All about Insurance Around the World

One of the functions of government is to address citizens’ needs that are not being met by the private, for-profit sector. Nowhere is this more evident than the insurance industry. Insurers as a whole do a pretty good job of meeting the needs of most people with car, home, life, disability, health, and long-term-care insurance. But insurers seeking and entitled to a small profit don’t have the means to provide insurance to people who either can’t afford insurance or who can’t qualify.

The FDIC: Insurance on

Your Bank Deposits
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects against loss of deposits in any FDIC-insured bank or savings association — in other words, if you have money in a bank and that bank goes under, you’re protected.

The insurance covers both regular and IRA funds in checking, savings, CDs
and money-market accounts. The FDIC does not cover other financial products (like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance annuities). The FDIC insures accounts up to $250,000 per owner; $500,000 for joint accounts.

Insurance on Insurance:

State Guaranty Funds
Most states have a guaranty fund to protect you if an insurance company fails and you lose your insurance coverage at the time of a claim. In order to pay claims after an insurer is declared insolvent, the fund assesses the other insurance companies doing business in the state. In other words, the other insurance companies have to pay to cover the claims of the company that failed.


To find out more about your particular state’s guaranty fund, go to www.ncigf.org/public-guarantyfunds.asp and look up your state’s contact information. Most states have two guaranty funds — one for propertycasualty companies and the other for life and health companies.

COBRA: For When You Lose Your

Group Medical Insurance
There are many reasons why you may be losing your group medical insurance coverage: You or your spouse may be quitting your job, you or your spouse may be retiring, you may be divorcing your spouse under whose insurance you were covered.

Regardless of the reason that you’re losing your group medical insurance, employers with 20 or more employees are required by federal COBRA law to offer you the right to continue the group coverage at your expense for up to 18 months (29 months if you’re disabled, 36 months if you’re retiring or if you’re a child forced to come off a parent’s policy).

HIPAA: For When COBRA Ends

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created to give people who are losing their group coverage and who have preexisting medical conditions the right to continued health coverage without preexisting-condition exclusions applying to their replacement policy. The intent ofthe law is to prevent “job lock,” where an employee is stuck in a dead-end job in order to keep the health coverage, because he or a family member has a preexisting medical condition (defined by HIPAA as any condition treated by doctors or medication in the last six months).

HIPAA makes it possible for an employee leave a job and take a new job with group medical coverage, with
the assurance that the health issues of everyone in the family are immediately covered under the new group policy. HIPAA also makes it possible for an individual to leave the group policy and buy a private policy without preexisting-condition limitations or having to qualify medically, providing that your COBRA option, if any, has been exercised and the time frame exhausted (in other words, you’ve stuck with COBRA as long as it was available to you).

Social Security Long-Term Disability

When you think Social Security, you probably think retirement program. You may think survivor benefits for children. But few people realize that Social Security also includes disability benefits that start after 5 months of total disability if that disability is expected to last 12 months or more or result in death. Benefits are payable to your normal retirement age.

If you’ve been paying into the Social Security system, every year you get a statement of estimated benefits. That statement includes your estimated retirement benefits, as well as your estimated long-term disability benefits.

State Health Insurance Pools

Whenever you apply for an individual health policy, there are four possible outcomes:
✓ Your application is approved.
✓ Your application is denied.
✓ Your application is approved at higher rates because of preexisting conditions (such as diabetes).
✓ Your application is approved, but an exclusionary rider is attached to the policy excluding coverage for a preexisting condition (such as a bad back, bad knees, and so on).

Many states have created health insurance pools that ensure people with preexisting health conditions who can’t get health insurance or can’t get it without surcharged pricing or exclusionary riders.

National Flood Insurance

Homeowner’s policies have always excluded coverage for any kind of ground or below-ground water entering the house. So, the national flood insurance program was created years ago to address this risk.

Most people think that flood insurance is only needed if you live near a river or other body of water. But, according to the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), which oversees the national flood insurance program, about one-third of all flood losses occur to homes nowhere near any body of water.

