Protect Your Belongings With House Contents Insurance

House contents insurance is something every homeowner should have. This is an insurance policy that can be taken out to insure the items you have built up over the years in your home in case they should be destroyed, damaged or stolen. In general anything that you could pick up and take with you would be covered in this type of policy but you do have to check the terms and conditions as the exclusions will vary from provider to provider.

One of the best ways to check out several policies for the best deal and the lowest cost is with a specialist broker. They will search online for the lowest priced policies and then you are able to compare them. All policies should come with the key facts and the information needed to be able to determine what is and is not included in a policy.

The premium you will pay for the insurance will be worked out by how much in total your home contents are worth. If you under insure when setting this figure you would lose out in the eventuality that all your contents were destroyed, say in a fire. However if you over insure then you will be paying out more than you need to for your policy as this figure is taken into account when setting the premium.

To work out how much your contents are worth you need to go around your home and add everything up. It can be surprising when you start totaling all the little things up how much this comes to. You should not forget to count such items as those in the kitchen cupboards such as cutlery, utensils e.t.c and also the contents of the wardrobe, all of these items count and add up. Of course items such as TV, computer and games machines should be covered, but sometime a policy might state that these are only covered up to a certain amount. Home office equipment if you work from home will not usually be covered. Always check for this in the terms and conditions of the cover before taking it on and if you are insure about whether something would be included in the policy then ask.

When taking out house contents insurance you need to know what cover you are taking, you can generally choose to insure against wear and tear or take a new for old policy. A new for old policy means that you would get the value of what the items are today if you should have to replace them, not what they were worth. Whereas wear and tear would take depreciation into account.

If you have valuables in your home such as expensive jewelery, collections or paintings then you will probably have to insure these under a separate policy. Any items over a certain amount of money are generally excluded from a general house contents insurance policy unless you have specifically told the insurance company about them. The majority of policies will payout due to fire, theft, flood damage or vandalism but again always check the small print to ensure that the policy you are considering does.

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How to Protect Yourself From Laptop Theft

For most people owning a laptop is all about convenience. Being able to sit where your want to work, wander around from office to office, sit in front of the television or even browse the web in bed are the reasons why laptops have become so popular.

It has also become much more than a work tool. For many people it is the place where you keep all the things that are important to you: your email and financial information, business secrets, personal writings, even irreplaceable media like photos, film, and writings.

So if your laptop were stolen from you tomorrow, what would it do to your life?

Even worse, if a laptop belonging to your business were stolen that contained the personal data of customers or clients, it could put all of them at risk of identity theft and you could be held liable.

This crime draws both the common thief and the more sophisticated identity thief alike, and it's on the rise in England. Last year, a laptop belonging to the Nationwide and containing the personal information of over 11 million customers was stolen and never recovered. In London, laptop theft is up 15% on last year, with over 6500 laptops stolen in 2006 (not including laptops stolen out of homes and offices). Other metropolitan areas in Britain have similar statistics: over 2000 in Edinburgh with a 31% increase, and a 15% increase in Manchester.

Having a laptop stolen is personal nightmare if it is your own machine, but so much worse if you lose information that compromises your friends, co-workers, and clients. At Marks & Spencer's, a laptop lost in 2007 contained sensitive data about 26,000 employees, including their national insurance numbers and other personal identifying information. That cost Marks & Spencer's free credit checks for all employees and a promise to cover them for any damages if their identities were compromised. In the Nationwide case above, the company was fined just under a million pounds.

And even if you get the laptop back, even if the laptop was only "borrowed" its data can be copied off in minutes, putting any data on it at risk even after the machine is returned.

Two simple steps protect yourself against losing your personal computer?

The First Step: Protect Yourself

Laptops are at risk due to the very portability that makes them useful. It takes only seconds for someone to carry off your unguarded laptop, along with all its precious contents. The first thing to do is not leave it unprotected, even for a minute; keep it in sight. Get good security on your wireless connections while you're at it, and carefully choose the places where you use that connection.

You can also get physical barriers against using a stolen laptop. For instance, biometrics including fingerprint scanners has become increasingly popular with laptops, and key cards that you keep in your wallet or luggage separate from the laptop can been used to secure it. Computers with hard drives mated to internal workings prevent your hard drive from being removed and copied. And if your laptop is used to access the Internet after it is stolen, there are subscription services that can trace it remotely and render it unusable whilst it connects to the web.

The Second Step: Consider Laptop Insurance

Laptop insurance is becoming one of the fastest growing specialist insurances. With low-cost monthly premiums having some form of insurance policy could be the one thing between you and financial ruin. Laptop insurance is cheap, and if you have used other protections for your laptop, it gets even cheaper. Many providers offer worldwide cover, accidental damage protection and a 48 hour replacement service.

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Insurance Land Surveyor

Land is considered as one of the priceless possessions that you can have in this earth. Ever since, land has this concept of being sacred and beyond the control of those who do not own it. While land before were free for use of the inhabitants, the population has tremendously increased such that most the lands now for public disposal are either occupied or titled. People who possess ownership over a parcel of land either by occupation or by clean title would like to protect the same from any person who would attempt to dispossess them of the property. Those were the times when the land insurance was not yet contemplated. Those were also the days when the insurance land surveyor was not yet born.

