The Essential Car Insurance Facts for Calgary

In Calgary, driving isn't always easy. Drivers must brave weather that can change quickly, and heavy rush hour traffic. Regardless, you'll always need car insurance, whether you are daily commuter, weekend adventurer, or an occasional driver.

Average Car Insurance Costs in Calgary and Alberta 

Although Alberta has a private insurance market, the insurance rates themselves are still regulated by the provincial government. There are two agencies in Alberta that oversee car insurance rates: The Automobile Insurance Rate Board and the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance.

In 2004, Alberta implemented a premium grid on auto insurers, settings maximum premium levels for basic coverage. The grid takes into account where you live, the number of years you've been licensed, the number of claims you've had in the last six years, and how many driving convictions you have on your record. But it is still important to shop around because even with the premium grid, auto insurance rates vary wildly within Alberta.

If you are aged 25 or under in Alberta, you are considered young and will pay around $187/month for Alberta car insurance. However, as you get older your premiums will go down. For example, you'll pay around $152/month at ages 31-35, about $122/month at ages 46-50, and around $100/month at ages 56-60.

Auto insurance rates in Alberta are determined by a variety of factors:

Your gender and age

Your driving experience

Type of vehicle you drive

Location and use of your vehicle

Your driving record

The amount of coverage you've selected

How to get the Cheapest Auto Insurance in Alberta

1.Compare rates among various companies and don't feel like you must stick with the insurers your parents used. There are many insurance providers available, and often they use competitive pricing, meaning different providers may offer the same policies at greatly different prices. Talk to a broker (who compares auto insurance rates in Calgary for you) or use online tools to see where you can get the best rate for the coverage that is right for you. As well, reading auto insurance reviews will help you avoid unexpected issues. Search online for opinions using blogs and forums.

2.Sometimes you can get better rates if you bypass the broker or agent and deal with a direct insurer, like Belairdirect or TD Insurance.

3.Use rate tools and calculators. For instance, if your credit card includes rental car protection, you can save 20 per cent by paying with it. You can use a credit card navigator tool to assist you in finding insurance for a rental car compatible with the value add-ons on your credit card. You can also use an insurance price comparison tool to compare insurance premiums.

4.Bundle your car insurance in Calgary with other policies. For example, if you have multiple vehicles and a home to insure, you can bundle them with one insurance company to get a bundle discount. Insurance companies reward their customers for giving them more business.

5.If you got your policy you were a smoker and can prove you have quit smoking since then and have not returned to it for at least one year, they will reduce your insurance premiums. Smokers typically pay double the amount for premiums!

6.Invest in driving a hybrid vehicle. By purchasing a hybrid, you may save on more than just gas! Inquire with your insurance company to see if they offer discounts for hybrid vehicles.Save money hybrid vehicles.

What It Actually Includes - Houseboat and Yacht Insurance

The categorizes of world  insurance both houseboats and yachts in a similar class. It is because of this that coverage pricing as well as insuring conditions are much the same. The key difference between houseboats and yachts are the following factors: the houseboat's production makes it more challenging to ride the waters and it is not as capable to navigate the rough sea as the yacht.

Houseboat and its counterpart yacht insurance coverage is centered around the boatman's navigational past experience, the boats use, the season in which it is being on the waters and the parallel insurance rates that match the navigational area it is being used in.

In general, after relevant insurance deductibles are paid, this form of insurance covers various things.

Hull Coverage 

This insurance deals with the actual physical damage that the body of the boat incurs, incorporating the ship trailers, equipment, and motor and watercraft fittings. Hull coverage does not cover the following exclusions:

• Wear and tear of the boat 

• Anything on the boat that is damaged as a result of a deficiency in maintenance

Personal Effects Coverage 

This insurance covers the boater's personal effects. Things like apparel, cell phones, I-pods, sports and fishing equipment and so on are protected under this type of policy.

Liability Coverage 

The same way car insurance includes liability that covers an at-fault accident, liability coverage for the houseboat and yacht protects against an at-fault boat accident. This coverage pays for boat repairing or boat replacement as a result of a boat collision that is your fault. It also covers medical care, lost wages and any other costs that come up as a result of an accident that you are responsible for.

