Loan Cover – Watch Out For Payment Protection Sharks

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been investigating the way Payment Protection Insurance is being sold by loan providers which include some of the UK's biggest banks and building societies. And it's big business. Sales of PPI as it's called, earn lenders more than £1billion a year.

PPI is designed to protect borrowers by paying monthly loan repayment in the event that the borrower becomes unemployed or unable to work though accident or illness. Many lenders sell the insurance alongside the loan with around 50% of customers agreeing to the insurance.

However, according to the Department of Trade & Industry, only 4% claim and of these claims 25% are rejected. This may be partially explained by the FSA's investigation which found that around half of the lenders surveyed failed to explain the details and exclusions to customers or make sure the insurance was suitable for the clients. Whilst the investigation reportedly does not find that lenders are compulsorily selling the insurance, it was frequently automatically added to loan quotations without it being disclosed that the insurance was, in fact, optional

Even worse, some lenders are failing to point out to borrowers that the cost of the insurance for the full period of the loan, was being added as a lump sum at the outset rather than being paid as a monthly premium. This means that the borrower cannot cancel the insurance without redeeming the entire loan and renegotiating a new loan.

And hey, some of these lenders certainly know how to charge for PPI. According to Simon Burgess, Managing Director of British Insurance Ltd, one of the big high street banks typically charge £30 per £100 of loan insured. This, he says, compares with between £4 and £6 if bought separately on the internet. This view is supported by price comparison service uSwitch which says taking out PPI with banks can increase the amount you pay for cover by nearly 500%.

Take an example. Last year a high street bank was charging £5,150 for PPI to cover a loan of £16,000. The cost of PPI was then added to the loan making £21,150 as the total capital repayable and interest charged on the lot. This meant that of the £300 monthly repayment, about £70 represented the cost of the insurance. Equivalent insurance can be bought on the Internet for around £20 per month and cancellable at any time without penalty.

So what are the lessons?

If your lender offers you PPI cover ask for the monthly premium with and without PPI. That way you can see the true cost of PPI.

Find out whether PPI is added to the loan as an initial lump sum. If it is back off!

Shop around for competitive quotes. A search on the Internet for “Payment Protection Insurance” or “Income Protection Insurance” will find you lots of web sites to try.

Check out the conditions on the insurance. Particularly check out the exclusions which invalidate a claim. For example, some policies stipulate that you must have been working continuously for 6 months prior to a claim for a minimum of 20 hours a week. Seasonal or temporary work is usually excluded. When you take the insurance out you must be in good health and know of no impending disability and not be aware that you could become unemployed. Could these exclusions apply to you? If so, the insurance will be of no use to you.

Please don't waste your money. PPI insurance is a good idea so long as it is cheap and on a monthly cancellable contract. After all your circumstances may change. Then check the policy's exclusions to make sure that the insurance is valid for your personal circumstances.

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Vacation Travel Insurance Tips

Travel insurance is an important but often overlooked part of your vacation. Whether you are traveling to a foreign country or to the next state you should consider travel insurance.

Some of the reasons to have insurance are to cover medical expenses, life insurance for your family, or trip insurance when something goes wrong.

If you have medical coverage, check with your insurer to find out the specifics regarding your planned destination.

You can buy medical coverage for the duration of your trip or for longer periods. Some travel insurance policies cover multiple trips of specific duration. Some will cover you for travel up to a year.

Planning a skiing or mountain climbing vacation? You may want to consider evacuation insurance. If you need to be rescued it is quite possible that the you will end up with a hefty bill to pay for the service.

If you are going on a cruise, taking an organized tour or just flying on an airplane you may want trip cancellation insurance. You or a family member may get sick at the last minute or your plans may change unexpectedly.

Many companies do not offer refunds and you could be out thousands of dollars. There are many things out of your control that can mess with your plans. Refunds are tough to get sometimes.

Other popular coverage is loss of baggage, baggage delay, travel delay, dental, 24 Hour Traveler Assistance, and accidental death.

If you are driving out of the country definitely check with your auto insurer. Purchase any extra coverage needed. You may want to ask about an international roadside assistance policy.

