The Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), a free health insurance counseling service in Iowa, is seeking volunteer health insurance counselors.

SHIIP counselors assist older adults with questions related to Medicare, Medicare drug coverage, Medicare supplement insurance, long-term-care insurance and other issues. Most volunteers are on Medicare.

Counselors receive six days of intensive training, a comprehensive SHIIP resource manual, support and followup training from the Iowa Insurance Division.

For more information, call 515-281-5706.

SHIIP is sponsored by the Iowa Insurance Division, and co-sponsored by The Finley Hospital and Sunset Park Place in the Dubuque County area.

Short term car insurance is a temporary car insurance coverage. It only offers coverage for a short time period. It is suitable for people that seldom drive their cars. If you are going outstation and be back for several months, you can get a short term car insurance. The advantage of short term car insurance is that you can renew it several times without any problem. The application process is less complicated compare to standard car insurance. 

Short term car insurance protects the car from all kinds of risks, just like standard car insurance. Some of the risks that are covered in a short term car insurance include liability, underinsured coverage, bodily injuries, damages on personal properties and etc.  With short term car insurance, you and your passengers will get medical payment coverage from the insurance company. Many short term car insurance also offers coverage for tow truck assistance.

It meets with the minimum requirements set by the state motor vehicle department. The premium is settled monthly and can be paid in advance. You can choose to settle the premium in full. If you settle the premium in full, you don’t have to make payment for the monthly installments. You save more money when you settle the premiums in advance.

To find the best deals, you can ask your insurance agent to help you. Your insurance agent is knowledgeable in this field. He knows how to perform extensive research and locate a short term car insurance that meets your needs. You must provide accurate information for your insurance agent so that he can find the best short term car insurance deals. If you hire an insurance agent, he can negotiate the premium rate with the insurance company and help you to save money in the long term.

If you don’t have an insurance agent, you can perform research yourself. You can take advantage of the insurance search engine to find a short term insurance coverage that meets your needs. You must keep in mind that the rates of the insurance coverage depend on several factors including driving records, credit score and etc. You must have good driving records before applying for the coverage. You should find an insurance coverage that offers the most benefits. The premium of the auto insurance must be affordable. You can fill in the fields of the online surveys to get estimated quotes. You must never lie and provide false personal information. If you provide false personal information, the insurance company will find out and deny you coverage.

Allstate Insurance has notified the Texas Department of Insurance that it will increase homeowner rates — some by almost 10 percent.

About 450,000 homeowners covered by Allstate Texas Lloyds will see a rate increase of 5.4 percent, effective Jan. 20. Rates for the estimated 175,000 homeowners covered by Allstate Texas Fire and Casualty will increase 9.7 percent, according to documents filed with the state regulatory agency.

The Texas Department of Insurance will review the Allstate rate filings to make sure they are justified. Regulators can order a reduction if a review indicates the rates are excessive.

Allstate rates are very competitive in Texas, company spokeswoman Kristen Beaman said Tuesday. The increase is necessary because of higher costs for construction and damage caused by destructive weather.

“It’s a reflection of the weather in Texas,” Beaman told The Dallas Morning News. “Hail and wind storms have been increasing in severity over the last several years. The increased cost of roofing materials is also a big factor.”

The increase for Allstate Texas Lloyds customers averages $64 annually. The average increase for Allstate Fire and Casualty customers will be $115 a year.

“Here we go again,” said Alex Winslow of the consumer group Texas Watch. “It seems like every time one of the major insurance carriers raises rates, they all raise rates.”

Farmers Insurance in November announced plans to raise rates 3.9 percent in March, for nearly half of its Texas policyholders.

Allstate is increasing a discount for Allstate Texas Fire and Casualty customers who also have auto policies with the company to 22 percent from 15 percent.

“We don’t take pricing lightly,” Beaman told the Houston Chronicle. “We understand we have a responsibility to offer consumer products at a fair price, but it needs to be one that reflects risk as adequately as possible.”

The Office of Public Insurance Counsel, which represents consumers, has sent a letter to the department opposing the planned Allstate increases.

Consumer groups would like the 2011 Legislature to return to a system of prior state approval of all rate hikes for auto and homeowners insurance.

