Insurance

The insurance company you choose to protect you from loss in the event of an accident or situation needs to be a trustworthy one. Know what to look for as you analyze and examine different companies and policies to ensure that you choose the right coverage.

Positive Ratings

Rely on the assessments of the rating companies, whose purpose is to analyze the quality and financial wellbeing of insurance companies. Check the rating of any insurance company you are considering. As you check ratings, compare them to learn which business has the highest rating. Higher ratings have a direct correlation with the solidity of the business and the services provided. Higher ratings also indicate entities with more solid financial standings for paying out claims.

Business Longevity

Examine the length of time a business has been operating to get an indication of the quality and reliability of its services. A newly formed entity may not be able to offer customers the same reliability and performance as businesses that have been around for many years. A recent purchase and transfer between insurers could indicate that the new owner is undertaking positive growth.

Customer Service

The services provided to customers by an insurance company will be an important indicator of quality. Optimally, customers should be able to reach representatives in a variety of ways, such as by phone, online chat, and email. The response times to customer queries should be relatively short to ensure that all questions and concerns receive a speedy resolution. Customers should also be able to reach a representative around the clock and on weekends and holidays for emergencies.

Coverage Policies

The policies provided should meet your needs, with cost effective premiums, affordable deductibles, and terms that meet your coverage needs. Compare policy terms between different corporations to ensure that you choose the policy that fits your budget and needs. Explore the claim-paying process to find out how the business investigates claims and the typical time period for payment on a claim. Find out the rate of claim refusal, also, so you know the average pay out statistics for the insurance company.

Reviews and Complaints

Learn about reviews and complaints recorded by other customers to find out potentially positive and negative information about the insurer. Find positive and negative reviews on websites that allow consumers to record their experiences for other consumers to read. These reviews may provide surprising information about an entity that could lead you to decide not to choose them as your insurer. You might also learn positive information about the way a business takes care of its customers. Optimally, the corporation you choose should have very few or even no complaints lodged against it from other customers.

Once you gather extensive information about a company, you will have the data you need to choose a quality business for your coverage needs. This will enable you to put your trust and confidence in this corporation, knowing that it will assist you financially if you need it.

Do you and your Insurance Company know your Liability?

Traffic signs are everywhere. They provide us with warnings, directions and information. They can be found along public roadways, private roadways and parking lots. As of June 13, 2014 all agencies with public and private roadways which are opened for public travel are required to have a traffic sign assessment and management plan in place.

I know what you are thinking, that's great the government has more paperwork to add to their already inflated bureaucracy. Though that may be the case, if you are a commercial or industrial business, mall, shopping center, home owner's association, convenience store, gas station, just to name a few, with a parking lot or roadways, you should be preparing for traffic sign Retroreflectivity.

Why should you be concerned or taking note of traffic sign assessment and management? Well simply put if you allow motorists to drive on your property, which would almost be impossible not to, you are entering new realm of possible liability.

You along with your Insurance Company should know what the failure to prepare and plan for traffic sign assessment and management can mean. I bet most agencies and businesses don't even know what traffic signs are their responsibilities.

Why don't you humor me and let me give you an example how this can affect you. When your property was built, more than likely you or the owner at the time had to obtain a driveway or highway occupancy permit to enter and exit the public roadway. More than likely your plan had a stop sign at the entrance, no big deal, right? Wrong, if a driver leaving your property pulls out into the path of an oncoming vehicle and there is an accident, one of the things that the investigating agencies will be looked at is whether the proper traffic signs are in place and in operational condition. They will look at the signs in helping to determine who is at fault. Maybe not a huge deal if it is a fender bender, but what if there are major injuries or even worse a death. Now you can be certain the insuring parties, or family of the injured or dead are going to be looking for someone to pay for the damages and pain and suffering.

Get my point! In the example above we are only talking about one sign, a stop sign. Let me ask you a few things that the investigators will probably asking.

Property owner, what was the date the stop sign was installed? Do you have records of the purchase? Did the stop sign meet the highway traffic sign standards at the time of installation? Where did you purchase the sign? Was it installed to the proper height and mounting standards as required by the highway standards? When was the sign last assessed for compliance?

