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Identity theft can destroy a person’s life. Adding identity theft protection as an endorsement to an existing homeowners policy can offer consumers security and peace of mind.

Each year millions of Americans learn the hard way how easy it is for someone to steal their identity. With as little information as your name, Social Security Number and date of birth, a thief can use this information to apply for any number of things, from a credit card to a driver’s license. Rightly, identity theft can cause a great amount of stress for the victim. Getting one’s life back on track after such an event is not only difficult, but also time-consuming and expensive.

Fortunately, there is an easy and cost effective way for families to prevent this theft from happening. A number of homeowners insurance companies cover identity theft as a part of their insurance policy, either as a separate policy or as an endorsement to an existing policy. In fact, many insurance companies have an existing identity theft clause in their insurance policies, and this protection comes at no additional cost to the consumer. With most policies, identity theft coverage provides the victim reimbursement for expenses lost during the process, including phone bills, lost wages, mailing costs, and even pre-approved legal fees. Sometimes, fraud specialists are provided to guide the victim through the exhaustive and difficult process of restoring his or her identity.

Anyone with a bank account, credit card, driver’s license or social security card is at risk for identity theft. Homeowners with an existing policy should speak with their agent to determine what their basic policy covers and to discuss the benefits of adding identity theft protection as an endorsement. Homeowners seeking new policies should shop around for the best identity theft insurance policy, as rates and protection levels can vary from company to company. In addition, consumers should check their credit cards to see what coverage they might offer in the event of identity theft. Knowing what coverage is already available will better enable consumers to purchase an endorsement policy that is right for them.

Adding identity theft insurance is a small investment that will go a long way toward securing a family’s peace of mind.

To learn more call 1.888.525.2210 visit http://www.floridainsurance.com

Homeowners insurance policies should be reviewed as your life situation changes. After going through a divorce, it’s important for you to amend your homeowners insurance documents.

After you and your spouse got married, it’s safe to assume that you moved in together. Maybe the two of you even bought a house together shortly after tying the knot. If you are now going through a divorce, one of you will probably be moving out of the house you share. It doesn’t matter if you are the spouse keeping the house or if you are the one moving out, you need to be prepared to make the appropriate changes to your homeowners insurance policy.

Depending on who is listed as the owner of the home and whether you or your ex-spouse are moving following a divorce, you may have to make some adjustments to your homeowners insurance policy and fill out appropriate paperwork. Your policy should only have the name of the current homeowner listed.

If you have a mortgage on your home, your insurance policy will require that you list the name and address of the financial institution that currently holds your mortgage account. Make sure that you update the information on the deed, mortgage and homeowners policy if ownership changes after the divorce proceedings. Not updating this information could cause trouble for you in the event that you have to make a claim in the future.

After a divorce, you may wish to change the locks on your house or install a new security system. If you choose to do so, make sure to alert your homeowners insurance company, as you may be eligible for a discount on your premiums for the upgrade in security measures.

Should you or your ex-spouse move to a rental property during or following divorce proceedings, you should consider purchasing renter’s insurance to protect personal items as well as to provide you with liability coverage.

If you are going through a divorce and need to amend your current homeowners policy, purchase a new policy or get renter’s insurance, you should contact a licensed Florida homeowners insurance agent who will help you fine tune your policy or choose another policy that best fits your needs.

Milla Tawnie writes for Orlando auto insurance and Orlando home insurance agency, the Florida Insurance Group. To learn more or to get auto and home insurance quotes, visit FloridaInsurance.com

When applying for auto insurance, consumers want to get the best deal possible. In order to get the best deal, motorists need to provide accurate information on their applications.

By providing agents with accurate information, motorists can be sure that they are getting the lowest premium based on their exact circumstances. Determining your auto insurance premium will depend on many factors, including where you live, the kind of car your drive, how much you drive, how much coverage you want, your driving record and even your age. If an error is made in reporting any of these important facts, your rates will not be quoted correctly.

