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Posts Tagged ‘home insurance’

Trauma insurance can protect you in the case of an extreme accident or illness. Unlike life insurance, this type of coverage is about covering the medical expenses that come with being seriously or critically ill. Serious illness may be something most of us prefer not to think about but it may be worthwhile protecting you and your family.

While many of us think about getting home insurance or contents insurance it is easy to forget to insure yourself against the unthinkable.

What are some of the costs of being injured or seriously ill?

• Medical expenses are the obvious one with more visits to the doctor as well as specialists and possibly even surgery and other procedures.
• Housing costs will continue when you are ill and if you are not covered your family will have to pay.
• Food bills will also have to be covered and you may end up being on special diets depending on your diagnosis.
• Along with all of this you still have electricity, phone and any other bills that need to be paid regularly.

With this small list of examples you can begin to see how being diagnosed with a serious illness will dramatically increase your costs of living. Not only will you be paying for everything from before your diagnosis but you may also have to pay for medications and treatment. This can add tens of thousands of dollars to your yearly expenses not to mention the stress to you and your family.

Why Trauma Insurance?

Trauma insurance (or critical injury insurance) seeks to protect against the above concerns and costs that can arise in the case of a very serious accident or diagnosis of a terminal illness such as cancer. The main idea for trauma insurance is to provide an additional safety net in case the worst should happen. While there are increasing amounts of people accessing income protection insurance this type of coverage will not directly help pay for treating your illness or injury.

What’s the Worst That Can Happen?

It is easier to ignore the worst that might happen to you but simple and cost effective coverage through an insurance company can give you peace of mind. So what kinds of incidents and illnesses are usually covered by trauma insurance?

• A range of heart problems including heart attacks.
• Various forms of cancer.
• Falling into a coma.
• Dementia.
• Various organ transplants.
• Quadriplegia and paraplegia.
• Extreme burns.

Depending on your insurance company the type of coverage that is provided in case of extreme trauma will vary. In all cases a list of eligible conditions and accidents will be available. Be sure to check exactly what you will be covered for when you purchase any types of insurance.

Alternatives and Complements to Trauma Insurance

While there is no real alternative to trauma insurance there are other types of coverage that can compliment it. To provide complete piece of mind you may want to look at enquiring about life, income protection as well as other types of insurance. Insurance is all about protecting yourself from the unforeseen and even the unimaginable and so it helps to have that financial assurance in place just in case.

Things to include in your contents insurance include jewellery, entertainment and computer equipment, appliances and carpet.

It is important when you take out home insurance to consider contents insurance as well.  It would be difficult to replace all your furniture and belongings if you were to lose them in a house fire, because of flood damage or some other natural disaster.  It would be costly and for most people would be something they simply couldn’t afford to do.  Contents insurance also covers your personal belongings against theft.  When taking out contents insurance you need to include all items within your home of value, including furniture, computer equipment and jewellery.  It can also cover removalists if they happen to damage furniture if you ever move.

Jewellery

Jewellery is something that definitely should be insured.  One of the things that intruders are most often looking for is jewellery, and it is easily one of the things most reported stolen.  Jewellery is easy to carry and conceal by thieves and is also easy to re-sell.  If pieces are recognisable or unique they can easily be broken down and sold in pieces, for example the gems can be sold individually.  Your contents insurance should include jewellery, particularly as these are luxury items and if stolen you might never find the money to replace them.

Entertainment equipment

Stereos, televisions and gaming consoles are another target for thieves as these are also easily converted into cash.  If your home is damaged by fire or flood then it is unlikely these sorts of items would be able to be re-salvaged.  Electrical equipment would be hazardous to use after a flood, just in case they got wet there is the risk of electric shock.

Computer equipment

Computers are used in homes as much as they are in offices.  Whether you work from home and need a computer, or if you use it to store music and photos, losing your computer would be an enormous inconvenience.  Laptops are easy for thieves to steal, as they are portable, and other devices like iPads easily taken.  Insuring these items against damage or theft is well worth it.

Furniture

Furniture is not something that you would assume would be stolen, but in case if damage from a fire, flood or other incident, it is important to have contents insurance.  It is important to cover your furniture as well as your house because it would a financial burden having to find the money for new furniture.  Even second hand furniture would add up, particularly if  you had lost everything.  Contents insurance will give you the peace of mind that you wouldn’t have to go without if you were to lose everything.

Fixtures and appliances

Your contents insurance should cover things like your light fittings, taps and shower heads as well as carpet.  It will also cover the loss or damage of appliances, which if you added up the cost of all your appliances you will discover that contents insurance is well worth the extra cost.

There are a few basic problems for policyholders regarding home insurance cover. Some policies are much better than others. Some are just cheap policies and their cover is equally cheap. Some policies are OK as far as they go, but they don’t reflect real values of property or contents very well. Some are even less impressive, very basic No Frills insurance that doesn’t actually even claim to cover much, or do it well.

The fact is that most policyholders run their policies on autopilot, often for years or even decades, without a thought. Many don’t know how to adjust their cover, and some don’t even know how to read their policies, expensive as some of them are. The theory is that just having insurance, any insurance, is all they need to know about the subject.

That theory couldn’t be more wrong, or more expensive, if things go wrong:

• The low-grade/ lousy insurance policies are hopelessly inferior to others on the market.
• The only way to find out if you’ve got a good policy is to compare it with others on the market.
• If someone doesn’t understand their policy, do they have a problem if they need to make a claim? You bet they do.
• If your policy is ten years old, do you need to upgrade? You do.
• Have you, like most normal human beings, bought a lot of stuff that wasn’t in the house when you first took out cover? More than likely.
• Does your policy reflect the true value of your new contents? In a lot of cases, it doesn’t, because the policy hasn’t been upgraded to cover the value of the new things you have in the house.

Ignorance is not likely to be bliss, in these cases. Insurance policies can’t run themselves. Most people are under-insured in at least some ways.

Keeping track of your home insurance

Home insurance is simple enough, provided you watch your policy and make sure it’s meeting your needs properly.

The simplest possible approach to tracking your insurance cover comes in two forms:

1. Compare policies

• Read your policy. Calculate the value of your cover.
• Compare your policy options online. The new online insurers can give you a home and contents insurance quote very quickly, to compare prices.

2. Check the dollar value of your cover.

• Is the cover up to date?
• Does it compare well to other policies?
• Does it reflect your needs?

If you’re not happy with your cover

The next stage, if you’ve found that your cover is inadequate is straightforward:

• Upgrade your existing policy.
• Get a better policy.

Be systematic in your approach to these options.  Check each area of cover for value. Contents insurance is often a good, quick way of comparing policy values in terms of the actual cover they provide. You can upgrade specific areas of your policy or you can simply get a better policy by checking out the better options.

One thing for sure- You will get yourself a better policy and better cover, however you approach these issues.