In California, when evaluating a home’s eligibility, one of the reports homeowners insurance companies check is a brush hazard report. Many companies have changed their standards over the recent years due to the large number of losses incurred in fires across the state. Some companies will require that you have at least a 1000 foot clearance around your home from any brush.

Recently, with the standards being changed, many homeowners are finding themselves in a position that their insurance company will no longer insure their home based upon the companies’ new guidelines regarding brush hazards. Some of these homeowners have been with their current carrier more than 20 years. With the implementation of new guidelines account maturity is not a factor.

Insurance companies do not want to be placed in a position that they could potentially suffer large losses as a result of a fire that continues to spread for days and weeks. If your home is located in an area that is considered a high burn area you may find it harder now to find an insurance company to insure your home.

Although you may not be required to find a new insurance company due to the brush hazard of your home, you may find that your rates on your renewal come in higher than previous years. These changes have stimulated homeowners to begin to shop their insurance packages with new insurance carriers. Generally, consumers that are getting non-renewed or are receiving renewal offers at a higher premium will get quotes on all of their insurance needs including their auto and umbrella insurance policies.

Insurance, especially life insurance, can be a very confusing topic for most Americans. We often pay various insurance premiums our whole lives. Understanding the nuts and bolts of your life insurance policies can benefit you and your family greatly in the unfortunate event of your death or the death of a family member.

Life insurance comes in a bewildering array of variations. There’s whole life insurance, variable life insurance, and universal life insurance, all of which are collectively known as cash value life insurance policies. With these policies, a portion of the premium you pay goes to purchase insurance coverage, while another portion is used as an investment. Taxes on the investment portion of the policy are generally deferred until you collect the proceeds.

If you are married, especially if you have dependent children, or if you have debts such as a mortgage, car payment, or credit card balances, your family could be at serious financial risk if you should die suddenly and your income were suddenly no longer available. Spouses are often left unable to make all the payments, raise the children, educate them, etc. on a single income. Life insurance is your family’s protection against the drastic lifestyle changes that occur in the event of your death.

We tend to think that if we buy life insurance and pay the premiums, then upon our death, collecting the life insurance will be easy for our beneficiary, but that is not always the case. Life insurance companies review each claim carefully before parting with their money and some life insurance claims are denied. Apart from fraud in the policy on the part of the policy holder, the most common ground life insurers use to deny claims is that there was a “material misrepresentation” on the life insurance application. That misrepresentation may occur in the original application for insurance or in a later amendment to the application.

A material misrepresentation sufficient to deny a claim cannot be just any misstatement. Under many states’ laws, a material misrepresentation is one that, if fully and truthfully disclosed, would have led to refusal by the insurance company to issue the life insurance policy. Material misrepresentations accusations are commonly made about just about anything on the life insurance application including the person’s employment history, age, income, other insurance in force, whether or not they smoke cigarettes, driving record, drinking history, hobbies, etc. The most commonly alleged misrepresentations involve the applicant’s heath and medical history.

Recovering money from an insurance company that denies a life insurance claim is no easy task. Many life insurance claims are paid without much fuss on the part of the insurer, but there are times when claims are delayed and denied. The claims that are subject to the most suspicion are the ones filed in the first two years the policy is in force. In many states, the insurance company can deny the claim by retroactively rejecting the application if it finds that the application contained a “material misrepresentation”.

Like most insurance companies, life insurance companies are regulated on the state level. If you have questions regarding your claim, its delay or its denial, contact your state department of insurance and an experienced life insurance claim denial attorney.

When you want to be an insurance agent, you are required by your state board to take an insurance exam. Every state has different regulations and guidelines, and figuring out which things you need to do can be quite confusing if you’re not prepared. However, if you take the time to contact your state licensing board you can easily determine which steps you need to take in order to get an insurance license. Some states require education and classes before you take the exam to be licensed while other states might suggest it but don’t make it mandatory. Additionally, the actual content and information that you learn in each state will be different because every state has their own insurance laws.

On the insurance exam, you will have to know things like how to write policies, the different types of coverage, and what claims people might file and how to handle them. Depending on the type of insurance that you’re testing for, there will be different things to learn. The property and casualty insurance exam will be very different from the health insurance test, and so on. You need to study the information that is applicable to your particular area of insurance expertise, depending on where you want to work.

If you choose to be a property and casualty agent, you will learn about home and auto insurance, as well as other vehicular insurance and even some commercial insurance. If you choose to take the insurance exam to become a life and health insurance agent, you will be studying information about life insurance and health insurance coverage and regulations. This might seem glaringly obvious, but some people don’t realize that there are different licenses for different types of insurance.