Teachers often get discounts for their auto insurance premiums. Many insurance companies reward teachers with low premium rate because they have good driving habits. Every year, insurance companies will do research on the risk level of drivers that hold different occupations. The survey consistently shows that educators such as teachers and professors are low risk drivers. Typically, low risk driver seldom get involved in vehicle collision. They don’t have bad driving habits such as driving under influences of drug and alcohol. Survey shows that teachers drive their cars according to the allowed speed limit of the highway. There is rarely a case where teachers speed their cars on the motorway. The good driving habit of teachers may be attributed to their good leadership skills.

The amounts of discount teachers can get vary from different insurance companies. Most insurance providers offer 10% – 15% discount on premium rates for teachers. You have to prove that you are a teacher before you can take advantage of the premium discount.  You can search for insurance plan that is designed specifically for teachers.

Though teachers can take advantage of premium discount, the insurance company will determine the actual premium rate based on several factors. Some factors that are used by insurance company to determine the premium rate including age, driving record, credit rating, and etc. If you are a young teacher and aged under 25 years old, you have to pay a higher premium rate.  Teachers with bad driving record will not be qualified for premium discount. Many insurance companies check credit ratings of applicants before approving the insurance coverage. Your credit rating must be good in order to get discount. Teachers with excellent credit ratings can get the highest discounts.

Not all insurance companies offer discount for teachers. You have to do research on the internet to find out which insurance companies are offering discounts. The insurance search engine is a great online tool you can use to perform quote comparison between different insurance carriers. You can fill in your personal information in the quote request online form to get an estimate auto insurance quote. If you want an accurate quote, you can call the customer service of the insurance provider. Before applying auto insurance, you should always get advice from your insurance agent. The insurance agent will conduct a thorough research and help you to choose an insurance plan that best suits your needs.

(InjuryBoard) – The last study from State Farm Insurance indicated that Minnesota was the 10th most likely state for drivers to hit a deer. Nationally, 1 in 183 vehicles will collide with a deer in any given year. The number of car/deer collisions puts Minnesota in the risk category.

Statewide deer-vehicle collisions in 2010 are on track with recent years. More than 1,900 collisions have been reported so far across the state, compared with more than 2,600 last year. During the past five years, 20 of 24 deaths related to deer-vehicle collisions in Minnesota were motorcycle drivers, as were 107 of the 132 serious injuries. Nearly a quarter of the deer killed by cars in Minnesota each year meet their demise in the metro area, with Hennepin County leading the way with nearly 1,000 crashes during the past five years.

The average property damage cost of these incidents was $3,103, up 1.7 percent from a year ago. Overall, State Farm experiences about 1.2 million deer hit claims per year.

Some helpful suggestions:

Rule 1: Treat every deer as if it’s going to cross in front of you. If you assume a deer feeding on the shoulder is going to hold its position until you have gone by, you’re just an accident waiting to happen.

Rule 2: Drive according to the conditions. If the night is foggy, rainy, or slippery, you might not be able to prevent a collision, but you can minimize the damage if you’re driving slowly enough. Don’t just speed along and hope nothing gets in your way.

Rule 3: Keep your eyes on the road at all times. You may only have a second or two to react to a deer crossing the highway. If you’re not an attentive driver, you can get hurt.

If a crash with a deer seems inevitable, safety experts advise people not to swerve because of the risk of losing control or swerving into oncoming traffic. From the car insurance angle, Steve Murphy, with the Willard & Williams insurance agency in Mankato points out the difference in hitting a deer or the ditch also affects motorists’ insurance premiums. “If you swerve and miss the deer and end up in the ditch, it’s an at-fault accident and affects your rates. If you hit the deer, it’s under your comprehensive (coverage) and doesn’t affect your rates,” Murphy said.

While there is no liability claim for the driver of the car, he or she is covered for Minnesota No Fault Benefits. These benefits are paid in the same manner that they would be paid in any Minnesota motor vehicle collision. Passengers may still have a claim for liability depending on the facts of the collision. It is important that these case be investigated early by an Attorney who does this type of work.

Commercial truck insurance offers protection for commercial truck against damages in an accident. Commercial trucks are trucks used by companies to carry cargos. If your truck encounters an accident, the insurance company will pay for the damage costs. It ensures that the cargos are delivered to the destination punctually. It protects the company from losses by compensating the costs of the cargos. In addition, it offers compensation for physical injuries and truck repair costs. It will also compensate the loss of revenue due to customer’s rejection of the delivery.

