Private Health Insurance has become one of the most desired insurance policies in today’s world where the costs of various treatments are on rise and the time required for waiting for treatment through social insurance policies is less.

Health insurance policy is that type of policy where the insurer pays a certain amount for some covered sickness to you on the basis of a payment of a certain amount of premium at a monthly or annual basis.

Each insurer and each product has its own range of choices, and there are many different ways of describing the main areas covered. Among them the most common medical costs that are covered under private medical insurance are:

•hospital charges including accommodation costs

•consultants and specialists fees

•radiotherapy and chemotherapy

•physiotherapy

•psychiatric treatment

•diagnostic tests

•scans

Other benefits include nursing at home, private ambulance, recuperative care, complementary therapies, alternative medicines, chiropody, parent accommodation, dental surgery, pregnancy consultations and tests etc.

There are some conditions where even after long on-going treatments the patients are not recovered or they may need more on going treatments. This may happen with diseases like asthma, diabetes etc. A private medical insurance cannot cover the treatments for such conditions. These can be covered under NHS which is the public funded insurance provider in UK. No doubt NHS has done a great job in caring about the nation’s health, but due to the hectic schedule people hate to wait in long queues for treatment. Here comes the benefit of private Health care, and this can be easily done through private health insurance. But it should be kept in mind that it is not an alternative to NHS.

Most Private Medical Insurance does not cover the following:

•Drug Abuse

•HIV related illness

•Dental problems

•Infertility treatment

•Sterilization

•Cosmetic surgery (to solely enhance appearance)

•Recurrent long term illness (chronic conditions)

Personal medical insurance contracts are offered on an annual basis, with premiums paid monthly, quarterly or annually. Discounts are sometimes offered by many companies.

Apart from providing medical insurance for UK citizens, many insurance companies provide insurance policies to foreigners or to the citizens of UK who have gone to foreign countries either for business, travel or study. International medical insurance is also cheap and affordable.

Holidays help you to break free from this mundane life. People from every nook and corner of this world goes for vacationing either once a year or more than once. They prefer not to refer about mishaps, accidents or illness; but these are facts that sometimes can spoil you holidays and landing you up in heavy financial burden. To help you in this, you should buy holiday travel insurance for you and your family members.

Now, there are different types of holiday travel insurance policies that you can choose from. They are single trip insurance which are designed for a single or specific travel in a year and annual holiday travel insurance which are for several trips all round the year. Other than these two there are adventurous travel, backpackers travel insurance etc.

Annual holiday travel insurance plans are perfect for the travelers who travel frequently to various holiday destinations. Instead of buying a single travel insurance policy for very travel that a traveler undertakes, it is cost effective to buy an annual holiday travel insurance policy for al the travels in an entire year. Anything can happen while you are traveling: you might get hurt, fall ill, your bags might get stolen etc. Apart from that if someone from your family falls ill before the travel; there can be the necessity of flight cancellation. All these will be perfectly taken care of by annual holiday travel insurances.

Apart from all the instances mentioned above, you can also add certain other coverage by paying a little extra premium to the annual holiday travel insurance policy. Say for instance you can add golf coverage if you are a frequent visitor to golf tournaments; you can add winter sports cover if you are planning to go for winter sports like skiing, snow boarding etc.

Before purchasing an annual holiday travel insurance policy, you must undertake a thorough research of the insurance market and locate a policy that will give you an extensive coverage for your annual holiday travel plans. With internet facilities, you can easily this activity of searching and locating an annual travel holiday insurance policy. You can within the split of a second browse through the pages of the various websites that provide annual holiday travel insurance policy. And later on buy a policy which you think will fit into your budget and wants. So go get an annual holiday travel insurance policy for your holidays.

Travel insurance provides protection and assistance to safeguard you during the trip. Though many travelers prefer not to think about mishaps, accidents and emergences, the fact is that, such things may happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone. A travel insurance policy will give you peace of mind during your travel. And if it is an international travel, then an international travel insurance policy will give you security and peace of mind during your travel.

International travel insurance plan is the right kind of plan for those people who have plans travel to foreign destinations. A single trip international travel insurance policy is the best policy for all those people who have plans to travel for once in a year to foreign destinations. Again, a multi-trip travel international travel insurance policy will provide security for your several trips to different places of the world. You can even purchase adventurous travel insurance plans, if you plan to go for adventurous travel.

