if you were to lose your home in a fire, would you have enough homeowners insurance coverage to rebuild your home and replace your possessions? You'd also need a place to live while your home is being rebuilt.

Does your policy contain a Loss of Use provision that will help pay for hotel, restaurant and other expenses accrued while you're displaced? Chances are your homeowners insurance isn't going to provide you with enough coverage to resume the lifestyle to which you've grown accustomed should a disaster strike.

Homeowners Don't Know They Are Underinsured
Homeowners are spending billions of dollars a year to add onto their homes, but most of them don't update their homeowners insurance coverage which leaves them grossly underinsured.

According to a Marshall & Swift / Boeckh survey, 66% of U.S homes are undervalued for the purpose of insurance by an average of 18%. If you add a new deck to your home, but fail to notify your homeowners insurance provider, you could end up underinsured.


How Much Homeowners Insurance Coverage Do You Need?
Many homeowners might be unaware of how much homeowners insurance coverage they need. You need enough coverage to protect your home and assets in case of a worst case scenario and your home is lost due to a covered disaster. You need to review your policy at least once a year to make sure all your belongings are covered.

Homeowners insurance policies can be broken down into four categories – structures, possessions, living expenses and liability.

Structures
You generally want to have coverage equal to at least the amount of your mortgage. Your policy should cover rebuilding costs. And if you've recently remodeled your home, you need to update your coverage to cover these additional renovations.

Possessions
Your homeowners policy will also cover your possessions. You may choose between replacement coverage (the cost to replace each item) and actual cash value coverage (the item's original value less depreciation). If you have valuable jewelry, an art collection or a state-of the-art home theater system, you should consider purchasing additional coverage to cover these items.

Living Expenses
This often overlooked coverage will provide you with coverage for hotel, restaurant and other miscellaneous expenses you may accrue if your home is rendered uninhabitable by a covered disaster.

Liability
Most policies offer a base amount of liability coverage – typically $100,000. However, if you have a swimming pool or a dog whose breed is aggressive by nature, you may want to consider increasing your limits.

Review Your Policy
The most effective way to know if you have enough insurance is to maintain a home inventory that you update regularly, and check your homeowners insurance policy at least once a year. Keeping your home inventory up-to-date will help you determine how much homeowners insurance coverage you need. After updating your home inventory, you may find you need to increase your coverage.

Even if you need to add more coverage to your homeowners insurance policy, there are still ways to keep your rates low. The best way is to compare multiple homeowners insurance quotes to find the right policy with the best price. Nothing is more costly than having an underinsured home.

Happy New Year! Now that 2007 is over, it is time to think of the resolutions you want to make for 2008. According to USA.gov, the five most popular New Years resolutions were as follows: 1) lose weight, 2) pay off debt, 3) save money, 4) get a better job, and 5) get fit. Maybe your resolution made the top 5? If your resolution is to save money this year, or you need to save to pay off your debt, one way to save that you might not be aware of is finding savings on your life insurance policy.

There are five basic ways to save on your life insurance policy: (i) shop around and compare multiple quotes; (ii) select the term length that is appropriate for you; (iii) buy only the amount of coverage you need; (iv) check for price breaks; and (v) buy when you’re young.

Shopping Online and Comparing Multiple Quotes
The amount you pay for term life protection depends on the amount and term-length of your policy, your health and age, and the insurance company you select. To find the best price though, make sure to shop and compare quotes from multiple companies. As you will learn, the cost of the same policy can vary by hundreds of dollars among different insurance companies. Just as your needs are always changing, so are term life insurance rates.

Selecting the Appropriate Length of Coverage
Everyone has different life insurance needs; therefore, there isn’t a one size fits all solution when it comes to term life insurance. While it may make sense for people in their 30s and 40s to secure a 20-year term length, a 10-year term might be more appropriate for someone nearing retirement. Individuals who have 30-year mortgages for example, might consider a 30-year term life policy to ensure that the home is protected throughout the life of the loan.

Determining the Right Amount of Coverage
In shopping for term life insurance, many agents may try to sell you more coverage than you need. Understand that the purpose of life insurance is to replace financial loss, and what most people should be looking for is income replacement” for their beneficiaries. Financial planners recommend a policy amount at least equal to 6-10 times your annual gross income.

Checking for Price Breaks: Paying Less for More
Insurance companies are known to offer price breaks at certain coverage amounts (e.g., $500,000 vs. $750,000). Many people can actually pay less money for more coverage. Check how little your prices increase when you when you change your coverage to $250,000, $500,000, or $1,000,000.

Buying When You're Young
While your financial needs may be lower at a younger age, the rates are also substantially cheaper when you're young. The best advice is to lock in as much protection at a young age while your health and prices are still good to avoid paying substantially more when a shorter-term policy expires.

Even if saving money wasn’t your top resolution for 2008, saving money on your life insurance policy is easy enough that you can achieve two New Years resolutions this year.

