Your home’s location, construction, and condition, as well as your credit and claims history, all play a part in how much you pay for home insurance. Insurance companies assess risk in different ways, so it’s essential to compare homeowners’ insurance quotes to be sure you get the most affordable rate. It is critical to review your insurance coverage regularly so you can be sure your coverage keeps pace with the cost to repair or rebuild your home and replace its contents, including any upgrades you might make over time.

Some of the things which affect the homeowner’s insurance quote are:

1. The replacement cost of your home – Under-insuring your home’s value is perhaps the biggest mistake homeowners make when insuring their homes. Not having enough coverage can lead to financial pain if the worst happens. Replacement cost is the amount of money to build the exact same house where it stands now. This is different from a home’s market value. Market value includes other things, such as the land’s value.
2. Home insurance deductibles – A deductible is an amount you pay toward a loss before your insurance company pays a claim. Choosing the right deductible amount is a significant decision. The higher the deductible, the more money you save on premiums.
3. Age of house, roof and materials – As your home and roof age, they could become more susceptible to damage from weather elements or even internal deterioration. Replacement costs, including material and labour, go up over time.
4. Wood-burning stoves – If you have a wood-burning stove, you could limit potential premium increases by providing your insurance carrier with proof your wood-burning stove was installed by a licensed contractor and meets code requirements. Install smoke detectors on all levels of your home. Additionally, keep a fire extinguisher in an easily-accessible location and make sure everyone in the household knows how to use it.
5. Marital status – When it comes to buying home insurance online, insurers tend to smile at married homeowners. Married couples historically file fewer claims than singles and are seen as, possibly, more mature and definitely less of an actuarial risk by insurance companies.
6. Having a swimming pool, hot tub, or outdoor spa – These nice-to-have features will increase your home insurance rates because you’ll need additional liability coverage in case someone is injured, and the Insurance Information Institute suggests homeowners with swimming pools and other special features, such as spas, consider an umbrella policy to provide additional protection in the event someone gets injured on your property and decides to sue.
7. Home-based businesses – As experts who offer home insurance online, you may need coverage for equipment and electronics, business vehicles, and inventory stored on-site if you work from home. Standard homeowners insurance may provide some protection for business equipment, but coverage varies by policy and may not be enough.

Hence, insurance companies use multiple factors when setting your home insurance rates. These factors point to the importance of shopping for home insurance.

At times of medical emergency, it is hard to take the financial stress. Medical expenses are costly and not everyone has immediate access to cash. The charges fall high on us and may shatter our financial stability. Going through lots of emotional suffering can create a dig in lifetime savings. But, in this time of need, Health insurance companies are always there to uphold and it’s good to always invest a part of our income in a good health insurance company

Affording good treatment in a private hospital is quite expensive and to even arranging money for the need is difficult. In present days, cashless health insurance plays a crucial role. Most of the companies like Bajaj Allianz, Bharat Axa, HDFC Ergo, ICICI Lombard, and almost 90% of the insurance companies are now cashless. Therefore, you need not run to arrange money, no run to borrow, and no need to sell properties for hard cash to settle the amount.

How does cashless health insurance work?

Mostly the Health insurance claim settlement is done by reimbursement or cashless Health insurance. In reimbursement mode, the cost of treatment needs to be settled. And later all hospital bills lab reports discharge summary and open prescription, and a form by the company to be filled and submitted along with policy copy and bank details, and identity card. This is indeed stressful and havoc.

In a cashless health insurance system, the cost of treatment is in the company’s hands, and no money needs to be spent from the pocket of the insurance member. Insurance companies are in tie-up with many health organizations and they come under the insurance company’s network. Also, a Mediclaim Department in the hospital takes care of this documentation.

How to get a Cashless health insurance claim approved?

• Hospitalization is either planned or could be out of emergency
• In a planned treatment, like maternity, knee replacement, eye surgeries, etc all the formalities and necessary paperwork should be done well in advance by the insurer or the third party agent(TPA) before admittance to the hospital.
• In emergency treatment for accidents, claim intimation needs to be sent to the insurance company by the policyholder giving a few basic details about the policy and the treatment at the hospital.
• Then the company verifies with the hospital and the insurance company settles all the money.

Key features of this Cashless health insurance

The cashless system varies from previous reimbursement policies and comes up with lots of benefits to the policyholder 

• There is no need to pay any treatment expenses at the network hospital
• The insurance covers all Pre and post-hospitalization charges.
• The cover-ups also include domiciliary hospitalization cost, ambulance fare, Room rent, and all. 
• This includes expenses related to in-patient hospitalization for more than 24 hours also.

