SJM INSURANCE

Some of the ways to limit insurance costs are:

• Basics: Take measures to lose weight, exercise, quit smoking, eat a healthy diet and wear seat belts. Doing this may eliminate the need for frequent doctor visits.
• Join a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and use only those healthcare providers that are on its network list. Going outside the network might cost you substantially.
• Visit doctors who accept assignments: If you are a member of Medicare, go to only those doctors who accept assignments. This means they will not charge more than what Medicare will pay for a specific procedure. Although you would still be required to pay your deductible and a percentage share of the bill, you will be saved from paying any excess charges. If your doctor does not accept assignment, check with the local Social Security office or your insurer for a list of participating Medicare physicians.
• If you have a fee-for-service plan, request your doctor to limit his fees to the amount that your insurance will pay.
• Arrange for your old X-rays and medical records to be sent to your new doctor or dentist. This will help in cutting down costs.
• Use generic drugs unless there is a valid reason of not doing so.
• Call your doctor or nurse for advice by telephone. This will save on visitation cost.
• If you are paying a part of a doctor’s or hospital bill, be sure to get it itemized. Hospitals sometimes add the cost of treatments that you did not receive to your bill. If the services on the bill are listed in code, seek the help of the billing officer in deciphering and verifying them.
• Get a copy of your doctor or hospital bill to see the amount that was actually paid. Your insurer may have received a discount. Since you might need to pay a percentage of the bill, it should be calculated on the discounted amount, unless the policy states otherwise.
• If there is a 24-hour emergency clinic in your area, check its costs. These clinics are usually less expensive than a hospital emergency room.
• Use low-cost mail-order pharmacies run by HMOs to procure your medicines.

Most people think of health coverage when they hear of personal insurance, which is one option but personal insurance would also apply to mortgage coverage.  More commonly known as Personal Mortgage Insurance or PMI, this type of policy is a requirement anytime a person purchases a home with a down payment of 20% of the purchase price or less.  The primary objective for this type of personal insurance is to provide lenders with protection in case the buyer cannot meet the financial responsibilities, thus resulting in foreclosure.
Now, for personal insurance specific to the mortgage, as the down payment decreases, the cost of the PMI would also decrease.  As an example, the amount you pay for personal mortgage insurance on a 15% down payment would be less than that of a 10% down payment.  Typically, the PMI would be included in the monthly mortgage payment so you would not be making an additional payment each month.
One important thing to remember with personal insurance for your mortgage is that over time as you build up equity in the home to the point of being equal to 20% of the home’s value, the PMI should be cancelled.  For this, you would need to contact the mortgage company and make the request, although some mortgage companies will cancel the PMI on their own.  Regardless, having this type of personal insurance stopped would automatically lower the cost of the monthly mortgage payment.

In addition, there would be some stipulations involved for having the personal insurance in the form of the PMI cancelled.  For instance, you would need to be up-to-date on payments, the appraisal would be required to verify the equity equals the 20% or more, and you would be charged a fee for this being done.  In addition, the PMI could be cancelled if you were to refinance your mortgage loan.  If you were to go with an FHA loan, you would be required to maintain mortgage insurance, which is different from personal insurance such as the PMI.
Unfortunately, not all lenders are eager to let cancel the PMI.  In fact, some lenders will actually work hard to stop the PMI from being cancelled, which can make the process challenging and long.  Because of this, some homeowners find it easier to keep the personal insurance going and recouping the equity when the home is sold.  While this is certainly one option, it also means the monthly payment would be higher each month than necessary.
In most cases, personal insurance in the form of PMI would be required but there are a few situations when this would not be needed.  For instance, if the home were purchased with an FHA loan, then the PMI is not a requirement.  Another situation when the PMI would not be required would be purchasing a home with a VA loan.  Of course, if you have questions about personal insurance for your mortgage, you want to talk to the lender to get answers needed.
In most cases, PMI is a part of the home buying process, again providing lenders with some degree of financial security.  However, once you have enough equity in the home, you want to lower your monthly mortgage payments, and your mortgage payments are current, you might do the math to see if it would be worth working toward having this kind of personal insurance cancelled or simply leaving it in place.

Home insurance (or home owner's insurance) is a type of property insurance. One's residence or home, including all its contents, is within the category of home insurance. The cost an insurer pays for a homeowners insurance policy is determined by taking into account the replacement cost of the home along with all of the home's contents.
These values are normally determined by the value of the home as dictated by the property market and what amount similar homes sell for in that area. Different cities or countries will determine this value differently.
A home insurance policy generally remains active over a specific time period, during which the insured has to pay premiums, i.e. money paid towards insurance costs every term, to the insurer (usually the insurance company).
However, home insurance that is not contracted over a fixed time period may also be obtained by the insured and is called perpetual insurance.