Often times, land claims and disputes arise and some of these have been at the price of one's life. This is how people are willing to risk their life for a piece of land. Traditionally, local folks have their council of elders and their local laws to settle whatever land claims and disputes are through physical strength. Nowadays, there is not much need for that since there is an insurance land surveyor around who can help you determine the exact measurements of your land including the boundaries through state-of-the-art technology.

A land surveyor is somebody who is involved with land by measuring the field, reading old cadastral records and making data analysis. He will set the property's boundaries. Construction layouts that need precise measurements of the land, its elevation, and volume will need the work of a good land surveyor. Land surveyors are out in the field most of the day along with construction crew and other equipments. Land surveyors get insurance land surveyor for their jobs.

Surveyors opt to have insurance because they are personally held liable incase they make errors in their jobs. If they declared boundaries on the particular piece of land, but they unknowingly expanded the boundary, they are liable for the aggrieved party. These aggrieved parties have a right to sue the surveyor because their property rights have been violated. Surveyors will come face to face with a very costly lawsuit. Insurance companies offer insurance land surveyor that kind of insurance. While they offer land survey firms business insurance. This usually includes professional liability for errors, worker's compensation and commercial auto.

For surveyors working under firms, check your company policy. Did they insure their employees? Just because the company got an insurance that includes professional liability for errors, don't be so sure that you are off the hook. There might be lapses and the company can actually change the insurance policy because the rate fluctuated to a higher one or forget to pay it. While the company has a new insurance land surveyor policy, the land surveyor still remains with the possibility of lawsuits.

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Get Insured to Cycle Your Way to Savings

Bicycles have emerged as an alternative to motoring with fuel prices rising steeply across the country. However, if you choose to take to the saddle rather than sit behind the wheel of a car you should ensure you have suitable home insurance in place.

Choosing a bike instead of a car can save a significant amount of cash - no petrol to pay for, no road tax, no congestion charges and no car insurance. However, bicycle thefts have been on the rise with one insurer reporting a bicycle is stolen in the UK once every 65 seconds, which makes insurance vital.

There are several options for cyclists to consider. Firstly they can take out cover for the bike itself as a stand-alone policy or alternatively, they can take out third-party or personal accident cover. It is possible to take out bike insurance and this could be useful if your bicycle is particularly valuable as it may have unique cover options such as replacement hire, emergency recovery and even worldwide use if you plan to take your bike abroad.

However, for the majority of cyclists, adding a bicycle to a home insurance policy will be sufficient. Some offer specific cycle cover within their policies, while others allow bicycles to be included as an item under a standard contents policy. You should check to see exactly where your bike is covered - for example is it covered at home, in outbuildings, and will it also be covered in public places?

It's worth checking the level of cover before you buy - also pay attention to your excess so it's at a suitable level to make a claim worthwhile.

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Comic Book Insurance - Should I Insure My Comic Book Collection?

If you are a comic collector and have a substantial amount of money invested in a few select comics, then insurance is a necessity....especially if these comics are rare, hard-to-find or top-of-the-line Golden Age or Silver Age vintage comics. On the other hand, if your own several hundred or thousand comics that are worth only $l-$3 each, it may not be very practical or cost-effective to insure them.

It is possible to get insurance to cover your comic book collection loss, theft or damage. In the worst case scenario, the amount that insurance companies will pay is typically limited to just 10% of the total cover or $10,000. If you do have an extensive collection, you may have several comics and they're worth this much money, so it would be in your best interest to take out insurance on the collection.

Most insurance companies will want some sort of inventory list or record of your collection, along with an estimated worth of the comics. If you've already written up a list for your collection, with the books' conditions and prices listed, then it's an easy step to getting them insured.

If you already have a homeowner's insurance policy, your collection may be covered automatically. Still, to substantiate any claims, you're going to have to have some sort of record of the comics you own. since collectors generally buy and sell comics continuously, its' hard to keep and complete and current inventory.

For these reasons, large collections of low-value books may be more trouble to insure than they are worth.

On the other hand, if you own several comics that are worth $l00 or more, insurance against theft and damage may ease your mind. One other alternative to the insurance problem for the very expensive comics is simple to rent a bank safety-deposit box. You can store from l0 to 50 comics or more depending on the size of the box, and you know that your irreplaceable books are well protected.

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Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs - What Will Your Insurance Policy Pay When You Break a CFL Bulb?

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL)...Everybody's singing the praises of this new technology. And for good reason...they save tons of electricity.

But what happens if one breaks inside your house or business?

My opinion is that most people will simply sweep up the mess and not give it much thought. But there is a BIG, dangerous component in a bulb called Mercury, and mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man.

If you break a CFL bulb, you'll likely find that the proper cleanup could be very costly. And you'll likely find that there is NO COVERAGE in your property insurance policy. Most policies have environmental cleanup exclusions. Even if your home is damaged by a tornado, hurricane or fire, the broken bulbs could cause you to incur thousands of dollars in environmental cleanup costs that your insurance policy will EXCLUDE.

Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:(1)

1. Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

* Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.

* Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.

* Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

* Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.

* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.

* Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.

* Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:

* Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.

* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.

* If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.

* Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:

* If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.

* You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.

* If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.

5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials

* Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.

* Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.

* Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming

* The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.

* Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

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