There are often challenges in this system. Hospitals can be removed or added to the Insurance company’s network anytime. Hence, you need to check for the status or it will have to go with reimbursement mode. Make sure to select the right insurance company for your financial well-being.

Most companies distribute the same through brokers and agents, while few companies sell insurance products directly to clients. To work as per convenience and the opportunity to create a massive difference in a person’s life working as an insurance broker offers more flexibility. It is the most rewarding career as it helps people to take care of children, build assets, plan for retirement, and pass wealth from one generation to the next.

Things that insurance brokers do:

Insurance brokers are majorly independent. They don’t have an agreement with particular insurers. They usually represent insurance buyers and take forward the applications to insurers on behalf of their clients. Ideally, after becoming an insurance broker, they are not appointed by insurers. Instead, they educate the clients about several insurance products from different insurance companies and help them choose the best among them.

The majority of the people wonder whether ‘Insurance Agents and Insurance Brokers – Are the same? 

What makes insurance brokers unique from insurance agents?

Insurance brokers choose from a variety of insurance products and help the clients to choose a policy that is adequate for their needs. In contrast, insurance agents work with one company and sell insurance products available in their company. You can determine the most appropriate products for them, unlike agents, they provide options, and it’s up to the clients to assess the products they need. Additionally, brokers typically charge payments that are higher than those authorized by an agent.

Who can apply for an insurance broker license?

When it comes to becoming an insurance broker, an Insurance broker license and their operations are issued as per IRDA regulations. The ones who can apply for an insurance broker license are:

• A company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 or any previous variant.
• A registered co-operative society is registered as per the provisions of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912, or other similar laws.
•  An LLP registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
•  Any person recognized by the authority.

Qualification and training details:

• Must have a bachelor’s/master’s degree or any equivalent qualification like being a fellow or an associate of the Insurance Institute of India/Insurance Institute of Risk Management/Insurance Brokers Association of India.
• The person must have undergone adequate hours of theoretical and practical training recognized by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India.
• Once training is over, get passed the exam conducted by the National Insurance Academy.
• Retain a minimum capital as per regulations provided by the authority.
• Engage in any insurance consultancy or reinsurance activity for seven years from the date before the application is submitted. Otherwise, being a principal underwriter or manager in any nationalized company in India.

The license can be issued after the necessary conditions are satisfied. Unless the same is suspended by the regulations, it can be valid for 3 years from the issued date. Before the license gets expired, a broker may apply for license renewal within 30 days. Brokers carrying brochures and loads of policy documents to meet people are not a situation anymore.

You need to know that cyber insurance is a policy that helps you in protecting companies that experience financial losses due to cybercrimes, including data breaches,  network damage, etc. In simple terms, cyber fraud insurance transfers some of the financial risks of a security breach to the insurer. But now you must be wondering what cybercrime insurance is, then you must know that it doesn’t do a fantastic job of protecting the reputation damage and business downturn which is triggered because of a security breach. 


One thing is for sure cyber fraud insurance does reduce some of the financial damage which you suffer in an attack, but it’s not an excellent solution.

Some things you must know about insurance against cybercrime:

• It is not preventive directly- Some of the most expensive lessons in risk management a business can get are the hacks because the cost of a data breach surely burns a hole in one’s pocket. The prices mainly include lawsuits, recovery efforts, foregone revenue because reputation is lost, etc. All these costs are covered under Cybersecurity insurance, but you need to know that they don’t prevent them from being incurred. Hence one thing here is for sure cybersecurity isn’t passive insurance that can be bought from any company or consultant. It is nothing but a practice of constant vigilance. Tight security and acceptable practices can prevent you from getting hacked as insurance doesn’t cover all breach costs. 
• It is a risk management strategy- The insurance mainly covers damage to digital assets, business interruptions, etc., under first-party claims, while under third party insurance covers liability and forensic investigations costs, etc. The cost governance is quite broad, and it is one of the best approaches to both identify and secure the digital crown jewels of the company.
• Exact wording plays a crucial role- No matter what field you are in, you must know that transparency is the key to success, and the same goes for cybercrime insurance.  By now, you know what cybercrime insurance is, so before you buy one, you must ensure that you understand the risks that are covered under existing insurance policies because they might overlap with the existing policy. 
• In some areas, the coverage is not enough- You must know that cybersecurity doesn’t do any justice when it comes to covering intellectual property theft or the reputational damage which is mainly caused due to a security breach. Hence before choosing any policy, you must be clear about the areas they cover.
• There is no standard policy- You need to know that there is no standard policy for insurance against cybercrime because policies are mainly custom collections of modern coverage terms and premiums and payouts vary from company to company or on various factors, including data risks and exposures. Hence it would be best if you bought a policy that meets your needs instead of your budget.

