NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- If you've decided you may need pet insurance for your pet, you'll want to know what to look for when buying a policy. Just like any form of insurance, there are pitfalls of which you should be aware.
From PetsBest.com, a pet insurance company, here are four tips to consider when buying insurance for your pet:
Ask your veterinarian. Chances are the vet has heard all the news, whether it be good or bad, about insurance plans from other policy holders. See which one gets the best reviews.
Choose the insurance company carefully. Be sure the firm is licensed in your state. That gives you some confidence the company has met some minimum standards, and it often means the plan will have the coverage you need.
Cover all your bases. Make sure your pet is covered for illnesses, accidents, and other routine forms of care. Also, ensure that the costliest forms of treatment and preventive screens are included. Choose a plan that covers serious illnesses such as cancer, and offers surgical coverage, such as removal of swallowed objects and treatment of hernias.
Consider the plan's restrictions carefully. For instance, you may not want the plan to restrict your choice of caregiver, if you hope to visit a vet you know or have heard about through reference. So, avoid plans that make you choose from a set network of veterinarians. Also, opt for insurance that covers after-hours care in case an emergency occurs in the middle of the night.
Before You Start
- Think about how you would pay for routine expenses if you or another income-earning adult in your home were to suffer a disability and stop working?
- Ask your employer whether disability income insurance is offered as an optional workplace benefit.
- If you're an employer, consider offering it as a benefit to attract and retain desired workers.
- If you already own disability income insurance, take a fresh look at the policy to learn about the level of coverage it provides, eligibility requirements, etc.
Chandigarh: J Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, which is a health insurance scheme for providing health care to BPL families, will be implemented through ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company.
While disclosing this here today, Labour and Employment Minister, A.C.Choudhary said that an agreement to this effect between Director, ESI Health Care, Haryana and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company was signed.
Giving details of the scheme, he said that the scheme aimed at providing financial assistance for meeting expenses of hospitalisation and surgical procedures of beneficiary members upto Rs. 30,000 per family (consisting of five members) per year. The benefit to the family would be given on floater basis that is the total reimbursement of Rs 30,000 could be availed individually or collectively by members of the family, he added. He said that ESI wing of Labour Department had been made the nodal agency for the scheme.
In the first phase, the scheme had already come into effect in the four districts of Haryana namely, Faridabad, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Bhiwani. The total BPL families in these districts accounted for 3,29,508. As many as 83,616 smart cards had already been issued to the BPL families in these four districts till June 25, he added.
A C Choudhary said that the scheme was being implemented jointly by Central and State Government in the ratio of 75:25, adding that Haryana was the leading state in the implementation of this scheme.
A state health insurance plan for teachers begun five years ago to save jobs in small school districts has grown into one of Texas' biggest programs, used by nearly 90 percent of the state's school districts.
The ActiveCare health insurance plan for teachers, which is overseen by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, now covers about 335,000 teachers and dependents in about 900 school districts, including Arlington, Dallas and Fort Worth. Other large school districts — including the ones in Austin, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio — have their own health insurance plans.
That might not last. Eventually, all public school teachers in Texas will get their health coverage through the plan, predicted Linus Wright, vice chairman of the Teacher Retirement System board and a former superintendent in the Dallas district.
The health plan had its roots in a 1981 struggle in which state lawmakers passed a teacher health insurance bill that then-Gov. Bill Clements rejected because, he said at the time, teachers could get health coverage through their spouses.
The plan eventually came into being for the 2002-03 school year, and it was aimed at small- and medium-sized school districts.
But the plan became more attractive to larger districts grappling with escalating health care costs.
Officials say the biggest advantage of the state plan is that there has been no increase in premiums in two of the last three years.
Critics of the plan, however, say premiums are still too high.
California's three biggest issuers want hikes as high as 9.3%. Insurance chief Steve Poizner's response could affect his political future.
After dropping in recent years, the cost of insuring your home may be about to climb.
California's three biggest insurers, covering more than half of insured homes, have requests for rate hikes pending with Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
How Poizner handles the proposed increases could affect his political future. As the only Republican statewide officeholder, he is being touted as his party's best candidate for governor in 2010.
The wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned consumer advocate may not want to run on a record of raising insurance premiums paid by millions of homeowners and renters.
"It's going to be very tough for him," said Amy Bach, director of United Policyholders, a national insurance consumer advocacy group. "It's going to hurt him if he approves new rates, and consumers publicize that and are critical of him."
Poizner doesn't fear repercussions from doing whatever he thinks is right, said California Department of Insurance spokesman Darrel Ng. "He is confident that should he decide to run for future political office, his good policies will be good for him politically," Ng said.
Third-ranked Allstate Corp. is seeking a rate increase of 9.3%. Industry leader State Farm General Insurance Co. and No. 2 Farmers Group Inc. are asking for a 6.9% hike.
All three companies have earned solid profits in recent years. In general, insurers say that they need more revenue from customers to cover a jump in the severity of individual claims and inflationary pressures on the cost of rebuilding homes damaged by fires and high winds -- although they didn't offer more detailed explanations for their rate increase requests.
"There's been an increase in materials for rebuilding and remodeling, and labor costs have gone up," said Jerry Davies, a spokesman for Farmers, a unit of Zurich Financial Services.
State Farm spokesman Bill Sirola acknowledges that his company "made significant profits in California between 2003 and 2007" and stresses that "those good times allow us to rebuild the capital we need for the bad times" that are sure to come.
Allstate, which recently limited its potential losses by refusing to take on new residential customers in California, contends that higher rates would enable it to increase its financial reserves so that the company could be prepared for future disasters, such as wildfires or earthquakes.
