FinanceBAM News

There is more to home insurance of business insurance than just the premiums you endure. How secure your property is can and is directly related not only to premiums but whether you are actually insured at all. One part of this is the quality and structure of entry points of the building especially the doors used on your property. Lightweight doors that can be kicked in, may make your insurance company to think twice about paying out on an insurance policy. Or for that matter whether that burglar actually moves on to another property.

Composite doors have made their mark recently, not just because they look good, but have the strength of solid wood doors (unlike many pvc) and in some cases even stronger. The strength of these composite doors also means you can add stronger locks, even multi point locks and heavier furniture all adding to the security aspect insurance companies are wanting.

Secured by design is a police initiative designed to help customer buy doors that have security in mind. Crime prevention is key to having your door signed off by the secured by design campaign.

Global door sells composite doors that are part of this scheme as are many other composite doors suppliers and worth a look if security and correct insurance is what you are after.

An interesting article was written in the June 23, 2007 edition of Telegraph in response to the heavy flooding that hit the country last week. 1,200 insurance claims were being filed to help with the damage caused. And unless British homeowners had insurance for flooding, they will be left to pay the bills.

The majority of homeowners have buildings cover, which is often a condition in the mortgage but out of 6 million homes, one in four do not have adequate coverage for things such as carpets, furniture, and personal belongings.

Approximately five million people live in flood risk zones with 570,000 of these being considered ‘high risk’ so, the importance of coverage is clear. The price of cleaning up after a flood is incredibly costly as everything the water had touched usually needs to be thrown away. Then there is also the consideration of accommodation, which is also often necessary while the house is put back into shape.

The Environment Agency can provide details of whether or not the homeowner is living in a high-risk flood zone. For 25 pounds, the agency will also write a letter to insurance companies explaining what risk you are living in and what flood defences are in place should a flood occur. This is useful if the homeowner believes insurers are overestimating the risk and could benefit from a second opinion. (more…)

Insurance companies have recently launched incentives for drivers who drive less miles and have low CO2 emission from their exhausted. This move has come in result of the insurance companies jumping onto the band wagon of going green. Big insurance companies, including the like of Budget Insurance are now offering “environmentally-friendly” insurance schemes to drivers.

Drivers have the choice of funding wind farms in India or back an organization which distributes fluorescent light bulbs in Jamaica as reported by The Financial Times on May 25^th 2007.

The underwriters shall assess the amount of CO2 emissions form your car and could make a difference of up to 15-20 pounds per year on your insurance premium. This money would then be invested in to Carbon Neutral Company, a profit generating group that gives cash injections to a variety of environmental projects.

Other major insurers are giving similar incentives to their customers, where the companies can offer up to 15% discount on car insurance annually and offer to invest in other environmentally friendly projects. These larger companies are increasingly under pressure to return something back to the community. (more…)