Shopping for health insurance, whether for humans or pets, is confusing. So many options. So many exclusions. We can’t predict the future — what plan will best suit our needs and grow with us? Asking questions is the first step to ruling out plans that won’t work and finding plans that will. Assistance with finding a health plan that offers the best coverage and fits within the budget is the goal of this article.

The following tips and information have been provided by Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI). Objective questions such as these are what consumers should be asking when shopping for any insurance policy. Your veterinarian may also be able to offer information or recommendations specific to your pet’s health care needs.

1) Company Stability

Pet health insurance has been available in the United States for more than 25 years and over the last decade has grown to become a strong, viable industry – but very few companies have longevity in the market. When researching a pet insurance company, it is important to know how long it has been in business, and if it is financially stable. What is the rating of the company’s underwriter, and how long has it been with that underwriter? Ensure that the statements the company is making regarding strength and longevity apply to its business in the United States. Some companies are franchise operations from Europe and other parts of the world, and thus, have far less actual experience doing business in the United States.

2) Certified and Trained Professionals

Does the company have in-depth veterinary knowledge? A quality pet health insurance provider should have thorough knowledge of the veterinary and insurance industries, and it should have trained veterinary professionals on staff.

3) Veterinary Recognition

Is your veterinarian familiar with the pet health insurance company he/she recommends, and does your veterinary office staff recommend it? Inquire if the person making the recommendation is receiving financial incentives for suggesting a particular company.

4) No Provider Networks

Policies should allow pet owners to visit any licensed veterinarian and not require them to visit a specific network of hospitals or practitioners.

5) Immediate Coverage on Effective Date

All policy coverage should be available on the effective date of the policy. Some companies delay coverage of illnesses and wellness procedures for an additional amount of time beyond the effective date.

6) Wellness Coverage

Preventive care is critical to the long-term health of a pet. In order to encourage and remind pet owners to take their pet to the veterinarian on a regular basis, the company should offer coverage for common preventive treatments and procedures: wellness exams, vaccinations, heartworm protection, spay/neuter, teeth cleaning, prescription flea control, etc.

7) Broad Coverage for Illnesses

Policies should include coverage for prescription drugs, dental illness and chronic conditions such as allergies and diabetes.

Continued Coverage for Chronic Conditions

Does the company consider conditions treated during your pet’s policy term to be “pre-existing” upon renewal? Do benefit allowances renew with each new incident throughout the lifetime of your pet’s policy? Is there a lifetime maximum benefit? Companies should continue to cover conditions as long as the policy remains continuously current, without charging you additional premium.

9) Coverage Away from Home

If your pet is injured while straying away from your home, or is treated by a veterinarian while you are traveling, is this covered? A pet insurance policy should be effective whether your pet is in your home, at the neighbor’s house or accidentally lost. Also, as previously noted, you should be able to visit any licensed veterinarian anywhere while traveling.

10) Full Transparency Regarding Reimbursements

Does the company use a schedule of payments, such as a benefit schedule, or does it use a usual and customary fee list? It should be clearly communicated to policyholders which of the two payment programs is being used, what is covered, what benefits are available and how the list is developed.

11) Transparency in Coverage

If the company claims to cover hereditary and congenital conditions, are the benefit limits for these conditions enough to cover treatment? For example, a company may claim to cover hereditary conditions, but then only offer a $200 lifetime maximum benefit.

12) Physical Exams

How often does the company require physical exams? Some companies, for example, require a physical exam every year in order to maintain coverage.

13) Preauthorization for Treatment

If a condition or treatment is covered under the policy terms, no preauthorization for treatment should be required.

14) Claims Submission

Companies should allow policyholders to fax or mail claims, and there should be a reasonable time limit on submitting claims. If a claim is denied, there should be a review process in place available to the policyholder.

15) Premium Increases

Premium increases should be based on your pet’s age and not on the amount or number of claims filed.

16) Policy Cancellation Penalties

There should be no penalty for canceling your policy, whether because of choice or loss of the pet. Companies should reimburse the policyholder all unearned premium.

- about.com -

Cycle insurance for an activity holiday is not just a matter of protecting sports equipment against damage or theft in transit. Active travellers need to be adequately covered when participating in potentially hazardous sports and the average basic travel insurance policy excludes so called “extreme sports” like mountain biking.

This article looks at the insurance requirements for most cycling holidays and the benefits of taking out specialist adventure travel insurance.

Insurance Requirements for Mountain Bike Holidays

Virtually all adventure holiday companies make sports insurance a condition of joining any mountain bike holiday. Small group travel operator Exodus, for example, states that participants “must be insured against medical and personal accident risks, to include repatriation costs, air ambulance and helicopter rescue.”