Why? Because flooding from torrential rains can overwhelm an area with water. Few people realize that the flood policy covers that type of loss (in addition to loss from flooded rivers or other bodies of water). If your home is not in a high-risk flood area, you can buy a flood policy for a little more than $100 a year.

Medicaid

Backed by the federal government and administered by the states, Medicaid is a health insurance program that provides medical assistance to those in need — people at or near poverty levels. Medicaid also provides long-term care for those with little or no assets. It is of particular interest to middleclass Americans who need long-term care but don’t have insurance coverage for that. In that case, they end up spending down all their assets to near poverty levels, at which point Medicaid will pick up the costs of any ongoing
care for the rest of their lives. The tragedy is that, by spending down all your assets, little (if anything) is left for your surviving spouse or children.

Medicare

Otherwise known as national health insurance for seniors, Medicare provides a base level of hospital and medical benefits. In 2003, optional prescription drug coverage (known as Part D) was added. Medicare is funded by a combination of premium payments from seniors and payroll taxes from nonseniors.

In addition to the three parts of Medicare — Part A (hospital), Part B (medical), and Part D (drugs) — most seniors will want a good Medicare supplement policy to pay most of what Medicare doesn’t cover or disallow.

Find out more about Medicare and my specific bottom-line advice for seniors in Chapter 20. For more information on Medicare, go to www.medicare.gov. For more on Part D, check out Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage For Dummies, by Patricia Barry (Wiley).

Hurricane Windstorm Pools

There has been a dramatic increase in recent years in coastal hurricanes —both in terms of the frequency with which they occur and in terms of thefinancial devastation they cause. This has led to the insurance industry nolonger insuring homes located in the east and southern coastal areas

In order for insurance to work, enough homes have to not be damaged, andthose homeowners’ insurance premiums pay the claims of those homes thatare damaged. This just isn’t true with hurricanes — hence, the insurance companies’ unwillingness to insure homes against hurricane damage.

Because car accidents happen so frequently and cost so much — both in injuries and property damage — the cost of car insurance is often one of the biggest insurance items in your budget. In this chapter, I offer ten tips to help keep those costs to a minimum without sacrificing coverage

1. Take the Bus or Ride Your Bike to Work

If you drive more than 3 miles to work right now, you’ll probably save 20 percent off your car insurance bill if you quit commuting to and from work. If taking the bus or riding a bike aren’t practical where you live, consider carpooling. Many insurance companies offer good discounts on car insurance if you carpool.
If you’re the driver of the carpool, be careful. It’s okay for your passengers to chip in on your gasoline and other expenses, but don’t charge for the ride or your car insurance may be null and void.

2. Buy Cars Favored by

Crash-Test Dummies. Every year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducts crash tests of new cars. There is a strong correlation between how well vehicles score on crash tests and how much they cost to insure — the better their scores, the lower their insurance costs. Buying a safe vehicle not only protects you and your passengers but also helps keep your insurance costs down — and that’s a hard combination to beat! You can find crash-test results for both new and used cars at www.iihs.org

3. Choose Higher Deductibles

Large lawsuits, without enough insurance, can ruin you financially, so you don’t want to try to save money by cutting your coverage. That said, the physical-damage coverage on cars typically costs 40 percent of the total insurance bill. If you just raise your collision deductible to $1,000 and raise your comprehensive deductible to $500, you can save 10 percent to 15 percent on your entire insurance bill without decreasing your major-loss coverage in any way.

4. Sell All Your Lead Shoes

Don’t speed. Obey traffic laws. Drive defensively. In other words, keep your driving record clear of tickets and accidents.
Most insurance companies give people with clear driving records a gooddriver discount of 20 percent to 25 percent. One at-fault accident or two moving violations will generally cause you to lose the discount for three
years. How you choose to drive has a huge impact on how much you pay for insurance.

