The first insurance contract signed by parties was in Genoa in 1347 where individuals as well as groups opted for insurance and specified the amount of risk they were willing to take.

Guild coverage is said to have been in existence during the dark and middle ages when apprentices worked under their masters for little or no pay. Once they became masters, they paid a fixed amount to the guild and trained their own workers. This payment provided a kind of insurance cover and masters if they were robbed or suffered loss due to theft or fire would be supported until they were back on their feet. The same cover applied to deaths too with the families of the masters being take care of and supported.

The concept of underwriting emerged in 1600 in the UK in some London coffeehouses. These cafes worked as unofficial stock exchange where merchants, ship owners and others in need of insurance would meet. The most popular meeting place of those times was that of Edward Lloyd, who was later known as Lloyd’s of London. Voyages were secured by venture capitalists, with people writing their name and the amount they wish to take responsibility for on the paper. Thus a trader’s goods were insured for by different risk takers.

Untoward incidents such as fires and epidemics resulted in underwriters forming companies that offered fire insurance. The need of proper insurance was realized after the great fire of London in 1666. Blaise Pascal, a Frenchman and Pierre de Fermat found a way to express probabilities and understand magnitude of risk. Pascal’s triangle helped to make the first actuary tables which are even today used to calculate insurance rates.

Underwriting and insurance became kind of systematic and also affordable to all the parties around this time. The year 1693 is quite important as the first mortality table was created with the help of Pascal’s triangle and very soon life insurance too was offered by companies.

Insurance business picked up in the mid-1700 and the first American insurance company was founded in the British colony of Charleston, SC. The first fire insurance companies were formed in New York and Philadelphia.

Most of the injuries and deaths are the direct result of incompetence, but even the most careful worker can be a victim. Even your customers and members of the public may be injured whilst visiting a site.

If you own a small building business or you employ building workers on large scale, you will need to have the right kind of builder’s insurance in place. The kind of cover you require will depend on the kind of business you are in. If you are a self-employed builder operating as a sole trader without any employees, then you will need to have public liability insurance. If you have employees, then you will also need employer’s insurance as required by law. It is also important to ensure that you have adequate levels of insurance cover. Typical public liability cover is for £2 million and employer’s liability is £10 million, though other figures might apply depending on the nature of your business.

Good business insurance will cover you for all legal costs and any awards that the courts make against you. Where compensation is paid for an injury, the NHS and ambulance service are likely to also sue you for the costs of any ambulances and hospital care, so you should ensure that this is included in the cover.

Theft is a frequent occurrence at building sites and tools and building materials are the major targets. It is important that your builder’s insurance covers you for such losses too.

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People who think about their comfort, especially when old age comes, usually think about long-term care insurance. This is a type of insurance that will help cover healthcare expenses, or a nursing home that takes care of elderly people and provides the comfort that they need.

In the past, long-term care (LTC) insurance was basically the same as Medicare, and it did not provide any necessary skilled care. This old LTC insurance often did not cover expenses except if the care was given in a nursing home.

An improvement of this long-term care insurance has been expanded coverage. This improved insurance also eliminated the need for a 3-day/3-night hospital stay, and then added several discounts (like family discount, spousal discount, etc.). This improved LTC insurance now covered: nursing home care, assisted living care (also known as continuing care), adult day care, home modification, at-home care, group home care (also known as Alzheimer’s care), and respite care.

In planning for long-term care, one should take note that usually, Medicare has LTC coverage for people who are older than 65 years old (only those with Medicare). However, only 5% to 8% of nursing homes in the country are paid for by Medicare.

Unlike Medicare, long-term care insurance does not have limitations as to the type of care or rate given to the elderly patient. This type of insurance bases its coverage on the premiums that the policyholder can afford. An elderly person can just go to a healthcare facility that the LTC insurance covers, without having to give away your assets just so you will be able to pay for the care you are given.

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A life insurance policy is one of the wisest investments a person can make. He can get one for estate planning, or you can get one to give assistance to your family in case you die. However, it has been reported that millions of dollars worth of life insurance is unclaimed every year.