Medical Payments Coverage 

The Medical Payments coverage takes care of any medical care costs that arise due to a boat accident. Included in the coverage are: the insured, boat passengers, and water skiers. The good thing about this form of coverage is that it protects, regardless of who it is that is at fault for the accident.

Uninsured Boaters Coverage 

We all know that auto insurance is obligatory. In the case of boat insurance, however, there is no legal obligation to carry related coverage. In the event, you are involved in a boat accident where the other party is at fault but is uninsured or under insured, the uninsured boaters coverage protects you by paying for medical care and lost wages, as well as other expenditures caused by the collision.

A Must have for International Travelers

Travelling is one activity that every individual must undertake at one time or the other; it does not matter what the purpose of travel is, or whether the travel is local or international. A lot of people actually look forward to travelling to other parts of the world for various reasons and purposes, including but not limited to business, tourism, vacation, pilgrimage, education and for medical attention.

The euphoria to travel outside of one's domain usually comes with a lot of preparations, and more often than not, a great deal of resources are deployed to ensure that the travel is actually takes place; and these include acquisition of an international passport, medical tests (where applicable), expensive visa processing fees, flight booking and hotel reservation.

A lot of people will do anything and everything just to actualize their international travel ambition. And to be very candid here, international travel is actually fun and something to look forward to. Travelling, especially international travels, is a form of education for the travellers as they have an opportunity to see new environments, meet new people, and learn how things are done elsewhere.

International travel affords the traveller a lot of opportunities irrespective of their original purpose of travel. These include business opportunities, educational opportunities, employment opportunities and even marital opportunities. Unfortunately, however, it is only these and many other opportunities that these (would-be) travellers see. They seem to be ignorant or care less about risks that are embedded in international travels, so they don't take any steps towards mitigating such risks.

At this juncture, you may be tempted to ask the question: "What are those risks that are associated with international travels?" Very good question. Just read on, as most of those risks are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Risks Associated with International Travels

As interesting, fun, enjoyable, profitable and educative as international travels may be, they also come with their own downsides - the risks - just as every other thing in life. And very fortunately for travellers, most of these risks can be transferred to professional travel insurance providers, by way of buying a travel insurance - also referred to as "travel health insurance" or "travel medical insurance".

These international travel risks are many and varied, and they include, but not limited to:

Sudden illness in the country of destination requiring urgent medical attention and/or hospitalization.
Involvement in an accident leading to bodily injuries, temporary or permanent disability, or death
Loss of checked-in baggage
Loss of valuable items such as international passport, drivers' licence, national identity card, etc.

Personal liabilities abroad
Emergency dental cases
Hijacking
Arrest by law enforcement agencies requiring bail and legal defence
Another question that may be asked at this juncture is: "Do travel insurance policies cover all the above-mentioned risks?" And the answer is a big YES, and so much more.
Covers and Benefits Provided by Major Travel Insurance Policies

Below is a list of most of the covers and benefits provided by travel insurance policies - depending on the providers. So the next time you buy a travel insurance policy, look out for these covers and benefits.

Medical Expenses and hospitalization abroad
Emergency Medical Evacuation
Repatriation after treatment
Emergency dental care
Repatriation of family member travelling with the insured
Travel of one Immediate Family Member
Emergency Return Home following Death of Close Relative
Repatriation of Mortal Remains
Medical Assistance
Legal Assistance
Pre-Departure Services
International General Assistance
Abroad Information Assistance about lost Luggage and Passport,
Delivery of Medicines
Legal Defence
Advance of Bail Bond
Hijacking in means of Public Transport
Loss of Passport, driving license, national identity card abroad
Compensation for in-flight loss of checked-in baggage
Compensation for delay in the arrival of luggage
Delayed Departure
Location and forwarding of baggage and personal effects.
Accidental Death
Permanent Disability
Personal Civil Liability
Trip Cancellation Expenses
Risks Not Covered By Travel Insurance Policies

Having talked about the covers and benefits afforded by travel insurance, it is also important to consider the risks that are not covered by most of these policies, as listed below:

