The Reduction of the Cost of Industrial Insurance

By Sarah Martin

Two further developments helped to reduce the cost of industrial insurance in the twentieth century. As early as 1911 the company inaugurated a plan whereby industrial policyholders willing to pay weekly premiums directly and continuously to the home office or to a district office would receive a refund of 10% of the premiums. The following year this provision was included in the policy and became a contractual right of the insured. The Metropolitan was the first company to grant this allowance.

Large numbers of policyholders have taken advantage of this provision; in fact, more than 30% of the weekly premiums in force are now paid directly to the company, without collection commissions to agents; and the amount returned to policyholders in 1942 for such direct payment was about $7,700,000.

It is interesting to note that almost 30 years after this practice was adopted by the Metropolitan, it became a statutory requirement for companies in New York State, illustrating once again how the company's voluntary provisions for the benefit of policyholders have later become part of the insurance law, whether it be life insurance or cheap auto insurance.

The second development was the introduction in 1927 of industrial insurance on the monthly premium plan. This form of insurance was designed primarily to meet the requirements of men and women who could afford to buy policies for between $500 and $800 and to pay their premiums monthly. In the main, the monthly premium Industrial policy was intended for better circumstanced wage earning families. In recent years this type of insurance has also been made available in smaller amounts and on the lives of children.

The monthly premium policies are similar in their provisions to the weekly contracts. From its very inception this insurance has been participating and has had the benefit of the company's nursing service. Yet current rates for monthly premium insurance are 12% lower than on corresponding rates for weekly premium policies. In fact, Metropolitan monthly premium industrial insurance compares very favorably in cost with ordinary insurance in many other companies. It is not surprising, therefore, that its growth has been phenomenal. At the end of 1942 there were nearly 3,000,000 monthly industrial policies on the books for a total amount of insurance of nearly $1,400,000,000. In the following years an increasing proportion of the company's industrial business was on the monthly plan.

We may conclude this section on cost by referring to a report made in 1938 by the insurance department of the State of New York, after an intensive study made of Metropolitan industrial insurance. The State Examiners concluded that the net cost of weekly premium industrial insurance exceeds the cost of comparable substandard ordinary insurance, and even private health insurance, on the average, by only approximately 15% of the industrial gross premium.

The report pointed out that this figure may be further reduced to about 5% if premiums are paid to a district office under the privilege of the 10% refund. The examiners of the state insurance department, after 18 months of study, reached the conclusion that "these costs are not excessive in view of the service rendered." Their conclusions were reaffirmed as the result of a later examination.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in finance, business, and private health insurance. For cheap auto insurance quotes, please visit http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/

Insurance Training

By Rama Krishna

Insurance Training is being offered in many universities in United States of America. Many of these universities offer choice both correspondence and classroom education. The courses are designed related to specific areas like Risk and property management, Agent broker pre licensing, worker's compensation etc. There are also many institutes which offer online courses beneficial to those already employed as insurance agents. All these universities also give professional certification to agents who h successfully complete their training programs and also give them the option of continuing their education for specializations.

Most of the training institutes and companies make sure that the training department is efficient enough to give simultaneous online or virtual class training to agents in various locations. Many Insurance companies sponsor the training charges to those already employed in the respective sectors. In addition to that many prominent companies and individual candidates prefer to have courses online. Some universities offer both in house classrooms training as well as online training.

Features

• Insurance Training instills professionalism and builds self confidence among the employees to tackle the pressure that goes with the industry.


• It introduces candidates to various soft skills and behavioral techniques motivating good competition and better understanding of the market and business culture.


• Insurance Training also provides the candidates an exposure of International insurance market scene to help them cope with day to day industry changes.


• The training also gives enough sessions on other business oriented issues like human resource, investments and security concerns.

Benefits

• The training ensures good customer service and also enables to understand new products and regulations introduced in the market.


• It also helps the agents to grasp various industry concepts, thereby encouraging focused analysis with regards to product and technical knowledge.


• The training also provides a good background on effective data maintenance and content management.


• The training encourages good competency within the industry and also among the agents.

Insurance training help the agents provide professional service to the public. It on the whole gives a wide picture and helps an agent address specific issues of a customer. The training also helps in building ethical values along with professional approach to the industry.

