability insurance. In case of simple disability insurance,a financial support on monthly basis is provided by the insurer to the policy holder if he is unable to work due to an injury or an illness. But permanent disability insurance provides the reimbursement if a person becomes permanently disabled.
GENERAL INSURANCE:
It includes automobiles insurance, business insurance, property insurance etc.
Automobile insurance:
In UK this insurance is called motor insurance. It compensates the loss or damage occurred to the vehicle. But in United States auto insurance policy is essential to legally operate a vehicle on public roads.
Business insurance:
Business insurance protects the businesses against risks of losses and damages and compensates in case of loss
Property insurance:
This type of insurance protects the property against the risks like fire, theft etc. This category also includes fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance etc
Fire Insurance:
It is an insurance covering the damage to the property caused by fire.
Flood Insurance:
This type of insurance pays the policy holder in case of any loss or damage to the property due to flood. It protects the property against the flooding.
Earthquake Insurance:
This insurance compensates any damage to the property caused by earthquake.
IMPORTANCE OF INSURANCE:
Insurance plays an important role in sharing the risks of people in an affordable form.It helps the people to quickly recover from damages and losses.