Participation in criminal acts, or as a result of his/her fraudulent, seriously negligent or reckless actions including those actions of the Insured in a state of derangement or under psychiatric treatment costs for which are themselves excluded;
Natural phenomena such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, atypical cyclonic storms, falling objects from space and aerolites, and in general any extraordinary atmospheric, meteorological, seismic or geological phenomenon any other type of natural disaster;
Events arising from terrorism, mutiny or crowd disturbances;
Events or actions of the Armed Forces or Security Forces in peacetime;
Wars, with or without prior declaration, and any conflicts or international interventions using force or duress or military operations of whatever type.
Participation in bets, challenges or brawls, save in the case of legitimate defence or necessity;
Pre-existing Illness or injuries
Participation in competitions, sports, and preparatory or training tests;
Motor racing or motorcycle racing, horse riding, climbing, pot holing, boxing, wrestling in any of its modes, martial arts, parachuting, hot air ballooning, free falling, gliding and, in general, any sport or recreational activity that is known to be dangerous;
Participation in competitions or tournaments organized by sporting federations or similar organizations.
Hazardous winter and/or summer sports such as skiing and/or similar sports.
Work-related accidents
Internationally and locally recognized epidemics.
Illnesses or injuries arising from chronic ailments or from those that existed prior to the inception date of the policy;
Death or injuries as a result of suicide or attempted suicide or any self-inflicted injuries.
Illness, injuries or pathological states caused by the consumption of alcohol, drugs, toxic substances, narcotics or medicines acquired without medical prescription, as well as any kind of mental illness or mental imbalance;
Illness or injuries caused by pregnancy and childbirth or any complication therefore or voluntary termination of pregnancy;
Where to Buy Travel Insurances
Travel insurances can be bought online - and there are many travel insurance providers to buy from. All you need to do is locate your preferred provider, and complete the online form or questionnaire, and make your payment, and policy is made available to you for immediate printing or sent to your email address.

You can also buy travel insurance offline from a local insurance company or travel agency. whatever method of purchase you choose, you can rest assured that you will be fully protected against insurable gravel insurance risks.

Using Your Travel Insurance

After you have bought your travel insurance policy, whether it is self-purchased using the provider's online portal, at a travel agency or through a local insurance company, you should make sure that you do not forget to take the document with you while travelling. This is so important because you may be required to produce that document by relevant bodies.

You should take particular note of your policy number (if possible copy the number somewhere else) as it will be required by the service providers to property identify you when you call them for assistance.

Another thing you should take note of on your travel insurance certificate or policy document is the Assistance Company's telephone numbers that you need to call when you need help. These numbers are always conspicuously written on the travel insurance document - Most important note down.

How It Works and If It's Worth It- Pet Insurance

Pet owners are infamous for lavishing every comfort and luxury onto their animals. Cats have veritable palaces made of scratching posts, and dogs often have toy boxes overflowing in ways that would make a child jealous. It's no wonder pets occupy so much time and space in their owner's lives; they're basically family the moment they come home with you. You fondly remember your childhood dog or cat and fondly look forward to the next decade or two that your furry friend has with you. So, consider the same protections you'd get for anyone else in your family, and spend a little on pet insurance.

If you, like most people, are unfamiliar with pet insurance, it's simpler to describe it as pet health insurance. Most pet insurance policies are primarily for your pet's veterinary visit costs and other medical necessities, like prescription medications. Usually pet insurance is a monthly payment, much like a health or car insurance policy, and comes with a per-year or per-instance deductible. Your pet's visits to the vets may come with co-pays and exchanges of policy information much like any of your own visits to your doctor. This may also lighten the cost of your pet's regular vaccinations.

Now that you know what it is, the question is if it's worth it. While there's numerous types of pet insurance plans for every lifestyle, you should evaluate your own habits with your pet before choosing whether to commit. Keep in mind that even pet medical bills are very expensive.

Treatments for life-threatening conditions like cancer can cost several thousand dollars. Chronic conditions can be just as costly, when your pet requires constant and repeated treatment that racks up in price. Those with more money are more likely to be able to cover medical costs of their pets without assistance, but those with less are much more likely to have to make tough economic decisions about their pet's health and well being.