For more info visit : Insurance Training

Extended Health Care Benefits in Group Insurance Plans

By Kyle J Norton

As we mentioned in previous article, many corporations offer competitive packages, and that's even a strategy in hiring and retaining employees. These competitive packages include group insurance to plans that provide individual retirement accounts or traditional registered pension plans, etc. In this article, we will discuss fundamental principles of group insurance.

Group Insurance exists for the benefit of the complete group and therefore the individual member is not required to submit medical information. In this article, we will discuss the extended health care benefits in group insurance plan.

Extended health care is a benefit that picks up where basic health plan leave off. It provides an extension for some benefits and provides other benefits not available through the basic plans. The benefits is a supplement of the basic plan benefits until the basic benefit has reached it maximum payout. the core benefits of extended health care plan includes

a) Semi-private or private room accommodation in a hospital.

b) Prescription drugs

c) Private duty nursing

d) Ambulance services and paramedical services

e) Eye and hearing care

f) Dental care such as preventative care, major restoration and orthodontics

Both Health and Dental Care plans may have a deductible of $25 to $50 and /or co insurance factor of 80% reimbursed by the insurance company. Deductible are applied against the first claim of the calender year and co-insurance is applied against each claim. Extended health care may includes a limiting clause resulting in a lower premium being charged for the benefit.

Dental care normally has a maximum benefits that can be charged for each calendar year by each insured member and their dependents, such as $2000. Sometimes there is a different maximum for different levels of care. Please read details in your plan.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page: Kyle J. Norton http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/ http://groupinsurance08.blogspot.com All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have all the links intact. I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990

Benefits of Group Insurance Plan

By Kyle J Norton

As we mentioned in previous article, many corporations offer competitive packages, and that's even a strategy in hiring and retaining employees. These competitive packages include group insurance to plans that provide individual retirement accounts or traditional registered pension plans, etc. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of group insurance Plan.

1. Benefits for employers

a) The insurance provided by company helps to reduce turnover,attract a higher class of employee and employees loyalty.

b) Provides for continuity of coverage of any new employees had previous coverage, making the employer more competitive in the labor market.

c) Creates a greater degree of employee security and efficiency.

d) Employers have a obligation to provide affordable employee protection.

e) Premium is easy to project and to adjust.

f) It is a deductible expense.

2. Benefits for employees

a) Employees received free insurance coverage without paying any premium when funded by the employer.

b) Do not require evidence of insurability on the larger plans.

c) Provide for employee security for employees dependents in the event of death, disability or critical illness.

d) Life insurance in the group insurance can be carried over to a new group policy or individual plan upon termination.

Please note that some companies have combined contribution and non contribution plan depending of seniority of each employee. This type of plan automatically enroll new hired employee and junior employees( less 3 years of seniority) into contribution plan and he or she requires to pay for portion of premium from 10% t0 30% or more before they can enroll into non contribution plan usually with seniority of 3 years or more.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page:

Kyle J. Norton http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/ http://groupinsurance11.blogspot.com All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have all the links intact. I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990

Insurance Fraud Affects Us All

By Cindy Hartman

Insurance fraud seems to be a common occurrence. Have you heard someone say that they claimed more than what they lost from a fire? Or stated their items were worth more than they really were so they could - in their words - recover the deductable, too?

One person claimed all his tools were top of the line. Not one wrench or screwdriver was purchased at Wal-Mart? Hard to believe! Another person claimed he had a closet full of custom-tailored suits, rather than some being purchased off the rack. Again, a statement I question.

When people file fraudulent claims, who do you think ends up paying for it in the long run? Everyone, through higher premiums. An insurance policy is to help you get back to where you were prior to your loss, not improve your way of life!

We've had many disasters in recent years, and predictions are that we'll continue to see hurricanes and tornados affect our lives. Fires continue to burn houses and business. Flooding is happening in areas of the country where it 'never' happened before. Wild fires continue to burn.

Fortunately, something is being done about it. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated that the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force has brought federal charges against 907 individuals across the country since Katrina affected so many lives in 2005. The Task Force's responsibility is to deter, detect and prosecute those who try to take advantage of disasters related to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Gustav, and Ike, as well as other natural disasters.