Participants are usually asked to complete a medical questionnaire before booking a trip and must provide proof of their insurance cover upon arrival at the cycling holiday destination.

Benefits of Cycle Holiday Insurance Policies

Activity holiday insurance is often categorized into different grades of cover by sport. Skiing and mountain biking, for example, usually have a lower hazard rating than sky sports like hang gliding or sky diving. The grades merely determine the cost of the policy, however, as most sports travel insurance includes cover for the following:

- Medical expenses including repatriation in the event of personal accident, normally listed as a search and rescue benefit.
- Personal liability including legal expenses and/or advice; this is important if you injure someone else on an activity holiday.
- Cancellation – for sporty types, this may well be needed as it is surprising how many people can injure themselves just before a trip.
- Disability benefit following an accident.
- Travel delays or missed flights.
-Delayed or lost baggage.
- Sports equipment cover for those who like to take their bikes abroad.
- Money and personal effects.

Get the Best Cycling Travel Insurance

When comparing policies to get the best cycling holiday insurance, consider:

- Location covered – Europe, US and Canada or worldwide.
- Individual insurance, couple or family cover.
- Single trip or multi trip.
- Age restrictions – People over 65 can find it difficult to get sports insurance cover and may need a customized travel insurance policy.
- Is a doctor’s certificate required e.g. if travelling with a pre-existing condition?
- Maximum payment for lost equipment.
- Policy excess.
- Possible exclusions such as competitive racing or extreme cycling like downhill free-riding.

People who already have a multi trip travel policy that excludes certain activities like cycling should also look at top-up insurance policies which may be cheaper than taking out specific adventure travel insurance. Sportscover Direct, for instance, offers activity top-up policies in a number of different sports.

Take Out Specialist Sports Travel Insurance

While some people are happy to risk travelling without holiday insurance, anyone considering a cycling holiday should look to take out specialist sports travel cover. Although serious accidents may be rare, it is always worth having peace of mind in the event of personal injury and the need to be repatriated by air ambulance.

- suite101.com –

Gap year student claims rocket in past six months with medical costs rising 52% and value of claims up 658%.

The number of travel insurance claims made by gap year students has increased by more than half compared to a year earlier, according to one insurer.

Travel insurance providers Essential Travel said the number of claims on their backpacker insurance policy leapt by 61.4% from December 2009 and May 2010 compared to the same period a year earlier.

Medical expenses accounted for 52.4% of claims and 18.4% for personal effects. The average value per claim also rocketed in a year, from £77 per claim to £584 per claim, an increase of 658%.

Stuart Bensusan, of EssentialTravel.co.uk, said: “It’s logical that medical expenses would account for a high proportion of claims from backpackers when you consider the growth in popularity of adventure sports activities among gappers, such as bungee jumping, sky diving, skiing and white-water rafting.”

More than 50% of claims originated in Asia and Australia. A spokeswoman for Essential Travel said this was because of laxer regulations on more dangerous sports in comparison with Europe and the US. She said one of the most common and costly claims is riding a motorbike in Asian countries, which does not require people to wear protective clothing and is treated as a hazardous sport by insurers.

Bensusan said backpackers these days travelled with higher value items, such as laptops, iPods and smart phones, which was why there were more claims for personal effects and a higher average value per claim.

“It is unnerving, particularly for parents, to hear that claims from backpackers encountering mishaps abroad are on the rise, but it goes to show how important it is for them to take out adequate insurance before they leave,” he said.

“Preparing for a gap year abroad is arguably the most exciting time in a young person’s life and nobody wants to think about the potential pitfalls.”

Research commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in June found that Britons still travel with inadequate travel insurance, leaving them facing extremely high treatment and repatriation bills if anything goes wrong.

In one instance, the families of two men who drowned in Brazil found it would cost up to £10,000 to repatriate the bodies. The men, who were members of the heavy metal band After Death, had not bought any travel insurance.

- guardian.co.uk -

Many health insurance providers exclude coverage for any “out of the norm” activities they deem to be too risky. If you plan on engaging in any activities which could potentially be hazardous, you should check your policy to see if coverage applies. If the activity is excluded, you need adventure insurance.

Here are some potential activities you should always verify health coverage for:

* Hang gliding- a glider you hang from
* Rock Climbing- you are what you climb
* Skydiving- your best bird imitation
* SCUBA diving- like sky diving except lower
* Auto Racing- should only be done on closed courses
* Para-sailing- makes a great picture for this year’s holiday card
* Spelunking- aka. cave exploration
* Bungee or Base Jumping- aka. adrenaline overload.

You already know if you have some daredevil in you, so don’t let your lack of preparation opt you out of the experience of a lifetime. Get adventure insurance and get living.