All rule you need to know is that cost of cybersecurity insurance is your business risk too. 

Life Insurance is a type of contract between an insurer and the insurance company, where a company pays a specific sum to the insurer after a fixed term or to the insurer’s family after the death of an insured person. It secures the future of your dependents.

There are various stages of life. When you are young (unmarried), you don’t feel the requirement of life insurance. Even if you take, you go for Term insurance to secure your future. At that point in time, you just think about your parents and you have the least responsibilities. Term insurance with return of premium acts as a financial safety net. As you grow old, you get married. Your responsibilities increase. You need to increase your life insurance with new dependents. The increased amount will help your spouse to make ends meet. After that comes mid-life with your children. To ensure that a mid-life crisis doesn’t come in the way of your monetary plans, you need to get savings insurance that defends your investment and health. There are a lot of savings plans accessible on the market, like investing in ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) is the best plan to save for the long term.

Many types of Life insurance policies are available: 

1. Term Life Insurance: This insurance plan provides benefit to the family of the insured if the insured person dies during the specified period. If the insured person survives till the end of the term, insurance coverage ceases and cannot be claimed.
2. Term Insurance with Return of Premium: This plan is one of the best insurance plans because it gives maturity benefits. This type of insurance gives a premium back after the policy gets matured.
3. Whole Life Insurance: This insurance plan provides coverage throughout your life up to 100 years. In case of death of the policyholder, the death benefit is given to the beneficiary. Some plans offer to pay a premium for life insurance for 10-15 years only and get benefits for the whole life.
4. Endowment Policy: This policy helps you save money regularly over a period of time. It is a perfect combination of savings and protection. It is payable to the insured if he/she is alive on the policy’s maturity or to the beneficiary with the guaranteed bonus.
5. Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP): ULIP is the best type of insurance policy that gives life cover as well as investment opportunities. It is a long-term investment plan having a lock-in period of five years. The premium that is paid by the insured is used for investment in assets i.e. to purchase units chosen by the policyholder.
6. Moneyback Policy: This policy pays back regularly during the policy tenure. The percentage of the sum assured is given back at regular intervals. The remaining amount is given with a bonus when the policy matures. In case of the death of the insurer, the insurance company gives the entire amount irrespective of the number of instalments paid.
7. Child Insurance Plans: This plan is an investment cum insurance plan to benefit your child’s future needs like education. You can start investing right from the time the child is born.

So, insurance needs to keep on changing with the changing phases of life. 

Before choosing the Critical insurance policy, it is essential to know the meaning of critical illness. It can be considered a disease that can leave the patient’s body either permanently damaged or semi-permanently. It compels them to be emotionally, physically, and financially dependent after they face a critical illness. There is no difference between critical illness and unwelcome guests. 

Critical illness has become common these days. It consists of cancer, paralysis, coma, heart attack, and so on. Not all the masses can afford the expense of treatment, medicines, hospitalization, and doctors’ fee. You can quickly deal with this complex situation with a Critical insurance policy. In addition to it, you will have to consider several factors when you buy critical illness insurance. Here is the list of some factors.

• Check how the CI Plan works.

First and foremost, look for the working criteria of the CI plan. In the CI plan case, the buyer will get the lump sum amount after he deposits the diagnosis to any insurance company. In addition to it, a person can purchase the costs of treatment, hospitalization costs, and so on. 

• Seek the maximum coverage

You should consider that critical illness that offers the maximum coverage. This critical illness covers the pre and posts hospitalization expenses, treatment, medication, and expenses. Moreover, you will also get the benefits of organ donors, dialysis cover, and so on. 

• Premium amount 

The term premium is defined as the sum of money which you will have to pay for insuring against the CI plan after a specific time. In addition to it, you can easily calculate the premium sum. 

• Ask for the waiting period.

The waiting period defines as the stipulated time under that the policy is payable. So, do not forget to ask the question regarding the waiting periods. The waiting period is 90 days of starting the period of policy and 48 months of pre-existing disease. 

• Check the age

Undoubtedly, before buying the Critical insurance policy, you should also consider the upper age of the renewal. Some health insurance providers provide the CI plan up to a specific age. On the other hand, in the case of some plans, the age limit is not beyond 60 years. 