Auto breakdowns and accidents are bad enough at home but the problems are compounded abroad.

Check with your credit card company. You may have some coverage if you purchase your vacation with their card.

If you are traveling with a group you may be able to get coverage cheaper as a group rather than individually.

Sometimes you will pay more for less coverage if you buy it through a travel agent who makes a nice commission. This is not always the case but it's your money. Shop around for the best deal.

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Legal Mistakes - Top 10 Women (and Men) Should Avoid

In today’s world and high divorce rate, men and women should be aware of some legal issues to protect not only themselves, but also their children and any assets you may have. I will explain some of the biggest legal mistakes people overlook. It’s much easier to prevent problems than to fight to fix them later.

1. Prenuptial Agreement. I know the words scare everyone. But what is it? Simply put, a prenuptial agreement is when a couple (before they marry) decides how to divide property if they divorce or one of them dies. Usually there is information in there about having a will that carries out the intent of the prenuptial agreement and waiving rights given by law, to stay in accordance with the prenuptial. Most agreements are upheld if both parties provide full disclosure of their assets and liabilities. Have both parties been represented or had the opportunity to be represented by independent legal counsel? Did both parties enter in voluntarily and of free will? Poor old Marla Maples. She didn’t get much from her divorce, right?

2. Keep your property separate. I don’t mean just your house or other property. I mean stocks, checking accounts and the like. Most people get burned when they commingle finances together. If you have a separate account, keep it separate. If you need to move money, move an amount equal to your paycheck so if things go south, it will be easier to prove you were just putting your paycheck into the joint account instead of any of your original asset money. Otherwise you have to prove what portion of the money was yours prior to it being commingled together. It’s almost impossible to do.

3. If your spouse has a business, you should know what it is and what they are doing in the business. If an unfortunate event occurred, could you take over their business without befalling tough financial times yourself? Would you have to take what little life insurance you had from your spouse and pay off bills from the business? How tragic and vulnerable you can be when you are grieving for a loved one. Plan ahead. Know what’s going on.

4. Purchase life insurance. I know it’s like throwing money down the drain. But not really. If something happens to your spouse, then it wasn’t wasted. I’d rather waste the money and have piece of mind. What about disability insurance? Could you survive if your spouse became disabled and was unable to manage their business or job?

5. Know what you own. Review bank statements and keep a list of your bank account numbers. Don’t sign blank forms and review your tax forms before signing them. Nobody plans to divorce.

6. If you start a business, think about incorporating or using a Limited Liability Corporation, LLC. Opening a business is easy. Keeping it open is hard. Pay all your taxes as some can come back to you personally. Follow all the labor laws. Provide insurance not only for your business, but workers compensation, too. Liability insurance isn’t required legally, but we don’t live in fantasy world where nobody sues.

7. Put the pen down. Don’t sign liabilities you don’t want to be liable for. Have your lawyer review documents if you don’t understand them. Don’t sign a quick claim deed. There would be no reason unless your spouse is up to no good.

8. Don’t forget the IRS. If you don’t pay taxes on your business, these taxes can come back to haunt you personally. And if you sign a joint tax return, you can be liable for any tax issues your spouse inadvertently creates later on. Your spouse may be long gone or unable to pay, but the IRS sees that you signed your name on the tax return, too.

9. Plan and prepare for your death or incapacity. Death is inevitable. Incapacity, maybe not. Do you have a will or a trust set up? If you want, list specific things in your will that you want to go to certain individuals. Durable power would be good to have incase you are unable to make decisions.

10. Organize your paperwork. I know we don’t have time to spend wasting on sorting out our business or property. Keep it all in one file. Ever have to go through a deceased loved one’s records to try to figure out what they had and what their final wishes were? Keep your records for your business so your employees could keep the place running if you were gone for a few months. You need to maintain your customer base so if you sell the business, its still worth something or doesn’t burden your family with personal debt.