Auto insurance misquotes can happen when your application information differs from your actual driving record. All auto insurance companies ask states’ motor-vehicle divisions to verify the records of drivers they insure. So, if you tell your insurance agent you have a perfect driving record, and it turns out that you don’t, your insurance company will end up charging you higher premiums than your agent quotes. To avoid these kinds of misquotes, make sure you provide accurate information about your driving record and any other facts that could affect the cost of insurance, such as the make of your car or how far you commute to work. It may be a good idea to spend some time reviewing your driving history and calculating how much you use your vehicle and for what purpose. If you collect your information carefully, you have a better chance of providing information that will lead to an accurate quote. Also, make sure you verify all of the information you’ve gathered before signing the application.

Getting the right quote on an auto insurance policy requires responsibility on the part of the consumer. The policy cannot be properly rated unless correct and complete information is provided. Without accurate information being given to the insurance companies, the quotes you receive will not be reflective of the rates you will actually end up paying. Supplying an insurance company with information that is inaccurate or incomplete will never result in lower premiums. Instead, it will simply waste your time, and you’ll end up paying higher rates than you anticipated.

When applying for auto insurance, contact a licensed Florida insurance agent who can help you review all of the information you need to secure an accurate quote. Even if you are searching for quotes online, make sure there is a licensed agent you can contact with questions.

Milla Tawnie writes for Orlando auto insurance and Orlando home insurance agency, the Florida Insurance Group. To learn more or to get auto and home insurance quotes, visit FloridaInsurance.com

If you’re heading off for summer vacation this month, you should make sure your home and its contents are protected. With residents away from their homes, burglars may be more inclined to target them.

One of the most frightening things that can happen to a person is to have his or her home broken into. A burglary is an unfortunate event that can ravish a family’s sense of security and can lead to great frustration as they fight to replace their possessions that were stolen or damaged. According to the Huffington Post, over 28,000 property crimes occur each day and more than 8,000 of them are burglaries. That means one burglary occurs every 10 seconds. In light of such staggering statistics, homeowners need to make sure that their possessions are protected.

While theft and burglary from the home is covered under most homeowners insurance policies, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about protecting yourself in the event of a burglary. The cost of home insurance premiums can depend on a number of different factors, and chief among them is the likelihood of a future home burglary. Many factors go into determining this risk, including the crime statistics in your neighborhood.

To keep your home protected, your best bet is to install a home security system that will alert an outside service. Increasing the security of your home will allow insurance companies to offer you the greatest savings. Even if you choose not to have a home security system installed that will deter burglars from targeting your home, you may still wish to have a neighbor or family member keep a close eye on your home while you’re away.

Another way to protect your home from burglary is to make sure you have enough coverage for your personal items in your home. A standard homeowner’s policy will cover most of the items in your home, but some of these items may have coverage limits. If you have valuable items such as jewelry, electronics, antiques, coins or artwork, you may want to add extra coverage to your policy in the form of endorsements.

If you’re planning to travel soon and want to secure the contents of your home, you should contact your agent to discuss what items are covered under your existing policy and even consider adding coverage.

Milla Tawnie writes for Orlando auto insurance and Orlando home insurance agency, the Florida Insurance Group. To learn more or to get auto and home insurance quotes, visit FloridaInsurance.com

Turning 65 is a landmark in many ways. Having Medicare is another major difference.

“You’d think that with the number of people turning 65 in the nation that they would be aware of what they need to do to get Medicare and how it will affect them. Interestingly enough, there are a great number of people who don’t have a clue what they need to do to get Medicare. This is largely due to all the confusing and conflicting information floating around in the market about what they need to do and when they need to do it. I’ve had many seniors call about various ads and flyers they’ve received in the mail, most of which have inaccurate information in them,” stated Richard Cantu with Medicare supplements resource, GoMedigap.com.

The problem with all the conflicting information about Medicare and how to apply for it, etc., is that it’s ultimately so confusing that many people try and ignore it and don’t realize how important it is to have Medicare coverage. This may be dangerous in more ways than one if they don’t have Medicare when they need it the most; when something happens and they need medical help.

