Before buying term life insurance or any other type of insurance policy, it’s important to be aware of the company’s financial strength. By understanding your insurance carrier’s financial state, you can determine if the company will have the financial ability to pay-out when you or a beneficiary files a claim.

According to Insurance Networking News, eight insurance companies have recently been affected by financial ratings, released by A.M. Best Co and Fitch Ratings.

These companies include:

• Centurion Life Insurance Co. and Centurion Casualty Co.
• Fidelity National Financial
• Greenlight Reinsurance Ltd.
• International Energy Insurance
• National Life Insurance Co.
• Protective Life Corp. and its Subsidiaries
• Symetra Financial Corp. and its Subsidiaries

Get more information at Insurance Networking News.

For a free term life insurance quote from a top-rated life insurance company, call a licensed life insurance agent at a multi-carrier brokerage firm who can compare rates with the best life insurance companies. In a matter of minutes you can get quotes from dozens of companies you know and trust.

Many of us believe common myths about insurance because we don’t have any truths to compare them to. But I’m passionate about helping you understand the difference between myth and fact when it comes to protecting your family and your most important assets.

Here are five life insurance and other insurance myths:

1. If you’re paying an insurance premium, it should cover the cost of all mishaps – If you believe this myth, expect to pay a higher insurance premium. Insurance only covers what you pay for it to cover. And, you shouldn’t pay for insurance that covers items you can afford to replace or fix.
2. Everybody needs life insurance – If you have dependents that rely on your salary for financial support, than yes – a term life insurance policy is one of the best ways to protect your family’s financial future. But if you don’t have any dependents, there may not be a need for it.
3. Only the breadwinner needs a life insurance policy – This is absolutely false. A term life policy would suffice as payment for childcare, laundry, transportation, etc., if you or your spouse were no longer around to manage these at-home chores.
4. Permanent life insurance is a great investment product – For financial reasons, term life insurance is the best choice for most families because it’s affordable life insurance coverage that offers just as much protection as permanent. Consider investing other ways if your primary concern is building cash value.
5. I’m not vulnerable to sicknesses, so why pay for health insurance? – If you don’t have health insurance, you’re not only putting yourself at risk but others too. The fewer people who have health insurance, the more money other taxpayers have to give for health care coverage. And if you do end up developing a severe illness, you may not be able to afford treatment.

Be sure to protect yourself and your family by purchasing adequate and necessary insurance. For term life insurance quotes, contact a non-biased life insurance agent at AccuQuote.com who can help you quickly and easily get the term life insurance application started.

The majority of us are active on email, social networking and photo-sharing sites, but have you ever thought about what happens to them after we die. They don’t just disappear when we’re no longer around to manage them, so what happens to the content? Time.com provides tools for managing your online life after death:

• Some email services allow relatives to order a CD of all the messages in a deceased user’s account if they provide a death certificate and proof of power of attorney. Some require a copy of an e-mail the deceased sent to the petitioner.
• Social networking sites, like Facebook, allow families to request that the deceased profile be taken down or to be kept in a “memorial state,” which removes special features and only allows close friends and family to post comments on the wall.
• Photo sharing sites, like Flickr, will keep a deceased’s account running and mostly open to the public, but if they had marked any photos as private, the site won’t let family or friends into the account to access them.

In addition to buying term life insurance, think about what you can do now to plan for the unexpected. Your online life is just one of the things that will have to be sorted out when you’re no longer around.

Good news! The swine flu pandemic has hardly made a presence in the term life insurance industry and even chief underwriters at some of the best term life insurance companies have reported that most swine flu cases have been mild, and mortality is actually lower than the normal seasonal flu.

Better News! There are no underwriting implications if you’ve experienced side effects from the swine flu. (Any serious side effects will be underwritten on their own, without designating the swine flu as the foremost cause.)

Even though discussions of the recent swine flu pandemic have slowed down a bit since the illness first surfaced, we believe it’s still important to be aware of how to stop the spread of germs approaching flu season.

