Many international travel insurance policies don’t cover you for winter sports activities and the injuries you may sustain while on the slopes. With these injuries likely to result in hospitalization, the chances are high that you suffer large medical bills if you take part in winter sports without international travel medical insurance.

The combination of many skiing and snow boarding injuries being quite serious – like a broken leg or arm – and the quite frequent need for evacuation by air ambulance creates the potential for some serious medical bills. If you’re not covered, you will have to meet this cost yourself.

Many standard policies don’t include winter sports because insurers see them as too risky. You nee

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The average price of home insurance has risen to the highest level ever according to research, after the last two severe winters battered UK houses.

The AA British Insurance Premium Index showed that for combined building and contents insurance, policyholders can now expect to be quoted 205.55.

It also revealed that the average cost of building insurance has gone up a whopping 14.3 per cent in 12 months, which has been caused mainly down to the harsh winter conditions experienced in the last two years.

With the biggest single cause of home insurance claims being water leaks, such as from broken or frozen pipes and roof tanks, the AA is urging homeowners, whether they have insurance or not, to do all they can to reduce the risk of damage to their property from another harsh winter.

The leap  in home premiums has come after relatively steady increases over recent years.

However, buildings cover is the area which has seen the biggest increase with a spike in the last two years – costs are now 58 per cent higher than seven years ago and 23 per cent higher than two years ago.

The average cost of building cover is now 152.18 compared to 96.52 seven years ago and another big freeze over the winter could see home insurance premiums soar even further.

Simon Douglas, the director of AA Insurance, says: Insurers are concerned about more frequent severe weather events, such as floods, wind damage and even damage from extreme hailstorms, lighting strikes and tornadoes.

Separate research from confused.com shows that storm related claims rose by 68 per cent in the last year.

The AA state that it is important for insurers to consider the potential for future claims and ensure that they have adequate reserves to meet the cost of extreme and widespread weather damage.

Although no-claims bonuses are less common on home insurance policies, you will need to disclose any losses suffered or claims made to your insurer. Full Post…

Welcome to the 141st Cavalcade of Risk!  Weve been blogging here for five years now (!), and if my counting is correct, this is the tenth time weve hosted the Cav.  Its always an honor, and we enjoy reading all of your submissions.  To complement the excellent articles in this edition of the Cavalcade, were sharing pictures from our backyard.  A couple years ago we moved to a house with a large yard so that we could try our hands at growing stuff.  So far, so good!  The spider grew herself though we had nothing to do with that.  Shes hanging out in the rose bushes catching lots of mosquitoes.  Were rooting for her.

InsureBlogs Henry Stern weighs in on how disability insurance and the economy are more related than you might think.  The number of people covered by disability insurance has decreased recently, which isnt all that surprising:  unemployment is high, so people who were previously covered by an employers disability policy might not have a job at all now.  In addition, privately-purchased disability insurance might be the first thing on the chopping block when families look for ways to tighten their financial belts, even if they still have a job.  But the economy also seems to be driving claims.  More than half of the carriers surveyed reported an increase in claims that many of them attributed to the economy.  Same thing with Social Security Disability Income:  claims are way up.

Jaan Sidorov of Disease Management Care Blog looks at the phenomenon of people skimping on necessary expenses (like healthcare) while simultaneously splurging on luxury items.  His example is a patient who felt that a $5 copay for an annual A1c test was too high even though he could afford to pay the five dollars, he chose to skip the test instead.  How people choose to spend their money is a fascinating look at human nature.  Its possible that the patient in question was drowning in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy, but its also possible that he just wanted to spend his money on things that were more exciting (but far less necessary) than an A1c test.  The conundrum of people choosing to spend money on luxuries while neglecting necessities is one of the major problems with the proposals that call for increased cost-sharing in healthcare.  We know that people cut back on medical care when they have to pay more in out-of-pocket charges.  But are they cutting back because they have to, or because they simply want to spend their money on other things?

Healthcare Economist Jason Shafrin takes a look at the Presidents proposal that we live within our means and gives us the highlights.  Several aspects of the proposal are aimed at providers by cutting payments or reducing utilization of healthcare (which generally has to be done by providers rather than patients, since providers are generally the ones who determine the course of action needed for each patient).  But there are also a few key aspects of the proposal that call for increased cost-sharing on the patients side (increased deductibles, copays for home health visits, increased premiums for wealthy Medicare beneficiaries, and a surcharge on benefit-rich Medigap plans).