Before getting commercial truck insurance, you need to examine the needs of your business You should ask yourself whether the truck is used to deliver cargos to terminals and warehouse. In addition, you must ask whether the drivers will load and unload the cargos. You should also determine whether you or the drivers own the truck. If you decide to cover the medical expenses of the truck drivers, make sure the truck insurance covers it. There are many companies offering commercial truck insurance to companies. There are many types of insurance for business trucks including flat beds, and refrigerated truck insurance. When shopping around, make sure you check their reputations. The insurer must have many years of experiences in the industry. It must have a stable financial. You can call the BBB and ask about the insurance company. If it has a lot of customer complaints, you should sign up with another insurance company. 

Every state requires the truck drivers to carry liability insurance. There is a minimum requirement that truck drivers have to meet. To find out the minimum liability requirements, you have to ask your insurance agent or refer to the department of motor vehicles website. The American Trucking Associations lists a number of trustworthy insurance companies that offer truck insurance. The premium cost of the truck insurance is determined by the age of the drivers, driving experience of the drivers, numbers of years the company has been operating, usage of the truck, deductibles, and etc. Besides, the insurance company will also consider the DOT safety record and the truck safety program implements by the truck company. You can call the insurance company if you are not sure what is taken into account when calculating the cost of the premium. You can encourage your drivers to improve their driving abilities by letting them participate in a truck driving training school. Participating in the truck driving training school will help you to cut down the cost of the premium.

Increasing the deductible can also lower the premium cost. The higher the deductible you are willing to pay, the higher the discount will be rewarded to your premium. Installing safety features in the truck can reduce the risk of your truck to accidental damages.

Customers that are interested in purchasing commercial truck insurance should compare the rates between different insurers so that you can save money. After conducting a research, you will have found some insurers that meet your requirements. You can get quotes from insurers listed in the narrowed list. The insurance search engine is often used to compare the quotes between different insurance companies.

Disability Insurance in recent times has found many takers in the market. Before we highlight the various factors to be taken into consideration while availing of disability insurance we first need to understand what the insurance policies under the category of disability insurance actually entail? Disability Insurance is a kind of insurance in which the person availing of the policy becomes a valid candidate for receiving a stipulated income in the event of sickness or injury which prevents him or her from working and earning as per the usual standards. The basic purpose of availing of disability insurance is that it helps to protect the person and their family against financial ruin in the event of aforementioned circumstances by providing them with an income to manage the daily expenses.

Disability Insurance policies come in two forms. In the first category, the employer, be it an individual in the case of a private business or the government, is required to pay the costs of the policy. These sponsorship programs are applicable to certain categories of employees and the recipient is not required to pay any charges of any kind. In the second category, the insurance is taken out by an individual and hence the premiums are to be paid for by the individual, as is the case with all private policies. This category of disability insurance comes into play when there is a lack of any employer-sponsored insurance policy or when the existing program policies are not sufficient to meet the daily expenses of the individual. If you decide that you are in need of availing of a disability insurance policy there are several factors that you need to keep in mind.

It is important to be aware of the situations covered by various policies as the definition of disability as proposed by different organizations can vary vastly. Some disability insurance policies only apply to situations in which the bearer is not able to carry out the standard expectations of his or her habitual form of occupation. Other policies are valid only in cases when the employment does not serve any gains to the individual. Hence, before availing of any policy you should be well aware of what it entails as a part of its characteristics. Another aspect to consider is the fact that several policies do not cover cases of partial disability. They require the person to be fully disabled before being valid to avail of the income provided by the policy. Most of the older disability insurance policies work on this principle. In some cases, the event of partial disability is accepted only if it is confirmed that the period of partial disability is going to be followed by absolute disability.

There are a few policies that also provide for times of partial disability and hence it is important to be aware of the various options available on the basis of your needs. There is also the option of availing of Residual Benefits in some cases when the person is capable of working but the income is reduced in amount as the person is not able to carry out all of his or her job requirements. In such cases a partial income is provided to supplement the existing earned income. This is provided on the basis of the amount of income reduced and does not require a scenario of total disability. For people who suffer from handicaps due to loss of sight, speech, hearing etc but are still able to perform their duties completely, the concept of presumptive disability is applicable. Even though the individual might be entirely efficient and capable he or she is assumed to be completely disabled. In such cases, the person can avail of complete insurance remuneration, under definite conditions of handicap.

(IFAwebnews) – About one-in-10 insurance professionals works in California, the most of any state, according to a new report.

