The most common car insurance policies include:

Liability Coverage: This type of insurance is a must-have for every driver. It provides coverage for accidental physical injury and damage to property caused to another person. Physical injury damages can be pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, and rehabilitation. Property damage can be damage caused to another driver's car. State laws determine how much liability coverage you must purchase. States provide a minimum set coverage that one must have, but most people protect themselves by purchasing more liability, however you can always get more coverage. The law requires liability coverage because most people do not have the money to compensate another person for an accident.

Most insurance companies will provide coverage for a maximum limit as outlined in the insurance policy. The liability coverage limit can be anywhere from $50,000 to $1,000,000. The amount of liability coverage you acquire will determine how much your premium will be. The higher the liability coverage, the higher the premium will be. Most experts recommend coverage of 1, 000,000 to ensure that you are fully protected. It is best to have at least $500,000 or $1,000,000 liability. This will make certain that you will be able to cover all damages and expenses that you may be responsible for paying.

Comprehensive Coverage: This coverage will cover any damage to your car that is not caused by another driver. Examples include fire, theft, (including car parts) weather damage such as hurricanes, floods, hail, ice storm, vandalism, hitting a object such as a deer, etc. Comprehensive Coverage is optional and is usually purchased for vehicles that are worth more than $1000. Deductibles can range from $250, $500, and $1000.

Collision Coverage: This type of coverage covers your car if it is damaged from a collision. For instance, you are covered if you crash into a fence or another car. This policy provides coverage for all damage minus the deductible up to the set maximum limit. It has to be an accident such as a collision caused by slippery roads. Deductibles range from $250, $500, and $1000. You should get this policy if you have an expensive car.

In order to ensure you are fully protected in the event of an accident or another car related mishap, you need to understand the details of each car insurance policy. As well, you must comply with state law regarding the type of insurance that they mandate for all drivers. To avoid unnecessary financial and emotional hardship, choose the policy that best meets all of your needs.

Auto Club Organization serving in the areas of travel, car insurance, and Ontario region roadside assistance.

Your insurance company should send an appraiser to look at the evaluate your vehicle. They are best equipped to determine value at that time.

It seems that not a day goes by without more gloom. A bank goes bust or is rescued, an insurance company is swallowed up by another or is nationalised.

It is in times like these that people quite naturally get very worried and want to make sure that they are protected.

Let's look at cash deposit savings.

What are the rules and what protection do you have?

Where should you put your money?

Are Offset Deposit Accounts in mortgages affected and what about Life Assurance Companies and other investments?

What are the rules on deposit accounts?

This area is covered by the Financial services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The basic cover for deposits is 100% of the first £50,000 (was £35,000 prior to 7th October 2008). This ceiling is per investor, per banking license holder. So a single joint deposit with a bank is covered for a maximum of £100,000#

However, some banking groups operate several different brands, but have only one banking license. The best example of this is HBOS, as they own Saga, AA, Birmingham Midshires, Intelligent Finance, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

So any investor should limit their total deposits in these six institutions to £50,000.

Of course, this is further complicated by the proposed merger between Lloyds and HBOS, and it is unclear as yet how this will affect things.

Deposits in non-UK banks operating in the UK are generally covered up to £50,000, but not necessarily all through the FSCS. European Economic Area (EEA) banks can adopt a 'passport' approach, which means that the home country compensation scheme applies first with the FSCS providing a top up, if required.

However, two exceptions apply here.

They could choose to operate on the 'passport' basis only, leaving depositors with only the bank's home country compensation. The big name foreign players do not do this because of the bad publicity it would bring.

Also, the Irish Government increased its compensation scheme limit to €100,000 (about £79,500) on 20 September 2008. So banks like Anglo-Irish and Bank of Ireland offer UK investors a lot more protection than the FSCS. This affects the Post Office, as their accounts are operated by the Bank Of Ireland.

100% protection without any ceiling is available through National Savings & Investments and, for the time being, through Northern Rock.

Offset Mortgages

Many of our clients quite rightly use offset flexible loans as this can save them a lot of money over the years. However, what rules apply here?

There are two possibilities:

A rule called 'set-off' could come into play with the banks. This states that Insolvency Law rules that your net position is calculated - savings would be deducted from your debt.

But this law may not apply to Building Societies. The Building Societies Association have confirmed that the set-off rule would not automatically apply, although individual societies may have it written into their terms and conditions. Even then, this would depend on the administrators.

Life Assurance

For UK authorised life companies, it works like this - the FSCS covers 100% of the first £2,000 of value and 90% after this with no limit.

Offshore Life Companies

They rely on their home company scheme - if any exists. The Isle of Man's scheme is similar to the UK's, whilst Guernsey has no scheme, but insists on 90% of a life company's assets being held by an independent custodian.

UK Investment Bonds Invested in Cash Deposits

Neither the life company nor the investor can look for compensation from the FSCS if the deposit provider goes down, unless there is a guarantee the investor will simply see the value of their bond fall.

On the other hand, if the life company fails, then the FSCS protection would apply. In such an instance the FSCS offers less protection than a direct deposit for sums of up to £38,667, but more cover for investments that are higher than this.

Investments

For FSA authorised investment business, the maximum compensation is 100% of the first £30,000 plus 90% of the next £20,000. This means a total of £48,000 in respect of investments worth £50,000 or more.

The important point to remember is that the FSCS comes into play when an institution fails, not when the investment itself fails.

However, if the failure of an investment leaves a bank or insurance company unable to meet any guarantees it has made, then protection rules do apply.

Rates

Don't forget to make sure you receive a competitive interest rate!

It is important to stress that whilst it is prudent to take all these factors into account, the interest rates you get on each account is crucial. These days you should be able to get in excess of 6% AER.

The Financial Tips Bottom Line

It is worth checking how you would be affected by these rules, and that you won't be affected if a bank fails.

ACTION POINT

For an overview and more detail on all the issues covered here, see - http://tinyurl.com/3ml6ar (note: the increase to £50,000 may not be covered here, depending on if the site has been updated).

Especially, guidance is given here on which brands are owned by who - spend a few minutes of your time to research these links. It could save you a lot of money!

About the Author:

Ray Prince is an Independent Financial Planner with Rutherford Wilkinson plc, and helps UK Resident Doctors and Dentists get the best deals on mortgages, protection and investments, as well as helping them achieve their financial objectives. Just visit http://www.medicaldentalfs.com to get your free retirement planning guide. Rutherford Wilkinson plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How Safe is Your Money? - Your Guide to Protection

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