An international travel insurance plan will cover for your medical treatments during your travel, emergency evacuation, flight cancellation, flight delays etc. It is highly advisable to you to buy an international travel insurance policy if you are planning to go on an international travel because you may never know about the cost of medical treatments in that foreign country. The cost may be so high that for simple treatments, you might land up spending thousands and thousands of pounds.

There are several things that you should consider buying travel health insurance. First, you should carefully read the fine prints involved in these policies. You might think that you have a certain kind of coverage, but when you carefully go through the fine prints, you will realize that there is a long list of pre-existing conditions and exclusions that might limit your coverage.

Then you should decide as to how much deductible that you are willing to pay. If you are a healthy person and are not going for an adventurous internal travel, then you can agree to pay higher deductibles and thus minimize that rate of premium of your international travel insurance.

Before that you must carefully search the insurance market and compare various policies that are available with the various insurance companies. Then purchase an international travel insurance policy after you feel satisfied that a particular policy will suit your needs the best. With internet facilities

If you have given your home on rent, then you should seriously consider buying a landlord home insurance policy. Landlord home insurance is something a person to consider buying even as early as when they are considering the purchase of a property. Landlord home insurance or buy-to-let insurance is a combination of covers packaged together by insurers to provide with the essential components to ensure that their investment is adequately protected and secured.

All types of landlords require insurance for their properties. From the landlord who has given a single flat for rent or to the entrepreneur who has given a large portfolio of property on rent, a significant amount of money is tied up to the property. So with a landlord home insurance policy, you can be secured that even if anything happens to your investment, you can conveniently handle those without spending much from your pockets.

The following are the basic covers of a landlord home insurance policy:

• Property insurance: The building of your rented home is insured against most risks such as flood and fire for the cost of repair or rebuilding. Even you can pay a little extra and cover risks such as terrorism or subsidence. This cover of landlord home insurance policy will provide security for your garage sheds etc.

• Contents: It is important to keep in mind that when you buy this cover, you are proving protection to the belongings of your tenants. This cover is more profitable, if you provide your tenants with a fully furnished home.

• Liability: As a landlord, you are responsible for the safety of the property that your tenets are living in. If a tenant harms himself due to something dangerous in your property like faulty switch etc; then you may get trapped in some legal hassles. With this cover of landlord home insurance, you can easily handle these hassles.

Before divulging to buy a landlord home insurance policy, you should undertake a thorough research of the insurance market. You should collect various quotes and compare them to locate the best landlord home insurance policy. Now, with internet facilities, you can easily search and locate a landlord home insurance policy. You just need to sit in front of your PC and later buy the insurance that suits your needs.

DJ Insurance

Insurance is a very important consideration for the mobile DJ entertainer. There are many companies that provide DJ insurance and they should be compared carefully before the DJ chooses an insuance provider.

DJing has become much more of a respected job in the last few years, and since mobile DJs have to transport their equipment by vehicle, most car insurance providers have now started providing DJs with liability insurance.

Cost of the premium for the DJ insurance should not serve as the chief purchasing decision. Rather, the effectiveness of the policy should outweigh all other factors in the decision making process. You get what you pay for.

The saying with insurance is, "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." How true.

You do not want to be stuck without DJ insurance. As a DJ, you are a subcontractor, and though you will be setting up equipment on outside grounds, you will not be covered under the insurance policy of the catering halls or restaurants you provide services in. You have to protect your neck.

You will need your own DJ insurance policy, and now is the time to start pricing one. It is a simple matter of visiting the websites of several insurance carriers and filling out many of their quotes online. You are not commited to purchasing, and you will find the best plans and rates. You should go to the websites of many of the car insurance providers and fill out their DJ insurance forms online. If they're not readily available, email your request.

Let the DJ insurance companies fight for your business. By filling out the forms online, you will not even have to leave your house, and you will be protecting your future. The last thing you want is a lawsuit because some drunk party guest tripped near your speaker. Without insurance, you can be help personally responsible.

Whether you plan on starting your career as a mobile DJ tomorrow or a year from now, the time to find the right DJ insurance policy is now. It's more important than any of the DJ equipment you will use.

Do not proceed any further in your DJ career until you've filled out at least three insurance quotes. It will be the wisest move you make in your DJ career. I guarantee it.