- travelinsurance.org -

My column on the costs of pets apparently struck a chord last week with readers.

There were a fair number of e-mails from people who thought that the points I made were valid but the costs I cited were too high. This may be true, but how people view pet care costs is a bit like how they see a mortgage payment: both are relative to a person’s income.

Several other readers felt that I did not consider the return pets give on the money spent caring for them. “Pets can calm fears, disperse depression and increase time spent outside exercising,” wrote Ellen Rice, a former wildlife biologist in Olympia, Wash. “A very good investment indeed!”

Tom Sklebar, another wildlife biologist, in Millarton, N.D., noted the fun he had with his dogs. “The companionship is priceless, as are the 30 or more days a year that we are out hunting game birds with our dogs.”

As someone with two dogs and a cat, I would never discount the happiness they bring. But the column was focused on the costs of ownership, and quantifying happiness is a tricky thing, particularly when paying for pet care may come at the expense of something else.

The reality is that many people do not think of the responsibility ahead of time. Some five million to seven million animals end up in shelters annually, and three million to four million of them are euthanized, said Julie Morris, senior vice president for community outreach at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ms. Morris said the reasons that pets end up in shelters varied widely but, she added, “There is a certain amount of people not really thinking it through — the work, the consequences and the cost of pet ownership.”

Some people simply abandon their animals. “We and our tenants have just adopted two horses which were left by their owner when she moved across the country — she just left them,” wrote Jan Sherrill, who raises alpacas in Templeton, Calif. “We found out about them and brought them home. We have four horses already, but to us it wasn’t an option to leave these horses to die.”

There were two financial areas I did not discuss in the last column that generated comments: veterinary services and money to care for a pet if you die.

CARE If there was one bogeyman in the column, it was what veterinarians charge for care. Many readers complained that the costs were too high and attributed it to some combination of veterinarians’ salaries and the pet insurance industry.

“I believe that one of the reasons that the cost of pet ownership is so high is that veterinary costs are high and part of the reason for this is inadequate consumer protections that drive up costs,” said David Burpee, a dog owner in Westchester County. He also questioned why veterinarians were able to profit from selling the medicine they prescribe.

Costs may seem high, but that is not because the veterinarians are padding their bank accounts. The average salary is $91,000, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. A first-year veterinarian earns an average of $71,462 and has an average of $133,873 in debt after eight years of postsecondary education.

As for selling what they prescribe, David Kirkpatrick, a spokesman for the veterinary association, said, “Veterinarians are trying to provide the best care at one stop at a reasonable price that people can afford.” He acknowledged, though, that “there is some sticker shock when you talk about emergency visits.”

But Diane McClure, a veterinarian and professor in Pomona, Calif., said the bigger disconnect came from how people now view pets. “The role of animals in our lives has changed,” she said. “They used to be in the backyard, now they’re in your bed.”

This, in turn, has resulted in an increased desire for top health care for those pets. But that comes at a price. “We haven’t done as good a job as we need to in communicating the value of veterinarian medicine,” Dr. McClure said. “We do care about pets, and that’s where it’s bled over. People think, ‘You care so you should do it for free.’ ”

Pet insurance was the other issue that readers were upset about. In many cases, pet owners do not understand what is covered by a policy and end up frustrated.

Veterinary Pet Insurance, the nation’s largest provider, charges an average of $30 a month in premiums. But it has a list of procedures it does not cover, including, for example, a common hip ailment, and then it covers a set amount for the procedures it does insure. It pays $100 toward spaying or neutering a dog or cat, for example, which may not cover the full cost.

“There is the responsibility that every policy holder has to know what’s on their policy,” said Grant Biniasz, a spokesman for V.P.I. “We also have a responsibility to make sure they understand what’s on their policy.”

One of its competitors, PurinaCare, has a different model. It prorates its premiums based on the cost of care where the pet lives, with New York the highest and San Antonio, where the company is based, about average. The premiums are higher, but then the insurance covers 60 to 80 percent of the cost of a procedure, depending on the plan.

Regardless of the carrier, pet insurance will often not cover all costs.

BEQUESTS A famous pet care story involves the $12 million trust that Leona Helmsley, the real estate heiress, left for her dog, Trouble. While it was later cut to $2 million, it has guaranteed the dog a fine lifestyle.

But setting up a trust is something anyone with a pet can do. On the surface, a trust for the care of a dog or horse is no different from a trust for a child or spouse. What matters is “donor intent” — that the wishes of the person setting up the trust are clearly described and carried out.

