by: George McGonigal
Once the insurance salesman visited you, then you visited his office.
Now you pick up your phone or click your mouse. Does the Internet herald the end of the high street insurance broker in Britain? When I was a lad, some 25 years ago, the Insurance Company called to your door every month to collect your life insurance premium. My recollection is of a drab suited man having to run the gauntlet of neighbourhood dogs rather like the postman.
Then through the eighties more and more people found their wages being deposited directly into hastily set up bank accounts; this led to the standing order for paying all sorts of regular bills including insurances and heralded the demise of the door to door representative. An economy quickly realised by big insurance companies in the UK.
Then during the nineties big firms latched on to the idea of ?direct? which is a handy abbreviation for cutting out the middle man. Just watch tv or listen to the radio toady and you are sure to observe this direct and that direct. The purpose of this in the world of insurance is to cut out the traditional high street broker and the percentage paid to them wherever possible.
The advent of the Internet and its increasing usage in most homes up and down Britain has accelerated the ?direct? phenomenon. The big boys have quickly realised that websites are cheap to build and in addition there is a small army of privately owned websites on the World Wild Web that are more than happy to promote their insurance products for a commission ? this commission usually being a lot less than a typical shop front broker is currently paid.
This all sounds very good???for the PLC that is. From the consumer?s point of view the casualty in all this is usually the level and quality of service. It?s fine when you are arranging your policy on the phone or on the net and you can even have the privilege of paying there and then by credit card. What will the ?direct? experience be like when it comes to making ac claim? Just how ?direct? is a call-centre located in India? While you the consumer are no doubt seeing some of the savings by skipping the broker don?t think for one minute that all the savings are being passed on.
So in ten years time will the high street broker be a thing of the past?
About The Author
George McGonigal is webmaster of online insurance resourcs for UK motorists.
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5 Considerations To Computing Your Car Insurance Premiums
5 Considerations To Computing Your Car Insurance Premiums
by: Justin Koh
Have you ever wonder why car insurance costs vary from one car insurance company to the other? This is due to the different type of computation factors that car insurance companies use to derive the car insurance cost. Based on the answers that you replied to the car insurance company, they will add or discount the cost before arriving at a final price for your car insurance. Thus, it is important for you to shop around first before you commit yourself to a particular car insurance company as different companies take a different view of the various high risk factors. We will look at some of the factors that car insurance companies take into considerations.
1. Having a clean driving record.
Without a doubt, car insurance cost would increase if you have been convicted of a driving conviction. Thus, it pays to be a safe driver so that unnecessary costs won't be incurred.
2. Adding...
5 Considerations To Computing Your Car Insurance Premiums
Insurance > 5 Considerations To Computing Your Car Insurance Premiums
Making a Marine Insurance Claim
Making a Marine Insurance Claim
by: Patrick Altoft
Noble Marine encourages all clients to use the online claim form. This will significantly improve the speed of communicating with you, enabling authorisation of the repairs or replacement items to occur far more quickly.
To assist you in finding a local repairer, our web site also has a directory of suppliers and repairers which is fully searchable by postcode or region.
What information may be required?
Whenever an incident occurs and another boat is involved, take a note of the details of the other persons / boats involved. Also don't forget to obtain the details of any potential witnesses. This is not always easy whilst afloat, but note the name of the boat or the sail number and make contact once you are ashore. The information you might require would be:
The name and address of the person who was in charge of the other vessel.
Are they the owner of the boat? If...
Making a Marine Insurance Claim
Insurance > Making a Marine Insurance Claim
Insurance Glossary of Terms
Insurance Glossary of Terms
by: Darren Yates
Assured - Those insured under the terms of an insurance policy.
Benefit - The money paid to the policyholder when a claim is made.
Bid Price - The selling price or cash-in value of your unit holdings.
Bonus - Relates to a with-profits policy. The amount of money added to the benefit payable under the policy. The amount is dependent upon the profits made by the insurance company. Added bonuses cannot be taken away.
Convertible Term Assurance - A term insurance policy which gives you the option to convert your current policy to a whole-life or endowment insurance policy, without having to take further medical examinations.
Critical Illness Insurance - A policy that pays out a lump sum on the diagnosis of life threatening illnesses indicated in the terms of the plan.
Decreasing Term - A form of term life insurance where the death benefit decreases each year as per your policy....
Insurance Glossary of Terms
Insurance > Insurance Glossary of Terms
How to Find Affordable Health Insurance
How to Find Affordable Health Insurance
by: Dr. Deepak Dutta
Affordable health insurance - it seems, especially today, those words just don't belong together in the same sentence. Health insurance monthly premiums have become the biggest single expense in our lives - surpassing even mortgage payments. In fact, if you have any permanent health problems, such as diabetes, or have had cancer at one time in your family history, your monthly cost could easily be more than the house and car payment combined.
