Articles

One of the new “games” to play in reputation management is to suggest your business is in some way friendly to the environment. An increasing percentage of the population believes you run a better business if it is more sustainable and “green”. In this, there’s actually an ironic benefit. Insurance companies also believe you should run your business in ways that reduce risk. This means keeping all your policies, processes and procedures under review to ensure they are safe. If you find ways to reduce the risk of claims, the insurer will respond with discounts. So, for example, your business may benefit if both the public access and the employee-only parts of your premises are redesigned in a more environmentally friendly way. If you use paint that does not fume and has reduced levels of toxicity, this reduces any risk of allergic reactions and illnesses.

Using natural light wherever possible, fitting LED lights and generally using power-efficient equipment reduces heat and the risk of fire. It also makes the premises more comfortable and popular with customers. Ask your insurer whether there are incentives to upgrade the building by fitting energy-efficient systems. If you comply with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, the Insurance Information Institute reports that, as from 2010, there are more than twenty insurers offering up to 10% discount on premium rates. One of the factors you might want to consider is the use of solar or wind power. Ignoring the capital cost to produce enough electricity to allow you to “go off the grid”, one of the main worries is the risk of outages. Some insurers are now offering specialized business interruption coverage to boost confidence.

When it comes to the vehicles used in the business, some of the commercial auto insurers offer discounts if you buy or lease hybrids. Even though you may not be impressed by the claimed threats of global warming or climate change, the insurance industry is firmly on the side of reducing emissions. The better the fuel-economy of your fleet, the lower the premium rates are likely to be. Similarly, the idea of pay-as-you-go will both save you money on the premium rates if you reduce milage to the absolute minimum and persuade your employees to drive more safely. The more safely and efficiently you run the fleet, the lower the premium payments. It also makes an excellent add-on to your marketing to show how much you care about the environment and that you are committed to reducing America’s dependence on imported oil. If you build environmental factors into your current risk management system, there’s a real chance of improving your bottom line, negotiating discounts on your business insurance rates, and giving yourself some marketing copy that will enhance your reputation with green customers. In this instance, there’s no reason why your skepticism about climate issues and other environmental factors should stand in the way of improved profits. Talk this through your your business insurance advisor to find out what your state’s insurance industry has on offer if you do decide to become more eco-friendly.

Some car owners tend to get surprised when they learn about different insurance rates for different car types. From their point of view, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a small car or a hot rod as long as they have a good driving record and don’t get in trouble in traffic. Even so, for auto insurance providers, it’s a whole distinct perspective and they will charge you with different premiums depending on the type of car you’re trying to insure. In this perspective, you should bear in mind the following characteristics of each car type and make your decisions correctly if you want your auto insurance budget to be limited:

Small cars

Small cars are generally quite cheap and rather comfortable in the conditions of a big city with heavy traffic. They typically have low engine volumes, top speed, get stolen quite rarely and are inexpensive to handle at repair. Nevertheless, auto insurance can sometimes be a bit costly for small cars because they tend to get damaged very bad during accidents. The laws of physics aren’t on small cars’ side during collisions because the smaller object tends to get the most damage regardless of the safety features the manufacturer has included. Due to this costly claims tend to arise more often with such vehicles, and the insurers respond with respective pricing.

Medium sized cars and family vehicles

Medium class cars are typically regarded as the safest and the cheapest to insure. Of course, it depends on the particular make and model, but the general rule is that these cars are quite safe, have low repair costs and theft rates, and tend to get damaged much less than smaller vehicles during an accident. As a result, you will usually get the best auto insurance rates for this car type.

SUVs

SUVs are certainly very comfortable and give you a whole different perspective in traffic. However, it’s the size that we all love that can be a problem with these vehicles. Due to their size and increased mass as compared to other vehicle types SUVs tend to produce more damage during accidents, especially involving other cars. The third party liability in case of an SUV is likely to be higher because the other car tends to get damaged quite bad and there are likely to be injuries as well. Added to the higher repair costs for such vehicles SUVs are usually more expensive to insure.

Sports cars

Sports cars often seem as an advantageous option for car buyers since they are both cool and cheap. However, when it comes to insuring a typical sports car, you will actually have a hard time finding cheap auto insurance because insurers tend to classify such cars as high risk. Increased top speed, engine volume, elevated theft and accident rates as well as the likelihood to produce a very serious car crash all contribute to expensive auto insurance rates for sports vehicles.

Luxury vehicles

It’s logic that expensive luxury cars will cost more to insure than other car types. Nevertheless, it’s not because they are costlier to purchase – insurers have other reasons to charge higher rates for such vehicles. First of all, they are usually very costly to repair, often requiring exclusive and overpriced repair parts that are hard to find in an ordinary repair shop. Moreover, such vehicles are often targeted by car thieves and burglars due to their value and exclusivity. So don’t expect to get cheap auto insurance for any luxury car.

Car insurance and technology world trends

There’s nothing new in starting a modern article by referring to the speed with which the world has been revolutionized by the computer but, in this instance, it’s highly appropriate. Back in the late 1960′s, when the first green shoots emerged, computerization was all about automating in-house processes like the accounting system. The software to replace labor was still a few years ago. Yet, once it arrived, two things happened. First, the employers cut their costs and improved their profits by terminating thousands of jobs. Second, by removing many of the people who used to deal with customers, the businesses showed a decline in quality of the services they provided. And you can see many corporations these days hiding behind call centers and e-mail systems, rarely providing real people we can talk through our problems with.

