What Exactly Is Property and Casualty Insurance?

The Property and Casualty Insurance is designed to take care of most of the risks to an individual or a business's property like damage, records, losing money, theft, furniture, trademarks, machinery and as well as supplies. There are some special insurance policies currently available that are designed to cover natural disasters like earthquakes, and floods which may damage and individual's private residence.
A property may be insured for named or multiple dangers. You will need to accurately identify all that you have lost. A key example is when your house is burnt down by fire, you would only be allowed to make a claim under the "named peril property insurance" if you had previously insured your house against fire. The other perils that are commonly covered are theft, explosion and lightning. You should always carefully examine all the risks that are part of your insurance policy. Otherwise, you may end up paying for insurance that would not assist you in the event of maybe your car stolen.

All causes of damage or loss that have not been removed from a policy are covered by the open perils. Unless your insurance premium explicitly excluded it, you will be able to receive assistance from open perils property insurance. If you did not take the option to be insured for floods, you will definitely not receive assistance for any damage to your house caused by a flood. Some of the items that are often found in the list of open perils exclusion are nuclear accidents, earthquakes, war, and acts of terrorism. You can purchase an additional coverage plan if your open peril insurance does not cover the open peril that you may face.
The cost of property insurance premiums may be reduced if the client have a good claim history and have taken the proper steps to reduce the risk of damage or loss. Some ways of reducing the cost of property insurance is by installing alarms, sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and security personnel. Mostly it depends on whether or not the steps taken can in reality prevent damages.
Many businesses and companies prefer insuring their properties with a Business Owner's Insurance premium known as BOP. In this policy, liability insurance and property insurance are joined into a single policy to create this special insurance policy. Some of these BOPs also offer Business Interruption and Extra Expense insurance premium as a further option.
The BOPs are considered very convenient though it provides less coverage than the standard insurance premiums. This explains why many companies that opt for it also end up buying other policies for a full coverage. A good example of a BOP is the premium called the "extra expense insurance". This works by reimbursing the policy holder money to cover the effects of a short-term move in the event of an incident covered by the policy occurring e.g. a flood. While the "Business Interruption Insurance" pays for any likely loss of revenue or profit in the event of the business being interrupted by an incident covered by the policy.

How Can You Trust An Insurance Company?

With insurance costs on the rise, selecting the right income protection insurance or other insurance company right for you can be a little confusing. It is important to remember that insurance companies are like any other and they are selling products and services to make profit. Too many people pay money for years only to find out that their insurance company finds a way to not honour their payment in a time of need. So how do we deal with this issue?

• Get over the marketing. Insurance companies have a million and one ways to try and convince us they are reliable and will always be there for you. With names like 'Trust', 'Care', 'Life Long' (disclaimer - these are only examples and do not refer to any particular company) you have to understand that they will use all the possible tools of marketing to get your business. When it comes to paying out your claim they have an entirely different approach. Ignore names, branding, images and the like. Understand that it is all marketing and not making legal promises. What counts is what you pay and what you get - nothing else.
• Get real about them not paying. Many insurance companies, including life insurance, home and contents etc, have particular people that are employed not to pay you. This has been exposed a number of times in the media and you need to get real about it. Individuals or organisations that increase their income to find ways to knock back claims. Insurance companies would not make money if they paid out more than they earned. So not paying is something that they must take seriously. They must investigate situation and protect themselves against fraudulent claims, and this will mean many measures inside their company to investigate your claim. Because of the competitive nature of business, you can naturally expect those in the business of investigating claims to be paid incentives when finding legal reasons not to pay - this is just the nature of any modern business today.
• Read their claims. Understand when you see a statement made by any company it does not mean they are making a legally binding agreement with you. Many statements are not legally binding agreements and are purely marketing. Don't be fooled by what is what.
• Understanding contracts. The reality is that contracts are made up of many definitions and terms. You must refer to the definitions of these terms. The reason why a claim is not paid is often based on the definition of a word used in the contract. Do not take words in a contract to mean what they normally do in plain language.

So, can you trust your insurance company? The short answer is no. It is not a matter of trust or not, it is about understanding that you are entering into a legal agreement which will come under scrutiny at the time of your claim. It is important to note that many of us go straight for our policy and contracts when something happens to see if we are protected and this is exactly the point of this article and the approach we need to take with insurance companies. Know your contract, understand your obligations and rights. A good policy will be clear and concise.