No one knows when will misfortune strike and make one bed-ridden for a long time, say for months and years. Again, it is a fact that we all will grow old someday; and everyone will agree that we all will need long term care during our old-age. But the costs of medical facilities are rising fast. A simple and a routine check-up can empty your pockets. Have you ever calculated how much will long term care cost? To handle this problem, the insurance markets have an insurance called long term care insurance policy.

Long term care includes various services that may include both medical and non-medical care for different diseases like asthma, diabetes etc and also for any kind of disability. Long term care insurance will make sure that you get the best medical facilities be it in-house or in hospitals or in some sort of assisted living facilities. It can also provide coverage and protection in the case if someone of your family needs constant attention and care. Long term care insurance will assure that the person concerned gets the best assistance while bathing, eating, dressing etc. This insurance is basically important for someone in your family who is old and cannot take care of himself or herself.

Earlier the old ones were taken care of by their own family members especially, the women of the house. But nowadays almost all women work outside and the old ones are left alone to fend for themselves. Here getting assistance for long term care comes handy. But the cost of these assistants and the care given by them is not so cheap and since it is needed on a long term basis, it can leave you in financial burden. If you own long term care insurance, you won’t be trapped in this financial liability.

Long term care insurance is not only beneficial for the old ones at home; it can also give assurance that you get the best medical facilities during your old-age without depending on your children.

To find a perfect and a suitable long term care, you need to do some research. You need to take out some time from your hectic schedule and do a comprehensive study of various quotes available in the market. You should compare the quotes and find an insurance that is cheap, affordable and gives you the best coverage

Though home insurance is not a legal requirement, it is definitely high on the list of priorities of life’s financial requirements. It is because home burglaries are increasing and there are even chances of natural catastrophes like flood etc. Apart from that most of us have expensive items at our place like computers, laptops, televisions and other costly electronic gadgets. But mishaps can happen anytime and anywhere which may lead to damage of the building structure of your homes. All these can be taken care of by home insurance.

Many people do not buy a home insurance policy because of the high cost of these policies. But many companies now offer low cost home insurance policies. So you can easily purchase a low cost home insurance policy and thus can provide security to your home and its contents.

There are different types of low cost home insurance covers. They are:

Home building structure: With this cover the building structure of your house can be taken care of. Even if some damage is done to your home, you can easily rebuild the structure without spending much from your pockets.

Home contents: This cover can be a fairly cheap way of ensuring peace of mind as far as the loss of material objects goes. Many insurers offer extensions to their policies which mean's that if you have bikes in the garage or shed, expensive garden plants or out door furniture, you can add these on to your policy.

Liability cover: With this cover you can easily tackle those legal liabilities that may happen if someone gets hurt in your house.

Apart from that you need to take care of certain things to avail a low cost home insurance. Like, you can install anti-burglary alarm; fix better lock system to your houses etc. Your insurance provider will provide you with a low cost home insurance if you get all these things fixed at your home.

You have to undertake a thorough research of the insurance market and when you are satisfied that a particular policy is suiting you the best, you can get that policy at that instant. With internet facilities, this task is performed more easily and conveniently. So come online and get low cost home insurance policy for your home.

Employment practices liability insurance offers protection to business against claims that their legal rights as employees of the company have been violated. This policy offers the business protection against lawsuits filed by its employees such as sexual harassment, wrongful infliction of emotional distress, failure to employ or promote, breach of employment contract, discrimination of age, sex, race, disability etc., wrongful termination, negligent evaluation, wrongful discipline, deprivation of career opportunity, unfair hiring practice etc.

Policy Overview:

The cost of employment practices liability insurance policy depends on the size and type of your company, number of employees, the risk factors involved, history of the company being sued over employment practices etc. the policy will compensate the company for the costs incurred while defending a law suit in court, its judgement and settlement etc. it usually covers all the legal costs no matter if the company wins or loses the suit. The policy not only covers the employer entity but also its directors, partners, officers etc. Employers should try to obtain the broadest coverage available, making it possible for part-time, temporary, leased, seasonal employees and independent contractors to be covered too. It is common for these policies to offer severability, where an innocent insured will not lose his insurance when another insured acted in such a way as to be excluded from the coverage. The employment practices liability insurance agencies allow the employer to select their own defence counsel. This policy has a draw back as insurance agencies may refuse to pay punitive damage claims! The claim that the employer seeks coverage for must take place with in the period of the policy.

