policies at Insurance Online

Lots of people asked for this type of insurance, which is evidence that the middle-class segment has already taken shape in Romania. On the other hand, because the interest rates for financial instruments have decreased, the only possibility to obtain profits higher than the inflation rate is to place the amounts on the internal capital market and, after 2007, on the European capital market.
The Romanian insurance company Generali Asigurari said that in the first three months of 2006 it subscribed insurance premiums worth 66.88 million lei (19 million Euro), life insurance policies having a 14.05 per cent quota of this value.

Non-life insurance policies reached 57.48 million lei (around 16.4 million Euro), up by 190 per cent compared to the similar period in 2005, while life insurance policies grew by 133 per cent, to 9.39 million lei (around 2.7 million Euro).
The start of the year was very good for Generali and by the end of June the revenues from non-life insurances will reach the level of underwritten premiums for 2005, when they totaled around 110 million lei. For the life insurance segment, the company anticipates revenues of 36 million lei, compared to 20.7 milion lei recorded in 2005.
Also last week, Interamerican launched the CASCO Light car insurance policy, a product, the company said, positioned between the compulsory car insurance (RCA) and the optional comprehensive car insurance (CASCO). They consider that the car insurance market has an accelerated growth in Romania, and, implicitly, a huge potential, that is why they have chosen to invest in developing this product. On the international markets, CASCO Light is a product which is over 20 years old. In Romania, it is an innovative product, which meets the market demand.
The company officials also announced that in the first quarter of 2006 its life insurance underwritten premiums went up by 38 per cent, compared to the same period last year, reaching a total volume of around seven million lei.
On the unit-linked segment, Interamerican recorded an increase by 198 per cent, also compared to the first quarter of last year, the value of premiums standing at 777,680 lei. On the non-life insurance segment, the company reported that the total volume of gross underwritten premiums exceeded nine million lei. In total, the value of underwritten premiums stood at 16.64 million lei.
Interamerican is part of the Eureko group, which posted a turnover of over six million Euro last year.

Insurance for those leaving abroad is the second popular at swindlers. In this area doctors swindle more often, for example, foreign doctors quite often enter the arrangement with heads of tourist groups. The last ones collect insurance policies from tourists, and the doctor writes out the bills for ostensibly rendered services. After payment the doctor shares the income with the representative of tour agency. They do it in Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Greece. The most known swindle of the last year became «the case of turkish doctors». The combination was played in the best traditions of east market when the required cost of medical services was couple times more expensive than the real one.
Travel agencies do not stay behind in swindle.
So, for the convenience of the clients the insurance companies make plastic or cardboard cards which carry all the most necessary information - number of the policy, phone of service, data which is necessary for informing the dispatcher in approach of an insurance case. The travel agency gives the cards to the clients, informing, that the policy is written to a group and the guide has it. And actually there is no any policy, tourists leave for the resorts with useless scraps of paper. If someone of them will get sick or will be injured, in the service company will answer: «Excuse us, you have named a nonexistent number of the policy ». To hush up the case the tour agency usually compensates the client his expenses on treatment. But the tourist does for himself a conclusion, that insurance is nothing but a fiction, and all insurers - swindlers.
Less popular ways of swindle - falsification of the medical documentation for reception of payments on insurance upon accident, a performance of death for reception of payments on the life insurance, targeted murders of people, insured in favor of the criminal. The basic danger for the insurance companies is represented with cases of arrangement between its representative and the swindler. They open weight of opportunities before swindlers: the overestimated amount of damage, unreasonable payments.

You should consider flood insurance now, when the start of hurricane season is a few weeks away.
Insurance against flood is available only through the National Flood Insurance Program, started by the federal government in 1968 and administered through private companies, including most of the big insurers.
You may need flood insurance even if you don’t live on a flood plain — although many people do even they don’t know it. But it’s also not necessary for everyone.
How do you know if you need a policy and how much coverage should you carry? Start by finding out if you live in a FEMA-designated flood area.
Many homeowners know if they live in such an area because mortgage providers often require flood coverage before making a loan. Realtors are also usually required to disclose relevant flood information to prospective buyers.
You can also enter your address on the agency’s website at www.floodsmart.gov. If your location comes up as ‘’high risk,'’ it means you’re in a hazard area.
Even if your home isn’t in a flood area (the website will say “low to moderate risk'’), you need to get the facts. Ask your local planning agency and fire department about past flooding, find out if your neighbors have policies and consult your insurance agent about appropriate coverage.
‘’If you’re anywhere near the flood plain, you ought to think about it,'’ says Bob Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. Coverage is also significantly cheaper if you live in a lower-risk area.
Currently, a little under 5 million homeowners have policies, a number that has not changed much since Hurricane Katrina, according Butch Kinerney, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the insurance program.
Policies are restricted to $250,000 of coverage on homes and $100,000 on contents — sold separately but with a discount if you buy both. No extras, like replacement-cost coverage, are offered.
Rates are set by the government so premiums are the same no matter whom you buy through. You can find premium estimates on the website www.floodsmart.gov/.
Aside from raising your home on stilts, there aren’t many cheap ways to lower the premiums.