The main reason for unclaimed life insurance policies is the beneficiaries not being aware that their loved ones have life insurance. The money that could have been used to pay off outstanding bills or other financial responsibilities is left in the hands of the insurance company, unclaimed. Eventually, this money goes to the state’s Unclaimed Property division. The division will then try to locate the beneficiaries or policyholder by posting in the newspapers or on the web.

Despite the existence of the Internet, many insurance companies still are unable to find the beneficiaries of a policyholder. There have been instances when the policyholder cannot be located by the insurance company, making it impossible for the cash benefit to be given.

Although the division for Unclaimed Properties makes the effort to announce unclaimed insurance payouts to the public, this is still not enough. There is the possibility that the beneficiaries learn about the money years after the policyholder’s death. If after the advertisement, no beneficiary or policyholder calls about the unclaimed insurance, the state or the insurance company will be the ones to profit from the money.

In order to avoid being one of those who are unable to claim their insurance policy, be sure to inform your beneficiaries about it and be sure to supply the insurance company with all the information that they can use in order to locate you and your loved ones/beneficiaries.

If this were take place then it could cripple the company not just because of the legal costs but also with regards to the damage that a loss of reputation could cause.

However, one way of mitigating the crippling costs of being sued is by taking out professional indemnity (PI) insurance. This protects businesses financially in the event of being sued for a professional error, omissions or even professional negligence.

So what firms should take out professional indemnity insurance?

For some professions such as solicitors, financial advisers, accountants, mortgage advisors, architects and insurance brokers it is actually a regulatory requirement to have professional indemnity insurance.

However, that doesn’t mean that it is not useful for other companies to have professional indemnity insurance. PI is designed to cover people who sell their knowledge or skills. Therefore, it is a useful product for a number of businesses including estate agents, PR firms and consultants.

By taking out professional indemnity insurance it means that while a business strives to do its best if the worst was to happen and you are sued by your client the costs of legal fees and compensation are covered. Because, if you were to be sued could you absorb the costs in the business? With professional indemnity insurance you don’t have to worry as you will be covered should the worst happen.

What’s more by having professional indemnity insurance in place it proves to your clients that you are trustworthy. It can also help secure new clients who may insist that you have indemnity insurance in place before starting to do business with you.

If you want professional indemnity insurance then go to Markel Direct Insurance to find the best deal for you.

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Granted, a life insurance policy can be expensive and can put a strain on your budget. However nowadays, a life insurance policy has become almost a necessity with the constantly increasing prices of everything and an economy that could become unstable at any time.

To lessen the burden that an insurance policy might put on you, you could strategize how you can maintain a life insurance policy. One strategy could be to apply first for term life insurance. There is certainly nothing wrong with permanent life insurance, just that it is more expensive than term, and you are going for the least expensive options as much as possible.

Before getting term life insurance, you have to first analyze how much life insurance you might need. Once you have ascertained this, you can proceed to deciding on the term of the life insurance policy that you want to get, for instance, you can start with 20-year term insurance. As the years pass, you can then progress and convert your policy to something that is more permanent, like a universal life insurance policy. This kind of policy gives you the benefit of flexibility when it comes to premium payment. It can also give you the flexibility of choosing the amount of death benefit that your beneficiaries will be getting.

When getting a life insurance policy, it is always best to take time in examining every available life insurance policy there is. In that way, you will know which options best fit your needs and your family

Students often share accommodation, sometimes on a large scale in halls of residence, or, in a shared house. The flow of people passing through their everyday lives is endless. Loss, accidental damage and theft are commonplace so contents insurance tailored for students is vital.

The laptop and the mobile phone are our portholes to the world. They organise our lives and in recent years we have become nearly dependent on our access to them. Existing without a laptop or a mobile is a bleak prospect for the modern student. The best Student Insurance policies provide a 24 hour mobile phone and laptop replacement service covering theft, loss and accidental damage.

