Insurance Claim

There's three sides to your maximum health and fitness. Diet, and Exercise. But that's only two ! Let me split Exercise into Aerobic exercise and Aneorobic exercise.Get all three right. Get the right balance. And you'll get as fit and healthy as your body and genetics will allow.

Whole forests of paper have been filled with advice on each of these fitness factors. Just go into your local bookstore, and see shelves of diet advice. Shelves of exercise advice. Funny how so much contradicts itself, especially for diet e.g right next to each other on the shelf, you'll find a book advocating low carbs & low fat; another saying high fat is okay if you keep the carbs low. Yet another focuses on high protein, and says carbs don't matter...

* Diet

Let me give you this simple diet advice. Stick to low fat, low carbs and high protein. Many medical and weight loss
studies over the last 10-20 years prove this approach. Many other diet myths come from way back in time, and look
just plain wrong when analyzed with modern methods.

* Aerobic Exercise

Couch potatoes don't realize how easily they can start feeling fit and healthy. Just walk somewhere 3-4 times per week, for around 20 minutes each time. Ideally, do some more demanding aerobic exercise. I do a lot of cycling, because it's great low-impact exercise. And I get to see beautiful scenery while I ride.

Running provides even more intensive aerobic exercise, but careful of your joints. Maybe you prefer hiking, to see the local countryside ? Or take up a sport like rowing or tennis. You also get to meet new friends by taking up exercise as a sport.

* Anaerobic Exercise

Many people work on their diet. Many people take aerobic exercise. But many people ignore anaerobic exercise, or weight training.

What makes weight training so important ?

As you get older, muscle mass decreases. Muscle burns fat.  So as you lose muscle, it gets harder to keep the fat off. Equally important, weight training can reshape your body.

No matter how much aerobic exercise you do, you'll still be a pear shape (a smaller pear shape) if you started out a pear shape.

Using weights you can flatten your stomach, tone your thighs, bulk up your chest and shoulders, and reshape your body any way you want. Weight training is incredibly beneficial to your general skeleton strength and conditioning. Older women can reduce the effects of osteoporosis, and older men can maintain their strength and agility.

This short article can do nothing more than provide an introduction to the three keys to your health. Follow these and you shouldn't need to make a health insurance claim. Slash your health insurance costs with a long no-claims bonus. Slash your health insurance costs with any insurer who rates your fitness.

The basic thing to know is that if you have a shot a group health insurance, whether through a job or an association you're a member of, that is usually much more affordable than buying individual health insurance on your own. First you need to figure out your health insurance goals; in other words, what are you after? If you're young, healthy as a horse, no dependents and not attempting Mt. Everest next week, you may want to opt for a policy that covers only the catastrophes, and cover the rest out-of-pocket. On the flip side of that, if you're the sole bread winner with a family to support, the scenario is different.

The basic choices you'll have are Fee-for-Service, Managed Care Plans, and Association-based health insurance. Fee-for-service is the traditional indemnity plan, harder to acquire, more expensive, but usually great coverage. Managed care plans include most HMO's and PPO's. These offer lower costs but your choices are somewhat limited. Another way to get insured is through a group or association you may already be a member of, such as professional, religious or trade organizations. Often they may offer health insurance. It's worth checking out, as sometimes you can strike gold in this vein.

Things to consider when you're looking for any policy are what's covered on this plan, how much are the monthly premiums, what is the yearly out-of-pocket, what is the deductible, how much are office visits, does it cover preventative medicine, vision, dental? And I'm sure you can come up with many of your own. Sit down before you go shopping and make a list of your needs and wants, and decide in advance what you're willing to give to get. Be aware that once you start getting quotes they can vary as much as 50% for the same person! Remember, you're shopping, and nobody's making you do anything. If one insurer isn't cutting it, move on to another. If you're coming at this cold and have no good recommendations it may be wise to use a broker who represents several companies, as he or she wil be more likely to find the best policy for you, as opposed to selling the company they work for.

Shopping for individual health insurance can be frustrating and time-consuming, but if you come armed with facts you'll be able to navigate this highly competitive and ever-changing field.

Group Insurance: Another type of insurance is the group arrangement. Through this type of insurance, one is compelled to abide by what others are going for, and this is dependent on the insurance providers. They are the ones that decide what is feasible to include in a plan, and on that basis, a group insurance can take place.

Indemnity Plan: This plan allows one to go to any doctor when one needs to; there are no restrictions on this, and it is believed to be more of a traditional plan. One does not need permission to go to a particular health care provider. However, usually what happens is that the member pays 20% of the total fee for treatment while the insurance provider pays 80%. In addition to this, there is a period through which one pays up in this manner, and then the company takes over paying the whole 100%.

HMO: The Health Maintenance Organization is one that allows a member to select a particular doctor off the panel. It is these selected doctors that will deal will with members' problems. The selected doctor is the one that will be approached for checkups of any kind, and if there are problems with a member that cannot be handled by him or her, the member is referred to specialists.

Know Your Health Care Needs

These days, we seem to own plenty of home appliances that are supposed to reduce our workloads and make life easier and simpler. But with those work-saving appliances come some hidden risks that could cause losses that cost us our homes, our contents, and our peace of mind.

Here is a list of home appliances and hazards that you can easily prevent:

1. Dishwasher: Has an average life expectancy of 9 years. Make sure the door seals work properly to prevent water leaks. If it won’t drain properly, check the garbage disposal to see if it’s clear. Water leaks from dishwashers regularly cause water damage in kitchens. If the leak is sudden, you’re probably covered. If the leak keeps happening over time, you probably won’t be covered for loss.

