Home Owners Insurance

Home insurance, also commonly called hazard insurance or homeowners insurance (often abbreviated in the real estate industry as HOI), is the type of property insurance that covers private homes. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insurance protections, which can include losses occurring to one's home, its contents, loss of its use (additional living expenses), or loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home.

The cost of homeowners insurance often depends on what it would cost to replace the house and which additional riders—additional items to be insured—are attached to the policy. The insurance policy itself is a lengthy contract, and names what will and what will not be paid in the case of various events. Typically, claims due to earthquakes, floods, "Acts of God", or war (whose definition typically includes a nuclear explosion from any source) are excluded. Special insurance can be purchased for these possibilities, including flood insurance and earthquake insurance. Insurance must be updated to the present and existing value at whatever inflation up or down, and an appraisal paid by the insurance company will be added on to the policy premium.

The home insurance policy is usually a term contract—a contract that is in effect for a fixed period of time. The payment the insured makes to the insurer is called the premium. The insured must pay the insurer the premium each term. Most insurers charge a lower premium if it appears less likely the home will be damaged or destroyed: for example, if the house is situated next to a fire station, or if the house is equipped with fire sprinklers and fire alarms. Perpetual insurance, which is a type of home insurance without a fixed term, can also be obtained in certain areas.

In the United States, most home buyers borrow money in the form of a mortgage loan, and the mortgage lender always requires that the buyer purchase homeowners insurance as a condition of the loan, in order to protect the bank if the home were to be destroyed. Anyone with an insurable interest in the property should be listed on the policy. In some cases the mortagagee will waive the need for the mortgagor to carry homeowner's insurance if the value of the land exceeds the amount of the mortgage balance. In a case like this even the total destruction of any buildings would not affect the ability of the lender to be able to foreclose and recover the full amount of the loan.

Life Insurance
Life insurance is simply intended to cover the financial risk of death. In general, anyone who wants to make sure that their family does not have to change its lifestyle after his or her death needs to have it. Life insurance has several variables: duration of coverage, frequency and stability of payments, as well as payout method and amount of coverage.

You can use simple rules of thumb, but a real evaluation of your needs should take your whole financial picture into account. Most advisors recommend an amount between 5 to 10 times your salary. Feel free to contact us if you would like to find out more about developing a financial plan.

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Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life is a type of permanent life insurance based on a cash value. That is, the policy is established with the insurer where premium payments above the cost of insurance are credited to the cash value. The cash value is credited each month with interest, and the policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge, which is drawn from the cash value if no premium payment is made that month. The interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer; often it is pegged to a financial index. Because only the amount of interest credited and not the cash value itself varies, UL policies offer a stable investment option. A similar type of policy that was developed from universal life policies is the variable universal life insurance policy, or VUL. VUL's allow the cash value to be directed to a number of separate accounts that operate like mutual funds and can be invested in stock or bond investments with greater risk and potential reward. Additionally, there is the recent addition of Equity Indexed Universal Life contracts that invest in Index Options on the movement of an Index such as the S&P 500, Russell 2000, and the Dow (to name a few). These type of contracts only participate in the movement of Index and not the actual purchase of stocks, bonds or mutual funds. They may have a cap (but not always) as to the maximum amount they will credit interest to and a minimum guarantee which keeps the principal of the contract from losing money in a down year. Typically each year the starting point is last year's ending point which means that: (1) the policy amount is locked in at the end of the year; and, (2)the beginning value from which the movement measured is reset.

Universal Life is used as a tax-advantaged way to purchase life insurance. In the early years of the contract, the premium far exceeds the cost of insurance (COI) charges. The difference between the two (the "inside build-up") will grow tax-deferred so long as the policy remains in force. If the policy is held until death, this inside build-up will escape taxation entirely. This is because you paid the premium with after-tax money, so the money going in has already been taxed. So only growth would be taxed. However, since you only pay taxes on the growth of an investment, and you rarely see growth relative to premiums paid, the money in the end is able to escape taxation. Policyholders may also be able to access the inside build-up via a policy loan without incurring it as taxable income for the same reasoning.

Pet Insurance
Pet insurance covers any veterinary costs that may result if a pet become ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies will pay if a pet is lost, stolen or dies.

Pet insurance was developed to mitigate the risk of significant expenses to treat injured or ill pets. As medical techniques and procedures have developed, so has veterinary medicine, and pet owners have higher expectations for the health care options and standard of living available to their pets.