Holy cow! As a property owner how would you know any of that information? Simple: a traffic sign assessment and management program.

Now many permit and civil plans for properties have more than one stop sign on them, many have multiple signs. Did you also know that some state, county and local agencies add wording to the permit plans that give responsibility for the new roadway signs added during construction to the property owner. I know, you are asking why, would they do that. Simple, alleviate or pass the responsibility to someone else. Smart on their part, but bad for you and you insurance company.

The MUTCD (Manual on Uniformed Traffic Control Devices) is about to make all of our lives a little bit more interesting. I believe the door is opening for a flood of liability claims relating to traffic signs. The MUTCD and Federal Highway Administration have stated that private roads open to public travel are required to meet provisions of the MUTCD, including the minimum retroreflectivity standards. I know some people will argue that parking lots are not included, however I believe this extends to parking lots. My logic behind this is that there are drive lanes in a parking lot and what is a drive lane other than a private road. But hey I will let the lawyers argue that point in court.

A statistic obtained from Auto Insurance quotes.com, indicated that Nationwide Insurance's 2012 claim data showed 13 percent of all accidents occur in parking lots. During my research I have found that injuries to pedestrians are one of the fastest growing types of accidents which occur in parking lots. So my next question is are your Pedestrian crossing signs compliant?

As you can see, I am trying to make a point, if you do not have a traffic sign assessment and management plan in place or think that it can't happen to you all I can say is good luck. But just remember an implemented plan may be the cheapest insurance you could purchase.

Understanding Insurance Claims

An Insurance Plan can get us off our worries. May it be an Educational Plan, Health, Life, Auto, Accident or Retirement Insurance Plan. Living in a country where everything is fast-paced, having an Insurance Policy is a necessity. The absence of these much-needed Plans could cause you a lot of troubles. Imagine, what to do when someone in the family is sick? Paying your hospital bills could be worrisome and how would you send your children to school without an Educational Insurance?

Some people have different kinds of Insurance Plans to secure their life and that of their family. However, an insurance claim also provides negative feedbacks that discourages people from thinking of the necessity of acquiring an insurance Plan. Definitely, an Insurance Plan means benefits but somehow, claiming those benefits could be tedious and time-consuming. Insurance claims need not give us so much trouble if we just understand how Insurance companies work on our Insurance claims. So to fully understand issues and save us a lot of troubles claiming our insurance, let us take a look on this.

How to File Your 4 Important Insurance Claims

Filing your Auto Insurance Claim

1. Assess if the Claim is Worth the Trouble

Before filing for an auto insurance claim, decide if you want to file a claim or not. If you think you can afford to pay for the damage, no matter who is responsible for it, then try not to make any claim. What is important, according to a Personal Insurance Expert, you need to keep your Insurance Record clean.

2. Get the Accident Document

It is very important to document every detail of the accident and get witnesses to back up your story afterwards. A Police record on the scene is a relevant document you must have to support your claim.

3. File Claim Immediately

You don't need to lose time in filing your claim. Question as to who is responsible will be taken care of by your Insurance Company.

4. Expect a Call Anytime

Expect a call from the other driver's Insurance Company to interview you on your version of the incident. Make sure you document the conversation and don't forget to ask the agent's name.

5. Get Your Car Fixed

After your claim is approved, then you can have your car's body fixed in case of a damage. The Insurance Company will assess the damage or ask you to send your car to any car shop of their choice to get it fixed.

How to File Your Home Insurance Claim

In case of a disaster which left you and your family homeless, file your Home Insurance Claim. As you file your claim, be sure to have your Insurance Policy with you. In case you were not able to have your copy available after the disaster, at least know and remember your Insurance Company's name and contact numbers. It is not always relevant to remember only your agent's name for sometimes, he could represent various companies.

Prepare a Quick Household Inventory

It's always better to take a video of your whole household belongings every time you acquire a Home Insurance Plan. Keep a copy of this record and keep it in a safe-keeping vault outside of your house. It's always advisable to keep a bank deposit box for important documents like Insurance Policies, Property Title, etc.

Notify Your Insurance Company ASAP

It is important to notify your Insurance Company as soon as possible for the reason that you may have to avail of the Loss-of-Use Benefit in your policy if you have this feature. This could cover living expenses outside of your home while it is being repaired such as hotel bills, meals and other cost of living expenses. This will entitle you to receive immediate cash needed for your bills.