5. Put Your Teenage Driver Up for Adoption

Parents always want to know how to minimize their insurance costs when they’re adding a teenage driver to their insurance. Here’s my crude rule of thumb I use with my own clients:

6. Don’t Drink and Drive

I hope you’re obeying this law because you care about your own safety and the safety of those around you. But if you want a financial reason for always having a designated driver, note that a driving-under-the-influence (DUI) ticket leads to an automatic cancellation of your car insurance. Then, for about three years, your rates with a higher-risk insurance company (a company that specializes in insuring high-risk drivers) will be about three times greater than they were before your DUI; and for another two years, they’ll be about twice what they were before your DUI. In other words, the price you’ll pay for driving drunk (if you’re lucky and don’t hurt yourself or anyone else), will be five years of incredibly expensive car insurance.

7 Maintain a High Credit Score

In the past few years, insurance companies have begun offering large discounts of up to 40 percent for people with great credit scores. Statisticians apparently have found a strong correlation between a person’s credit rating and the probability of that person having accidents: The higher the rating, the fewer the accidents.

8. Insure Your Cars and Home

with the Same Company. This strategy benefits you in two ways:
✓ It reduces the chance of gaps in coverage.
✓ You can usually save 10 percent to 20 percent on both policies, which
usually means a few hundred dollars a year extra in your pocket. Many insurance companies also give you additional discounts if you have your umbrella policy with them, too.

9. Don’t Duplicate Your Health Insurance

Don’t buy any more insurance than your state requires for reimbursement of medical bills in a car accident.

10. Don’t Submit Small Claims

for Property Damage
You don’t want to automatically file claims for small property damage that you cause — whether it be to your car or to the other guy’s car. Before you file a claim, talk to your agent about what kind of impact this claim will have on your rates. Do you have other tickets or accidents? If so, this additional claim might seriously jack up your premiums. An at-fault claim usually raises your rates about 20 percent for three years.

Many think of fraud as a non-violent type of crime. In reality, vehicle insurance scams, including the staged traffic accident, are far from non-violent. Aside from costing honest consumers hundreds to thousands of dollars in added insurance premiums, this steadily growing form of fraud has resulted in countless injuries and deaths to the innocent victims of the scams.

In fact, data from the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) shows that staged traffic accidents have rapidly become a leading source of insurance fraud across the U.S.

How Does It Work?

These criminally staged collisions frequently involve several suspects driving a car. The victim is the driver of another vehicle that's being targeted by the suspects staging the collision for their own financial gain.

The suspects will most often use one of two techniques:

Swoop and Squat
Two or more suspects drive two different vehicles. They target an unsuspecting vehicle, most often an older model that only contains one victim. This is done so that there will not be any witnesses to the collision. The one or two suspects in the squat vehicle position their car in front of the vehicle driven by the victim. They slow to create a smaller space gap between themselves and their victim. Then, the swoop vehicle suddenly changes lanes to cut in front of the squat, thereby causing the squat vehicle to throw on breaks and stop. As a result, the innocent victim rear-ends the squat. Meanwhile, the swoop vehicle is long gone and the squat vehicle is claiming that an unknown vehicle cut them off and forced them to brake.

The Drive Down or Wave On
In this version, the suspect(s) are stopped at the entrance to a parking lot or an intersection. They wave on or yield the right-of-way to the victim. When the victim proceeds, the suspect intentionally accelerates to collide with the victim.

What Can Drivers Do To Reduce The Risk Of Being A Victim?

• Stay aware of your surroundings, paying close attention to what the vehicles several in front, behind, and beside you are doing and maintaining sufficient room between you and all other vehicles.
• Use caution when making a turn in front of another vehicle, even if they yield the right-of-way.
• Since suspects tend to look for innocent drivers that accidentally cross the center line and then sideswipe them, pay close attention to staying within the lines of a lane.
• After any accident, count the number of passengers and get their personal information. You may find that more people are listed on the insurance claim than actually in the accident.
• Avoid driving when you're stressed; preoccupied with a cell phone, map, or food; or lethargic. All of these lessen the care at which you drive and your concentration abilities, thereby increasing your vulnerability.
• Have a camera in your vehicle to take photos of the scene, license plates, and the occupants of the other vehicle you have an accident with.
• Always call the police and get a copy of the police report. If the damage to the other car is minor, then ask the officer to specify this on the report, as this will make it more difficult for the other party to create more damage for a larger claim.
• Alert the authorities if you feel the accident was staged.