Shopping for affordable health insurance can certainly be an eye-opener. If you have always had a health insurance benefit where you work - especially a state or federal employee - and now have to buy your own, you may not be able to afford the level of health insurance coverage you have become used to.
Affordable health insurance, however, is definitely available -if you know how and where to look.
When you are looking for affordable...
How to Find Affordable Health Insurance
Insurance > How to Find Affordable Health Insurance
Buying Insurance
Buying Insurance
by: Jeff Lakie
Insurance is one of the most unpleasant purchases that we have to make - it takes its place amongst those few things we buy that we hope we will never actually have to use. Many people, in fact, use this hope to argue against purchasing insurance in the first place - and while the chances are that we might never need it, this is one of those times in life when it is better to be safe than sorry.
As the expense of daily life continually mount, it can be easier to see the non-immediate need for insurance as illusory. I'm not sick now, am I? My house is fine - it doesn't look like tornado weather out there today. That will never happen to me - I'm not wasting all my hard earned money protecting against something that might never happen! Those insurance companies don't need any more money.
Unfortunately, this confidence is misplaced, as even the most intellectual of scholars cannot predict which one of us...
Buying Insurance
Insurance > Buying Insurance
How To Change Auto Insurance Companies
How To Change Auto Insurance Companies
by: Matt McWilliams
Changing Auto Insurance Companies May be Easier Than you Think!
There are many reasons why you may choose to change your auto insurance coverage to another company. Perhaps you?ve found another company that offers you the same amount of coverage for considerably less money. You might have changed jobs and are eligible for a group discount through another insurer, or maybe you?re unhappy with the service that your present company provides. With the growth of the internet and quote comparison sites, investigating your options has never been easier!
Why change to a new Auto insurance carrier?
You need to regularly review your auto insurance coverage to make sure that you are receiving the best insurance value for your money. You will discover that it pays to shop around. In some states, premiums for identical policies vary widely among different auto insurance companies. The...
How To Change Auto Insurance Companies
Insurance > How To Change Auto Insurance Companies
Insurance Providers Weather The Storm While Consumers? Claims Flounder
Insurance Providers Weather The Storm While Consumers? Claims Flounder
by: Richard Green
We have just had the first year?s anniversary of the flash flooding which occurred at Boscastle in Cornwall.
The floods saw some of the worst damage wrought by sudden rainfall in the UK for many years.
The flood was caused by the remains of a hurricane which crossed the Atlantic, collecting vast amounts of water crossing, and was then pushed high above an area inland of the village depositing around 1,500m litres (330m gallons) of water within two hours.
At the time insurance companies were estimating the bill for commercial damage to local businesses, would be as high as ?15m.
There is perhaps some comfort for insurers in that it could have been worse. Hurricane Charley, which hit Florida around the same time, cost over an estimated ?6bn.
In August this year, just a week after Birmingham was battered by a tornado, residents...
Insurance Providers Weather The Storm While Consumers? Claims Flounder
Insurance > Insurance Providers Weather The Storm While Consumers? Claims Flounder
New York Scaffold Law Protects New York Construction Workers
New York Scaffold Law Protects New York Construction Workers
by: Angelo G. Faraci
There is a great deal of misinformation concerning the New York Scaffold Law. The Insurance and Business Community are wrong when they say that construction workers who are ?lax about wearing safety gear? and fall from a height and are injured can hold their employer liable under New York Labor Law Section 240, the ?scaffold law.? The Court of Appeals ruled definitively in /Cahill v. Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority/ that if a worker has been informed about and given safety equipment and fails to use it ?for no good reason,? the employer cannot be held liable under the scaffold law for any resulting injuries.
Indeed, under the scaffold law, if a worker is the sole cause for whatever reason of his or her injury, the owner or general contractor cannot be held liable. An owner or general contractor can be held liable for a worker?s injuries only if their failure...
New York Scaffold Law Protects New York Construction Workers
Insurance > New York Scaffold Law Protects New York Construction Workers
Insurance jeans Online Insurance: The End of the High Street Broker?
The Venus Flower Basket - Symbol of Love
The Venus Flower Basket - Symbol of Love
by: John Edwards
One of the most beautiful of all the creatures that live in the oceans is the rare and very seldom seen Venus flower basket. It only grows on the ocean floor at depths of three thousand to five thousand feet, in the warm tropical waters of the South Pacific, mostly around the Philippines and Japan.
This creature is actually a sponge; however it does not look anything like the sponges you use for...
Insurance The Venus Flower Basket - Symbol of Love
Insurance > The Venus Flower Basket - Symbol of Love
Insurance
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