The purpose of insurance is paying in preparation for the worst you hope never comes. The actual cost-benefit varies according to what sort of policy you invest in, but in general, they're designed to offset the heavy costs of accident and illness.

Take it to account your lifestyle and the type of activities you and your pet partake in. If you have an outdoor cat, remember that the large swaths of time it spends wandering about have their own dangers. Dogs, whether you're an urban dog walker or trail hiker, are exposed to just as many dangers. While this isn't supposed to invoke paranoia, dogs and cats are notoriously good at getting into things they shouldn't, and leaving you to clean up the mess-including their forays into tasting chocolate or other toxic food. Emergency medical treatment from this has a higher price tag than the average veterinarian visit and can easily clear out savings to save your dog or cat's life.

Before you buy anything, read your prospective policy very carefully and multiple times. Get someone to go over the exact wording of clauses, stipulations, and other terms of the policy. You need to be incredibly familiar with what is claimable for your pet's health under the policy, and make sure to compare heavily between companies. Don't assume that certain qualities are universal between two policies.

When the unfortunate time comes to make a claim for your pet's well being, you need to be sure that you can get the coverage your pet deserves. Ask for specifics on what constitutes things like preexisting conditions, congenital conditions, or developmental conditions. These are often used as reasons for denial of coverage. Note specifically how much you pay in your monthly fee, and how your premium will progress.

An alternative to contractual pet insurance is self-insuring. Set up a specific savings account with the sole purpose of pooling money for eventual pet health care. This way you can keep an eye on the exact amount of money you have available for emergencies, and something to pull from for regular check-ups and vaccinations on your pet. This does require discipline and time, so it's not particularly helpful if your pet immediately needs extensive health care after you've just brought them home. It helps to start your savings with a larger deposit at first, and do smaller weekly or monthly incremental deposits to build up to it.

Pet insurance is a potential tool to help keep your furry friend healthy, happy, and in your life for years to come. It's a solution for when your pet is ailing and you aren't equipped monetarily to help them, but also provides a soundness of mind. If you do decide to invest in pet insurance, it's better to do it sooner rather than later. Choose the plan-or not-that best fits your pet's needs and your own budget.Best look after.

Long-Term Care Insurance Policy

Long-term insurance policy best for everyone. "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,". I am sure Mark Twain wasn't thinking about Long-Term Care or today's news media when he said this long ago. Today it is very easy to place a news story for people to consume. Between traditional TV and radio, an expanded 24/7 news cycle with cable news there is a lot of information available. The biggest difference today, like the old days when anyone with a printing press could print anything they like, now you just need a computer to create a news story. It seems almost everyone has a computer or smart phone and they are not afraid to use it.

The topic of Long-Term Care has become a big one with an aging America. By 2030, 1 in 4 Americans will be over the age of 50. By 2050, 1 of every 5 Americans will be 65+ according to data from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It seems like once you get around the age of 50 the conversation about Long-Term Care starts coming up. In today's world that means you hit the Internet and see what information you can find. However, some articles are providing misleading or even completely erroneous information on Long-Term Care Insurance.

We have heard the term fake news, but perhaps the best way to define what is being written about Long-Term Care is just "lazy news" or "advocacy news". It seems like everyone with a computer, including myself, has an agenda. How much of this is "truth" is a matter to discuss.

Generally, there is more to a story... and the stuff left out is usually very important. The stories about Long-Term Care insurance premium rate increases are very misleading. They usually leave out many details. The reporters or "professionals" writing these articles often have an agenda to push the public in one direction or another.

The other thing to remember is the Internet is also "old news" as nothing on the Internet usually gets deleted. You may find and read something that is old but that story may have been updated numerous times since the first story was published making the information you are reading outdated. You must do more due diligence today to see if you are getting accurate information.