In closing, these staged traffic accidents often have criminal elements that reach far beyond just the suspected drivers. It's often a criminal collaboration between unscrupulous doctors and attorneys that willingly and knowingly assist in the fraudulent insurance claim process.

If you have ever contemplated becoming an insurance agent or wondered whether this career path could be right for you, then there are several qualities that you will need to possess, at least to some degree. All good insurance agents share some of the following core qualities in one way or another.

People Skills

1. Puts the needs of the client first - An agent who is only out to earn a commission, regardless of the needs of the client, is not likely to last long in the business. Agents and brokers who listen carefully to what their clients and prospects say will be able to earn their trust, which is the hardest part of their job. Those who are willing to put their clients into a product that pays a lower commission because it better fits their needs are much more likely to be successful.


2. Good customer service - Customers who are able to get a hold of their agents when they need them are much more likely to stay happy and reassured. A timely response to inquiries and phone calls is a must, and you must be able to do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it - or at least have a good reason as to why you can't. One of the major complaints of those who buy life insurance policies is that there is no one around to answer their questions after they have purchased the policy.


3. Emotional intelligence - This includes the ability to listen and empathize with clients on a deeper level in order to discern what they really want and need. A good agent is tactful and knows how to help a client see financial reality clearly, even when the client is dead set against it.

Strong Personality

1. High energy level - One of the most important traits of a good insurance agent is that they appear to be excited and eager at all times. A worn-down or dreary disposition will immediately rub off on clients and discourage them from buying anything.


2. Persistence - This is perhaps the most vital quality of any good insurance agent. Those who work in this field absolutely must be able to handle rejection on a daily basis over the course of their careers, and do it with a smile. Good insurance agents understand that each "no" only brings them closer to someone who will say "yes."


3. Honesty - Insurance agents who use deception to close business seldom stay with the same company for very long - and can end up behind bars in some cases. A good agent knows that telling the truth up front will win them clients' respect and trust and is likely to lead to repeat business over time.

General Knowledge

1. Wide array of products - As the old saying goes, if all you have to work with is a hammer, then everything in the world looks like a nail. A good insurance agent will be able to offer a comprehensive selection of products and services that can meet any reasonable need a client might have.


2. Technical knowledge - A good insurance agent knows much more than how to sell a policy. The agent must understand the tax and legal aspects of the products he or she sells and how they are designed to fit into a client's overall financial situation. Many agents earn financial planning designations such as the Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered Financial Counselor or other credential. Some agents practice financial planning, income tax preparation or some other avenue of financial service as their primary profession and then write insurance business when it becomes necessary.

The Bottom Line

These are just some of the qualities that life insurance agents must possess in order to be successful. The life insurance business can be very challenging and immensely rewarding for those who are willing to learn the necessary skills to build their business. For more information on how to become a successful insurance agent, contact the recruiting offices of a few different agencies or a headhunter who works with insurance agents.

BRI Bank has 6 insurance products that you must know before apply any product that match to your need. We recommend you to visit nearest BRI Bank to get clear explanations. Do not trust any telemarketing because it may cause miss-communication between you and the Bank.

Here the 6 products that they offer to you and because it's important that you should have life insurance:

1. BRINGIN DANADWIGUNA - Individual Insurance
The products are present to provide life insurance and accident protection as well which ensures certainty of availability of funds, both in the insurance period or at the end of insurance.

2. BRINGIN SWAKADANA - Individual Insurance
Life insurance product that provides protection Life Insurance unfortunate if the insured dies during the insurance period by giving two options Total sum insured benefits (Jup) fixed and Sum Insured (Jup) decreases.

3. BRINGIN DANARENCANA AGRI - Individual Insurance
The products are designed specifically for farmers crop plantations throughout Indonesia with planting cycles medium term and long term.

4. BRINGIN DANADWIGUNA SYARIAH - Syariah Insurance
The products are present to provide life insurance and accident protection as well which ensures certainty of availability of funds, both in the insurance period or at the end of insurance.

5. AJISAKA PRIMA - Group Insurance
Credit Life Insurance products are sold through banking institutions or Non-Bank Financial Institutions other to provide a guarantee to the lender if the borrower Credit unfortunate died either due to illness or accident.