“Keep in mind that Medicare policies by themselves are not enough to cover everything and that in order to fill in the ‘gaps,’ seniors need to have Medicare supplements. This is the only way they will be covered for the things they need,” commented Cantu.

If the primary problem is that the options are not clear about what to choose, this is the time to contact a Medicare insurance agent and start asking questions. Things just recently changed in regard to the type of plans and Medicare supplements that are sold to the public, and there is definitely a whole lot of new plans, plans that no longer exist, items that are no longer covered, and other changes that people need to know about in order to make an informed decision before they choose what plans they think will work for them.

Choosing the best Medicare policy and Medicare supplements to fill in the gaps is a bit of an art; and art that a Medicare insurance agent is very good at. “Their advice is free, their knowledge second to none, and their dedication to helping seniors is quite evident when you call for advice and guidance,” said Cantu.

To learn more about Medicare, Medicare supplements, or Medicare supplement insurance visit http://www.gomedigap.com.

It’s a good idea to know when to apply for Medicare. It saves the hassle of scrambling later.

“If you are not getting Social Security benefits, then before you turn 65, you need to apply for Medicare. It is not, contrary to popular opinion, an automatic enrolment,” indicated Richard Cantu with Medicare supplements resource, GoMedigap.com. The preliminary enrollment period for Medicare actually begins three months before a person turns 65 and includes their birth month and end three months after that month. While that may sounds confusing, it is easily clarified by contacting a local Medicare health insurance agent.

“If by chance you are still working, and in this day and age that is far more common that it used to be, you may not need to enroll in Part B when you hit age 65. Here is how that works. If your employer has over 20 workers and offers group insurance that you are participating in, your primary medical cover is your work health insurance. That then means Medicare would play a secondary role,” Cantu explained.

Ultimately, that would mean being able to delay enrolling in Part B until (if and when) employer coverage is lost. “Basically, that avoids duplication of Part B cover and paying Part B premiums. However, don’t assume anything here. Always check if that is the right thing to do, as things in health care are changing so rapidly these days, it’s easy to miss something,” he added.

What if a person does not qualify for Medicare because they did not work the required number of years at a company that offered Medicare covered employment? In cases like that, the worker may opt to buy into Medicare. For example, Part A’s 2010 monthly premium would be about $461 if there were less than 30 quarters of Medicare covered work. For those who had 30 to 39 quarters covered, they would pay roughly $254 a month. For Part B cover, the monthly payments would start at $96.40 and could go as high as $353.60; something that is solely dependent on Medicare means testing.

“There are a number of other ins and outs that you would need to know when dealing with initial enrollment periods versus general open enrollment and how penalties may be assessed for delaying enrollment in Part B for every year they delay enrolling. Typically, these issues are things that are best discussed either in person or on the phone, and I’d be happy to help anyone who has questions,” suggested Cantu.

To learn more about Medicare, Medicare supplements, or Medicare supplement insurance visit http://www.gomedigap.com.

In a world gone mad with greed, hospices are now the target of Medicare fraud. Claims are being made for people who are not dying.

Most people associate hospices with caring, quite, dignified palliative care for those who need assistance and who would otherwise be alone and in pain and fear. Hospice care, as we mentioned in another article, is a right under the Medicare program and many people have cheered at this inclusion. It’s a nod in the right direction for our society as a whole; demonstrating that we respect and honor those who will pass on before us, and that they deserve hospice care.

If people actually knew that hospices are now the targets of scams and fraudulent schemes, they would be angered beyond reason. That is what is happening, largely because while many only see the façade of the hospice – the caring ministers and nurses – the hospices these days are owned by big business and big business functions best on big profits.

What’s the scam? The scam is that money is being made hand over fist through Medicare reimbursements for people who are not dying and who don’t qualify for the Medicare Hospice Benefit. What is even worse is when this kind of fraud is the cause of patients and families not getting treatments they may need that could improve their lives. This has to stop.

