We're All Going On A Winter Holiday - Published:07/12/07
For adventurers and novices alike, winter is the perfect time to get away and enjoy the snow But whether it is a customary ski holiday or a more specialised winter sport that tickles your fancy, it's vital to take out the right travel insurance before you creep off to the slopesRecent investigate by esure found that one in four Brits ski without journey insurance, with a similar number (27%) falsely believing that all travel insurance policies wrap ski holidays as standardAnd even though one in seven of us end up seeking medical mind during our skiing holiday, a quarter of Brits will take to the pistes with no journey insurance at allThe first step is to make sure you have a European Health cover Card (EHIC) This entitles you to free or subsidised medical costs in any European financial Area (EEA) state or SwitzerlandYou can apply online, over the telephone (0845 606 2030) or at the Post place of work However, the EHIC only covers basic medical expenses, and won't pay for extras such as repatriation costs or an air ambulance With repatriation costs ranging from around £4,000 in Europe to £35,000 in places similar to America, it's always wise to take out private medical insurance to wrap you where the EHIC won'tHowever, in some cases, even when you think you are covered through an existing travel insurance policy (such as the wrap included with your store account or your annual policy), when it comes to winter sports education, there are a whole new variety of factors you must considerTedious as it may be, you must also create sure you read the small print, as there are often restrictions for activities such as off-piste skiing Check with your insurer before booking activities such as para-skiing, ski-jumping and bobsleighing, as well as whether your ski equipment together owned and hired) is insured for loss or damageSome insurers are willing to wrap you for extreme winter sports behavior if you pay an additional premium, but this will excludes cover for personal mishap or personal liability So you will be covered for minor accidents (such as contravention an arm) or typical festival mishaps (such as festival cancellation or losing your skis), but if you expire or incur a serious injury (such as loss of a member or damage someone else while participating in these winter sports, you will not be insured For this reason, it is vital that you check with your insurer what exactly you are covered forAlso check if you're covered for rejection snow' conditions or piste end With last year's winter season producing very little snow for near the beginning skiers, many were left unable to ski due to slopes being too grassy Researching recompense limits for scenarios such as these is well value the timeReally avid Fools should check out igluskicom which provides snowstorm level reports that will give you an idea of whether you may require extra cover or not Snow depths of less than 20 cm should put the alarm bells ringingFinally, make sure you take your cover documents with you -- and in the event of an accident, contact your insurer right away When making a maintain, it's important you keep all your receipts as evidence Having these particulars with you is particularly crucial when taking part in senior risk activities© Copyright 1998-2007, The Motley trick Limited All rights reserved This material is for personal use onlyput of Reg: England & Wales Company Reg No: 3736872 VAT Reg No: 735 7818 01 Registered.
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How To Buy Home Insurance - Published:30/11/07
It was a break off pan fire, three days before Christmas, and it put the entire kitchen alight As the entire family waited outside for the fire engine to arrive, surveillance the flames defeat up the walls, my mother suddenly almost involuntarily made a move to run back into the burning building "My house My house is on fire down" she wept as we detained her backImagine all your worldly possessions all of them being destroyed before your eyes and you might be able to get a sense of how my mother felt at that instantLuckily, the fire engine arrived quickly and no one was harm The entire kitchen had been destroyed, however, and burn had blacked out every single wallUntil this point, I had never seen the need for or the value of -- house insurance, in action, so to speak And since then, I have naturally been a big fanIt seems to me that, if you care about your home and your belongings (and who doesn't), house insurance will provide you with peace of mind, if nothing else And that is well worth a few hundred pounds a yearBut how do you distinguish a good house insurance policy from a bad one And how do you keep the costs of your premiums down Here are my eight top tips:1 Unlimited cover Some insurers will ask you to approximation the value of all your belongings and the cost of rebuilding your property If you undervalue this figure (which, after all, is very difficult to work out, the insurer will then refuse to disburse out the full cost of replacing any items/rebuilding the property if you make a maintain So look for a good policy that offers unlimited wrap, given as standard by insurers such as Abbey or Halifax This ensures the price of replacing your house or possessions is guaranteed to be paid out in full (although, on the contents insurance rule, there is probable to be a £1,500 limit on individual items)2 Emergency repairs cover Some insurers provide house emergency repairs cover This will disburse for the cost of fixing your tank in an emergency, for example (however, it is possible to buy this cover unconnectedly from companies such as Homecall+)3 Christmas wrap increase You won't feel much like celebrating this Christmas if all your aid were stolen and your insurer refused to replace them So if you put on't choose a policy with unlimited cover, make certain you go with an insurer that will automatically increase your height of cover over the cyclic holidays4 No claims discount If you have a no claims history, look for an insurer that will present you a no claims discount1 Make your possessions safer According to Tesco Personal Finance, fitting a thief alarm will reduce your premium by around 75%, connecting the alarm up to the law enforcement network will shave off a further 5% and appropriate your windows and doors with high quality locks will also slash your premiums by approximately 5%2 Purchase both buildings and contents cover from the same provider Insurers such as Halifax and Esurecom will discount your premium if you take out both cover types from them Also, look out for discounts for holding several policies with the same insurer intended for example, Halifax will give you a discount if you take out travel insurance as well as house insurance)3 Opt for a higher voluntary excess This will decrease your yearly premiums, but do bear in mind however that you will have to pay out more should you have to make a claim4 Purchase your policy on the internet Providers often reduction their internet quotations as there are less managerial costs through this channelAs for me, in case you were wondering, my story does have a happy ending My priest -- a great believer in insuring everything -- had in use out both buildings and contents cover, and the insurer covered the costs of putting everything back the way it wasSo it all worked out fine for them in the finish, although, thank goodness, Mum didn't bother to replace the chip pot She bought a fire coverlet and a fire extinguisher instead© Copyright 1998-2007, The Motley Fool incomplete All rights reserved This material is for personal use onlyput of Reg: England & Wales corporation Reg No: 3736872 VAT Reg No: 735 7818 01.
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Half-term holidaymakers urged to seek travel insurance - Published:25/10/06
Families going on vacation this half-term have been urged to take out journey insurance and maintain vigilance before they make their journey abroadHolidaymakers have been advised to make sure they take their policy details and their contact information with them in case they sprint into emergencies while awayEsure, which provides home cover, pet cover and personal loans in addition to journey insurance, states that people can take their insurance with them via a novel 'pol-cast' facilityThis is an mp3 recording of useful phone numbers, featuring a text of the company's travel insurance rule, which can be downloaded to an mp3 playerJacky chocolate, head of travel insurance at esure, commented: "Making insurance fully mobile by putting contact particulars and policy summaries onto small mp3 files also income that holidaymakers never need be without important insurance information when they require it most – if their youngster has an accident by the pool or perhaps during a long flight hold-up"The news follows reports that the mainstream of Britons are wasting money by taking out single journey insurance as opposed to annual journey insuranceResearch from Swiftcover suggested that 55 per cent of Britons go abroad more than once a year but miss out on.
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