Disability Insurance

Disability can occur at any time. While many people take their body and health for granted, serious accident or injury can happen to anyone and if you find yourself disable, for a short period or long term, how will you cope?

Disability insurance is a sub set of health insurance that will provide the holder with income should they become disabled and thus unable to continue earning a living. If this were to happen to you, do you know what you or your family would do for income?

If you are aged 40, there is a higher chance that you will be disabled, and thus unable to work for a period of 90 days or more, than of you dying before the age of 65. There are three common ways of insuring against this risk.

<b>Employer’s Insurance</b>

The first is to receive insurance from your employer. This is required by law in many states. It comes as a form of short or long term paid sick leave. Larger employers can have even more generous terms. For example, a common policy might offer you 60% of your salary for five years, or maybe even all the way up to retirement. While not everyone is lucky enough to work for such a company, it is worth checking with your employer to find out what your protection is and whether or not its something you wish to provide for yourself.

<b>Long Term Disability</b>

The second common protection against this type of risk is social security and disability benefits. This usually only covers employees whose disability lasts for a period of 12 months or more. It also must be shown to be so severe that you cannot find gainful employment. Therefore there are some gaps here that you may be more comfortable providing for with private insurance.

<b>Individual Policies</b>

The third method of dealing with this risk is with an individual disability insurance policy. This means taking out a private insurance policy yourself. You should shop around to make sure you get the best deal available, but at least you will have the peace of mind of knowing in what circumstances you are covered and what the terms of the policy cover.

There are some other sources of protection. Workman’s compensation policies will sometimes step in to cover you if the injury occurred at work. Auto insurance may provide coverage if the injury occurred in a car accident and the Department of Veteran’s affairs can advise you if you think the disability is related to service in the armed forces.

Car insurance for lady drivers

Car insurance companies prefer lady drivers to their gentlemen counterparts because they are considered as much less risky drivers. It is not that the accident rates of ladies are low. They face as many accidents as males do. However, the damage caused by them is not as much in most of the cases. So, their claims after the accident are also less. That is why on an average women’s car insurance premiums tend to be 30% lower than that of the male counterparts having same demographic profile.

They drive at speeds lower than men. Hence, accidents caused by lady drivers are not serious. So, even if they might claim as often as males do yet, in all they claim less amounts, giving insurers lesser premiums. Since the male drivers drive at higher speeds so even if they crash on their own, the loss is high. In case, the accident involves two vehicles in high damage state, it becomes an insurance company’s nightmare. 

A lady is regarded to be a better risk right from the age of 17. There are many premium discounts available for a young lady driver, like pass plus certificate. It is a series of extra lessons that a young lady driver learns following their test. It can gain you a discount of around 30% for the first year.

Some car insurance companies specialise in auto insurance for women drivers. Literally, these companies try to insure women drivers only. They don’t even encourage getting a lady insured with her husband under combined policy. Because they can’t give too much discount, as they have to think about her husband’s high risk factors as well. So, they would prefer woman with woman. It means providing less risk in total, meaning lower premiums in total. That really clicks for them.   

So, the calculation is simple - the lower premiums might mean that they don't make much profit. However, if they can get as many women as possible, then the volume of business can go high. Look out these companies if you are a woman. Lady car insurance quote includes legal cover as well. It helps you to claim back your excess from the third party in the event of a non-fault claim. You can further lower your premium by parking your car overnight in the garage, by getting extra driving license course, and maintaining a good driving record.

Car Insurance FAQs

<b>Can I insure a modified or classic car; who will offer insurance cover?</b>

Yes, you can insure a modified car but because your car is a specialist car, not all auto insurance companies might be willing to provide coverage for it since it requires high price replacement parts and also skilled labor if the car is involved in an accident. Thus, you have to take a special car insurance that is designed especially for modified and classic cars.

<b>How can I cut down my car insurance premium? </b>

If you wish to cut down on your car insurance premium you must take care of a few things. Park your car overnight in the garage rather than leaving it on the drive. Fit insurance approved anti-theft devices; consider Third Party Fire and Theft for older cars. Find out discounts offered by the insurance provider when requesting quotes. Young drivers (under 25), who are often charged extremely high premiums, should have an extra driving course certificate.

<b>What is 'excess'?</b>

It is the amount you have to pay when you make a claim for the loss or damage to your car. It can be voluntary or compulsory. If someone else causes the accident you may be able to reclaim the excess through the legal cover, which can be taken out with your car insurance policy. Otherwise you lose the excess. Voluntary excess is the amount you agree to pay to the company. It offers premium discounts. Compulsory excess is generally imposed to young drivers. Because their risk factors are high and the companies don’t want to insure them. So, in order to insure, they have to surrender with this payment.

<b>What is legal cover?</b>

It provides expertise and assistance required to recover uninsured losses such as medical costs, loss of earnings and excess payments where the fault was not yours. It is available as an optional with most car insurance policies.

<b>Can an insurance company cancel my auto policy?</b>

Yes, you auto insurance policy may stand canceled if you fail to pay the premium or if your consumer's license has been suspended or revoked during the term of an auto policy. Also, if there is a fraud or serious misrepresentation when completing the insurance application, if the you are convicted to a crime, or if changes are made to the property that increase the risk of loss then the company may cancel your insurance policy.

Why Sports Cars Cost More To Insure

Have you ever wondered why sports cars cost more to insure than other types of car – even when the purchase price of the sports car is less expensive?  If so, the following are the main reasons why this is the case.

Car Insurance Group Categories

While many of the factors that determine the make-up of car insurance quotes are not known, what is known is that insurance companies ‘group’ certain types of cars into categories.  For this purposes, insurance companies have groups ranging from 1 through to 20.  Group 1 is the least expensive type of car to insure.  Group 20 is the most expensive type of car to insure.  So, if you buy a Fiat Panda, you’ll be classed a Group 1 car driver.  Buy a sports car, any sports car, and you are looking at being classed a Group 15 and above driver.  Buy a performance sports car, such as a Porsche 911, and you’ll definitely be Group 20 driver!

Theft

Over 2 million car crimes happen in the UK each and every year.  Aside from popular model cars, such a Ford, the biggest car crime category is sports cars!  Have a soft-top convertible sports car, and the chances of it being stolen are red hot!  So, even if you live out in the countryside with no one else around for miles, you will still be seen as driving an extremely high risk car when it comes to car theft.  With increased risk, comes an increased premium!

Accidents

Insurance companies are not charities – they’re in the business to make money.  As such, they keep vast amounts of data and part of that data tells them that if you drive a sports car there is an increased risk you’ll be in an accident and that the accident will be more serious (and costly) than if you were driving a regular car.  As such, the premium charge is going to be higher.

Under 30?

Unless you have just won the Lottery, if you are under 30 there are no appealing factors when it comes to insuring a sports car.  Not only do the insurance company see the car you drive as being a high risk car to insure, but you as the driver are far more risky to insure as well.  Consequently, car insurance premiums for those 30 years of age or under, driving sports cars, is probably the highest of all types of car insurance available in the UK today.