Check out some of the stories online where big business hospice companies have handed out some mega-settlement money to divert attention from the fact that their hospices admit and readmit non-terminal patients and then fraudulently bills Medicare (and Medicaid). Here is one classic example: Odyssey Hospice, a huge national hospice company, paid out $12.9 million in 2006 for this type of fraud and then – well, they kept right on doing business they way they always had.

If you want another example, take the one of SouthernCare who coughed up $25 million in 2009 thanks to a whistleblower lawsuit. Both of these large companies paid their fines, but apparently nothing changed. It’s a fact that hospices are mega business opportunities. It’s a fact that many have revenues that top $600 million a year. It’s also a fact that they are making money on the backs of innocent people.

Are you aware of Medicare hospice fraud? If you are, it’s time to speak out and do something about it. The dignity of the dying is crucial and the future of the Medicare hospice benefit hangs in the balance with fraud continuing to strip the system of dollars that could be used for the benefit of the patients and not big business.

Richard Cantu is with Medicare supplements resource, GoMedigap.com. To learn more about Medicare, Medicare supplements, or Medicare supplement insurance visit GoMedigap.com.

With all the new changes in Medicare, it’s hard to keep track of what was then and what is now. This article should help you.

Anytime something changes, whether it’s how your bank processes your checks or when your health care plans change, like with Medicare, it tends to throw people for a loop. Makes sense; after all when you get used to doing something one way, suddenly finding out it’s now different is disconcerting.

This is particularly true with Medicare supplement plans. For those of you with the older plans, you had other choices and other plans eliminated at the beginning of June 2010. The ones eliminated were the Medigap plans you bought from a private insurance carrier. Good news: basic Medicare and prescription drug coverage has not been affected. So what do you have now? There are 12 variations of Medicare supplement plans A through to L; that’s Plan A to Plan L.

Here’s what you need to know as a quick reference. Plans E,H,I and J no longer exist, but if you had any one of those plans when they were eliminated, you got to keep them if that is what you wanted to do. If there was another plan that suited your needs much better, then perhaps you switched to one of the newer ones. By now, you will have a good idea of whether or not the switch was a good idea, or you may be planning to switch at the next open enrollment period.

By the first of June, you were also able to buy two new plans, M and N, which effectively offered expanded coverage. Plan F is still being sold or in other words, it’s still alive and kicking, so you can certainly look for it when you make any changes to your Medicare plans.

In all the confusion of the changes, a great many people missed out on what some of the other important changes were and may not realize that things they had before might no longer exist. For instance, preventive care and at-home recovery benefits were deleted from all supplement policies because they were not being used very much. This is something to consider overall for Medicare and other medical services; if you want them, use them or lose them.

Plan G offers 100% coverage for excess charges as opposed to the previous 80% coverage and you will find a new hospice benefit added to all of the plans with the exception of Plans K and L (they already have hospice benefits). The “new” hospice benefit offers cost sharing for all Part A eligible hospice and respite care expenses. Medicare has cover for inpatient respite care for up to five days, less your co-pay amount of 5% of the daily benefit. The hospice benefit picks up the 5% co-pay.

The best overall news in case you missed it has to do with the two new Medigap plans, M and N. They are set up give beneficiaries lower estimated premiums and higher cost sharing responsibilities. In Plan M you will find it includes 50% coverage of Medicare Part A deductible, but doesn’t cover Medicare Part B deductible. Plan N offers 100% coverage of Part A deductible, but zero cover for Part B deductible. Cover for the B deductible is now subject to a new co-pay arrangement.

Are there more changes you may need to be aware of for the coming year? Oh definitely, but it’s best to just call your local Medigap insurance agent and start asking questions. They know right away the things that you will need to know to make an informed health insurance purchase.

Richard Cantu is with Medicare supplements resource, GoMedigap.com. To learn more about Medicare, Medicare supplements, or Medicare supplement insurance visit GoMedigap.com.

If you’re ready to quote your insurance website visitors when they land on your site, you’re marketing the smart way.

