Monday 30 May 2011

Why You Should Consider Pet Insurance For Your Family Pet



If you have ever thought about the benefits of insuring your family pet, then you may want to consider the following pointers as to why you should consider pet insurance for your family pet:

 1 in every 3 family pets will visit a vet this year for treatment
  40 percent of all vet fees are caused by ‘unforeseen’ illnesses or accidents
  less than 15 percent of family pets in the UK are covered by pet insurance
  the average vet bill for care and attention needed following a road accident involving a cat or dog last year was like. £750 - £1,000
  2 out of every 3 pet owners in the UK have admitted to having gone overdrawn at some time during their lives in order to pay for their pet’s vet bills.

All of these are fairly scary statistics.  They’re event more scary when you consider that will a simple family pet insurance policy, paying a minimum premium of somewhere between £25 and £75 (depending on the size of the pet), all of these are totally unnecessary.

If you want to get you pet insured and avoid any of these statistics happening to you, you can choose from

As the name suggests, with a pet accident insurance you are getting the basic minimum in pet insurance – accident coverage.  Under this policy the insurance company will reimburse you for all costs and expenses you incur caused as a result of your pet having been involved in an accident (unfortunately, more often than not, this means a road accident).

With pet accident and illness insurance you get full coverage insurance; namely, your insurance company will agree to pay for all the costs and expenses incurred as a result of your family pet having suffered any illness or accident.

One thing you do need to keep in mind when arranging your family pet insurance is the excess amount.  As with all insurance policies, the excess amount is the amount you and the insurance company agree you’ll pay before you are entitled to claim against the insurance policy.  While it is always a good idea to set an excess amount that would cover you for any mundane visits to the vet, so as to keep the premium down if nothing else, you don’t want to see the excess too high that you end up having to pay for care and attention you thought would be covered by the pet insurance policy.  It is, therefore, advisable that you have a look at some of your more recent vet bills and try and mind a medium between these sums so you have some idea of the excess before you set off arranging your family pet insurance.

Sunday 29 May 2011

Selling Your Life Insurance


Selling your life insurance is an option you might consider if you're in a difficult financial situation for which you don't see a close end. A terminal illness or old age could cause you to think twice about paying those hefty premiums at this stage of your life. Selling your life insurance carries with it complex implications and substantial risks, so it is important that you educate yourself regarding the big picture. If you're interested in selling your life insurance, this is a good starting point to obtain some basic information.

If you've already done any research on selling your life insurance, chances are good that you've come across two main terms: viaticals and life settlements. Both refer to the selling of your life insurance to a third party. So what's the difference? "Viatical" is typically used to refer to the transaction involving a chronically or terminally ill insured, while a "life settlement" is a transaction involving a senior (generally over the age of 65) who is not terminally ill.

Even though you now know the difference, it does not mean that your state does. These terms might be used interchangeably, or your state might use one of them to refer to both transactions. For example, your state could use "Viatical Settlement" to refer to any type of transaction regarding selling your insurance. Be aware that this kind of ambiguity may exist in relation to the vocabulary used in the sale of your life insurance.

How it Works
The owner of the life insurance policy will sell it for a percentage of the death benefit a lump sum to a third party and, in exchange, receives an often substantial lump sum payment. The third party then becomes the new owner and/or beneficiary of the policy and pays all of the future premiums and eventually collects the death benefit when the insured passes away.

Those considering selling their life insurance may either directly approach a viatical company or settlement firm, or they may choose to work with a broker. The broker will act as an intermediary and present the information to several different companies/firms in an effort to find the highest price for the sale.

The settlement firms buy the insurance on behalf of investors. In this situation, the investors become the owners and beneficiaries, and the settlement firm pays the premium until the insured dies. The firm then collects the death benefit and either pays its investors a percentage of the annual return or repackages the policy for sale to another party.

Take comfort in know that the process of selling one's life insurance is typically very confidential. Most viatical companies and settlement firms understand the discretion necessary to make the process run smoothly and easily. However, a company may act disrespectfully and become borderline intrusive by trying to keep track of the insured's condition. For this reason, it is important to work with a respectful, experienced organization.

Who Considers Selling
Those with serious, life-threatening illnesses are most likely to consider selling their life insurance to provide cash for various expenses, such as mounting medical bills. For those who are not terminally ill, selling the life insurance might be a good idea for a number of reasons. If the owner's beneficiary has died or if the owner can't afford to keep paying the premiums, it would appear that they no longer have sufficient use for the life insurance. Seniors around retirement age may also consider selling their life insurance, even if they are free of debt, in order to receive a lump sum of money with which they may do whatever they please.
Keep in mind that different companies may have different eligibility requirements to be able to sell your life insurance policy.