Consumer advocates counter that California insurers have little basis for raising rates. According to the Department of Insurance, insurers of residential properties paid 71 cents in claims for every $1 in policyholders' premiums last year. Most financial losses had more to do with weak performance of insurer investment portfolios related to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, consumer groups say.
"Insurance companies are doing badly in the stock market, and they are trying to recoup their losses from policyholders' pocketbooks," said Harvey Rosenfield, the consumer attorney who wrote Proposition 103, an initiative approved by California voters in 1988 that increased government regulation of insurance rates.
Poizner is reviewing all three filings. Last May, however, he hinted he might reject Allstate's proposal and possibly order it to rebate customers should any charges be deemed excessive.
The Allstate filing, the subject of a hearing before a Department of Insurance administrative law judge, was submitted close to the end of former Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi's tenure in 2006.
Garamendi, a Democrat now serving as lieutenant governor, at the time had ordered Allstate, State Farm, Farmers and Safeco Corp. to cut rates because their customers had been filing fewer and less costly claims.
State Farm and Safeco subsequently lowered their premiums by 20% and Farmers reduced its rate by 18%. Only Allstate fought Garamendi, and later, Poizner, by seeking a substantial rate increase.
Sirola, the State Farm spokesman, welcomed the 2006 price cuts and boasted that lower rates would make the company more competitive, especially with Allstate.
But now State Farm and Farmers have changed their tune.
"We see an increase in the cost of claims," Sirola said. "We've tracked these trends over a number of years."
Allstate, meanwhile, said it felt vindicated by its chief competitors' asking Poizner for rate increases.
"It seems to show that this is an issue affecting the industry across the board," company spokesman Peter DeMarco said.
Some consumer activists, who applauded Poizner's tough stand with Allstate, say they're worried the insurance commissioner may be warming to companies' petitions to raise rates. As evidence, they point to new regulations issued last month by Poizner that critics claim were hastily considered and make it easier for companies to win approval for future rate increase requests.
Companies "see an opportunity to make more money from Commissioner Poizner," Rosenfield said. "I think they see a better chance of soaking the policyholder under Poizner than under Garamendi."
As California's insurance regulator, Poizner does not want to prejudge any company's legal filings, said Ng, the state insurance department spokesman.
He says Poizner is committed to approving rates that are fair to insurers and consumers.
Zheng Xiao, a 53-year-old insurance agent with China Life, has been overworking for two weeks, as the number of consultation calls about insurance products jumped by nearly 40 percent since the May 12 earthquake.
"I've had to charge my mobile phone every day and bring a spare battery to work with me, because I've been getting so many calls since the quake," she said. "Most of the enquiries are about accident insurance, and 90 percent of the callers decide to buy policies after the call."
Zheng said the past two weeks have been the busiest in her 15-year insurance career.
"Because of insurance companies' timely payments after the earthquake, many more people now better understand the importance of buying insurance," Zheng added.
By May 25, China's insurance companies had paid out 92.3 million yuan ($13.3 million) for 202,000 claims. Of these, 64.9 million yuan went to life insurance and 27.4 million yuan went to property and causalty insurance, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission figures show.
Businessman Lin Qiang, 32, is among those who have come to understand the importance of insurance since the disaster.
"There were several insurance agents calling me to buy policies before the quake, but I usually hung up on them as soon as I found out what they wanted, because I wasn't impressed by what they had to say," Lin said.
"But now, I believe I need a policy to at least provide accident coverage. This is a responsibility I have to my family."
However, the quake has not only impacted the way the public views insurance policies but also, it has affected the mindsets of insurance firms' staff.
PICC Life Insurance Co Vice-President Lan Yadong said that he breathed a sigh of relief when he handed over a 200,000-yuan payment to a hospitalized, 11-year-old quake orphan.
"At least we could help ease her financial plight to some extent," Lan said.
Experts said that as a growing number of Chinese look into insurance, they should pay close attention to the details of what the policies cover.
A staff member of 95518, PICC Property and Casualty Insurance Co's customer service hotline, surnamed Yuan said: "Since the Sichuan earthquake, there have been more calls about relevant insurance policies, and particularly about household property insurance."
However, earthquakes aren't currently covered by household property insurance, while those buying commercial property insurance must also purchase an independent rider to cover earthquake risks, Yuan explained, adding most life insurance policies cover quakes.
LONDON (Reuters) - Rivals are circling Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance arm as a bid deadline approaches, but aside from Zurich Financial Services, few may have the desire and firepower to buy Britain's largest motor insurer.
RBS Insurance was put on the block last month as part of the bank's plan to shore up its balance sheet, alongside a 12 billion pound rights issue.
The insurer is an eye-catching asset -- one of the most efficient players in a cut-throat market, and home to attractive brands, including Direct Line and Churchill. It's expected to fetch between 6 billion and 7.5 billion pounds.
But financial pressures on a sector battered by the credit crunch, the ultra-competitive UK market and the sheer size of the business is likely to cool many suitors from going beyond the first round, due to close on May 28.
Finance company says it will pay $4.6 million to settle charges that it sought federal insurance on expired mortgage loans.
WASHINGTON, National City Corp. has agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle allegations that it sought federal insurance for 58 mortgage loans that were already past due, the Justice Department said Thursday.
The financial services provider applied for insurance coverage from the Federal Housing Administration under a program intended to encourage banks to make loans to low and moderate income borrowers, the department said.
The insurance lowers the costs of the loans by protecting lenders in the case of default, the department said.
A spokesman for National City didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Shares of Cleveland-based National City (NCC, Fortune 500) rose 2 cents to $5.75 in later afternoon trading.
