Personal Accident Insurance Online
Accident Shield Online Insurance is a worldwide, Personal Accident Cover that is specially designed to protect you from the following unforeseen events - Death, Total Disability and Permanent Partial Disability. This comprehensive policy will help your family meet its financial commitments in the hour of need.
This is available for the age band between 5 to 70 years. The proposer's age should be between 18 to 70 years.
Key Benefits
- Instant Coverage
- No Medical Examination
- Worldwide Cover
- Three convenient plans to choose from
- Silver, Gold and Platinum
- Educational Grant for 2 dependant children up to Rs. 10000/- per policy
- Family discount of 10% for insuring 3 or more people in a family
- Simple and easy claims process
Other Benefits of Car Insurance Online
- Special Model Wise Discounts on Own Damage Premium for your car.
- Discount in premium up to 5% on the Own Damage Premium (or) Max of Rs. 200/- for a valid Member of Automobile Association of India.
- Discount in premium up to 2.5% on the Own Damage Premium (or) Max of Rs. 500/- on Installation of Anti-Theft Device in your car.
- Discount of Rs. 100/- in Third Party Basic Premium on reduction in Limits of Liability for Third Party Property Damage.
- Discount of 35% on Own Damage Premium subject to a maximum of Rs. 2,500/- on opting maximum voluntary deductible of Rs. 15,000/-
- Transfer of No Claim Bonus (NCB) from other insurance company on renewal with Royal Sundaram’s Car Insurance Online Policy
Important Features of Car Insurance Online
- Protection from loss of car or damage to your car.
- Unlimited Liability for Third Party death/ injury Claims.
- Indemnity for third party property damage up to a limit of Rs. 7.5 lakhs.
- Speedy authorisation of repairs to get your car back on the road.
- Personal Accident Cover for you, your paid driver and the occupants in the car.
- Customer Helpline to give you support and guidance when you need it.
- Efficient and worry free claims service to give you peace of mind.
- First Information Report is not required (Unless legally mandatory)
A Hospital Cash Insurance policy is supplementary to your Health Policy.
Hospital Cash Insurance and Health Insurance are not the same. The compensation provided by Hospital Cash Insurance does not cover the cost of medical treatment. While a Health Insurance policy only covers the cost of medical treatment incurred by the policy holder, Hospital Cash acts as supplementary to health insurance as it provides cash benefit aimed towards:Special diet expenses of the patientTo and fro conveyance from hospital and backExtra bed for person staying with the patient
Instant benefit available by opting for a Hospital Cash Insurance is a Saving in Income Tax. Premium paid for getting Hospital Cash Insurance is eligible for tax deduction as per Section 80D of Income Tax
A Hospital Cash Plan is available to persons between the age of 1 year and 60 years at the commencement date of the Policy. Renewal is accepted up to 70 years.
This cover is available for Self, Spouse, Dependant Children and Dependant Parents.
This policy also provides daily benefit for hospitalization due to terror attacks.
PAYING FOR HOME CARE
Planning ahead is crucial in this sensitive area
Just like everything else, the costs of care for the elderly increases over time, which means the need for planning for this possible future financial burden has become more important.
Currently, the average annual fees for a private nursing home in England is £25,552 and for a residential home £18,420, which can put quite an extra financial burden on those needing care, or in many cases the families of those needing care.
Even opting for community home care doesn’t come cheap. Based on 7.25 hours home care a week, the average cost is currently £7,228 a year. (source: PSSRU unit costs of Health & Social Care 2003)
Those with their own property or with other assets will often not qualify for any, or only limited, assistance from their local authority with the cost of non-essential nursing or other care.
In England and Northern Ireland the value of assets that would exclude you from financial assistance is only £21,000.
With about 43 per cent of those aged over 65, that’s about 4 million people (source: Age Concern) having a longstanding illness that restricts their daily activities, the possibility of needing to find funding for long term care is high for this age group and their families.