If you don’t have a quoting function on your insurance marketing website, you may be losing visitors that convert. Meaning, while you may still get traffic, it may not stay and buy a product. Why is this? If people are looking for health insurance rates and want to compare them to other plans, they want quotes – right NOW. If you don’t have a way to do that, that visitor may click away to the competition.

The truth about the insurance market these days is that it is highly competitive and consumers demand enough information to make up their minds about what they need in terms of health insurance. They don’t “just” want health insurance quotes, they also want information about how the various plans work, what the plans cost, how it will fit their needs, what they can do if they are on a budget, and a whole host of other questions.

You need to be able to engage your traffic, answer their questions, provide prompt quotes and tell them the straight goods right up front. For this reason, you need a professionally designed insurance website that gets your message across clearly and with impact. Ask yourself this question: What is the most important thing that I need to tell my customers? Once you have the answer to that, you have the core reason for your website.

To get the right kind of insurance website, partner up with an insurance search engine optimization (SEO) company. If you have an SEO company in your corner, you will have a dynamic, clean, crisp, personalized website that others will envy. It will be the talk of the town. You also want your SEO company to know what they are doing when it comes to insurance agency marketing, ideally doing it every day. When you find that company, your website will be tailored to Web 2.0 specifications and make you proud when it’s finished and launched.

When you choose an insurance search engine optimization company, choose one that does “not” do cookie cutter websites – you know what we mean; everyone has the same site with a different company name slapped into the text. You want original ideas, original social media ideas, original articles and news releases, and original website content. If it isn’t original, you have a major problem on your hands.

And now for another question: “Can you afford to ‘not’ have an insurance search engine optimization company doing your website design, content and social media?” If you have tried to do everything by yourself, you know that you can’t do “everything” by yourself. Hiring a company that is able to provide you with professional insurance agency marketing expertise is your number one choice.

ReadytoQuote insurance marketing company, ReadytoQuote.com. ReadytoQuote.com specializes in marketing insurance websites online. Learn more at ReadytoQuote.com.

If you want to stand out in the milieu of insurance marketing websites on the Internet, you have to be “different.”

We don’t mean different in the sense that you have a neon motif for your site or it looks like something a youngster would put together for their first site. We mean different in the sense that your website is the latest, hottest and most up-to-date design that conforms to Web 2.0 requirements. Insurance search engine optimization is changing fast, and he who hesitates usually gets stuck doing things the “old way.”

This isn’t to say that the “old way” of doing things won’t get you traffic; it just won’t get you the “same” kind of traffic you’d get by having your insurance website professionally designed with the right stuff. So, really, to be truly unique and one of a kind, you have to have some really great stuff going for you; something that makes your site stand out and makes people want to come back to it and yes, buy something.

Nodding your head right about now? That makes sense, because in today’s online world, selling health insurance is rough and tumble, which means you need a leg up to be “the site with some great stuff on it.” That little extra edge that will make your site slowly and consistently work its way up in the rankings on Google. Slow and steady wins the race and gives you staying power, so don’t be in a hurry to get where you are going. Take the time to do it right the first time.

To do it right the first time, you need a company that will create a website persona for you that gives you that extra “oomph” and credibility. You want reliability, dedication and a presence that tells people “you” really know your stuff. After all, insurance marketing is as much about the person behind the website as it is about the products. This means you need to talk directly to the people who would buy what you’re selling –mention things like reasonable health insurance, how to choose what plan best suits different people, what preferred status means and so on.

Having said that, what you would also want is to work with a search engine optimization company that captures the true essence of “you” in your insurance website design. If people know who you are and trust you, they will buy from you. It’s just that simple.

So, if you have an insurance website with personality, fresh content (yes, content is still king), up to the minute blog articles, regular news releases about your area of expertise, and an insurance search engine optimization company in the background masterminding your climb to success – you’ve got the world by the tail. You also have the time to tend your online and/or brick and mortar store without worrying about what’s going on with your online website. Sweet! Don’t wait another minute to jump start your insurance website.

ReadytoQuote insurance marketing company, ReadytoQuote.com. ReadytoQuote.com specializes in marketing insurance websites online. Learn more at ReadytoQuote.com.