Renters Insurance
If you don't own your own home, and are renting instead, you may think that you're covered by your landlord's insurance policy. The fact is, though, that you're not - a landlord's property insurance covers damage to the structure of the property itself, but it does not cover your personal possessions or liability. For that, you need renter's insurance.
Your Life Insurance
Many seniors own life insurance policies that they no longer need or want, or that they can no longer afford. Often, they allow their policies to lapse or cash them into the insurance company for the surrender value. What many seniors don't realize is that their unwanted life insurance may be worth much more if sold to an investor in a life settlement. A Life Settlement is the sale of a life insur... Read insurance article
Life Insurance - Why Women are furious
Thousands of women with family histories of breast and ovarian cancer could pay higher insurance premiums or even be denied cover altogether under new proposals from the insurance industry.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is expected to lodge an application for permission for its members to ask women whether they have been tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
The faulty BRCA genes are responsible for about five per cent of the 41,700 new cases of breast cancer and 10 per cent of ovarian cancers diagnosed in Britain each year.
If the insurers are granted permission by the Genetics and Insurance Committee (the organisation that advises the Government on the issue), women who have tested positive could be forced to pay higher premiums. Some companies may even refuse high value life or critical illness insurance.
A notice published on the GIC's website said, "The Committee expects that the Association of British Insurers will submit in late 2006/2007 four revised and updated applications for the use of adverse results from predictive genetic tests of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (breast/ovarian cancer) in helping to determine insurance premiums for life and critical illness insurance."
At present, the only predictive genetic test the committee has allowed insurance companies to ask about is for Huntington's Disease. This is because of the lack of environmental influences on its development.
However, across Europe, several countries have banned insurers from using genetic tests to decide premiums. Also, in 2005, a voluntary agreement to avoid using such tests by British insurance companies was extended until 2011.
Under this agreement, insurers can ask potential customers only about genetic testing results for Huntington's Disease. However, they can only ask for the information for policies that are worth more than £500,000 for life insurance, more than £300,000 for critical illness and more than £30,000 a year for payment protection.
But the association's genetics working party has indicated that it would like to bring about a change seeking permission to ask about two cancer genes and wants approval by the end of the year.
Approximately one in 850 women in Britain inherits a faulty BRCA1 gene. Those women will have a 14 to 18 per cent chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives.
Meanwhile insurers are not allowed to ask prospective policyholders if they have HIV, but they can ask them if they have exposed themselves to the risk of infection through unsafe sex or sharing needles.
An alliance of 45 leading charities, unions, scientists and lawyers have called on the Government to ban this genetic discrimination.
A study carried out by the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer found 28 per cent of women with a family history of breast cancer said the would be deterred from having a genetic test if insurers had access to the results.
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Obesity is becoming a real problem in the UK. In the past twenty years the number of overweight adults has snowballed and latest figures estimate that more than half of the population of UK women are classed as overweight or obese. It's even worse for men, with six out of ten coming into the "tubby or worse" classification.
Unfortunately things don't look so good for the future, either. A survey of children ranging in age from two year old toddlers to the mid-teenagers reveals that more than one in five boys and in excess of one in four girls are in the overweight range.
Life insurance companies are aware of the health risks connected with the obesity problems. When working out quotations for life insurance it's common practice for them to charge up to four times the standard (ideal weight) premium. The bad news for the overweight population is that the limits are steadily being lowered.
The result of these altered requirements will put many people who are only slightly overweight into the higher premium bracket and for the extremely obese the news is really bad. They could even be refused life insurance altogether.
When filling in your life insurance application form, you'll be asked to state your height and weight. A new little box may have been added under the "weight" part - you may be asked what date you were last weighed. This is to counteract the amnesia caused by overweight - it is easy to knock off a few pounds (or more) here and there and when did you last weight yourself? From this height and weight information, the insurers will be able to work out your BMI, or body mass index. Should your BMI be higher than the normal limits you could be asked to have a medical check-up. If the news is bad and your weight be way over the normal you could find your premium raised by up to 400%. Even being slightly heavier than normal could increase your monthly premium by 50%.
You may decide to check your own BMI. You can do this in four simple steps.
1. Multiply your weight in pounds by 703.
2. Divide the result by your height in inches.
3. Divide this second result by your height in inches (again).
4. And the answer is your BMI
Normally, insurance companies would prefer to you to be in the 18.5 to 24.9 range of BMI to be considered normal. Over 25 and you're overweight and over 30 qualifies you as obese. Over 35 and medical research shows that your life expectancy would be in question.
Another of the criteria affecting the price of your premium relates to your age. The younger you are the higher will be the increase in premium. This shows an acceptance of the fact that people tend to weigh rather more as they age.
It's never too late to lose weight though. Whatever your age. The increase in health and vitality will be its own reward. There are lots of slimming club and health clubs and your GP should be able to give you advice and support if you show you really mean to take this important step.
Don't let the above facts stop you from going ahead and arranging some valuable life insurance. As the weight comes off you should be able to negotiate a reduction in premium.
Your insurers will be happier, too.
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