Under personal accident insurance, the policyholder, if injured, receives cash benefits every month, just like income, for as long as s/he is unable to work due to the accidental injuries. This income is non-taxable and does not exceed the policyholder’s after-tax earnings minus the state benefits s/he can claim. In case of death of the policyholder due to an accident, the family receives a specific lump-sum amount.
There are eight common types of personal accident insurance policies:

• Individual: This policy can be taken by any individual. The benefits usually enclose partners and children. Since several activities are excluded from this policy, it is not as useful for people who love adventurous sports, like mountaineering and rock climbing.
• Children: The purpose of this policy is to provide financial help to parents if they are unable to work or if they incur expenses as a result of an accident.
• Group: This policy is used by companies to cover employees for expenses related to accidents.
• Self-employed: Since self employed individuals are not eligible for employee benefits, they are worse off when injured in an accident.
• Team: Through a team accident insurance policy, organizers can seek cover for all the members of a sports team.
• Professional: This policy is specifically for self employed professionals, such as a sportsperson, actor, lawyer or doctor, who have special requirements.
• Over 50: This policy targets people over 50 years of age, as accidents can cause more grievous injuries to them.
• Travel accidents: This policy offers benefits in case the policyholder meets with an accident while traveling.

If an individual is not eligible for group or government insurance policies, there are still several methods to buy an affordable healthcare plan. Individual healthcare plans are particularly meant for self-employed individuals, unemployed people or students. To extend the benefits of healthcare, the government offer subsidies to certain selected insurance companies. These companies then provide individual or family healthcare policies at affordable rates.

One can purchase individual medical insurance from a private carrier. Although private healthcare plans are expensive, they are worth making an investment on, given the rising cost of medical services. A comparative study of similar healthcare plans from different insurers certainly helps to save money.

Alternatively, self-employed individuals can form a club and ask for group benefits while purchasing a healthcare policy from a private carrier. This helps to get greater medical coverage at a comparatively low cost.

The insurance plan was developed for modern day laws and as a means of providing individuals and businesses with protection against risks.  Prior to insurance being offered, as a service and product, when people ran into problems the community would come together to make repairs.  For instance, before insurance was formally offered, if a neighbor’s home were to burn down, other neighbors, family members, and friends would gather all the necessary materials and tools, and together rebuild the home.  However, as population grew this small community in most parts of the world changes.
Interestingly, the insurance plan that we know of today was actually based on ancient traditions of the Babylonian and Chinese traders.  Historians tell us that during the second and third millennia BC, merchants in China would have to travel over horrific rapids of the rivers as a means of distributing the things they made.  To accomplish this, the wares were moved using several vessels because it was common for one to capsize.

By 1750 BC, the Babylonians created a unique system whereby a merchant would be provided with a loan to pay for the shipment of wares.  Then for an additional amount of money, the lender guaranteed if the shipment of goods were stolen, the loan would be cancelled.  In a crude sort of way, this system was the beginning of the insurance plan that would evolve over the years to what we know insurance coverage of today to be.
Then for the individual insurance plan, one that was not connected to loans, this was invented during the 14th century in Genoa.  At that time, the insurance was backed with land.  By the 15t century, an insurance plan for maritime coverage was offered although it came with risks and premiums varied dramatically.  In this case, this new type of insurance plan made it possible for insurance to be separated from an investment, which proved highly beneficial.
Then in 1628, a very rich man from London took out two types of insurance plan, one being for maritime coverage, and the other insurance plan for life protection.  With London becoming an increasingly important part of the world for trade, a man named Edward Lloyd who owned and operated a coffee house became a viable part of the city, providing people with shipping news and offering a place for merchants, ship captains, and ship owners to gather.  There, men could take out an insurance plan of sorts with one another and this venture became known as Lloyd’s of London, which today still provides the same service for the insurance plan.
The insurance plan that we are all accustomed to in today’s world, which includes policies for home, both owning and renting, automobiles, life, health, marine, dental, vision, and more.  The modern insurance plan actually has a link to the 1666 Great Fire of London, which destroyed more than 13,000 homes.  Realizing something had to be done, a man by the name of Nicholas Barbon opened an insurance office, and just 14 years after this horrific fire, the first fire insurance company in London was formed to provide protection for frame and brick structures.
Then for the health insurance plan, this concept was brought up by Hugh, who was the Elder of the famous Peter Chamberlen family in 1694.  While health insurance remained the primary type of insurance protection for many years, by the latter part of the 19th century, accident insurance was created.  At that time, the accident insurance plan was similar to disability insurance used today.  By 1732, the first insurance company in the US underwrote fire insurance in Charles Town, South Carolina, today known as Charleston.
Over the years, many other types of insurance plan options would be developed and the coverage would change.  Sadly, in the 20th century, organized crime used insurance for extortion, generating tax free income while controlling businesses.  However, it was after the Social Security Act was passed by the federal government that the overall concept of the insurance plan changed.  At that time, policy types grew, requirements became more structured, and premiums more affordable.
Regardless of the insurance plan a person purchases, they end up with a legally binding agreement with the insurer that if damage or loss were experienced specific to the type of protection, the policy would pay.  In exchange, consumers pay a premium each month for the insurance plan, which provides not only protection but also peace of mind.