Advantages to Selling Your Life Insurance
It might be easy to see some of these benefits, but others are a little less obvious.
You'll receive a lump sum cash payment right now. As mentioned above, this is especially useful to the terminally ill who have mounting medical bills.
You will receive more by selling your life insurance than you would if you simply surrendered it to the insurance company. It is possible for an insured person who is 65 or older or who is terminally ill to sell a policy with little or no cash value for a $100,000.00 or much more.
You won't have to pay any more insurance premiums. If your financial situation is becoming strained with no end in sight, eliminating premiums is a way to alleviate the burden.
You don't have to repay the money, like you do when you borrow against your insurance policy.
Even though your life insurance benefits won't be available once you die, you can still leave money to a certain person or organization – it will just come from the money that is leftover after using the funds from selling your policy. So, selling your life insurance does not mean that you're definitely robbing your beneficiaries of their gift. In some cases, the money you receive is tax-free.
There are no regulations or restrictions on how you make use of the money you receive. You may spend as much of it or as little of it as you wish, however you please.

Risks of Selling Your Life Insurance
Understanding the risks associated with selling your life insurance will help you make an informed decision. Be sure to consult a financial advisor or tax attorney to make sure you understand the implications of the sale
You might lose your eligibility for some public assistance benefits, especially those based on your income and assets (such as food stamps, welfare, Medicaid and some Social Security benefits).
There could be tax issues. Selling the policy will
result in a tax bill if the settlement amount exceeds your cost basis.
With improved medical care, the ill person may live longer than expected.
You might face unhappy heirs. This might not be a problem for you, but it could lead to a long road of (possibly legal) complications and battles. Some settlement actually companies require the beneficiaries to also sign off on any sale, which could be good or bad, depending on whether or not you're dealing with a cooperative beneficiary.

Other Options
If you come to the conclusion that selling your life insurance policy is not for you, there are other options (though none that would provide you with such a large lump sum). An insurance agent should be able to help give you more information on some of these ideas.
 Borrow against your insurance policy
Cash out the policy if it has surrender value
Look into accelerated benefits or living benefits
Borrow money (from family or friends perhaps) and use the life insurance policy as collateral

If you believe that selling your life insurance policy is the right decision for you, make sure you deal with a dependable, experienced broker or settlement company to ensure that you get the best service and results from your transaction.

Saturday 28 May 2011

Importance of a Business Credit Card


Among the so many varieties of credit cards, one of the most underestimated is the value of a business credit card. Many people do not choose to apply for a business credit card because aside from having a definite target market— the business owners or business executives—it seems to be complicated to use. Although a business credit card has more requirements and has higher interests compared to other types of credit cards there is, contrary to the common conception, t can be very helpful if used properly.

What is a business credit card?
Basically, business credit card is for the business people’s consumption. Compared to the regular credit card, a business credit card has a high limit plus low interest rates. Depending on the manner of choosing, a business credit card may also bring a lot of automatic benefits.

Since it is targeted towards businessmen or those people who are heading towards building a business, a business credit card can definitely benefit these small businesses. A business credit card helps the budding business by extending payments while improving the cash flow. Aside from bearing the image of a dependable credit card, business credit card boasts of having detailed reports and giving quality customer service as its major trademarks.

Aside from having limits and low interest rates, a business credit card provides many alternatives and numerous credit options for small businesses. A business credit card also caters to large corporations that are crafted to aid those people who are starting with their own business to grow while closely monitoring the baseline of credit.

Simplifying business credit cards
It really pays to go to the bank when one applies for a credit card to get the chance to answer all immediate inquiries. But since business credit card is for business people who are always on the go, many business credit card issuers offers online applications for business credit cards.  When one applies for a business credit card, there is no need to visit the bank. There is also no need to wait in the queue just to talk to a bank representative. When you apply business credit card online, all you have to do is to select the business credit card option that would perfectly suit your small business or corporate credit requirements right from the comforts of your home or office. Aside from offering safe, secured, and simple processes that are designed help you take care of your starting business, most business credit cards online offer accessible features for the convenience of the business credit card holder like the online payment and reporting. Customized company logos and access to instant cash are also available on line. Other business credit card online offers detailed reporting features for easy monitoring and access.

Most business credit card applications offer free fee for the first year and no pre-set spending limit or finance charges. Other business credit card offers viable membership rewards program that enables the member to earn points towards travel, merchandise and other rewards for his or her business. Some of these business credit cards offer small businesses a line of credit up to $100,000 at a competitive APR as low as prime + 1.99% for both cash and check purchases; 100% of the line is available as cash and no collateral is required. The business credit card holder or customer might receive fee-free checks as well as a card to access the account. Everyday savings or exclusive savings, express approvals, no annual fee, up to 5 percent rebates on all qualified purchases, and 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases during first half of the year of card membership are some of the great offers of most business credit cards.

Although majority of the business credit card issuers offer great value deals, it is very important to research first what does your business needs. Whether your business credit card is meant for investing in inventory or just for payroll, it is significant to look for a flexible business credit card that can handle almost anything. Whether you opt to go directly to the bank or apply for a business credit card online, a number of premier business credit card suppliers are there to help you find the right credit card product as easy and convenient as possible.

Friday 27 May 2011

True Finance

This blog will surely make a difference in the field of finance.