Property-casualty insurers provided 297,431 California jobs in 2008, or more than 10% of the nation’s insurance workforce. California insurance jobs accounted for $20.7 billion in compensation, according to a new Insurance Information Institute report.

Meanwhile, the property-casualty insurance sector contributed $30.1 billion to California’s gross state product in 2007, the report said.

The money contributed by the property-casualty sector is about 2% of the state’s $1.85 trillion economy, according to the Insurance Information Institute report.

In 2009, property and casualty insurance claims payments totaled $28.7 billion in California, while life insurance claims and benefits payouts in California totaled almost $41.8 billion.

California collected $2.05 billion in premium taxes from insurers in 2009, nearly double that of the next leading state.

Californians insure substantially more cars – roughly 24 million in all – than drivers in any other state.

(The Money Times) – Government health insurance benefits for children are no longer limited to those below the poverty line.

Now the middle class families, struggling through the recession, can benefit as well.

During recession the jobless rate rises. As the number of insured adults is relatively low, this came as great news.

“To a surprising extent, the government has really stepped up to provide affordable coverage options for middle-class kids, along with their lower-income counterparts,” said Jocelyn Guyer, co-executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. “It’s a success story.”

Approximately 10 percent of children, nearly 7 million, still do not have insurance, but 4.7 million of those uninsured children are eligible for government coverage, according to a recent report published in the journal Health Affairs.

Government programs

Government programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have expanded their coverage to a larger extent over the past few years.

Now, kids with families (of four people) with incomes of up to $44,100 too are eligible for some kind of government health insurance.

In New York the cutoff for a family of four is $88,200 and in New Jersey it is $77,175.

Medicaid provides free, or very low cost, health coverage for all people under 21 who live in families with poverty-level incomes, currently $22,050 for a family of four.

On the other side, CHIP provides low-cost health insurance for children in middle-class families who cannot qualify for Medicaid.

Whereas for upper-middle class families, some insurers still continue to offer this coverage, which costs an average of $1,350 a year, according to a survey by America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group.

Policy could be better

Though the policy is good, it could be better if implemented effectively.

Approximately 10 percent of children, nearly 7 million, still do not have insurance, but 4.7 million of those uninsured children are eligible for government coverage, according to a recent report published in the journal Health Affairs.

“Not enough people know about these plans,” said Mr. McCrea, referring to Oregon’s Healthy Kids program, which is part of CHIP. “Or they think they are a hassle to join, but they’re not.”

It is not a very difficult job to fill a home insurance claim. However it is not easy either as you can lose thousands of dollars if you fail to fill it properly. If you want to get the best home insurance, you should definitely know how to file a successful claim. In this article you will find all the necessary information for this task.

It is important for you to know the main purpose of a home insurance claim, before you begin filing it. This type of insurance protects you for the risk of something happening to your home. Sometimes it can save you a lot of money. Home insurance prices and plans are different from one region to another depending on the region’s characteristics.

You should know the type of the insurance you fill your claim for. For example, there are different claims when you had suffered damage to your property, theft or combinations of these two. Also, natural disasters have different claims too.

If you have experience damage or theft to your home, you should definitely inform the law enforcement firstly. This is of vital importance because otherwise you can have problems with your insurance company. You should inform the authorities even if the damages are minor and ask them for copies of the report as you will need them later.

Before you go to the police, it is advisable to make a list of all damages or stolen items in your household. This is because the items you write on that list will be the ones included on your future claim. After you talk to the police, you should contact your insurance company and ask them if you have anything to do before making the claim.

If you have a special home insurance plan which includes injuries and it is your case, you have to ensure proper treatment for the patient. Injuries or falls caused by home equipment are usually included in these plans too. You should keep one copy of the medical receipts you receive because you will need it for your home insurance company.

Usually, natural disasters are covered by the home insurance plans. However, there are cases when they are only optional. Therefore, you should make sure you are covered before making such claim. You should contact the local government and the insurance company if you are victim of a natural disaster. Do not forget that cooperating with the authorities is a must because otherwise you might have problems with your home insurance claim.

Backup and documentation are absolutely necessary for filing a decent claim. Pictures are great evidence and therefore if your camera is handy, you should not hesitate to take pictures of damages, injuries or items. This will make the claim solve smoothly. Also, patience and calm are strong characteristics. You should not be in a hurry and you should be calm when filing a home insurance claim at your insurance company.