The Task Force processes complaints and coordinates with law enforcement agencies to initiate investigations. Unfortunately, there are people who thrive on taking advantage of victims. The same is true in the situation of people trying to recover from disasters. It is a sad statement that such a task force is needed. However, we can be pleased that we have federal oversight on this wide-spread fraud.

More than 26,000 disaster fraud complaints have been received and over 17,000 have been or are being investigated. Just created this year, the Command Center now has a disaster fraud hotline to receive complaints related to the California wildfires, Iowa floods and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

These are the wide-spread disasters, and this commission is addressing the fraud committed by people taking advantage of the disaster victims. But consider your individual policy. Many insurance agents have stated that fraud - whether the type investigated by the Task Force or those committed by the policy holders themselves - will encourage the insurance companies to be more stringent when requiring proof of ownership from their customers. When filing a claim, this will impact those who do not have an inventory of their belongings because they won't be able to provide this information.

What can you do? Report suspected fraud. And have a list of the contents of your home or business so you can support any claim you might need to file.

Cindy Hartman is President of Hartman Inventory, a woman-owned business. Visit her website at http://www.HartmanInventory.com to discover more reasons you need a business or home inventory. Also view the Turnkey page to learn about the Hartman Inventory Systems, a complete turnkey business package; start and grow your own personal property inventory service. Cindy's blog, at http://www.HartmanInventoryBlog.com, discusses marketing, management, entrepreneurship and asset inventories.

About Policy Administration

By Motchka Curtis

Policy administration is a term that is most commonly used in reference to insurance. Insurance exists in the modern world for everything from safeguarding a person's life all the way down to safeguarding that person's investment in a particular stock or bond. Insurance is everywhere and for that reason it needs to be managed in a way that allows everyone involved in the policy to know what is going on whenever they might want a report along those lines. Policy administration is the discipline devoted to making sure that this wish becomes a reality and it usually encompasses everything starting with the quotes that are given right down to the actual management of the insurance when it is purchased by the client.

In conventional times, policy administration was a budding field that did not really get that much attention from insurance companies because of the relative expense that it brought to the table. Nobody at that point had thought about employing information systems to analyze the questions related to policy administration and for that reason accountants were required to keep everything honest and keep everything up to date. Accountants are expensive and for that reason insurance companies were not that eager to ensure that policy administration of the various insurance agreements they had in place was a top priority of the insurance firm.

With the advent of policy administration software however, that has changed significantly. The software has taken what was once a very difficult area of the insurance game and turned it into something extremely easy. Any good policy administration software package will allow you to manage everything you would find across the life of a particular insurance policy.

Insurance politics starts with first contact through quotes and rate offerings and ends with the termination of the insurance contract depending on the preconditions that were set in the initial contract. All of this information is available at the touch of a button through policy administration system software. As the future dawns bright on this aspect of insurance it is expected that further policy administration packages will only get more sophisticated as time passes.

Premium Industrial Insurance

By Sarah Martin

Over the decades, well meaning but often misinformed persons have decried what they have called "the high cost of weekly premium industrial insurance." Any offhand comparison with the cost of ordinary insurance or cheap homeowner insurance would be, of course, to the disadvantage of industrial.

There can be no escape from higher costs in view of the nature of the business. Three factors determine the cost of life insurance, whether it is ordinary or industrial-mortality, operating expense, and the interest earned on the invested funds of the company.

Of these, the first two operated to make industrial insurance cost more than ordinary. Because it was sold chiefly to the families of working men, industrial insurance had to provide for the higher mortality prevailing among this group. Despite marked improvement in the years following, the death rate of industrial policyholders still showed an excess of about 20% as compared with the holders of standard ordinary policies.

The second item, operating expense, was higher in the case of industrial insurance, not only because of the small units in which these policies were issued but also because it had to cover the cost of the additional services which industrial policyholders received.

The premiums were received in the homes weekly, and the agent often would have to call more than once to find the policyholder at home and in funds. His time was at the disposal of the people on his debit, and the policyholder was saved the trouble and expense of having to pay at the office of the company. The services of the agent had to be paid for, and they were well worth what they cost. No wonder that the operating cost of weekly premium insurance was higher than that of ordinary.