Since the issue of planning for the financial costs and burdens of aging is so important to American families you should know the facts. Often the reason the articles talk about premium increases is to scare the consumer. Maybe the writer wants the government to pay for all long-term care (not going to happen as too many people require care and budgets are tight as it is trying to take care of those with little or no savings). Perhaps the writer wants to have the consumer spend large sums of money of certain type of financial product they are selling. The consumer should understand the truth, so they can plan in advance with more peace-of-mind.

These increases that are being reported are primarily on "legacy products" These are older plans that were priced well before the interest rate crash and rate stabilization regulations.

Today, all plans are priced with the very low interest rate environment in mind (interest rates have been low in the United States over the last decade). These older plans which had increases were based on a few factors:

· Interest rates

· Lapse rates (meaning, how many people drop their policies. In practice, very few do, but this was not factored into premium pricing on many older plans)

· Claims and underwriting experience

These policies are paying huge benefits as well. In 2017 over $9.2 billion was paid in benefits to American families protecting assets and easing family burden.

The fact is these older policies were under priced to start with and even with increases they still have outstanding value and huge benefits. Nobody likes an increase, but you must put that increase in perspective. Many of these people I speak with have huge benefits which have been increasing 5% compounded every year since they had the policy. Many have unlimited lifetime benefits as well. Since they have these huge benefits many can reduce the benefit or inflation factor to keep the premium the same. As their benefits increase far greater compared to the cost of long-term care they remain in an outstanding position.

Today's Long-Term Care insurance policies remain very affordable as people start purchasing plans prior to retirement. Underwriting is more conservative but since consumers are younger most people can still find an appropriate plan.

Experts say that the risks of increases are small but like anything there is always a chance of an approved increase. However, if you read some of the articles being published you would think the industry is dead and consumers no longer have any interest in the product.

The fact is there are still numerous insurance companies marketing Long-Term Care insurance. Consumer interest has never been greater. As I speak to other Long-Term Care Insurance specialists, like myself, we have all noticed a big increase in both consumer awareness and interest. Consumers are younger, more knowledgeable with the risks (often with first-hand experience with an elder parent or other family member) and we are bombarded with requests for information and quotes.

Consumers are seeking help from Long-Term Care specialists as most financial adviser and general insurance agents have limited knowledge and experience with the products, underwriting, policy design, benefit options and the federal/state partnership program which is available in most states. Therefore, some of these professionals push consumers into options they are more comfortable with despite the fact they might not be the best and most affordable way to address the costs and burdens of aging.

Long-Term Care Insurance, despite what you read, is very affordable for most people. With regulation and better pricing consumers enjoy additional peace-of-mind knowing they have a plan they can count on in the decades to come that will remain affordable once they retire and get older.

Many people can obtain outstanding coverage for under $150 a month, some even under $100. Premiums are based on your age at the time to get a plan, your health and the amount of benefits who wish to have. Most of the people I speak with nationwide are from ages 45 to 60.

A true Long-Term Care specialist will ask you numerous questions about your health, family history and retirement plans in order to make the proper recommendation. Anyone willing to give you "quotes" without asking very many questions should be avoided.

Long-Term Care insurance is custom designed. Plus, every insurance company has its own underwriting criteria. A true Long-Term Care specialist will represent most or all the major companies. They will have a keen understanding of underwriting and policy design. They should have processed many claims, so they have the first-hand knowledge of how these policies get used at the time of claim.

Finally, a real Long-Term Care specialist will not steer you to certain type of policy without spending time speaking with you to determine which type of plan fits your specific situation. Working with a Long-Term Care specialist will allow you to get the accurate information you seek. There are several reference websites for research:

LTC News offers articles and resources: http://www.ltcnews.com

US Department of Health and Human Services: https://longtermcare.acl.gov/

The main concern for most people is they understand care giving is hard. An older spouse can't be expected to be a caregiver without impact their own health. Adult children and their own families, careers and responsibilities. Paid care is expensive and drains savings and impacts lifestyle.

For many, Long-Term Care Insurance is easy, affordable, rate stable income and asset protection. It reduces the burdens which your aging will have on your family. However, speak with a true specialist. There are not many Long-Term Care specialists with extensive experience, but I help people nationwide and a number of others like myself do as well. Peoples protection.