Insurance is one of the most important needs for a small business, yet it’s one that many owners skimp on. Whether it’s business interruption insurance or casualty and property coverage, owners tend to forgo it or not get enough, even though that can put their companies and their livelihoods at risk.
Another problem is that business owners don’t re-evaluate their insurance needs as their companies grow — it’s easier to just pay the premium and get that item off their to-do list.
One of the biggest lapses is in the area of business interruption insurance. This kind of coverage, which you might need to buy separately from a standard business insurance package, can be critical after a natural disaster, fire or power failure that shuts your business down. Business interruption insurance covers lost profits and operating expenses, such as salaries, that must still be paid even when a company can’t operate.
Many people don’t think of the loss of income they would suffer if there was a fire on their premises that would disrupt their business operation. Among other things, business interruption insurance can cover the expense of operating out of a temporary location.
Another common, and serious insurance mistake is made by owners of home-based businesses, who believe that their homeowners’ policies will cover accidents that happen in the course of business. Not true — if a delivery person falls and is injured on your property while dropping off a package for your business, you’re not protected unless you purchase a separate commercial liability policy. Home-business operators can, however, get endorsements on their homeowners’ policies that will cover some equipment, such as computers.
If you use your family car for business purposes, you can face the same situation with your consumer auto insurance policy.
If you want to learn more about business insurance, there are some good primers online. The insurance institute’s Web site has a section on business insurance information at www.iii.org/individuals/business. The site includes a checklist of the kinds of insurance a business needs to consider. And the Small Business Administration Web site has a detailed explanation on business insurance at www.sba.gov/library/pubs/mp-28.doc.
Books on starting up a business can also give you an overview of what you’re likely to need.
At its most basic, you need property insurance to cover losses to your premises and equipment, and you’ll need liability insurance to cover personal injuries. Depending on what kind of building your business is located in, or what kind of business you have, you might need extra coverage for certain fixtures or for your specialized equipment. And, if it’s at all likely your business could be damaged in a natural disaster, you’ll need to buy separate flood or earthquake insurance.
But, depending on the industry or profession you’re in, you might need special coverage for your business activities.
For example, if you’re about to get into the export business, you should consider getting export credit insurance to protect your company in case a foreign customer doesn’t pay. Or, if you’re in the food business, you’ll need coverage for spoilage in the event of a power outage.
If you’re manufacturing something, you’ll likely need product liability insurance. And if you’re in a profession, your state may require you to carry a minimum level of malpractice insurance.
Some companies decide to buy policies for possible employee-related issues, such as coverage for sexual harassment charges.
If you’re not sure of what kind of specific policies you should be getting, it’s a good idea to contact a trade association, or other business owners in your industry or profession. They can not only inform you, but can also direct you to a good broker.
Getting a good insurance broker is critical for a small business. That means someone who understands your type of business and what your needs are. It also means someone who’ll be a step ahead of you, asking you periodically about changes in your company that might affect your coverage, and then upgrading your policy for you — a big help for that owner who just wants to pay the premium and move on.
Equally important, a good broker will also stop you from making mistakes, such as underinsuring yourself to save money.
So make sure your business is safe – insure it!

Life insurance policies designed for people infected with HIV have been attracting attention from various quarters in the world since the Johannesburg-based AllLife (Pty) Ltd. began marketing them last December in South Africa.
Inquiries are coming in from countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States for the product, which is the first of its kind in South Africa, and most probably in the world as well.
South Africa had an estimated 6.3 million HIV-infected people in the year 2004, according to the South African Health Department. The country has the highest number of HIV sufferers in the world. More than 1,000 are said to be dying of the disease each day.
The company had noticed through conducing market research that in South Africa there were policies that cover funeral expenses and that one-third of those who bought them were HIV positive. But the cost was so expensive that not many people could afford the products.
The findings prompted the company to design the policies for HIV-positive people.
In order to be eligible to buy this life insurance, an HIV-positive person’s CD-4 count, which is the barometer of one’s immune system strength, should be higher than 200, which means in medical term he or she has not developed AIDS yet.
The policy holder also has to go for blood test once every six months, and once CD-4 count drops under 200, the holder will have to keep taking anti-retroviral drugs, which treat AIDS-related symptoms.
The premiums range from 200 to 700 South African rand ($30-$107) per month for every 100,000 rand of coverage, and the largest amount sold so far is 1.7 million rand, while the average size of a policy has been 350,000 rand.
The policies are sold only in South Africa for the time being, but the company hopes to expand sales to the neighboring countries in Africa, India, the United States and Europe in the future when their products become successful, he said.
AIDS used to be practically fatal disease until ARVs were developed and it is known now that ARVs can prolong many lives of HIV patients who develop AIDS. But it has been a generally established opinion in the insurance industry that it is very difficult for a life insurance policy designed for HIV patients to be profitable.