Julie Ferguson of Workers Comp Insider tells us about the risks of working for a boss who is less-than-awesome.  She links out to a site that has memos from Tiger Mike the former CEO of Tiger Oil Company (which declared bankruptcy back in 1980).  The memos read like something from a sitcom, but apparently its a true story.  He even decreed that there will be no more birthday celebrations, birthday cakes, levity, or celebrations of any kind within the office.”  Sounds like Tiger Oil was the place to be in the 70s!

Jacob from My Personal Finance Journey brings us an informative article about travel insurance.  Its an interesting read since the main article is a guest post but Jacob also added his own thoughts.  The guest post gets into the nitty gritty about reading the fine print on your travel insurance policy everything from reimbursement for stolen property to health insurance in a foreign country.  Jacob points out that the article is a good reminder to read the details on your policy, but he also notes that he doesnt consider travel insurance to be a worthwhile expense in most cases, and he makes some really good points.  I dont know much about travel insurance as far as trip cancellation, lost belongings, etc., but with regards to health insurance, its always a good idea to check with your health insurance carrier to see what is and isnt covered if youre going to be traveling to a foreign country.

Nancy Germond of All Business writes about how managing employee benefits keeps getting more complex.  But since healthcare costs continue to eat up an ever-increasing chunk of employer budgets, companies would be wise to get on board with as many cost-saving strategies as possible.  Nancy explains how specialty pharmacies can help employers control high prescription drug costs, how good employee assistance programs (EAP) and wellness initiatives can help to keep employees healthy, and how employers can encourage employees to shop around for the best value for their healthcare dollars.

WalletBlogs John Kiernan details 15 items that can impact the cost of our homeowners insurance.  Dont get a pit bull, a trampoline, or a pool, for starters.  And pay attention to your credit score.  A bad one can mean that not only do you pay more in interest when you finance a car, but you might also be paying more for your homeowners insurance.  One take-away point is that you should communicate regularly with your insurance agent.  Dont just buy a policy when you buy your house and then forget about it.  If you make changes to the house (security system, remodeling that increases the value of the home, installing that pool anyway, etc.), its best to let your agent know.  Your premiums may increase (or decrease!), but at least youll know that youre well covered.

Free Money Finance brings us a word of warning about social media.  Not only do potential employers check social media sites for information about job candidates, but insurance companies are looking into ways of efficiently getting data from social media sites and they already use social media sites to gather information about suspicious claims.  My approach to social media (and anything I write anywhere online) has always been that I dont post anything I wouldnt want my parents to see.  So shockingly enough, my Facebook wall isnt the most exciting place on the internet.

And to wrap things up, lets take a look at a policy that covers the stuff that really matters.  This little gem is brought to us by InsureBlog.

The next Cavalcade of Risk is in two weeks. Vance Mayhall at the Insurance Regulatory Law

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Thanks to the Internet, today you can quote the safety of your car without any problem and in seconds.

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Health issues are very serious issues and for this reason it cannot be ignored, neither can it be overemphasized. Family health coverage is a prudent decision taken by a family with the intent of protecting lives from uncontrolled and unforeseen circumstances. Ever heard of expect the unexpected? Yes, that is what insurance dictum is based on. It means that the fact that one cannot foresee future events does not prevent one from expecting it. Those in the hospital today with one ailment or the other did not foresee it but that did not mean it cannot happen or they at one time, did not think it could happen.

The relevance of varied establishments providing family health policies and plans helps one to stay ahead of events. Full Post…

You have submitted an application for life insurance and you have been told that the application is in underwriting.  I have found over my many years of selling life insurance that most people have no idea what occurs in this ominous-sounding process.  Most people I speak to wonder what could take so long  in approving an application.  So, in an effort to take the ominousness out of it, I will attempt to relay to you what exactly happens when you submit your application.

In the LifeInsure.com Glossary, we define Underwriting as the process of selecting risks and classifying them according to their degrees of insurability so that the appropriate rates may be assigned.  Th

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