Home And Garden Improvement Tips

Let’s be honest. There’s always been a problem with fraud. Most people are easy to trick into parting with their money. But, when you look around, it’s often not so easy to get close enough to wealthy individuals. But you have big companies in every city and most of them are also easy to trick. For those with inefficient accounting departments, you just send them invoices that look convincing and, by routine, most will pay. With insurance companies, all you have to do is submit claims supported by documentation that looks reasonable and the money comes back. The fact that all this costs us money is not a factor. Criminals want their life of comfort and we can go hang. Why are we given the bill? Well, when companies look at their overheads, they adjust their prices to cover them and stay in profit. So the more they pay out to fraudsters, the more we pay for those goods and services.

So what do the criminals need to get the best results out of the insurance industry? The answer comes in the staged accident. You set up two drivers with modest vehicles and put passengers inside. Then at a time when there are likely to be a good number of independent witnesses around, you stage an accident. With reliable people to confirm the accident has occurred, we then get into the professional level of crime. The insurance industry in combination with the FBI and other professional investigators have been identifying clinics that issue fake medical reports. Some are just fronts and only process fake claims. The criminals who plan for the longer term set up genuine clinics that put through one or two fake claims a month. These are harder to identify because the doctors could be the victims of deceptions. Some injuries are difficult to verify and, if their patients are convincing enough, they will sign off on neck and back injuries. Everyone with a convincing medical report then claims damages for their injuries and, because it save on court costs, many insurers settle rather than fight.

The problem is worst in Florida where medical expense claims are set to rise to $1.5 billion in the current year ending 2011. This represents about $100 on every driver’s auto insurance quotes right now. If the level of fraud continues to rise at this rate, every driver could be facing a surcharge of $170 by the end of the year. Just stop and think about this. If the insurance companies were prepared to recruit fraud investigators, your premium rates could be reduced by at least $50 by the end of 2011. But, of course, this would require the insurers to invest in new staff and their training. In the short term, this would hit their bottom line. Less profit would upset the stockholders. So it’s cheaper for the insurers to keep making a profit by passing on the cost of the fraud to us through higher premiums. So this is a real political issue across the US. Everyone’s auto insurance rates are being affected by the rising level of fraud. If the insurance industry will not protect consumers, the state should make resources available to investigate fraud.

People tend to get really annoyed by the necessity of purchasing insurance for their cars. Due to the mandatory nature of this type of insurance it’s hard to minimize vehicle maintenance costs for a lot of drivers. Some of them even choose to drop insurance altogether and drive without proper coverage, which ultimately results in enormous out-of-pocket spendings after ending up in a traffic accident. Of course, doing so isn’t the smartest thing to do both financially and legally. But what many drivers tend to overlook is the fact that not all types of insurance are really mandatory and it’s the optional coverage that often pumps up the final cost of the policy. Let’s take a closer look at a typical insurance policy for a vehicle to get a better idea of what’s going on.

The mandatory part

Yes, having an insurance policy is a legal requirement in most states that can lead to fines, license revocation and even jail time if not met properly. However, the only mandatory type of insurance coverage is property damage and bodily injury liability. These two coverage types refer to third party liability and are use as a proof of financial abilities to settle any liability arising due to an accident. Each state has specific quantitative requirements concerning these coverage types that a policy should meet. The so-called minimums are assumed to be enough for covering an average accident with moderate damage and injuries. You can always get more third party liability coverage but going below the minimums automatically makes your policy invalid.

The optional part

Now, if you have ever looked into your policy you might have noticed that there are other types of auto insurance coverage included. The most common would be collision/comprehensive coverage, uninsured motorist coverage and rental car insurance. All these forms of coverage are really useful in different situations. For example rental car insurance can cover your costs of using a rental car while your car is being repaired. Or you can get your car fixed after a tree falls down on it if you have comprehensive coverage. But unlike third party liability coverage all these coverage types are purely optional and no-one is imposing you to buy them. Except for the situation when you’re buying a car through a loan – most lending institutions make collision and comprehensive coverage a part of their requirements to provide the loan. And as you may know, the more coverage your policy carries the higher will be your rates.

So now that you have a better understanding of auto insurance coverage you’ll be able to make better decisions in terms of insurance. If you need to cut your costs minimizing the amounts of optional coverage will be the most reasonable option. If you’re OK with your current insurance spendings or want to secure your car against additional perils you might as well consider buying more coverage to include into your current policy. It’s often a matter of balance between insurance needs and financial abilities. So make sure to make the right decisions.

If you’re getting older, there’s one simple truth. You have years of driving experience and the odds are you’re a lot safer driver than the youngsters. In fact, statistically speaking, drivers in the age range of 55 to 64 are among the safest on the road. Almost all drive within the speed limit and have defensive habits. Eyesight is still good and reflexes fast enough to get out of trouble if an emergency looms. Over 65, the accident statistics show more accidents. Over 75, the accident rate rises faster although it’s still less than the rate for those under 24. For those of you who eat statistics for breakfast, older drivers cause about 15% of the fatalities on our roads. Almost all the traffic accidents involving seniors occur during daylight hours or on the weekends. Seniors are off-peak, leisure drivers.

So no doom and gloom. The fact we’re getting older is no reason to think of quitting driving. Indeed, the way our cities are built and the pathetic public transport systems, cars are the only way we can get around the place. But we can start taking a few basic steps to prepare ourselves. The first step is to ensure our vehicle is fit for the purpose. We might start thinking about swivel seats to help get into and out of the vehicle more easily. Hand controls can overcome physical problems.

Fitting a simple cushion can improve posture and help us see the road more clearly, but before you fit any of the new adaptive devices, you should talk with a rehabilitation expert to find out which are the best value for – look for members of the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The other factor is to keep your insurer in the picture. If you do adapt your vehicle make sure to send details of the cost so that, if the worst happens and your vehicle is stolen or it’s totaled, the fair value includes the cost of replacing the adaptation devices. Remember there are rebate schemes offering up to $1,000 for adaptive devices. If you have a prescription, most states waive the sales taxes and the cost of the equipment is tax deductible.

Think about muscle strength and how easily you can move your head. Can you adjust the foot pedals or change the height of the seats so you can see over the steering wheel more easily? There are solutions for every problem so make sure you get the best advice and, just as important, training in the use of any new devices. This is not a time to be proud. Accept the help. And just to reinforce the need to keep your auto insurance company in the loop. You will hold down your premium rates if you show a clear intention to stay safe on the roads. Indeed, many modifications and training courses may qualify you for a discount. Auto insurance companies want you to be safe (and make no claims) so talk to them to get the best possible deals.