Some student accommodation providers may offer some form of cover but it often won’t be too comprehensive. If you want to protect against theft or loss you really need your own tailored package.

Other benefits can include bicycle cover – a bicycle being a necessity in cities like Cambridge and Oxford. With transport costs soaring and inner city life becoming more and more averse to car usage, the bike is many a student’s preferred mode of transport.

Being a student often comes with a newfound sense of freedom and it would be a shame for the experience to be tarnished by loss, theft or damage to your goods.

One company offering very good holiday home insurance policies is Endsleigh – found at the web address endsleigh.co.uk. Via their holiday homes brokers Woodstock, they offer policies that are tailored to the specific requirements of those owning holiday properties. The holiday home insurance offered by the company covers homes in the UK and Europe as well as for commercial and private holiday properties. They are also able to offer specialist advice to ensure that you choose the correct level of coverage to suit your needs and competitive premium levels. A quote can be secured online or via a 24-hour telephone service.

There are a number of other companies offering holiday home insurance coverage, including Schofields (schofields.ltd.uk ) and Towergate Insurance (towergateinsurance.co.uk) and there is little difference in much of the coverage provided by these companies. With these companies it is also possible to secure a quote on a policy online or via a telephone service, available 24 hours a day. However Schofields offers particularly good coverage in terms of UK holiday properties, which can be more difficult to secure comprehensive protection for, due to the greater risk of problems such as frozen and burst water pipes in the UK climate.

Ideally, with so many insurance providers offering holiday home insurance, you should check comparison sites as well as contacting a number of companies, before deciding on a policy, in order to ensure that you do not settle for something less than ideal.

Towergate offers specialised business insurance policies for certain industries, such as marine trades, shops, doctors, pubs, restaurants and landlords. Despite this variety, there are some certain types of coverage that are basic to all types of businesses. For instance, liability coverage is offered to all kinds of businesses and is highly recommended to obtain. This insurance protects you against different types of liability that could threaten the viability of your business.

Liability Insurance from Towergate is actually comprised of various components. These would include public liability, which is protection for third party liability. Products liability protects you if your product is substandard and causes harm to others. Professional indemnity is a type of liability insurance that protects you if your professional advice causes any errors which could cause loss or injury. A fourth kind of liability insurance is libel and slander. If you are a writer, this protects you from any liability claims that may arise due to your work. Employers™ liability is another sort of liability insurance, this protects a business if an employee is injured on the job. This kind of coverage is a legal requirement if you employ others.

With such a wide array of liability coverage for businesses, it can be perplexing to determine which kinds of liability insurance you need. Towergate has made it easy to determine this simply from their website. By providing site users with four key questions that are answered simply yes or no, the tool will then provide you with a recommendation based on your answers to these questions. Additionally, Towergate makes it easy to contact them via email or phone which can provide you with any manner in which to obtain this important information.

Photo credits to helpfortheuninsured.net

People who want to apply for life insurance should not forget to check if the policy offers long-term coverage. There are insurance policies that offer finite coverage, and these policies will prove to be less expensive. However, if you are looking for an insurance policy that is more permanent, the best option would be to go for one that has long term, or lifetime, coverage.

Check if your insurance policy offers variable coverage. This could include coverage for health aids, day care providers for adults and facilities for assisted living. Also, if you are already sure that you want to get lifetime insurance, choose one that has inflation protection.

If possible, choose a long-term insurance policy that will give you at least seventy percent of your daily benefits. This will be especially helpful if situations arise where you will be needing care services. Another important thing to consider when choosing long-term insurance is having the benefit of allowing you to get the services of a third-party licensed health care practitioner. In most cases, a third-party health care provider would be a better option than settling for one that is provided by the insurance company, especially if what you have is a long-term coverage.

These are just a few recommendations of what to look for when purchasing an insurance policy, especially a long-term one. There is no question that a long-term insurance policy will be much more expensive as compared to one that has limited, or finite, coverage. It is only fair that you get the most of what you are paying for.