As long as you get the required education that you need before you take your insurance exam, it doesn’t matter what type of insurance you decide to sell. You can become an insurance agent in any state with ease, as long as you are able to attend the classes and pass the test. Some states do offer what is known as reciprocity on some insurance licenses. This means that your property and casualty insurance license that is valid in one state might allow you to sell insurance in other states, depending on the similarity between their regulations and licensing requirements. One of the best ways to get the right insurance license without a lot of hassle is to do your insurance coursework online and then go out and take the exam that pertains to your training.

Many people who have purchased their homes within the last few years likely do not have enough coverage. In many cases homeowners insurance agents rate dwelling coverage based upon the purchase price of the home. Unfortunately, the value of a home and the purchase price for the home has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of rebuild in the event of a total loss.

In the current home market you can purchase a home for significantly less than it would cost to build that same home from the ground up. The amount of coverage that you should have for dwelling coverage on your homeowners insurance policy should be rated at the current rebuild cost for your specific area. The rebuild cost varies based upon the cost of supplies and the availability of contractors in the area.

Many insurance companies curb this problem of having under-insured homes by supplying agents with rebuild cost calculators. The agent working on the homeowner insurance policy will put in the specific information about the home and the calculator will advise the agent on what the proper amount of dwelling coverage should be. At the same time agents should use their personal knowledge of the area to determine that the proposed amount is high enough.

It is important for you, as a homeowner, not to rely exclusively on the work of your insurance agent. To ensure that you have the proper amount of rebuild coverage on your home it is recommended that you speak with local contractors in your area regarding the average cost per square foot of new construction. They will be able to provide you with the most accurate estimates of the cost to rebuild given the unique characteristics of your home.

If you plan to buy a Chicago property, the sooner you learn about title insurance, the better. For many first time Chicago real estate buyers, the first time they hear about title insurance at the closing of their Chicago property. This article presents the basics of title insurance for protecting your new Chicago real estate acquisition.

What is Chicago Properties Title Insurance?

When you buy a new car, do you insure your car? Of course! When you apply for car insurance, does the agent ask to see your title? Of course! That’s the basic idea behind Chicago Properties title insurance – to protect your Chicago real estate investment. The mortgage lender requires proof you own the Chicago property and no one else has a lien on your property. The chances or securing a Chicago real estate mortgage without title insurance are like the Chicago Cubs winning the pennant this year -only better!

Title Insurance – NOT Casualty Insurance

Casualty Insurance such as car insurance assumes risks for damage to your car or other property. When you have a covered accident or loss, they pay you. Title insurers earn their money by finding and eliminating risks to your Chicago property BEFORE you sign the contract. The amount of money involved is so LARGE, there is no room for mistakes. The Chicago real estate buyer and Chicago real estate seller both want the deal for the Chicago property to go through and title Insurance is the vehicle to close the deal.

Title Insurance Benefits Chicago Properties

First you should be healthy and live to a ripe old age in your new Chicago property… Because the problems that could befall you without title insurance could endanger your health such as investing your life savings in a Chicago property only to find you don’t have a clean title to it and wind up in court. The lawyer fees alone will set up back a small fortune or a big one depending how long and costly the fight to secure title to your Chicago property.

Chicago Properties Title Insurance Policies

Title insurance policies come in two types of policies: An “owner’s” policy which insures you, the homebuyer and your heirs . The other type is a “lender’s” policy to protect their security interest in your Chicago real estate acquisition. As opposed to car insurance, the title insurance premium is a one time payment based on the size of your Chicago property purchase. Also, shop around for title insurance to save money better spend on your new Chicago property. Happy Home Hunting!

Many auto insurance policies have the option of carrying roadside assistance coverage. Roadside assistance protection is designed to assist client immediately when they are in need of a tow truck, jump start, lockout service, or tire change. Many times the customer will have a dispatch telephone number that they can call that is available 24 hours per day. The dispatcher will then call the nearest company that they have contracted with and request that they assist the client.

There are many limitations that are associated with the use of roadside assistance. Often the program will have a limit on the distance that the service can be used for. The industry standard is around 15 miles per disablement. Any additional distance needed will need to be paid for from the consumer at the rate that the tow truck company charges. There a commonly a maximum amount of disablements per policy period as well. Many companies will limit the amount of time that the insured could use the service to 5 or 6 times during the policy period.

This coverage should not be confused with towing reimbursement coverage. This coverage is designed to reimburse the client for expenses associated with a disablement after the insured has paid for it. There will also be limitations per disablement such as a $50-$100 maximum.

Another significant difference between the two types of coverage is that roadside assistance is generally available on all policies that offer it. Many times the towing reimbursement coverage will only be available for policies that carry physical damage protection.

When shopping for auto insurance it is important that consumers check the availability of roadside assistance protection. The rates generally will range from $5-$7 per month.