6. AUTO AND LIFE INSURANCE - Group Insurance
Programs designed to protect the interests of the participants died when either due to illness or an accident, total permanent disability / part because of accidents, and compensation in the form of reimbursement of hospital due to accidents.

BRIns

There are many types of insurance, almost more than you can list. Whether it is health, disability, life, homeowners, renters, or auto insurance, understanding how insurance companies calculate risk and the standard features of insurance policies will help you make the best choices for your personal needs.

Health Insurance

What happens when you go to the doctor? Perhaps one of your family members has medical insurance that covers your medical expenses. While you may be covered by someone else’s insurance now, you will soon be in a position to make your own choices about health insurance.

Health insurance, also called medical insurance, helps protect you and your family from expensive or unexpected health care-related expenses. It is designed to estimate your overall risk of health-related expenses and supplement your cost for care, including doctor’s appointments, hospitalization, prescriptions, and other similar costs. Originally, health insurance was designed to cover “catastrophic” health-related expenses, but has been gradually expanded to include more preventative care.

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance, also known as disability income insurance, is another type of medical coverage. It pays part of your income if you become ill or injured and need an extended period of time to recover or if you can no longer work.

Medicare

Medicare is a health insurance program provided by the federal government to people over the age of 65 or with certain health conditions.

Medicaid

Medicaid is another type of federal health insurance, and it pays health care costs for low-income citizens of all ages. It is administered by state and local governments, which also provide matching funds to offset the costs.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance helps cover costs associatedwith care in a nursing home or other similar facilities if  you become unable to take care of yourself. Generally, people who need long-term care require assistance with daily activities such as dressing, bathing, walking, etc.

Life Insurance

The main purpose of life insurance is to insure against loss of income due to death and can also be used for retirement planning and investing. It is the one kind of insurance you pay for, but only others benefit from it. Except in rare cases, the purpose of life insurance is to provide for others at the time of your death.
Life insurance companies offer a wide array of policies to meet your needs as your personal circumstances change and evolve. Following is a brief description of the three basic kinds of life insurance.

• Term life or “temporary” insurance: Provides coverage for a defined time period, generally five,
• 10, or 20 years; pays cash benefits to a named beneficiary if the insured dies during the term of the policy.
• Whole life insurance: Covers the insured for their whole life; benefits are paid to the beneficiaries when the policyholder dies.
• Universal life insurance: Whole life insurance with more flexibility; allows the policyholder to maintain their policy and still make changes, such as decreasing the death benefit or changing the premiums.

Liability Insurance

Liability insurance protects you when others claim to be hurt or injured as a result of something you did or did not do. Generally, it pays medical bills or provides compensation to anyone who can prove you were negligent or acted improperly. Most states, including Oklahoma, require you to have liability insurance on your automobile in case you are involved in an accident. Damage or injuries caused intentionally are not covered by liability insurance policies.

Homeowner’s Insurance

For most people, their home is their largest single investment. Having homeowner’s insurance protects your investment against disasters such as fire, tornadoes, busted pipes, robbery, and other similar problems. Most standard homeowner insurance policies cover your house (the structure itself) and the contents (any personal property you have in the house). In addition, the majority of homeowner insurance policies provide liability coverage in case someone visiting your home is injured.

Renter’s Insurance

As a young person starting out, you are probably more likely to be a renter than a homeowner. To protect your personal property, you should consider renter’s insurance which provides some of the same coverage as a homeowner’s policy.
Renter’s insurance protects renters from theft or damage of personal items—furniture, TV, computer, clothing, etc.—in their apartments or their cars.
The landlord should carry insurance to cover the building itself; all you need to insure is your personal property.
Except for a very few circumstances, your items will not be covered by your parent’s policy or by the landlord’s policy.

Automobile Insurance

Buying a car is an important goal for most young people. With the payments, gasoline, and
insurance, it can be an expensive purchase.
However, failing to purchase automobile insurance can be an even more expensive decision. Everything is fine, until something happens. Before stopping to ask why insurance is necessary, remember this: It is the law!