Nevertheless, progress was made consistently to reduce the difference between the cost of industrial and ordinary life insurance, and this reduction was in large measure the result of definite planning and conscious effort. Death rates of policyholders continued to decline throughout almost the entire span of life. At the younger ages they finally reached about one fifth of the former levels.

The company's broad program of welfare activities, including its extensive nursing service, undoubtedly reflected favorably on the longevity of the industrial policyholders. More and more their life expectation has come into line with that of the population as a whole. There was still a sizable difference, however, in favor of the ordinary policyholders.

Better management also reduced the expense ratio of the business. The employment of better qualified agents, their greater stability, the improved persistency of policies, the better control of details of the business, the new devices of recordkeeping, the extension of insurance without medical examination-all helped to bring the expense ratio down, although the services given were greatly extended.

In fact, the proportion of the industrial premium devoted to expenses at that point was only about one half what it was about 50 years before, and is smaller than that required by the majority of purely ordinary companies for conducting their business.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in finance, business, and life insurance. For cheap homeowner insurance, please visit http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/.

Freight Broker Training - Contingent Cargo Insurance

By Sharon D. Martin

Contingent Cargo Insurance, I've heard of it, but what is it? Contingent Cargo Insurance is an insurance policy usually carried by Freight Brokerages as a customer-based protection plan. Why does a brokerage need it since the Carrier has to have insurance? When would a brokerage need Contingent Cargo Insurance?

First of all, there is no law that requires a Freight Brokerage to carry contingent cargo insurance. They DO NOT have to carry it. But, most shippers won't deal with a brokerage that doesn't have it. Why? Most shippers feel they can sue the broker or collect from the brokers Contingent Cargo Insurance if a load is hijacked or once delivered, is damaged or missing pieces. But, this is not true. That falls under the carriers insurance. A Brokerage does not personally load the freight, count it, inspect it, nor haul it.

And a lot of times the carrier does none of this BUT haul it. Yet the carrier takes possession of the load and is therefore responsible for it. If it is hijacked, damaged, or is missing pieces, the carrier and/or receiver goes back to the shipper, NOT to the Brokerage. Then the carrier and shipper work it out or the carrier, shipper and receiver work it out. The Brokerage is truly the intermediary, but, YES, there are times when he/she can be held responsible.

Below are the only two reasons I know of as to when a Brokerage would be better off in carrying Contingent Cargo Insurance.

(1) Plain and Simple: If the Brokerage signs an agreement with the Shipper stating that he/she will take responsibility if something goes wrong.

(2) If the Brokerage fails to check out the Carriers insurance and something does goes wrong. This can hold true if a Brokerage is exceptionally busy or chaotic one day and he/she forgets to check the Carrier insurance. Maybe the Brokerage has decided to take on Agents or has hired some new Agents and out of nervousness, they forget to check the Carrier insurance. Or Maybe the Brokerage has done business with the Carrier before and doesn't think he/she needs to check the carrier insurance again. Then, all of a sudden while in route, the Carrier wrecks and a whole load of eggs are broken. No problem, the Carrier's insurance will cover it. WRONG! The Carrier had forgotten to pay his insurance premium that month and it was cancelled three days ago. But the Broker didn't know this because he/she forgot to check the Carrier's insurance. Having Contingent Cargo Insurance would have surely saved the day here.

Written by Sharon D. Martin - a1freighttraining@gmail.com

What is the Source of Groups in Group Insurance?

By Kyle J Norton

Many corporations will offer competitive packages, and that's even a strategy in hiring and retaining employees. These competitive packages include group insurance to plans that provide individual retirement accounts or traditional registered pension plans, etc. In this article, we will discuss the source of group insurance

1. Employers

The main source of groups is the employer group. The employer group can be one company or family of companies and the master group contract is issued to the employer or head office that covers all the employees working only for such company.

2. Trade associations

Group Benefits can also be provided for by trade associations.They are based on the fact that while you may have many different employers, all the employees are engaged in similar occupations.

3. Professional associations

Groups of professionals like doctors or dentist are often too small to purchase group insurance individually by office. However, when they are bundled together with other professional offices, it creates a very large insurance group.

4. Unions

Unions also provide group benefit for their active at work members even their members may work for difference employers or group of employers.