Following are ways to stop the spread of germs from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov):

• Get vaccinated (the seasonal flu shot will not protect against the H1N1 virus)
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze
• Wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand cleaner
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people
• If you become sick or develop a fever, stay home for at least 24 hours, unless serious medical attention is needed
• While sick, limit contact with others
• Take flu antiviral drugs if your doctor recommends them

For more information on term life insurance if you’ve been affected by the flu, call an experienced life insurance agent who can assess your financial needs and give you a free term life insurance quote.

August 26, 2009

Recession and Unemployment Rate Indicate Reason to Increase Life Insurance Coverage

Description:

As economic conditions change, it’s important to evaluate your financial situation. A life insurance and annuity industry expert, Byron Udell, talks about why the recession and rising unemployment rate should signal people to purchase or increase existing life insurance coverage.

Size: 4.84 MB

Length: 5:17

Click here to download

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We’re in the business of helping you protect your family’s financial future with term life insurance, which is why we’ve partnered with TrustedID, the nation’s leading provider of identity theft prevention solutions, to provide you a new suite of services to expand the protection for your financial lives.

One of the most important parts of protecting your financial future is helping you secure your assets from theft and fraud. By partnering with TrustedID, we believe we can help reduce the millions of American families that are victims of identity theft each year.

TrustedID’s IDFreeze effectively helps combat this growing problem by offering AccuQuote customers a complete circle of protection against identity theft. Backed by a $1,000,000 service warranty and supported by 24/7 on-call specialists, IDFreeze is designed to stop identity theft before it occurs. Its features set, encompassing more than a dozen specific services, include:

• Financial identity protection – Active monitoring of key information (credit cards, bank accounts and more) in public databases and on Internet black market sites.  Users have the option to place fraud alerts on credit reports if their identity is at risk.  Among other benefits, junk mail is reduced.
• Medical benefits protection – Ensures that no one is using your health insurance information to obtain medical services—one of the newest and most dangerous forms of identity theft.
• Social Security benefits protection – Determines if anyone is stealing your social security benefits or filing taxes in your name, and stops it.
• Online security – Protects you against spyware and removes spyware off your computer with advanced software.
• Lost wallet protection – Helps you cancel accounts and replace cards if you lose your wallet, whether you’re at home or while traveling.
• Family protection – Delivers the same suite of protective services for your children and any family members living with you.
• CreditLock – Offers the option of a complete lockdown of your credit, preventing credit bureaus from sending out your credit report.

Your identity is one of your most valuable possessions, which is why we’re happy to offer you, as an AccuQuote customer, financial protection and peace-of-mind.

For more information about TrustedID, check out www.trustedid.com/accuquote.

And remember, for affordable term life insurance quotes, go to Accuquote.com. We can compare life insurance rates with top-rated life insurance companies to make sure you get you a rate that allows you to live within your means and protect your family’s finances.

At AccuQuote, our motto is “saving you money for life.”  That’s why we’re happy to be able to provide you with the following discount offers from our preferred partners:

• TrustedID - Get a FREE 30-day trial of IDFreeze Identity Theft Protection. Click here to find out more.

• LegalZoom - Create your will, living trust or power of attorney documents at LegalZoom. Use discount code ACCUQUOTE when checking out to receive $10 off your purchase.

• Restaurant.com – Get a $25 gift card for only $8 at many popular restaurants in your area. Click here to take advantage of the savings.

• FTD.com – Receive $10 off your floral arrangements and gourmet gift baskets for all occasions at FTD.com.

We’re continually evaluating our preferred partner program and want your feedback. Tell us what other kinds of services and discounts we can offer.  We look forward to hearing your thoughts. And don’t forget, to learn more information about life insurance become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Term life insurance can protect your family’s financial future. But do you know how to protect yourself and your family from the heat this summer?

Be sure to take the proper precautions in order to avoid heat stress during these hot months – which lead to hundreds of deaths each year. I have outlined some important factors to help you understand what can cause severe heat.