2. Clothes washer: Has an average life expectancy of 10 years. Replace the rubber hoses with flexible stainless steel braided hoses to prevent hose bursts and big water claims. If a hose bursts, the water could spray the laundry room until someone finds it, causing a big water loss.

3. Clothes dryer (gas or electric): Has an average life expectancy of 10 years. Lint build-up inside dryers causes nearly 4,000 fires each year. Make sure your dryer hose vents correctly. Replace plastic vent hoses with metal. Clean the lint filter after every dryer load. Disconnect the dryer and hose twice a year and sweep out the lint under and inside the dryer cabinet. You’ll be shocked at how much lint you’ll find.

4. Toaster/toaster oven: Has an average life expectancy of 5 years. All of these little toasters have a trap door so you can clean them out. Crumbs dry out and become very flammable. Clean out the crumbs to prevent a fire.

5. Microwave: Has an average life expectancy of 8 years. Never use metal inside a microwave. It will start a fire. It will also damage or destroy the magnetron that generates the waves.

6. Gas Stove/Oven: Has an average life expectancy of 15 years. Got electronic burner lighters? If you turn on the burner, and it doesn’t light immediately, turn off the burner. Even three seconds of gas...unlit...can explode when lit. Let the gas dissipate for about 30 seconds before trying again. If you have to, dismantle the burner eye and clean it out. Also, make sure you clean up spills inside the oven which can generate smoke and start a fire. You’ve got a lot of open flame with a gas stove. Watch out for sleeves, dish towels and pot holders.

7. Electric stove: Has an average life expectancy of 13 years. Have a burner or oven element that malfunctions or burns out? Replace it right away. Also, make sure you clean up spills inside the oven which can generate smoke and start a fire.

8. Refrigerator/freezer: Has an average life expectancy of 15 years. This appliance regularly has an icemaker, which has a plastic water line that feeds it. These water lines burst frequently, and they will pump water out onto the floor until someone discovers it. Replace the plastic icemaker line with a copper line.

9. Garbage disposal: Has an average life expectancy of 15 years. If it gets blocked, go to the fusebox and turn off the breaker or fuse before trying to clear it. Don’t ever stick your hand down inside a garbage disposal. Replace the rubber drain line with a braided line.

10. Electrical extension cords: Not an appliance, but cause thousands of fires each year. Don’t use a frayed cord. Look at the amperage rating on the cord, and don’t plug in stuff that exceeds the rating. If you have a cord that you can’t find a rating on, throw it away. Don’t place a cord under a rug, carpet or under a piece of furniture. Check ALL of the cords in your home to make sure that there is no furniture leg resting on a cord. Feel cords in use to see if they are warm or hot. If they are, throw them away and get a heavier cord. Using power strips is safer than cords.

I recommend that if any appliance repairs will cost more than half of the price of a new appliance, replace it.

If you will take care to do these simple tips, you will drastically lessen the chances of having a disastrous home fire. But if you do have a home fire, you will need an expert to help you submit your claim. Never allow the insurance adjuster to handle your claim on your behalf. Their job is to minimize your claim. Your job is to collect every penny you are entitled to collect. See the conflict?

Go to www.ClaimSecrets.com for valuable claim strategies that will put thousands in your pockets.

The Office of Insurance Regulation of the State of Florida released a statement about State Farm Insurance Company’s intent to leave the State of Florida. Commissioner Kevin McCarthy issued a consent order that ends the pending litigation between State Farm and the Insurance Commissioner’s office concerning State Farm’s plan to leave Florida’ property insurance market. State Farm will now continue writing business in Florida’s residential insurance market, and Citizens Property Insurance dodges a bullet that could have been fatal.

The Florida legislature established Citizens Property Insurance, the high risk pool, in 2002, in response to insurance companies that either went bankrupt, cancelled or pulled out of Florida because of repeated hurricanes. So, Citizens Property Insurance places the Florida taxpayers at risk for residential losses. Since 2002, storm after storm have struck Florida, nearly bankrupting Citizens. And Citizens is only one big storm away from ruin. So, when State Farm, the largest residential property insurer in Florida announced that they were leaving the state, the Insurance Commissioner’s office panicked.

This allowed State Farm to figuratively bend the Commissioner over the couch and have its way with him. Prior to State Farm’s announcement that they were leaving Florida, the company requested a rate increase of over 65% which was denied by the Commissioner. But rather than wave goodbye to Florida’s largest insurer, the Commissioner has granted the smaller...yet generous...rate increase of 14.8%. And, it is allowing State Farm to get rid of 125,000 policies that are arguably the highest risk policies they have on the books.

So, not only does State Farm get a rate increase on all policies, but it gets to keep its most profitable business and shove the riskier business off onto the taxpayers of the State of Florida. And for Citizens, 125,000 risky policies is better than 860,000.

You’ve got to admire that kind of moxy. State Farm, being the largest insurer in Florida, took full advantage of their market position and finally showed the State of Florida who is the boss. The regulators and the Florida legislature had little choice and no options but to give in to State Farm’s demands. The press release issued by the Commissioner’s office was a pitiful attempt to save face and spin the story to look like the Commish’s office was protecting Florida’s property owners.

Don’t you wonder if the terms of the consent order was what State Farm wanted all along?