These are the essential things that you can consider while choosing the best and most beneficial Critical insurance policy. Here is the list of some information related to the masses who can buy the insurance plan for critical illness. 

• Senior Citizens
• Bread Earners
• Masses who have high pressure of jobs
• Individuals who have a history of critical illness in their families
• People above the age of 40 years

In the end, critical illness is like a hole in your pocket. All of your savings will be drained. So, it is essential to take the policy related to critical illness. It will indeed act as the back and help you in a difficult situation. 

The first thing to remember is that having depression or anxiety doesn’t have to hold you back from getting life insurance, as most people have a mental illness at some point during their lives. And from the past ten years, the percentage of young adults experiencing mental illness has significantly increased. If you have a complex mental health history, it can be challenging if you have never shopped for life insurance. Under this blog, you can get a clear idea about employee life insurance and make the process more comfortable than ever.

Can you get employee life insurance if you have depression or anxiety?

If you die, life insurance is there to provide a financial cushion for your family or loved ones. Even if you are dealing with mental health challenges, there is a life insurance policy out there for nearly everyone. As insurers want to know how likely you are to die when you apply, your health is one of the main things that insurers consider. You might be wondering if life insurance covers people with depression and other mental illnesses if you have a mental health diagnosis. How severe it is and how it might affect your life expectancy will decide the impact of depression or anxiety on your life insurance.

For instance, it might not have much of an impact if you have a history of mild anxiety and depression that is well-controlled. Your insurance company will ask you health questions, including questions about your mental health when you apply:

• Are you being treated by a medical health professional or therapist?
• Which medications or other treatments are you taking?
• How severe is your condition?
• When were you diagnosed?

You might also need to take a medical exam and provide details on current and past prescriptions depending on the type of policy, such as employee term life insurance. 

Ideas for getting covered with depression or anxiety:

• Learn to be honest- If your insurer finds out later that you lied, it can decline to cover you or deny your family a life insurance payout later. Still, it might feel awkward to discuss personal details about your anxiety and depression. Your life insurance company will be better equipped to help you find the right fit if you are honest about your condition.
• Look around- If you have a history of health issues, then some life insurance carriers might be more lenient than others.
• Avoid giving up. There are life insurance options available where you are not required to take a medical exam if you don’t qualify for term life insurance or permanent life insurance.

How will mental illness affect employee term life insurance?

It may not impact your rates much if your depression or anxiety is mild and you’re under professional care. It could raise your rates or prevent you from qualifying at all if it is severe and you’ve been hospitalized or are at risk of suicide. Your loved ones receive a cash payment called a death benefit to use for whatever they need if your policy is still active when you die.

Car insurance or vehicle insurance is an agreement between the car owner and the insurance company to protect your car against financial loss or unforeseen risks such as accidents, thefts, or third-party liabilities. The insurance company covers for loss or damage caused to the car in exchange for the premium, the car owner pays. Car insurance is compulsory in India, be it for commercial or private vehicles.

To get car insurance, one has to pay a yearly premium. In the event that you are lucky enough to not have a serious accident or mishap to need to claim, you lose the premium amount you paid for insurance. Then, you get a No Claim Bonus, which is a significant amount beginning from 20% of the premium in the first year to 50% in the 6th, which is the reason it’s advised not to claim for minor damages.

The key factor that determines the amount of premium is IDV- the Insured Declared Value of the vehicle. When buying insurance for your new car, ID is calculated on the basis of the showroom’s listed price. Next year, when you renew your car insurance policy, ID will decrease because of the rate of depreciation applied on vehicles.

IDV = (Manufacturer’s listing price – Depreciation)

(Accessories are not included in the listed price – Depreciation)

Also, one has to renew the policy within the stipulated period of time or bear the penalties. The period is generally 90 days.

One can check the car insurance online price by a car insurance calculator. It’s an online tool available for prospective buyers to check and compare the quotes of premiums to be paid from different insurance companies. This helps them to choose the perfect insurance plan as per their requirements. It allows you to compare different insurance plans and helps buyers to evaluate their insurance needs and get plans accordingly. While buying an insurance policy, new car insurance coverage should be checked. The best policy should cover your vehicle-specific, driving conditions specific, driver-specific, and third-party specific needs. Premium will increase as the insurance coverage increases.

Basically, three types of car insurance are provided by most insurance companies. They are liability, collision, and comprehensive. Each of these has its own range of coverages

Liability Coverage: It covers repair/ replacement costs, and medical bills of the third party. One should choose a liability insurance premium higher than the mandatory requirement as maximum risk coverage will be done by the policy, reducing your pocket expenses.