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the most common factors that can lead to heat stress include:

• High temperatures and humidity
• Direct sun exposure
• Limited air movement
• Poor physical condition
• Some medications
• High level of activity in extreme heat

Be sure to read the tips provided below to ensure that you and your loved ones avoid suffering from heat-related illnesses this summer.

• Be aware of the causes of heat stress
• Block out direct sun or other high heat sources
• Use cooling devices, such as fans and air conditioning regularly
• Drink plenty of water, experts recommend 1 cup every 15 minutes
• Wear lightweight, light-colored, and loose-fitting clothing
• Limit alcohol, caffeine, and heavy meal consumption

It’s always better to be prepared, but remember: life is unpredictable.  That’s why it’s important to protect your family’s financial future. You can do so in a matter of minutes by getting term life insurance quotes online.

Losing a loved one is a difficult hurdle to overcome, which is why we have provided you with a checklist of things that must be done when someone dies. By reading the checklist now, you should feel fully prepared in the unfortunate event of an untimely death. I suggest printing out this list and storing it with important documents, such as your term life insurance policy, for future reference.

Make necessary arrangements – Don’t postpone any arrangements that may affect crucial financial and legal decisions.

Contact a funeral director – A funeral director will give you guidance to ensure you make appropriate arrangements for funeral services and burials.

Contact a legal advisor – Seeking legal advice immediately will ensure all financial matters are handled accurately and with care.

Locate important papers – Be sure to locate all important documents, such as, birth and death certificates, insurance policies, business agreements, bankbooks, real estate deeds, wills, income tax returns, Veterans benefits, etc.

Visit a trust officer and tax attorney – These individuals will help you with all matters regarding investments, estate settlements, and household finances.

Contact the deceased’s employer – The employer will provide you with information regarding benefits, accrued vacation and sick pay, terminal pay allowances, disability income, and credit union balances. If you were insured through the deceased’s employer, ask about how long your benefits will remain active.

Contact your life insurance agent – If you are the beneficiary, the deceased’s life insurance agent can provide you with immediate access to the term life insurance death benefit. But because you may not be ready to make any crucial financial decisions, the trusted advisor will give you the time you need to evaluate your changed financial situation.

Gather all current bills – Bills such as installment loans, service contracts and credit cards are covered by credit life insurance, which pays off the account balances in the event of a customer’s death. If you and the deceased held a joint account, be sure to make a prompt request for release to each bank.

Contact organizations – Many unions, service organizations, and professional organizations offer benefits to the deceased’s family. Contact these organizations to see if you are eligible.

Contact social security office – If the deceased was covered under Social Security, you may be eligible for a lump-sum death benefit. It is usually paid to the surviving spouse, but it can be paid to others under certain circumstances.

Meet advisors – By meeting with experienced advisors, such as lawyers, you can make sure that your records are in order and see to it that your future wishes are met.

As you know, we’re passionate about making sure your family is protected with the right amount of term life insurance. This summer, we want to also make sure your family is safe. That’s why I thought I’d share these summer safety tips with you.

• According to experts, wear a sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher in order to prevent skin damage. It may be necessary to reapply the sunscreen frequently because water and/or sweat may remove it.
• Wear insect repellent, especially in areas where West Nile and other viruses have been reported.
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water! Experts recommend drinking at least 4 to 8 ounces of water before participating in outdoor activities and 12 to 16 ounces of water for each hour during the activity.
• Be a cautious swimmer. Never swim alone and only swim in designated swimming areas. If diving/jumping, be sure you know the depth of the water to avoid traumatic injuries.
• Wear protective gear, such as helmets and pads, while biking and/or rollerblading, especially if you are on or near a busy road.
• Drink alcohol in moderate amounts. If you will be drinking, be sure to have a designated driver!
• Avoid insect bites, such as bee and wasp stings, by covering all beverages and drinking only out of clear containers.
• Take advantage of the season by eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. They are not only good for you, but delicious!
• When grilling, make sure all meat is cooked thoroughly to avoid any food illnesses.
• Avoid being outside if there are heat advisories to avoid heat stroke.

Enjoy a fun and safe summer!