The difficult part can be enforcing those wishes. “We can easily send out a distribution for a child at camp, or a rehab center or a boarding school, and we pay it according to the terms of the trust,” said Lori Muhlenberg, senior vice president at National Penn Investors Trust Company. “We could get a bill for boarding 23 retired thoroughbred horses, but it’s a different level of accountability. We’re relying on that boarding facility to be honest.”

She said she knew of several instances where the horse was dead and the barn was still sending bills for reimbursement. She suggested that people setting up trusts for animals include a provision whereby a veterinarian needs to certify periodically that that animal is still healthy and alive.

While many people think that, if they die, a relative or child will care for their pets, they still need to make sure that person has the means to cover the day-to-day costs. And that is where love for a pet meets financial responsibility.

- nytimes.com -

Because of this having laptop insurance is vital mainly because once your laptop is exposed to the problems of the world, you can also put yourself at risk of an enormous loss in the event anything were to happen to it. Insurance agencies will handle laptops because of the sensitive facts which you keep on it. Besides, being a client, it is actually your right to be able to cover your property to safeguard yourself from any type of loss that you may go through. This signifies that even though you have laptop policies, you have to be all the more watchful with regards to where you place your laptop and ways in which to keep it safe. A laptop insurer, like many other insurers, wouldn’t protect the insurance payments when you’re careless with how you handle and store you laptop.

The best part of getting laptop insurance is that it probably covers insurance of the peripherals and accessories of the laptop too. It really means the hard drive and other small things that make making use of your laptop so much more resourcefully and conveniently. It will probably also deal with the cost of the softwarethat’s placed in your laptop, specifically software that is adequately authorized and licensed with the proper software organizations.

Prior to buying laptop insurance cover, here are a few things you should look ahead of literally spending cash on insurance that you not even need:

Initially, discover which insurance firms will offer you laptop insurance as well as kinds of insurances they give according to kind of laptop that you have. Know different ranges of the policies on offer and see which best matches your wants. If you value your files as well as your laptop highly, and your company would like to take on the insurance expense, then having the best laptop policies is recommended.

Secondly, the deductible of your laptop should likewise figure out what manner to policy you ought to have. The deductible of your laptop is actually the sum of money that you’ll pay for the insurance that protects small claims before the insurance firm will cover bigger claims. As a result, if you’ve a low cost laptop, may possibly not be practical to get insurance unless you define exactly how valuable the data you are storing inside it is.

Lastly, make sure you find what the insurance coverage covers on the laptop. You want to know which areas of it have no coverage and which damages may be covered. Being knowledgeable of your plan inside out will allow you to prevent upcoming surprises any time you do finally make a claim.

While getting insurance coverage for the laptop, it usually is ideal always keeping yourself well informed about what you’re engaging in. Thorough analysis will probably be the perfect way for you to keep you shielded.

- laptopguru.com -

Claims Notification and Requirements:

This section will outline the rules set by your particular laptop insurance company as to how you are to notify them if you need to make a claim. Don’t just assume that you just make a phone call and that’s it. Technically you must follow the rules as outlined in the conditions of your policy.

They may state that you must notify them by telephone as well as mail with a detailed summary of the event. You may be responsible to have filed a police report.

Claims Settlement:

Here you will find the details as to how basically the Insurance Company will go about settling a claim. Don’t just assume that if something accidentally happens to your computer that you can just take it in and have it repaired and then send the bill to the Insurance company for compensation. It doesn’t work that way.

Alteration of Working Conditions:

When your laptop is insured, it is insured as being in proper working condition. That’s why often you can’t get coverage for used laptops. If during any time you were to discover something wasn’t working right regarding the laptop and it could be a hazard, for example faulty components that could start a fire. This must be reported to the Insurance company, plus you will be expected to rectify the problem immediately by having it repaired. This is just a basic example. Read this area of your policy carefully.

Salvage:

If for some reason you laptop had to be replaced, lets say it had been stolen. So the laptop insurance company replaces it for you. Then a short time later the original one is found and returned to you. You don’t get to keep it, this must be turned into the Insurance company. It’s now their property.

Right Of Inspection:

This section will tell you that the computer insurance company has the right at any time to ask you to produce the laptop for their inspection. If it has been improperly handled and in poor working condition this will become evident in the inspection. It could then affect your policy.

Suspension:

If something comes to the attention of the Insurance Company that a condition may not be being met, they can suspend or put your policy on hold . They will notify you in writing of this. Which means during this suspension you have no right to make any claims should the need arise. In reality you are not covered during this period.

Now knowing a bit more about what the definitions mean, it may enhance your awareness of what your responsibilities and the laptop insurance’s obligations are. You know what a policy will basically consist of. Now find a reputable Insurance company that will explain everything to you in plain and simple terms. Where you can fill in a simple online application and know there are no hidden clauses.

- laptopinsurance.org.uk -