5. Creditor groups

Insurance is provided for each borrower of funds on a group basis up to a certain maximum. The premium charged is a flat rate per $100 borrowed or outstanding indebtedness. This type of insurance aims to protect the lender in case of disability or death of the borrower.

6. Saving groups

Insurance is provided for depositors and investors as a plan completer if they die. It generally would cover the contractual payment period only, but not equal to the total goal to be saved.

Groups are classified as being small, standard or large.

a) A small group have between 5 - 25 people. Usually, Insurance companies require medical statement will usually be required for any group with 10 employees or under.

b) Standard group has a size of 25 - 200 employees

c) Large group has about 200 - 20,000 employees.

The main characteristic of group plan is the large the group the cheaper the premiums.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page: Kyle J. Norton http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/ http://groupinsurance01.blogspot.com/ All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have all the links intact. I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990

Electronics Insurance - Are Your Electronics and Computers Covered by Your Insurance?

By Russell Longcore

There is a lot of misinformation today about consumer electronics and how it is treated by insurance companies. Most people I talk to think that if they have homeowners or renters insurance, their consumer electronics are covered.

But they usually find out that their assumptions aren't true...at claims time.

Sure, some of the property is covered. But there are a bunch of limits and exclusions that will surprise you if you have a loss and file a claim.

Don't wait until claim time to learn about this important coverage. Read this article carefully and make good decisions about your coverage.

Twenty years ago, consumer computer usage and ownership was not all that common. If you owned a cell phone, you carried it in a bag the size of a small purse. There were few home fax machines. Answering machines were pretty common, but voicemail was still on the horizon. Scanners were non-existent. Printers and copiers were huge and expensive, and you didn't see them in most homes. If you were the rare person who had satellite TV, the dish was about eight feet across and sat out in the back yard. And Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and MP3 players had not been invented yet.

But today....

In our home we have:

• two desktop computers with monitors

• four laptop computers

• four printers

• one stand-alone fax machine

• one combination fax, scanner, copier

• three TVs

• two VCRs

• one digital video camera with tripod for our home recording studio

• one audio mixing board, one microphone, one amplifier, two external soundcards, and a 500GB hard drive, all for our home recording studio

• two DVD players

• two cell phones, one smartphone, each with voicemail

• one satellite TV system with a 24" dish on the roof

• two Ipods

Your home may not have that amount of electronics, but then again, you might have more. The way that consumer electronics prices have tumbled over the years makes ownership much easier for more and more people.

But...is it covered? Does your homeowners or renters insurance cover your electronics?

We run three separate businesses out of our home. Most of our electronics are used in our businesses.

Do you have a home business? There are millions of home businesses...everything from home daycare to a service business to multilevel marketing businesses. Many times, those entrepreneurs own office electronics for their home business. Do you use your computers and other electronics for any kind of home business? Even if you're answering office email on your home computer, it could be considered "business use."

Are they covered by YOUR homeowners policy?

Are they covered if they are business-related?

What happens if your desktop or laptop computer is stolen, either from home or away from home? Is the theft covered by your homeowners insurance policy?

If you're carrying your laptop through an airport anywhere in America, your laptop is at huge risk for theft. (See more below) What if your laptop is stolen while you're in the airport?

Here is the answer to those questions...

MAYBE!!!!

In the Homeowners or Renters Policy, Coverage C, Contents, there are special limits of $2,500 for "property, on the residence premises, used primarily for business purposes." The policy says there is a $500 limit for "property away from the residence premises used primarily for business purposes." Of course, you will have a deductible to pay first, so if your deductible is $500 or more, you won't get ANY money from the insurance company for this loss.

Are your personal electronics covered? Yes, but only for the following perils:

• Fire or lightning

• Windstorm or Hail

• Explosion

• Riot or Civil Commotion

• Aircraft (not in aircraft, but if aircraft fall on your stuff.)

• Vehicles (not in vehicles, but if vehicles crash into your stuff.)

• Smoke

• Vandalism or Malicious Mischief

• Theft

• Falling Objects (stuff falling onto your stuff)

• Weight of Ice, Snow or Sleet

• Accidental Discharge or Overflow of Water or Steam

• Sudden and Accidental Tearing Apart or Bursting (of a steam or hot water system).

