When a client is deciding on who to name as beneficiaries of their life insurance policy, the topic of insurable interest often comes up,  Insurable Interest can be defined as:

The interest arising when one person has a reasonable expectation of benefiting from the continuance of another persons life or of suffering a loss at his or her death.  In life insurance, a person generally is considered to have an unlimited insurable interest in himself or herself.  However, a person must have an insurable interest in another person at the time of application in order to insure the others life.

From the definition above, its clear that a spouse and children would have an insurable interest in the life insurance policyholders life.  They would most probably suffer a financial loss if their spouse or parent passed away.  Sometimes a client will want to list a sibling or friend as a beneficiary and, in these situations, the insurance company will typically ask what insurable interest the proposed beneficiary has in the policyholder.  Usually, if there is no clear interest, the insurance company will question it and sometimes disallow the beneficiary designation.

I just read an interesting news story concerning beneficiaries of the life insurance policies of Susan Powell, the missing Washington woman whose husband, Josh Powell, recently killed himself and his children by setting his house on fire.  Susan Powells policy is under question for the obvious reason that she is still missing and hasnt been officially pronounced dead.  However, Josh Powells policy is under investigation because of the number and timing of changes that occurred shortly before he committed the murder-suicide.  Apparently, he made changes to his beneficiaries in late 2011, naming his siblings and father as beneficiaries rather than the trust overseen partly by his father.  Aside from the timing of the changes and all the other questions that come to mind, the question of insurable interest will certainly come up. 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, given the number and timing of changes that occurred shortly before Powell carried out the murder/suicide, New York Life also has concerns regarding Joshua Powell’s competency at the time the beneficiary changes were made, the court filing states. It also says

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There are various kinds of insurance policies such as health insurance policy, car insurance policy etc, but currently several organizations are dealing in contents insurance. Such contents insurance policies can be found very easily and they are even affordable. According to these policies, if any equipment of your house gets stolen, broken or lost, the insurance company will buy you the latest version of it. People buying these policies should make sure that they make a list of the entire stuff present in their houses and should value them separately. In this way they can enjoy a lot more advantage. Full Post…

Are you going on the trip of a lifetime to a country where you’ll visit the desert? Deserts are exciting and beautiful but they can also be challenging and dangerous. Follow our tips for successful desert hiking, and don’t forget your international travel insurance. You don’t want to be caught out in the desert without travel insurance.

Avoid walking in the desert during the hottest part of the day. You should try to do the majority of your hiking before 10am and after 4pm. When you walk, keep a slow and steady pace and rest as much as you need. Don’t overstretch yourself – desert distances can be deceptive.

Be careful where you step. There are poisonous spiders and snakes living in some deserts. Be carefu

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The price of insurance a company depends largely on its activity. It is not the same as speaking of a language school with a small shop, a shop or factory.

The most common types of insurance in insurance companies offer major insurers are:

- Insurance business : insurance for shops where there is a local and a content.

- Insurance offices : insurance services to companies who work in an office.

- SME Insurance : insurance for small businesses that develop some kind of productive activity (workshops ).

The price of insurance companies, whether commercial insurance, office insurance or insurance of SMEs varies considerably depending on the coverage contracted.

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JLT Specialty has furthered its relationship with Campden BRI, the food and drink research specialist, to offer innovative services for food and drink companies.

The collaboration involves a series of workshops based on JLTs industry specific insurance and risk management solutions including property and business interruption, public and product liability, and product contamination and recall.

The firms practice head, food drink, Ian Edwards, explains: These half day events, which will be held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester are an excellent way to update food and drink companies on an important area of risk and insurance.

Bertrand Emond, head of membership and training, at Campden BRI adds: Campden BRIs wealth of expertise and experience in food production, processing, safety assurance, legislation, and analysis and testing as well as our extensive pilot plant and laboratory facilities perfectly complement the expertise that JLT can provide in risk and insurance.

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The proportion of complaints upheld by the ombudsman also jumped from just under half (47 per cent) to almost three quarters (72 per cent). Between July and December complaints about life cover and pensions rose by 42 per cent, over mortgages by 38 per cent and over general insurance by 22 per cent. The rise in complaints comes as MPs are being called on to toughen up the Financial Services Bill and particularly the powers it gives to the new Financial Conduct Authority, which is meant to protect consumers.

Peter Vicary-Smith, the chief executive of the consumers’ body Which, said: “[The] data from the Financial Ombudsman Service is further evidence that some banks are systematically failing to treat their customers fairly when things go wrong.

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