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Online Insurance
Articles
Understanding Your Homeowners Insurance
Many
of us obtain our homeowners insurance when we purchase our home.
After this initial purchase, we do not give this insurance
another thought. It is not until the roof is damaged
during a violent thunderstorm, a major appliance fails and
floods our basement, or the neighbor's kid slips and fractures
their wrist in our living room that we dust off the policy and
ask ourselves, "Am I covered for this?" Don't
wait until damage or an accident happens to discover what your
insurance policy covers. Instead, you should have a good
idea of what you are covered for and what is not included.
Every year you should assess if your coverage should increase or
if there is any optional coverage you may want to add. The
purpose of this article is to point out some general
characteristics of homeowners insurance and help in determining
if you have the right coverage. Obviously this cannot
substitute for a consultation with your insurance provider, but
it will give you a better idea of what questions to ask.
For the complete article about Homeowners
Insurance, click here.
Is online insurance right for you?
The Internet is a
powerful tool for the savvy online consumer. You can review
products, compare prices, research companies and purchase almost
anything. Following this trend is the increase availability of
insurance online. Insurance companies are providing coverage
information, quotes and even contracts online. This includes
automobile, homeowners, life, medical and even pet insurance.
Insurance has traditionally been a high customer service field with
direct human contact with your insurance agent. Because of the
change in customer contact, the migration towards providing insurance
online has not always been a smooth one. Instead companies are
finding some tools work and others only cause frustration or confusion.
Indeed, the availability of insurance online is still fluctuating and
developing...
Researching and obtaining insurance online is much easier today.
Many websites now offer comparison tools that will provide
quotes and coverage information (Click
here for more info). Keep
in mind if you choose a carrier from these searches, you will then be
contracting with that carrier for your insurance, not the original site.
This will either be done by forwarding you to the carrier's website or
the comparison site will forward your information to the insurance
company and they will then contact you. Many insurers still prefer
to have a representative call you and discuss your coverage over the
phone. Although not the same as meeting with a personal insurance agent,
it allows them to make certain you understand the coverage provided.
Also, because buying insurance online is new, many companies believe
that individualized customer care is still the best way to get your
business and a follow up call still provides some of this customer
service.
For
the complete article on Insurance Online, click here.
What
do you do after a flood?
Experience is sometimes an
unforgiving instructor. At Online Insurance, we learned
about devastation caused by flood waters firsthand when
Cedar Rapids, IA was hit by a massive flood June 13,
2008. Online Insurance is parented by
enlighten technologies, inc.™, which includes many
other businesses such as
LAWCHEK®,
LawyersListings, and
HouseList. Our headquarters in downtown Cedar Rapids
was inundated with water after the Cedar River crested
at 31.1 feet (19.1 feet over flood stage) to overtake
1,300 blocks of the city.* The first floor was
completely lost and when the water reached 4 feet on the
upper level, it was destroyed, as well. After a slow
road to recovery, and upon reflection, we've written an
article about what to do if a flood hits your home or
business. We hope our readers never have to use the
practical advice in this article.
For the complete article about what to do if your
business or home is flooded, click here.
Do
you
know what precautions to take for safe winter
driving?
Whether or not you've
been informed by a little groundhog to expect an
additional six weeks of winter, you probably view winter
as a tough season all around. Most of us, at one
time or another, have experienced firsthand or saw news
coverage of winter storms bringing cities and counties
to a virtual standstill. Whether you live in a
winter weather state or are just visiting, snow and
other winter weather can drastically effect your ability
to get around and keep to your plans. Learning
some basic driving safety measures and coping tips can
help alleviate some of the aggravation. Although
varying by state, understanding winter related laws or
ways laws are interpreted to include winter conditions
is vital to enjoying a safe winter. In this
article you'll find safety information that we hope will
be useful and that will keep you safe and warm this
winter.
To learn some safe driving tips and keep your premiums
low, click here.
Make Your
Home Energy Efficient
The old days of harsh bleach and chemicals used to clean
the house are slowly fading out. Along with
this trend is a desire of many consumers to adopt more
environmentally friendly products for their home.
This can be anything from the new countertops and floors
to the groceries purchased at the local supermarket.
In addition to what you bring in (and take out) of your
home, the maintenance of your home is another way to
become more green. According to the
energysavers.gov
website, "Americans spend more than $160 billion a year to
heat, cool, light, and live" in their homes. Every
option may not be appealing and some may find their
budget does not allow for all of the products available.
However, a few home improvements and informed purchases
can save you money in the long run and also provide a healthier home for your family and the
planet.
To learn more about improving your homes efficiency,
click here.
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Agents - Is
video conferencing your customer service solution?
Live
Help (by enlighten™) is
similar to the online help desk service being utilized on many
commercial websites, including Target, BestBuy, and Wal-Mart, and it has
proven to be a very effective tool in communicating with clients and
improving customer satisfaction. A recent article on ClickZ,
entitled ‘Customer Service Is Even More Important Now,’ states
“Customers want convenience. This means letting them contact you through
whatever channels they want. This might mean the telephone, but other
channels may be more preferable, such as live chat or e-mail. Investing
in 24/7 live chat…if analytics bear out, is a must.” (See
http://www.clickz.com/3633004.) With more and more people accessing
the Internet to conduct research and communicate with one
another, staying current with your avenues of online
insurance customer service not only makes sense, it’s a
necessity.
To read more about Live
Help (by enlighten™), click here.
Agents - How
important is a name in promoting your insurance business
online?
Initial skeptics may have
doubted the longevity of the internet. In the
early years of growth, many businesses utilized a
webpage like an online business card that listed little
more than their contact information. Uncertain of
how to brand this new resource, businesses often
struggled with creating a domain name. Many URLs which included acronyms or catch phrases appeared
as company names now competed across state and even
country lines. Today, the benefit of maintaining a
strong online presence is no longer in question.
Indeed, the internet provides consumers 24/7 access to
even the smallest of businesses. Insurance agents
and companies are no exception and are recently
discovering the high cost of cross branding their brick
and mortar business with their online presence.
To find out more about how insurance domain names are
impacting your bottom line, click here.
Other Featured
Online Insurance Articles
- How does
HOME SECURITY keep you safe?
More Info
- Should
you start a NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH?
More Info
- Is your
home PET FRIENDLY?
More Info
- How can
you make your SUMMER SAFE?
More Info
- How can
you make your WINTER SAFE?
More Info
- What
FOOD SAFETY precautions should you take when
preparing your holiday feast?
More Info
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Headlines
Lawchek® Bulletins
Domain
Name Disputes
Discussion about why Domain Name Disputes arise, how are
they settled, and who handles the cases.
Whose
Unclaimed Assets Are They, Anyway?
Billions of dollars in
unclaimed funds and property lay dormant in the United States.
YOU could be entitled.
Privacy
on the Internet
A look at what rights to Privacy is
available to Internet Users and the types of privacy protection
available.
The
Freedom of Information Act
Find out where to go, where to look and who to contact
to access information under the FOIA.
Is
Your State Internet Friendly?
An overview of state court cases and codes available
online.
Shopping
Online
A cheat sheet for all of your holiday shopping. Also
includes contacts for the Better Business Bureau. |
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