Insurance providers in Florida have significantly new regulations after Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill that lawmakers say will provide short-term relief for insurance policyholders while producing long-term reform for the statewide insurance industry.
“Two unprecedented back-to-back hurricane seasons with eight hurricanes and four tropical storms pushed Florida to the brink of an insurance crisis,” said Bush, in a press release. “These reforms will help to ensure the state’s long-term economic vitality as we continue to deal with this increased hurricane activity.”
Private insurance companies collected an estimated $18 billion in premiums from 11.9 million residential policyholders in 2004 and 2005, according to the state. However, during that same period, those companies paid out $38.5 billion in claims for damages. Citizens Insurance, the insurer of “last resort,” collected $1.2 billion from about 815,000 policyholders, but paid out more than $3.9 billion, amassing a $2.2 billion deficit during the past two years.
With the new law, the state will provide $250 million in loans to insurance companies to help them write new policies or assume existing policies from Citizens or other private insurers leaving the market. State funding could generate as much as $1 billion in private insurance during the next two hurricane seasons, lawmakers said.
The Legislature also directed $715 million in surplus cash to offset Citizens’ current deficit, in effect reducing the surcharge that private insurance policyholders make toward Citizens from an estimated 11 percent to 2.5 percent.
That’s how state government prepares to the upcoming storm season. But all the changes made to the insurance market will mean little if Floridians don’t take time to prepare.
As part of the long-term implications of the new law, insurance companies will be able to adjust rates by 5 percent statewide and 10 percent in regions beginning in July. Citizens Insurance, beginning next March, will be required to collect enough premiums to prevent a deficit, so as to have enough money to pay a “worst-case scenario” storm that is likely to strike once every 70 years, state officials said. In the event of a deficit, Citizens would have to charge its policyholders first.
The state also will provide $250 million to make older homes more resistant to damage caused by a hurricane, which officials said is the first of its kind in the nation.
Also Florida is launching a program to provide free inspections of homes and provide funding to make home improvements to potentially reduce the price of premiums.

Tourist insurance policies can rise in price due to the expansion of the bird’s flu in Turkey.
However insurers consider, that there won’t be any increases of the prices for those going abroad. First, officially epidemic it is not established anywhere officially, according to the legislation of countries of risk. Epidemic, as known, appears, when the quantity of sick people exceeds dozens of thousands. Secondly, the virus unequivocally is not designated: researches are carried out and only hypotheses that it can be mutating the bird’s flu are built. Even the ways of infection are not established yet.
The insurance companies consider inexpedient to enter the special insurance from the bird’s flu or additional service into policies of leaving abroad. In fact in case of expansion of the bird’s flu the damage of the insurance companies can make many millions dollars.
Thus, the damage of insurers can reach catastrophic parameters. Besides in the risk group are those people, whose financial position is above average and according to statistics they are the most active insurance services consumers. They conduct an active way of life, travel around the world, so the risk of infection by the bird’s flu in this social group is much higher than in other ones.
World experts on the bird’s flu talk about real danger. According to their forecasts the modern bird’s flu will be more dangerous than Spanish epidemic of 1918. Then “the Spanish flu” carried away lives almost 20 millions people and it mutated from bird’s flu.
Time will show us how great the danger is. For now the best advice is – do not go to Asian countries, spend your vacation as closer to your home as you can.

The insurance company “ UFO Abduction Insurance Company ”, registered in Altamont-Springs, state of Florida, USA, is operated by Mr. Michael Sent-Lorensom, for today has already sold more than 45 000 similar insurance policies. Mr. Lawrence has begun insuring against UFO in 1987. After he studied his personal insurance policy he found out that he is not insured against such circumstance. With this offer he attracted a group of the Japanese investors led by Mr. Ohom. The first policy Mr. Lawrence has sold on the air on Larri King’s show (the international teleshow on CNN) to a guest of this show - Hollywood actress Shirley McLane. Since that time this kind of insurance policy were sold not only to the Hollywood stars, but also to simple American inhabitants. Now “the fashionable wave” has reached Russia.
They say: “Our compatriots are not very interested in insurances against UFO yet, and it’s all because of their ignorance. In the western countries any respected person will not leave the Earth without the insurance! ”
But I not going to leave it yet…

The increasing number of russian tourists is accompanied by increasing statistics of different kind of accidents with their participation. It essentially increased since last year one of the insurance agencies claims. After the winter season the leadership belongs to mountain-skiers. Accidents in mountain-skiing are the most dangerous and expensive. Sometimes skiers even crash one into another. These accidents are sometimes fatal.
Mountain-skiers are followed by the divers. Number of accidents in winter time even exceeded the late spring time.  Third place belongs to those tourists who love traveling to sunny Asian and North African countries. Because of unsanitary conditions in some hotels it’s no surprise people get some dangerous exotic infections.
The peak of accidents falls on Christmas time. As for mountain skiing, February is the time of maximum traumatism.
So, I think, it’s a good idea to purchase additional heath insurance policies if you are going to spend some time away from home in higher described places. Good luck!!!
 

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