August 30th 2010

Choosing the Right Auto Insurance Limits

Insurance policies do not supply endless amounts of coverage. In fact, there is a limit to how much all of your insurance policies will pay for an insurable event-including your health insurance, home insurance and auto insurance. These caps are called limits and they protect your insurance company from committing an endless supply of dollars toward the reimbursement of your insurance incidents.

Imagine how difficult it would be to develop car insurance rates if you had no idea how much you might possibly have to spend on a particular accident. It would be almost impossible. From medical expenses to emotional damages, from property damage to auto damage-there is no end to the amount of money you could be responsible for without limits to your benefit set.

When you get your car insurance quotes and rates, you are asked to decide what kind of limit you want on your policy. The lower the limit you choose the less the insurance company knows it will have to spend per insurable interest-and that means the lower the rates you are quoted. But if you choose a limit that is too low in your eagerness to get cheap auto insurance rates then you run the risk of hurting yourself. Why? Well what do you think happens if it costs more to fix your car after an accident than the limit in your policy provides? That’s right-you have to pay it out of pocket. Any expense that exceeds your limit must be paid by you and if you don’t have the funds available then you run the risk of having your car in the shop and unrepaired much longer than you intended.

For guidance on limit setting, check with your mechanic to get an idea of repair and replacement costs for your car. Also, check with your insurance company to see if they have any data that will give you the average amounts for claims of various natures in your state. Lastly, make sure the limit you choose looks like one that will cover the bulk of any accident or insurable event and doesn’t seem like it will leave you paying out-of-pocket beyond your deductible.

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May 11th 2010

Home insurance for your mobile home

Those who own a mobile home often ask if there’s a type of insurance that is something between home and car insurance and is suitable for covering their property. The answer is positive, as there is a special type of insurance products designed to cover mobile homes, and they are relatively inexpensive, with premiums of about $250 per year. And if you really want to make sure that your mobile home will be paid for if it gets damaged, it’s not a big price to pay for certainty and some peace of mind.

This type of insurance coverage makes part of general liability insurance coverage. Claims filed under this type of insurance usually deal with medical costs, lost income, trauma and sometimes property damage. Typical mobile home policies have the same aspects of coverage as ordinary home protection, including the actual replacement and repair costs of the house, injuries sustained by other people (besides you and your family members) on your property, living expenses if you have to dwell in another location due to repair, and the items contained in your home. The main difference here is that the same coverage applies while your house is on the move, too. And as with any other type of insurance, the rates vary significantly from one company to another.

Home insurance whether it’s a mobile home or a typical house is first and foremost used to protect your property from such hazards as fire, storm, and theft, acts of vandalism, natural calamities, explosions and technological calamities. The items contained within your home will also be covered, including furniture, equipment and valuables such as jewelry (to an extent).

And just like with ordinary houses home insurance quotes for mobile homes can vary significantly from one provider to another. The Insurance Information Institute strongly suggests having at least three quotes from different providers before buying a policy. However, the more quotes you have the higher are the chances that you will find a suitable policy for a low price. This is especially useful if you are new to the whole insurance market and don’t know where to start.

Still, mobile home coverage has certain peculiarities that set it apart from the usual home insurance you would purchase for your house. The main feature is that you can benefit from free continental travel coverage, which protects your mobile home financially regardless of where your home is located in the country at the moment.

However, the hidden catch with mobile home coverage is that in most cases it is based on actual cash value of your home, which puts a strong emphasis on depreciation that lowers the replacement cost of your mobile home with each year passing. Still, the policy will cover all the equipment and special features that were initially installed in your mobile home. Read your policy careful before signing it in order to learn which particular items and situations are covered and which are not.

Most mobile home owners neglect the importance of insurance for their homes, believing that it’s not mandatory and taking account the rare use of it. But even if you do not use it quite often and it stays near your house most of the time it doesn’t mean that nothing can happen to your property, and losing something costly due to own negligence is not the smartest thing to do.

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