Collision coverage: It covers property damage or any damage to the vehicle as a result of the collision. It also offers replacement provisions.

Comprehensive coverage: This coverage includes the replacement of a vehicle if it is stolen or damaged by natural disasters.

Personal Injury coverage, and uninsured motorist protection, should also be studied while taking a car insurance policy. Nowadays, one can get car insurance easily online. Each company has unique coverage and provisions for different policies. One has to determine what coverage provisions he wants and what other features are beneficial to him.

Having group health insurance typically comes from an employer. If you are looking to understand corporate medical insurance advantages, either as an employer or an employee, here are some things to carefully consider.

A popular employee benefit for both employers and employees is corporate medical insurance. Offering it is entirely optional, but worth considering if you and your employees can benefit from the possible lower rates of insuring a group.

Advantages of group insurance for company employees:

It’s simple

There are so many employee benefits providers that offer a range of group insurance for company employees solutions for companies of any size, in any industry.

It can help boost productivity

Healthy people can accomplish much more in their time at work and are less prone to burnout in the workplace.

Getting treatment and care can become more comfortable

For many significant insurers, payment options such as direct billing are the standard. Staff members needing treatment can find the whole process much more comfortable to navigate when a healthcare provider and an insurance company have a good working relationship.

Benefits of group insurance for employers:

Small business health insurance can save money

There are a lot of advantages of group health insurance, and one of the biggest ones is the cost savings. This helps the employee who finds that they can afford insurance for themselves and their family, but it also helps the employer who wants to give their employees the right insurance that they can afford to help with.

Lower cost due to a larger risk pool

When more people are included, there are more options for more people, generally at a lower price than what would otherwise be available. In simple terms, you can get a Better group Medicaid insurance policy for employees plans offered, A lower price for insurance plans, and More coverage for pre-existing conditions. It is easy to see that there are a lot of reasons to consider it from the employee standpoint when you look carefully at the advantages of group health insurance. Employees who qualify for this kind of insurance through their employer are generally wise to get it.

Tax incentives for offering health insurance to employees

The advantages of group health insurance are not just for the employee. They are also available to the employer in the form of a small business health care tax credit. With group medical insurance policy for employees, it is offered to businesses that give their employees insurance and pay part of their premiums. These businesses may qualify to get a credit back on their taxes.

Insurance is an integral part of feeling safe and having peace of mind, and when employers provide that for employees, it most often does not go unnoticed by those employees. Hence, you must know about these benefits.

You may be finding yourself using your car a lot less, especially during the pandemic; it is because you are working from home, socializing less, and cooking at home. When it comes to your corporate auto insurance, you may wonder if you can save any money. It is because you are behind the wheel-less, here is where corporate auto insurance comes into play. This kind of policy bases rates around the telematics of your drive. You can save your money if you are the right driver of the program.

Things to know about usage-based auto insurance:

When you purchase car insurance, then regular car insurance premiums are estimations from the insurance companies about how you are using the car and other factors. Often, resulting in people paying premiums that are way off their estimates. By basing the compensation on how often the vehicle is used – the usage-based auto insurance works using mileage as a deciding factor. Ideally, insurance is calculated based on the actual usage of your car, and this can be a more structured and logical way of doing it.

Is usage-based auto insurance ideal for you?

Usage-based car insurance is gaining a lot of popularity. It is mainly because there seem to be many benefits for people. Furthermore, when you purchase car insurance, experts say that Usage-based car insurance is a much more modern form of insurance and embraces modern technologies that allow insurers to track their policyholders. To try and figure out how much insurance you are due to pay, companies can use a device plugged into the car or even an app on the phone.

The information collected will be used to work out and determine your bill, and it measures several things, including your mileage and how fast you drive, how hard you hit the brakes, where you go, and the times of day you drive.

When you get a car insurance quote, some professionals say there are many benefits to this coverage; drivers that opt for this coverage must be aware of the potential drawbacks. By doing this, insurers collect your data and come up with a premium specifically for you. The more your compensation goes up, the more you use the car or, the more reckless you are. You may be able to qualify for lower rates if you stay within safe ranges set by the insurance company.

Hence, when you get a car insurance quote, then you must know one thing that all car insurance policyholders are looking for ways to cut the cost of their insurance without sacrificing coverage. Thankfully, you don’t have to whittle down your coverage to just the basics, as there are a plethora of ways to save money. If you are keen to reduce your premium without giving up any coverage, you can also discuss discounts and deductibles with your insurance agent. To ensure you have optimum coverage for your needs, you need to take the time to review your auto insurance.