Start Filing Your Claim

You can't have your claim until you have everything properly documented. So, it would be hard for you to have a documented list of your household belongings if you don't have access to your damaged home. Only when you can gain access to your home once again could you properly document it. While you are waiting for the approval of the claim, you may make minor repairs but be sure to record every disbursement you make. Don't make any major repairs until your claim is approved.

How to Hire a Contractor for Insurance Claim

Find a reputable contractor to take care of your building or repair needs. A lot of contractors would always grab a chance like this to take advantage of your anxiety. They can always stretch your budget beyond the level of reasoning.

How to File a Life Insurance Claim

Filing for an Insurance Claim after the death of a loved is not really easy. However, it is at this point in life when you have to be practical. You need money more than anything to pay off the funeral cost, bills and even the family needs. It is hard to be left alone and face all these problems but you have to be thankful if the deceased love one had prepared you for times like this. As a survivor, we sometimes worry about things like these but a Life Insurance Plan is designed to give us less worries and ensures the deceased family that we won't have to deal with the financial problem as we grieved over the loss of a loved one.

Find the Life Insurance Policy

The Policy is an important document granted to the Policy Holder. This is badly needed when filing for an Insurance claim. Be sure to look for it if the deceased party had failed to inform you where he had kept it. You may keep in mind that this is a very important document, so the keeper might have kept it in a place not easily seen or recognizable. You may look in a plastic container or any sealed container large enough to contain it. It could also be kept in a small drawer of a cabinet in your head board or lamp stand cabinet.

If you can't find the Insurance Policy but you are sure that the decease is an Insurance Policy Holder, you may write to the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI).For a small amount, the ACLI will conduct a search to find the Policy. The address is 101 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004-2500. Don't forget to include a self-addressed, business-sized envelope.

Contact the Company's Number Listed in the Policy

Try to contact immediately the contact number or numbers listed in the document. If you personally know the authorized representative or agent, you may as well contact him directly and tell him that you want to file a claim. The company's agent will always be ready to assist you in your filing. He will be providing you with forms needed for the application. Wait for any instruction that the Insurance Company will provide you.

Fill-up the Necessary Forms and Submit Requirements

After receiving the necessary form needed for application in filing for the Insurance claim, fill it up with all the needed information. Provide also the other requirements needed upon submission. The Death Certificate is the very basic of all requirements you may need to provide together with your Application Form. Decide How you want to Receive the Proceeds from the Life Policy. You may choose to receive the proceeds in lump sum, or opt to receive it in a form of monthly pension or simply leave the money in deposit for it to earn interest and dividends.

Wait for the Release of the Funds

Expect that your fund's approval for the claim will take more than a month to process as the Insurance Company still have to validate information relative to your application.

How to File Health for Medical Claims

If you have to pay for your medical bills, then you have to file for your Health Insurance Claim. Here are some helpful tips in making your claim:

Keep an Itemized Report

Be sure to obtain all receipts and necessary statement of accounts issued by the doctor or pharmacist. Summarize it, so it could be easily understood by the Insurance Evaluator. Attach it to your Application Form.

Fill-Up Your Claim Application Form

Contact your Health Insurance Company as soon as possible. You may get your Application Form directly from them after declaring your desire to file for a Health Insurance Claim. The Application Form is easy to fill-up but someone from the Insurance Company is sure to assist you if there are some items in the Application Form that you don't understand.

Scan or Duplicate a Copy

After filling up your form and submitting to the Health Insurance Company, be sure to scan it or have your duplicate copy to keep. This will keep you from inconvenience in case of loss or error in filing. You can easily file it again when needed. Review Before Submission. File your claim as soon as possible. Ask for assistance or inquire for any additional instruction or requirements. Ask how long it will take you to wait for the result and be sure to make a note of it in your calendar. If they failed to contact you on the given date, be sure to contact your Health Insurance Agent immediately.

Filing for an insurance claim can be tedious but in today's world where everything is fast-paced, having an Insurance Policy is becoming a necessity. Here is your guide on how to file your Insurance claim with lesser time, effort and troubles.