Planning in advance is the best way to deal with this future potential financial burden. Unfortunately, many leave planning until the last moment, which often results in the sale of the family home to fund the care home fees.
Not only does this option often bring emotional upset, but it also denies the elderly person of the choice about how, when and where they would want to be cared for. However, it may be possible to consider the use of a property trust attached to a will to provide some level of protection from selling the home.
INSURANCE
The use of a long-term care insurance plan may help change the situation dramatically.
By using either a lump-sum investment or a regular premium plan, funds can be provided in the future to cover, or at least help significantly towards, the cost of care.
Importantly, planning in this way should provide the freedom to be able to make decisions about the type of care you want to receive, and where you want to receive it, without the worry and rush of sorting out immediate care insurance.
Many elderly people would at least like to start receiving care in their own homes, where they feel secure and surrounded by the familiarity of every day life.
Where this is appropriate from a medical point of view, a long-term care plan should give you the flexibility to make this sort of decision.
Although it may seem a morbid sort of thing to talk about while you are still hale and hearty, taking advice now about long-term care is likely to save you and your family possible heartache and worry later on. For a free guide to long-term care.
BY GLYN CLARKE
A FINANCIAL SPLIT DECISION
Breaking up is hard to do, and so is splitting your assets
They say the three most stressful events in your life are death of a close relative, moving house and divorce. The third of these, divorce, unfortunately not only causes massive emotional stress, but in many cases also involves significant financial upheaval as well.
At a time when emotions and feelings are running high, it is often very difficult to keep a level head when it comes to sorting out the financial implications of divorce or separation. However, negotiations to divide the marital assets will be high on both ex spouses’ agendas.
The financial implications of divorce can be wide ranging, affecting areas such as property, mortgages, investments, debts, pensions and financial responsibility for any children.
A useful starting point would be to draw up a simple balance sheet to clearly show the value of current assets and debts and whether the assets or debts are owned or owed by an individual spouse, or whether these are held under joint names. Once a picture appears of the relative balance of assets and debts between spouses, consideration can be given to potential transfers from spouse to spouse to provide a 50/50 split. This would provide a starting point on which to begin negotiations.
Probably the two biggest assets, the house and pension plans, are also probably the most difficult to sort out. The problem with the house is that it is not a very liquid asset and therefore often difficult to split fairly without having to sell up. There are often also issues to complicate matters, so advice from a financial adviser would be as useful as legal advice from a solicitor.
The issue of pensions and divorce is a minefield in itself. New rules introduced from December 1, 2000 now provide greater flexibility than before in sharing pension benefits, allowing couples to achieve a clean break. The system now works around the courts placing a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) on the pensions held by one or both spouses. A pensions sharing order can then be agreed upon to allow the value of the pensions to be more easily included in the overall agreement to share the assets of the couple. Any percentage of the CETV agreed to be shared can then be transferred into a separate fund in the name of the receiving spouse.
However, these rules do not apply to the basic State Retirement Pension. In many cases a divorced spouse may find that they can use the National Insurance record of their ex spouse to boost their state pension. Completing a State Retirement Pension Forecast, form BR19, is the best way to see if this will benefit any individual. Once again the help and advice of a financial adviser is going to be as essential as legal advice.
Responsibility towards children is probably the most emotionally charged issue of all. If no separate agreement is reached, then the Child Support Agency will get involved in setting the level of any maintenance payments. However, financial issues are of course not the only consideration. Agreements as to who the children will live with, access for an absent parent and even the sticky issue of holidays can make this area the most difficult of all, especially when the children’s own feelings and opinions need to be taken into consideration.
Finally, when all is done and dusted don’t forget to have your Will reviewed, and if necessary rewritten to take account of your new personal and financial circumstances. For a free pack covering the financial issues discussed around divorce ring 0800 544 644.