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Four Tips for Finding Top Niche Markets

If you want to make it in the Internet business world, you need to know how to find top niche markets. You will need to learn about niche markets and what they are, and how to find customers who are passionate and about a product or service. Research also is important. Promoting a product or service to a niche market is not about you falling in love with it first and then trying to sell it to people. It is about you providing the product or service people are seeking. Making money on the Internet can be done if you pick a profitable niche, create a site around that niche, get traffic to the site, and then make money from that traffic.

Before you sell on the Internet, you should first assess your own interests and strengths. What are you passionate about? What do you do well? Giving careful thought to questions like this can guide you to the type of business to start. However, the problem that most would-be Internet entrepreneurs have is in choosing the right market. What do you sell? Who do you market to? Well, this is where niche markets come in.

What are Niche Markets?

Niche markets are groups with similar interests, hobbies, and needs. They are a hot and hungry market and so passionate about their interests that they are willing to spend money related to it. This is one of the many bonuses to working with niche markets. One has a potential customer base that is ready to buy.

Typically, there are 4 things to look for when choosing a niche: demand, competition (you want some but not an overwhelming amount), money possibilities, and content possibilities.

Four Tips to Choosing A Niche Marktet

1. Make sure there is a demand. When it comes to demand, you must make sure there is a market to sell to. Doing keyword searches with tools such as Good Keywords, Overture, and Wordtracker, can help you assess the market demand for your product or service idea. In addition, you will do much better at picking a specific topic or area and honing in on that as opposed to trying to deal with a broad range of subjects. When you have a more narrowed topic, you will be able to provide your customers with specific information based on their interestes that will keep them interested and coming back. In other words, you become the expert.

2. Competition: It is important to research the competition. Too much competition can indicate market saturation and too little a lack of interest. It's important to find a balance between the two. It is important to see what is out there so that you can make your product or service better than your competitors.

You can also use local libraries and bookstores to find more information about your niche. This research is very important so that you can stay on top of the market and provide accurate and up to date information to your customers. This is another way to stay ahead of the competition.

3. Look for money potential. Sometimes, a product or service might sound ideal and a profit puller, but in reality is the opposite. So, make sure you do careful research to protect yourself against setting up something that will fail to begin with.

4. Make sure that you can quickly and easily build meaningful content on your site for your niche. This will motivate people to keep visiting your site, which can equal to more sale conversions.

Other strategies necessary to starting a niche based business would be would be to create a profitable webpage; attract targeted traffic to the webpage; write a good sales letter; build a database of customers and subscribers; sell more niche products to them; run an affiliate program; automate your niche business.

Are You Willing to do What it Takes?

There are several things that you will need if you are planning on being successful. First, KNOW that you will be successful. You need an attitude that says, "I know I can" not "I think I can". You also need to know how to find your potential customers. You might have a great product or service but are you able to target the right people and let them know about it?

It is your job while marketing to find those customers and appeal to them, reel them in, catch their attention. You can?t just expect them to accidentally stumble into your lap. It will take work to be sure you are targeting the right group of people but once you have done that and you have a great product, the sales will begin to flow in.

There are also many different products and software programs available to help you find and target your specific niche. You might want to take advantage of these to really get the most from your marketing plan. If you take the proper steps, you can be earning a ton of money from the internet!

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Buying Life Insurance: A Checklist

Life insurance can be an effective tool to make certain and protect your family’s financial future. It has been acknowledged universally as a method by which the breadwinner can substitute risk and uncertainty with timely aid for the family in case of their unfortunate death.

Since a life insurance policy will replace your lost income after your death, it is important to choose the right kind of policy. Hence, it is essential to find a company that will cover your insurance with the right amount, and at a reasonable price.

Need for a life insurance policy:

There are several reasons for an individual, specifically a breadwinner, to make out a life insurance policy. To assuage your concern for your family in case of your death, most life insurance policies offer various death benefits that take care of your family after your death:

1. For example, a member of your family may have some special needs. You can buy a life insurance policy that will act as an emergency fund in the event of your untimely death.

2. If you want to make sure that your child gets quality education even after your death, a life insurance can also work as a fund for your child’s education.