It would be wiser if the Internet and automated systems were used not as a smokescreen but as a means to improve the customer experience. Eventually, the quality of this aspect of service will come back into focus as a way of distinguishing between faceless corporations. The car insurance industry provides a good example of what can be done. In case your vehicle is involved in an accident, what you want is a smooth system for handling your claim. This means that there should be a minimum fuss in submitting the claim online, the identification of suitable repair shops you can go to, getting quotes with the least delay, and agreeing which repair center will actually do the job. All this administration needs to be prompt because, if your vehicle isn’t on the road, there are storage charges mounting up and rental charges for a substitute vehicle. Add up the thousands of policyholders and the cost to the insurers is higher than it needs to be. If this loss is controlled, premium rates can be stabilized if not reduced. And it’s certainly a win-win situation for everyone involved.

This is the reason why it’s important to support a new website and mobile app for Android and the iPhone that will improve the current situation. These applications allow you to upload photographs of the damage using your cell phone or hand-held device with a camera, and send those pictures to repair shops approved by your insurer near to where you live. The shops provide updates on whether they have spare capacity and offer an estimate of the cost of repairs within 24 hours. And since the site works with insurers to limit the list of repairshops to those preapproved by the insurers, the claims are processed with minimum delay and the final costs are also kept low. Right now, this is still at a testing stage with five insurance companies in a limited number of states. Yet, assuming the trial is a success, we could see this rolled out across the country. In case this technique really does reduce administrative delays and associated costs, we will see stable car insurance rates. Maybe, it’s not the cheap car insurance we all want to see, but it’s a good step in the right direction. This should also move the slumbering giants on both sides of the fence. There are creative ideas in the air and insurance companies who would benefit the customer by getting together.

One of the hardest groups to get affordable insurance for is student drivers, particularly teenagers. You can be a student driver at any age but the older you are, the less of a risk you are to insurance companies. So while your premium costs will be high since you are a new driver, they will not be as high as those for new teenage drivers. Lower policy rates for student drivers are achievable if the following conditions are met.

Complete Driver Education Classes

Most insurance companies will not even consider insuring a teenage driver who has not taken and successfully completed an approved driver education class. These classes include instruction on driving laws as well as hands-on driving lessons. There are different levels of driver education. Most students complete the basic level. But insurance companies prefer the advanced level because it includes instruction on defensive driving, bad weather driving, and how to avoid a crash. Insurance companies offer deeper discounts for this advanced instruction with the expectation that teenagers will be better drivers.

Drive a Safe Car

Young drivers often prefer cool cars over safe cars but it is the safe car that will earn discounts from insurance companies. When calculating rates, insurance companies consider the type of vehicle teenagers will be driving and the cost associated with repairs or replacement if the teenager is involved in an accident. Do not skimp on safety to get a lower rate – teenagers need a safe car more than they need to save a few bucks on their insurance costs.

Achieve Good Grades in School

Just about all insurance providers have “good student” discount programs that allow students to submit their report cards to receive a reduction in premiums. The thought behind this is that if teens can work hard enough to make good grades, they will probably be just as diligent with their driving.

Establish Credit

Again, auto insurance companies correlate the teen’s ability to manage their credit with their driving ability and will lower rates for those teen’s who establish personal credit. Teens may be able to get a small department store credit card that their parents co-sign for so they can establish personal credit.

This article examines ways student drivers can get discounts on auto insurance coverage . By meeting certain criteria, student drivers can obtain auto

insurance that is affordable and offers quality coverage in case of an accident.

We are only a few months into 2012 and, all the way across the midWest and the plains states, thousands of homeowners are picking up the pieces after the latest surge of tornadoes brought destruction in major population centers. Indeed, the last two complete years have broken records for the severity of the weather conditions and the total of the claims paid out. If the doomsayers are correct and climate change is a reality, we can expect to see more extreme weather all year round. Most people pull their policies and check the wording to ensure they have cover for their homes. That’s always the priority. To have a roof and four walls around you. Except there’s a new survey showing that about 60% of all policyholders fail to go on to the next step which is to protect the possessions in the home by producing a file containing proper evidence of the extent of the contents. They see the headline in the policy which is usually a maximum amount claimable – keeping this simple, insurers tend to make this a fixed percentage of the rebuilding costs. If you want more than this rough average, you have to ask for additional cover. At this point, you realize the need for a proper home inventory.

The survey discovered that even when people do have a list of the more expensive items kept in the home, less than half have receipts and only about a quarter have photographic records. Even worse, only a tiny percentage of people keep a back-up copy of their records outside the home. So, sadly, if their home blows away, so goes all the evidence. In these days of computer power, it’s not difficult to make a list and store it and pdfs of the receipts in the cloud. That way, whenever the insurance companies ask for copies – it’s remarkable how often they lose what you give them – you can just send them another copy. With the list in digital form, it also easy to keep it up to date. That means canceling property lost or thrown away, and adding all the new property as it arrives in your home. The better the records you keep, the more likely it is you will get a reasonable fair value settlement. So, in an ideal world, you would have a description, serial numbers and bar codes whenever available, and some statement about the current state. Remember, unless you buy a Rolls Royce policy, this is a not a new-for-old plan. You only get the amount needed to replace like-for-like. This makes it essential to have some idea of whether the couch is as new or in dire need of replacement.

There are some nice packages and apps that list all the different types of possession you have have in the home. These lists are excellent in prompting you. It’s far too easy to forget to record all the clothes, curtains, and workshop tools kept in the garage. Homeowners insurance cover is no use to you if all it pays is for rebuilding. An empty home is not a home. Put yourself in the right position to claim the full value of all the contents of your home. Make the home insurance policy work for you.