• Freezing

• Sudden and Accidental Damage from an Artificially Generated Electrical Current

• Volcanic Eruption

As I said above, the policy limit for business electronics at the residence is $2,500.

If your laptop or other portable electronics are stolen from your car, there is no coverage under your Auto insurance for the theft.

Also remember, that under Coverage C, Contents, payment is made on an Actual Cash Value basis, not Replacement Cost Value. The only way to get RCV is to add the Contents Replacement Cost endorsement to your policy. It's not automatic, you have to request it.

How about other kinds of damage that your computer might sustain?

• Accidental damage, such as dropped equipment, falls, liquid spills and auto collisions.

• Water damage

Those kinds of damages are not covered under your homeowners or renters policy.

And what about the software and sensitive data in your computer? Is that covered, too?

Not likely. In the Homeowners and Renters policies, under the "Property Not Covered" section, "business data, including data stored in computers and related equipment" is not covered.

So, to be fully covered, you'll need to buy some additional coverage.

COMPUTER AND PERSONAL ELECTRONICS INSURANCE

The leading company in the world for computer and portable electronics insurance is Safeware Insurance. They have programs for students, individuals, small and large businesses and schools at very competitive rates.

Let me take a few minutes and tell you about their outstanding insurance product.

If you own:

• Desktop or Laptop Computers

• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

• Smartphones

• Digital cameras

• MP3 players

• Scanners/Faxes/Copiers

• Printers

• DVD players

• Flash drives

• Servers

• External hard drives

• Digital camcorders

• Peripherals that connect to your computers through an USB port, Firewire, PCMCIA or another input

All of these electronic products need special insurance coverage not provided in Homeowners or Renters policies.

Did you know these facts about computers?

• Accidental damage is the number one cause of loss

• Theft is number two cause of loss

• Power surge is number three

• Manufacturer warranties do not protect your computer from accidental damage or theft

• Even though some manufacturers do offer special "damage only" coverage, they do not offer coverage for theft, power surges, natural disasters or vandalism.

You already know how easy it is to have electronics with replacement value in excess of $2,500. There are loaded desktops and laptops that easily exceed $2,500 EACH.

So, you have some choices:

1. Call your agent and buy a Personal Property Endorsement to add coverage to your homeowners or renters policy. Downsides to this choice are (a) many endorsements only pay the Actual Cash Value of the damaged property, not replacement cost, and (b) perils like Accidental Damage, Drops, Falls, Cracked Screens, Liquid Spills and Auto Collisions are not covered.

2. Buy a custom policy that just adds special coverage for your computers and other electronics, like:

• Desktops

• Laptops and notebooks

• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

• Smartphones

• Digital cameras

• MP3 players

• Scanners/Faxes/Copiers

• Printers

• DVD players

• Flash drives

• Servers

• External hard drives

• Digital camcorders

• Peripherals that connect to your computers through an USB port, Firewire, PCMCIA or another input

Safeware's policies cover Accidental Damage, Drops, Falls, Cracked Screens, Liquid Spills and Auto Collisions.

Business Electronics

In May 2006, burglars stole a laptop from the home of a data analyst at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The laptop contained the sensitive personal information of over 26 million veterans and military personnel. The FBI said that the laptop was recovered after an informant "snitched," motivated by a $50,000 reward.

But it's not just organizations that deal with consumer data that are concerned about thefts. Companies whose employees have laptops are naturally concerned with the value of the computer when it is the company that owns the laptop.

The Ponemon Institute, a privacy risk management think tank, released an extensive study in June 2008 entitled "Airport Insecurity : The Case of Missing and Lost Laptops." They studied laptop security at 106 American airports and found that there is an average of 12,000 laptops lost, missing or stolen at American airports PER WEEK! The airport with the worst record is Los Angeles International, with about 1,200 per week. The nation's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield, was in eighth place with 450 per week.

Further, the study found that only 33% of the laptops within the airport's Lost and Found Departments are ever reclaimed! That means that the remaining 67% of unclaimed laptops are either sold or disposed of by airport authorities. Can you imagine the amount of sensitive personal and business data contained in those laptops? No one knows what happens to that data, but it is ALL at risk. The Identity Theft risks are astronomical.