3. An insurance policy will ensure the maintenance of your family’s standard of living.

4. Your family can also use it to clear personal and business debts, after your death.

Duration of insurance coverage:

Before buying a policy it is advisable to ensure the duration for which you want life insurance coverage. You can take online help to decide the coverage duration.

Need for a checklist

After you decide on your specific need, and the duration of your life insurance policy, you can begin looking for a suitable policy. It is prudent to prepare a checklist before buying, as this will ensure that you end up purchasing the right policy.

The checklist must include various factors on which you can assess insurance companies, which includes various criteria set by insurance companies too. Here are a few pointers:

1. Before buying a life insurance policy, it is advisable to ensure that you have all medical information regarding your health, because most companies expect that, depending on your age and the duration of insurance coverage.

2. It’s a good idea to compare various life insurance companies on the basis of quotes that they have to offer. You can take the help of the Internet to compare the quotes based on your choice of insurance product and your age.

3. You can also take help from a broker through the telephone or the Internet and clear all your queries.

4. Once you decide on a particular insurance company, it is important to ascertain the company’s financial strength and stability.

5. It is also advisable to gather information about the options for renewal that various insurance companies offer, because some companies charge high premiums if you renew your policy.

6. Some insurance companies charge a penalty if you cancel your policy, so make sure that the company you choose does not demand a penalty on cancellation of policy.

7. You may also want to make some changes in your policy in due time, as your insurance needs can change with time. So, when you purchase your insurance policy find out if there is an age limitation for any kind of conversion of your policy, and whether the option of moving into a better policy is there.

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Life Insurance Sector Lays It On The Line

Experts within the life insurance industry have urged many potential customers to think again with regards to their insurance policies. They claim that there is generally no need to live without any type of life insurance policy in these uncertian times as there are so many variable types on offer.

With all the indicators pointing towards the fact that fewer and fewer consumers are looking to purchase life cover, the question is what types of cover are available?

Types
For those looking for a bit of excitement and variety, there is the option of a Variable life policy, which encourages the customer to amass a sum of money in order for it to be invested in a stock offered by the given company. The amont payable would be based on how well the investment does.

Those looking for more traditional cover could choose a whole life cover which means you pay into a policy in order for it to be attributed out to a nominated beneficiary when you pass away.

Despite the variety and comprehensive cover on offer, the industry struggles to reach all of its intended audience.

Few

Only last year Norwich Union revealed the depressing news that over 20 million adults in Britain do not own a life insurance policy or any kind of protection cover.

The leading insurance company has warned that many of the population without life insurance policies are risking financial ruin by leaving their future up to chance.

Research has shown that the main reason for not purchasing life insurance is that they either haven't thought about it or considered taking out a policy (37%).

Head of protection marketing at Norwich Union, Darren Dicks commented; "These findings are cause for concern as they suggest many people are taking an 'it won't happen to me' approach to protection. Around 52% of UK adults have no life cover at all and the remainder are either underinsured or unsure about what type of cover they hold."

"There is currently a £2.3 trillion protection gap in the UK which leaves a large proportion of the population vulnerable. Many people wait until they have a particular event in their lives, such as a house purchase or the birth of a child before they purchase life cover, but people shouldn't take the view that they need to wait," he concluded

Peace of mind

Everyone, particularly families, are being urged by leading insurance companies to protect their mortgage and their lifestyle with the appropriate insurance as the realities of the credit crunch begin to take effect.

Following news that life cover policies are on the decline, Legal & General have reacted by painting a depressing picture to the British population.

Bonnie Burns, Product Marketing Director of Protection says: "Anyone with a mortgage is likely to be worrying about how much their payments might rise if they have to remortgage this year. This is set against a backdrop of higher council tax, higher food and petrol bills and slow wage increases. The question on many people's lips could therefore be ‘can I afford protection?' but the question should be 'can I afford not to have it?'"

She continued, "Most families' finances would unravel if a parent died or became too ill to work. It is just as important to cover your bills as it is to cover your mortgage payments. Bringing up children is expensive and any parent has felt the impact of reduced household income due to a Mum or Dad taking a career break to look after their kids. Imagine if either that main or secondary income were to disappear permanently due to the parent passing away. That could be a financial disaster."

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