Business Insurance

Otherwise known as "catch-all" coverage, business owner insurance provides damage protection from fire and other mishaps. Owner coverage also offers a degree of liability protection.

Property insurance.
This can augment the property coverage offered by business owner insurance. Property insurance covers damage to the building that houses your business, as well to as items inside, such as furniture and inventory.
Business owner coverage.

Professional liability insurance, also called Professional Indemnity Insurance, protects professional practitioners such as architects, lawyers, physicians, and accountants against potential negligence claims made by their patients/clients. Professional liability insurance may take on different names depending on the profession. For example, professional liability insurance in reference to the medical profession may be called Medical Malpractice. Notaries public may take out errors and omissions insurance (E&O). Other potential E&O policyholders include, for example, real estate brokers, home inspectors, appraisers, and website developers. There are also specific E&O policies for technology companies, such as software developers, technology consultants and other creators of technology. This coverage focuses on the failure to perform, financial loss and error or omission of the products or services sold. Additional coverage for breach of warranty, intellectual property, personal injury, security and cost of contract can be added.

The primary reason for professional liability coverage is that a typical general liability insurance policy will only respond to a bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury claim. The above mentioned professional services and products can cause claims without causing a bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury. Common reasons alleged in making claims on these policies are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. For example, if a software product fails to perform properly, it may not cause physical damages, personal or advertising injuries, therefore the general liability policy would not be triggered. It may, however, directly cause financial losses which could potentially be attributed to the software developer's misrepresentation of the product capabilities.

Product liability insurance.
You might want this form of coverage if you make a product that could conceivably harm someone else. For instance, catering businesses worried about some dicey-looking truffles or Brie would do well to tack on this coverage.

Errors and omissions insurance.
This coverage is particularly important to service-based businesses, offering protection should you make a mistake or neglect to do something that causes a customer or

Automobile Insurance
Automobile insurance, also known as auto insurance, and car insurance, is probably the most common type of insurance and typically covers both legal liability claims against the driver and loss of or damage to the vehicle itself. Most states require purchasing an auto insurance policy to legally operate a motor vehicle. In some jurisdictions, bodily injury compensation for automobile accident victims has been changed to No Fault systems, which reduces or eliminate the ability to sue for compensation but provide automatic eligibility for insurance benefits.

In the United States, auto insurance is compulsory in most states, though enforcement of the requirement varies from state to state. The state of New Hampshire, for example, does not require motorists to carry liability insurance (the ballpark model), while in Virginia residents must pay the state a $500 annual fee per vehicle if they choose not to buy liability insurance.[4] Penalties for not purchasing auto insurance vary by state, but often involve a substantial fine, license and/or registration suspension or revocation, as well as possible jail time in some states. Usually, the minimum required by law is third party insurance to protect third parties against the financial consequences of loss, damage or injury caused by a vehicle.

Arizona Department of Transportation Research Project Manager John Semmens has recommended that car insurers issue license plates, and that they be held responsible for the full cost of injuries and property damages caused by their licensees under the Disneyland model. Plates would expire at the end of the insurance coverage period, and licensees would need to return their plates to their insurance office in order to receive a refund on their premiums. Vehicles driving without insurance would thus be easy to spot because they would not have license plates, or the plates would be past the marked expiration date

Rental Insurance - Renter's Insurance
Rental insurance is important for any individuals who may be renting property, whether it be a house or an apartment. Renter's insurance provides coverage for personal property against fire, theft and vandalism, and can help protect an individual in the event of a liability lawsuit.

A common misperception is that a landlord's insurance will cover a renter. The landlord's insurance only covers the building and not an individual's personal belongings or liability that happens in an individual's rented residence. Rental insurance covers injury to another person or damage to another person's property if the incident occured in your residence. Renter's insurance may also provide legal defense costs.

Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance is purchased to cover any medical expenses, financial, or other losses that may occur while traveling, either nationally or internationally. Travel insurance can be arranged to cover the exact duration of a particular trip, or continuous insurance plans are also available. Travel insurance can be purchased from travel insurance companies, travel agents, and travel suppliers such as tour operators and cruiselines.

A variety of travel insurance options are available, including student travel, business travel, leisure travel, adventure travel, cruise travel and international travel. Common risks that are covered by travel insurance include medical expenses, emergency evacuation, overseas funeral expenses, accidental death injury disablement, cancellation, curtailment, delayed departure, less theft damage to money and personal possessions, delayed baggage to replace emergency items, legal assistance, personal liability and rental car damage