Safeware's policy covers business electronics for the hazards the homeowners, renters or business insurance policy does not cover.

Education Coverage

Students face a higher risk of damage or theft than a normal adult user. Students can experience accidents when they're putting their stuff into their locker, or accidentally get bumped in a busy hallway, or when they're running to the bus. A soft drink could be spilled on the keyboard, or they could sit their laptop bag down somewhere and later find it missing.

This policy protects students' computers against Accidental Damage, Theft, Vandalism, Power Surge, and Natural Disasters at any location within the USA, Canada and while in transit.

Small Business Coverage is for any sized business with electronics property values up to $49,999, covering Accidental Damage, Theft, Fire, Vandalism, Power Surge and Natural Disasters.

Commercial Coverage is a group plan for organizations that have electronics property values in excess of $50,000. Coverage can be one of the following: Comprehensive (Accidental Damage, Theft, Fire, Vandalism, Power Surge, and Natural Disasters); Theft ONLY, or Accidental Damage ONLY.

The Commercial policy can benefit organizations such as:

• Schools and colleges that want to make their student's notebook computers more safe and less at risk.

• Corporations issuing notebooks and laptops to their workers, and wishing to minimize their risk of capital loss.

In these organizations, the equipment is owned by the corporation or school and used by the employee or student. Experience has shown that if an individual does not own the computer, he or she is likely to take less care of the item than if they owned it themselves. Schools and businesses need to insure their equipment against the perils that could turn their expensive equipment into unusable junk.

Safeware Insurance policies do not depreciate for age and condition of your electronics. If you have a claim that requires replacement of your equipment, they pay for like kind and quality of the equipment you had. That's a HUGE difference from the Homeowners and Renters policies, and could mean thousands more dollars to you in a claim.

Worldwide Coverage is an endorsement that adds global coverage to your policy for a very low price. Standard coverage is for the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Mobile Advantage insures PDAs and smartphones. You likely purchased your unit at a big discount when you signed up for a service plan. If your device is damaged or stolen, you'll have to pay full retail for another unit. However, with Mobile Advantage, you're only responsible for the $50 deductible per incident to get a brand new device.

For more information about Personal Electronics Insurance for your student, yourself, your business or your school, contact Safeware Insurance at: www.safeware.com

LAPTOP RECOVERY COVERAGE

Can you get your stolen laptop back?

There is a way that you can protect your laptop, and then retrieve your laptop after it's been stolen.

Three burglary suspects were arrested on February 1, 2008 by Albuquerque police, thanks to a stolen computer loaded with tracking software. The software is called LoJack for Laptops™, developed by Absolute Software. The tracking software told the police exactly where to find the suspects. The police were also able to recover thousands of dollars in other stolen property at the location.

Absolute Software is the leader in Computer Theft Recovery, Data Protection and Secure Asset Tracking™ solutions. It works this way: You install the LoJack for Laptops™ software and register it at the LoJack website. If the laptop is stolen, you notify your local police and notify the LoJack Recovery Team. The next time your computer is connected to the Internet, the laptop secretly notifies the Monitoring Center of its whereabouts. The Recovery Team can track its location, and provide police with the information they will need to get a search warrant and recover your laptop.

Pricing for LoJack for Laptops™ starts at only $39.99 per year.

My friend here in Atlanta, Cole Harrison, had his laptop stolen from his car recently. He had the Lojack system on the laptop, and notified them immediately when he discovered the theft. Lojack located the laptop the next day...in Thailand.

If you want protect your laptop so you can get it back after it's been stolen, contact Lojack for Laptops at: www.lojackforlaptops.com Lojack boasts a 90% recovery rate for stolen laptops.

CONCLUSION

For only a small price, you can have the proper coverage you need to protect all your personal and business electronics. Be the smartest person on your block with the right protection. Be the hero to your business with the best coverage. YOU CAN DO IT!!

Copyright 2008 by Russell D. Longcore P.S. I wrote a book that YOU need! check out: http://www.insurance-claim-secrets.com NUMBER ONE at Amazon.com in its category! My blog is at: http://insurance-claim-secrets.blogspot.com/ Nominated for Georgia Author of the Year Award 2008 Finalist, USA Book News "Best Book Awards 2008"