Insurance World

Disability can occur at any time. While many people take their body and health for granted, serious accident or injury can happen to anyone and if you find yourself disable, for a short period or long term, how will you cope?

Disability insurance is a sub set of health insurance that will provide the holder with income should they become disabled and thus unable to continue earning a living. If this were to happen to you, do you know what you or your family would do for income?

If you are aged 40, there is a higher chance that you will be disabled, and thus unable to work for a period of 90 days or more, than of you dying before the age of 65. There are three common ways of insuring against this risk.

Employer’s Insurance

The first is to receive insurance from your employer. This is required by law in many states. It comes as a form of short or long term paid sick leave. Larger employers can have even more generous terms. For example, a common policy might offer you 60% of your salary for five years, or maybe even all the way up to retirement. While not everyone is lucky enough to work for such a company, it is worth checking with your employer to find out what your protection is and whether or not its something you wish to provide for yourself.

Long Term Disability

The second common protection against this type of risk is social security and disability benefits. This usually only covers employees whose disability lasts for a period of 12 months or more. It also must be shown to be so severe that you cannot find gainful employment. Therefore there are some gaps here that you may be more comfortable providing for with private insurance.

Individual Policies

The third method of dealing with this risk is with an individual disability insurance policy. This means taking out a private insurance policy yourself. You should shop around to make sure you get the best deal available, but at least you will have the peace of mind of knowing in what circumstances you are covered and what the terms of the policy cover.

There are some other sources of protection. Workman’s compensation policies will sometimes step in to cover you if the injury occurred at work. Auto insurance may provide coverage if the injury occurred in a car accident and the Department of Veteran’s affairs can advise you if you think the disability is related to service in the armed forces.

Before signing an auto insurance contract, we are involved in understanding some basic terms related to the car insurance policy.The phrase “your covered auto” also applies to several other particular circumstances.

Usually, physical damage coverage will apply to newly acquired vehicles (whether additional or replacement vehicles) only if you request the coverage within 30 days of the acquisition. However, liability coverage for a replacement vehicle is automatically provided until the end of the policy period.

The liberalization clause states that if the insurance company makes a change to its policy form which provides broader coverage without a premium charge (for example, if it drops a policy exclusion), that change will automatically apply to your policy on the date the change goes into effect in the insured’s state. This simply eliminates the need of the insurance company to endorse all existing policies when coverage is expanded without a change in premium.

Cancellation is an important issue. In most states, the reasons for which an insurance company is permitted to cancel a policy are limited—if the policy has been in effect for at least 60 days or is a renewal policy.

The general agreement is a very brief statement. It means simply that all of the remaining provisions of the contract (the policy terms) apply. The reason that the general agreement is so brief is that each coverage section contains a much more detailed insuring agreement.

Exclusions involve some of the most heated—and most often litigated—disputes over insurance language.Some exclusions exist simply to remove coverage for above-average risk factors which are not anticipated in average rates and premiums, and that the coverage is often available for an additional charge.

This is the case with respect to audio, visual and data equipment and the tapes, records, and other media used with such equipment. The basic policy form excludes coverage because these are items of value which have an above-average exposure to theft losses (they are easily removed and are often targets for thieves).

On the other hand, some people want specific drivers excluded from coverage. These special exclusions have become increasingly common in recent years.

Liability is probably the most important kind of automobile insurance. It covers moneys owed when one automobile driver causes bodily injury to another person or damage to another person’s property.

Injury or damage suffered by a driver who causes an accident is not a matter of legal liability. Being liable means being legally responsible for damages suffered by a third party (someone other than the driver or owner of the vehicle).

If a driver who causes injury or damage suffered by another person can be shown to be at fault, that driver may be held liable for the accident.

In other words, if one driver is liable for an accident, then the other party may be entitled to compensation for injuries or damage or both. Compensation may be in the form of money paid to the injured party for tangible damages (such as a medical bill or the cost to repair a damaged vehicle) and/or money paid for intangible damages (such as pain and suffering).