Entries from InsWeb’s Insurance Blog | Auto, Home, Life, Health, and more tagged with 'InsWeb Blog'
Term Life Insurance Summer Report: How Looking Better in a Swimsuit Helps Life Insurance Rates
Kirstie Alley's well publicized weight loss culminated with a public appearance in a two-piece swimsuit on the Oprah Winfrey show. As people with the same disposition as Kirstie took measures to look and feel better in preparation for this year's swimsuit season, they also took steps to improve their overall health. Body weight is one of the primary underwriting factors...
Homeowners Insurance: Offset Your Rising Mortgage By Saving On Homeowners Insurance
We hear and read about it in the news every day: rising interest rates are punishing homeowners that participated in the adjustable-rate home loan phenomenon over the past half-decade. Adustable-rate home loans account for almost 25%, or roughly 10 million of all mortgages, according to a 2006 USAToday Study. Attracting consumers with low down payments, and interest-only payment options, risky...
Auto Insurance: Mid-Year Car Insurance Review
It might be hard to believe, but 2007 is already halfway over! In fact, the holiday shopping season starts in just 145 days. More pressing, you may have noticed a little more strain on your travel budget this summer thanks to soaring gas prices. Need some financial breathing-room? A mid-year review of your auto insurance premiums may be able to...
Term Life Insurance:Alcohol Consumption: How it Affects Life Insurance Rates
Whether it is going to happy hour with friends, sharing a bottle of wine at dinner, or downing a couple beers while watching a favorite team, alcohol plays a significant role in the lives of many Americans. In fact, it's reported that 64% of Americans drink alcohol regularly. Apart from alcohol abuse, drinking is a pleasure that seems relatively innocuous...
Gas Prices Continue to Soar: 6 Ways to Help You Save Money
As we head into the summer, gas prices continue to reach record breaking highs. Remember the days you could fill up your vehicle for around $18? As of last week, gas prices average $3.22 per gallon nationwide (as of 6/4/07). That's 12 cents more than the previous week and 40 cents more than last year. While we can't do anything...
10 Easiest Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance Bill in 2007
Happy New Year! As you begin 2007 with a renewed determination to improve your finances, take 10 minutes to analyze your auto insurance bill. Even if last year seemed uneventful, the chances are good that your individual circumstances have changed enough to qualify you for lower car insurance rates. And even if nothing changed on your end, many large...
Protecting Your Home During the Holiday Season
December is simply one of the most dangerous times for homeowners. Celebrations with cooking, candles, Christmas trees, holiday lights and alcohol foster conditions for a plethora of unfortunate events. Even more, burglars are looking to take advantage of easy targets: households that are clearly on vacation, or better yet, decorations that scream "WE HAVE GIFTS INSIDE!" Ensure your joyous holiday...
How Smokers Can Get Affordable Term Life Insurance
Often times smokers underestimate their potential for obtaining term life insurance at affordable prices, let alone adequate coverage levels. Although smokers indeed pay more for term life insurance, there is generally a unique policy for almost every budget, every lifestyle, and every stage of life. For smokers though, the need for comparison shopping for the best policy is everything,...
Does Your Car Insurance Only Cover Aftermarket Parts or Original Manufacturer Parts?
As aftermarket parts are an affordable alternative to the expensive OEM parts, insurance companies will not always reimburse 100% of the repair costs when OEM parts are used. In fact, some carriers require the policyholder to pay the difference between the OEM part and the otherwise fully capable non-OEM substitute part." Auto accidents teach drivers many expensive lessons about their...
Preparing for Fall and Winter Driving
Fall is upon us once again and it is time to go through my yearly routine of preparing my vehicle and self for the winter driving months. I have lived in several climates in my lifetime and learned that preparation for the winter driving season is important in all of my living locations. Below is a list of tasks/items I...
Underinsured Motorists With Changing Driving Patterns And Insurance Needs
More than 4 of 10 families survey by Trusted Choice® who said they had a young driver move away from the home hadn't updated their family's auto insurance coverage to reflect that change. Of those who are frequent carpool drivers to a job, school or activities with children, an alarming 85% hadn't changed their liability insurance coverage to reflect the...
Driver Cell Phone Usage on the Rise
The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) came out with an interesting report earlier in the year which addressed the increasing usage of cell phones in cars. The report states that driver cell phone usage increased in 2005, with 6% of drivers on hand-held phones in 2005 nationwide, compared to 5% in 2004. The 2005 rate translates into 974,000 vehicles...
Anti-Rollover Technology for All Vehicles by 2012
Considered the greatest life saving improvement since the safety belt, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) announced a new proposal to require auto manufacturers to install electronic stability control (ESC) as a standard feature on all new passenger vehicles by 2012. ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help the driver maintain control in situations where...
No More Hand-Held Cell Phone Use While Driving In California
California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed a bill this week that will ban drivers in the biggest U.S. state from talking on hand-held cell phones will driving. The ban will go into effect in July of 2008. From the first day of July day on, the law will allow drivers to talk on cell phones as long as they use...
September Is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Ice Skater Scott Hamilton is 2006 Spokesperson!
According to The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), "Life Insurance Awareness Month was created in response to growing concern about the large number of Americans who lack adequate life insurance protection. According to LIMRA, 68 million adult Americans have no life insurance. Those who own life insurance have an average of four times their annual income...
Sharing the Road with Motorcyclists: 10 Things People in Cars Should Know About Motorcycles
On busy travel weekends such as this last Labor Day weekend, millions of drivers succumb to the grinding halt of getting in and out of town. An hour or two into the frustrating stop-and-go ordeal, it's those darn motorcycles that never seem to be affected by the collective cattle run! While you're effectively going nowhere, you see them moving along...
Insuring Personal Computers With Homeowners and Renters Insurance
For many people, their personal computer is a major investment; trailing only behind purchasing a home and car in terms of expense. Accordingly, it is just as important to know how to insure your computer. Coverage for computers and related accessories such as software and peripheral equipment (hard drive, monitor, etc.) can vary from company to company, so call...
Life Insurance for Those Recently Retired or About to Retire
Studies show that over 25% of American households lack any member with life insurance. And the approximately three quarters of us who have life insurance do not have adequate coverage levels for the stage of life we are in. It is important to review your policy as your life changes, to ensure that your coverage is sufficient for your new...
Term Life Insurance That Pays You For Living: Return Of Premium Policies Explained
In recent years, InsWeb has expanded its Term Life insurance marketplace to include alternate products that each offer their own benefits. One of these unique products is a Return of Premium Term Life insurance policy. Return of Premium (commonly known as ROP) policies, while a bit more costly, offer the benefit of returning your paid premiums if you are...
My Home Warranty Nightmare
In 2004, I purchased a home built in 1989, and over the past two years I have learned some very hard lessons about what a home warranty policy actually covers when things go wrong. I started out with Fidelity Home Warranty and after a year of getting claims denied, I changed to American Home Shield, which turned out to be...
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