Will power
Q My wife and I have been discussing what would happen to our home and investments if either of us died. Although we have two children we are happy for everything to pass to which ever of us survives. Am I right in saying we don’t need a will? ST
A If the value of your assets is more than £125,000 you most certainly need a will. Dying without a will means that the laws of intestacy will apply and you will find that these are unlikely to follow your wishes and give the surviving spouse the financial security they need. It is important to sort your affairs out now before it’s too late.
For a free guide to the importance of having a will ring 0800 544 644.
Best to invest
Q I have about £3,000 to invest but I don’t want to tie it up for long. Would a deposit account be the best place to put it? RG
A You could put it into a deposit account, or you could consider a cash ISA which may well offer a slightly better rate. Either way, you need to shop around for the best deals.
For a free guide on the current best rate deposit accounts and cash ISAs ring 0800 544 644.
Ethical banking
Q Can I invest money into an ISA and avoid things like the arms trade, factory farming and pollution of the environment? SZ
A Yes you can by choosing to invest your money in an ethical or socially responsible fund. These should screen out the types of areas of investment you mention as well as others.
Pension transfer
Q I have two personal pension plans with insurance companies that no longer offer pensions. How safe is my money or should I move it somewhere else? CD
A Your money is probably still safe where it is, but the investment performance of closed pension funds may not be as competitive as you could find elsewhere. Take independent financial advice before deciding if you should transfer your money or not.
GCC leads decline in global sukuk issuance
Global sukuk issuances continued to decline in the first half of this year, reaching $9.23 billion (Dh33.8bn) at the end of June 30, 20 per cent less than the same period last year, said London-based Islamic Finance Information Service (IFIS).
However, it expects that the Gulf recovery will begin in the first quarter of next year. This year, South East Asia returns to dominate the sukuk market with total issuances reaching $7.8bn, representing 88 per cent of total global sukuk issuances for the first half of 2009. Only 12 per cent of the issuances came from the Gulf, with total worth of $1.1bn.
While Malaysia has usually dominated the global and South East Asian sukuk markets, the crisis seems to have created an opportunity for Indonesia to play a more significant role.
Indonesia's sukuk issuance in the first half has grown by an impressive 93 per cent year-on-year, reaching $1.47bn.
The first half has also witnessed the very first sukuk market developments in Singapore with the announcement of the reverse enquiry sukuk by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the first actual sukuk in Singapore by City Developments Limited worth $66.45 million solely arranged by CIMB Islamic.
AmInvestment Bank top?ped IFIS H1-2009 sukuk arrangers and bookrunners rankings followed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). BNM's ranking was boosted by the MR5bn (Dh5.2bn) retail sukuk in May. CIMB Islamic and HSBC Amanah have fallen to third and fourth places respectively.
The report further details some recent high profile defaults, and discusses the possibility of Nakheel defaulting on its $3.5bn sukuk.
The report concludes with future prospects of the sukuk market. In the GCC, three main issues are hindering the revival of the sukuk market, namely, troubled Kuwaiti investment firms, the real estate market in the UAE, and the availability of credit in Saudi Arabia.
Insurers facing capital drought
NEW DELHI: India's fledgling life insurers, unable to go public and hamstrung by limits on stake sales, could be starved of capital unless rules are changed to make it easier for them to raise funding.
The number of life insurers has risen to 22 since the market was opened in 2000 to challenge state-owned Life Insurance Corporation's monopoly, but existing regulations prevent insurers from selling stakes of more than 26 per cent to foreign partners or from going public in their first 10 years.
Insurance firms are also not permitted to raise debt, which means controlling shareholders, must foot the bill in order to fund further growth, which requires building costly distribution networks.
Hopes that the limit on foreign stakes would be raised to 49pc were dashed last year when parliament failed to vote on a measure.
Regulators, meanwhile, are drafting guidelines for IPOs and are considering an application made last month by Reliance Capital's insurance unit to float an IPO before the normal 10-year period.