Who are better drivers - men or women? As with most Battle of the Sexes debates - each gender can make a legitimate case. Women may claim they're safer drivers and less prone to road rage, while men may argue they're more adept at driving at high speeds and avoiding obstacles on the road. The debate can continue ad nauseam. But insurance companies can use statistics to answer the question - who pays more for car insurance - men or women?

Do Men Pay Higher Auto Insurance Rates than Women?
Car insurance companies base your rates on how high of a risk you are to insure. In 2006, nearly 30,000 male drivers died in car accidents, while only 13,000 women suffered the same fate (IIHS).

Because male drivers are more likely to die in a car accident, car insurance companies perceive them to be a higher risk to insure, especially young male drivers who just got their license. Consequently, young male drivers aged 16-25 typically pay more for auto insurance than young female drivers in the same age group.

Good News for Male Drivers
The good news for male drivers is that they are only perceived as a higher risk to insure from the ages of 16 to 25. Once you reach age 25, as long as your driving record is devoid of accidents and tickets, your car insurance rates should start to decrease and will eventually become level with your female counterparts. While this news can be disheartening to young male drivers, they can take solace that their car insurance rates will gradually decrease over time as long as they maintain a clean driving record.

Men and Women Can Both Save on Car Insurance
While both genders can continue to argue which sex is the better driver, one thing we all can agree on is that saving money on your car insurance benefits everyone. If you have a teenage driver, especially a male teenage driver, you can still find discounts on your car insurance. While you are in school, car insurance companies usually offer good student discounts if you maintain a "B" average or better. Men and women alike can raise their deductibles to make their car insurance rates a little lower as well. When looking for car insurance at any age, comparing quotes is the best way to find the best rates.

Are you going on a trip but don't really know if travel insurance is necessary? You can make an informed decision simply by conducting a quick needs analysis.

Ask yourself:
- What is the cost of your trip?
- How long are you going for?
- Where are you going?
- What elements of your trip would you like insurance to cover?
- What time of year will you be traveling?

The answers to these questions will help pave the way for establishing not only if travel insurance is a prudent option, but more specifically, what type of travel insurance you should consider.

For example, you are taking your family on a week-long Caribbean Cruise that you have invested $5,000 in. If your children become ill prior to your departure, would you be concerned about the $5,000 investment being lost? If your answer is yes, then you need to consider a Trip Cancellation Package Policy. These policies cover the loss of your trip investment for a covered reason prior to departure, as well as a host of other types of coverage.

To simplify matters, there are four primary types of travel insurance to keep in mind:

1. Trip Cancellation Package Policies which not only cover the trip investment but also other coverages like trip interruption, baggage, medical and emergency evacuation.

2. Travel Medical Policies which cover travel medical and emergency evacuation.

3. Medical Emergency Evacuation Policies which provide emergency evacuation protection.

4. Flight Accident Policies which provide life insurance while you are flying.

Armed with the knowledge and understanding of the various types of travel insurance protection available, as well as your personal travel details and specific coverage needs, you can successfully navigate the myriad of travel insurance products to get the best policy for wherever your journeys take you.

Compare Flexible Travel Insurance Plans at Affordable Prices
Visit InsWeb.com

A lot has happened in my life the past eight months, which has led me to making some important decisions. For nearly seven years I lived in the Pacific Northwest; receiving my college education and working several different professional jobs. There came a point this past Fall when I realized that I was ready for a change. I was seeking bigger and brighter things in my life, and the dreary Northwest was not providing me the opportunities I was seeking. I left my job, packed my SUV with all of my possessions (yes, amazingly I fit everything in and on top of my car), and said good bye to my friends. It was California or Bust!

It wasn’t like this was a totally risky or “out of the blue” move. I had spent my childhood in Northern California and a large portion of my family still resides there. During early winter I moved down to the Sacramento area and began the hunt for job in the marketing field. It wasn’t long before I landed a great position with an established company. As in with most new jobs you are given thick offer packets containing all the information regarding the company, government documents and participating insurance company information. That’s when it hit me; I had never really made any long term decisions regarding my healthcare coverage. I was covered under my parents insurance until I turned 25 and after that I purchased just major medical insurance on my own, covering myself only in case of a major injury or hospitalization. It was now time to sit down and figure which health insurance plan was going to fit my current lifestyle.

Where do I start? Being “tech” savvy, the first place I looked was the Internet. I was overwhelmed by the amount of health insurance information out there. There were so many options; HMO, PPO, Point-Of-Service and Indemnity. Each of the different health plans has its pros and cons. It’s a matter of finding which one fits your needs. I was fortunate to run across an article titled, “Health Plans- What’s the Difference”

The article laid out very simply the basic differences in the health plans. I was mainly looking for the differences between an HMO and PPO
- HMO: Low cost, easy/simple paperwork, physician refers you to specialists.
- PPO: Costs more, greater flexibility in the doctors you can see.
After careful thought and research I decided to go with the HMO plan that was being offered by my employer. It meets all my medical needs and so far has been a pretty good choice.

I would highly recommend visiting InsWeb’s Learning Center to read more of the informative articles they have regarding health and other insurance services.