The current trend to sue the employer has resulted in corporate countering them by drafting policies that forbid discrimination and harassment, training personnel to reinforce the policies, making sure that the employees’ complaints are heard and that appropriate action is taken. This is a serious matter as employment disputes make up over 30% of all civil litigations! The current federal and state employment laws have favoured employees, making them seek broader than ever rights of recovery. Therefore the employer will benefit if the policy applies on a per claim basis as, if the business faces a class act lawsuit, it will just have to pay one deductible for the entire claim. The business will benefit if it obtains a cap on the total amount of the deductible to be paid under the Employment practices liability insurance policy.

When an insurance company insures itself it is called as reinsurance, where by it shares the risk of loss with another company. Insurance companies need reinsurance, when they face the danger of having to pay a multitude of claims at the same time and hence have no option but to face bankruptcy, where as if they have reinsured they are protected to a certain extent. Event like the September 11 attack of the twin towers have caused the closure of several small reinsurance agencies, hence the significance of reinsurance for an insurance company is tremendous.

Types of Reinsurance:

There are two kinds of reinsurances, treaty reinsurance and facultative reinsurance. Treaty Reinsurance: This kind of reinsurance requires that the reinsurer will assume part or all of a ceding company’s responsibility for certain sections or classes of business in accordance with the terms of the policy. It is an obligatory contract as the ceding company has to cede the business and the reinsurer is obliged to assume the business as per the treaty. It is the preferred type of reinsurance when groups of homogenous risks are considered.

Facultative Reinsurance: This kind of reinsurance is used while considering a particular underlying risk of an individual contract. It is the reinsurance of all or part of a single policy after the terms and conditions have been negotiated. It reduces the ceding company’s exposure to risk from an individual policy. It is non- obligatory.

In another way, reinsurance is classified as proportional and non-proportional reinsurances. Proportional Reinsurances: The two companies share the premium as well as risk. The reinsurer usually pays a ceding commission.

Pro-Rata Reinsurance: It is a classification based on the way the two companies share the risk. The cedent and the reinsurer share a pre decided percentage of the premium and losses. It is used widely as it provides surplus protection. There are two types of pro-rata reinsurance, quota share and surplus share.

Quota Share Pro-Rata Reinsurance: The primary insurer cedes a fixed percentage of premiums and loses for every risk accepted.

Surplus Share Pro-Rata Reinsurance: It is different in that not every risk is ceded but only those that exceed certain predetermined amounts.

Non-Proportional Reinsurance: As the name suggests it is not proportional and the reinsurer only responds if the loss suffered by the insurer exceeds a certain amount.

Excess of Loss: It covers a single risk or a certain type of business. Catastrophe reinsurance is a type of excess of loss reinsurance. It provides the captive with a great deal of flexibility. Stop Loss Reinsurance: It covers the whole account and is also known as excessive loss ratio reinsurance.

These are the various types of reinsurances. There are firms that offer their services as well as their products to help new business start up flourish and succeed.

Business insurance is vital to ensure that the business continues to operate despite any calamities and all business need a good agent to help them select a good insurance cover that will be cost effective as well as be appropriate for the business. This applies for vacation businesses too such as bed and breakfasts or farms. Insurance will help protect the business in case of damages due to natural calamities such as fire, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, as well as intentional damages caused by bombs etc. A healthy flourishing business may well face closure in case it has no adequate insurance cover, with insurance the owner has a guarantee to be back in operation to a certain extent within a reasonable amount of time.

What to Seek In an Insurance Policy:

It is better to shop around and contact several agents before going for insurance for vacation businesses. A good agent will guide you to get the best policy at the lowest rates possible. Go for a package policy, as it will be economical than applying for individual policies. Care should be taken that none of the policies are duplicated.

General liability insurance is needed as for any vacation business. It will help protect against lawsuits from people who may have suffered damages in your property.

Workers compensation insurance as well as employee practice liability insurance will be certainly necessary too. Employee practice liability insurance offers protection against lawsuits filed by employees for sexual harassment, wrongful discipline, termination etc. as it is a very vulnerable business for such crimes it is better to have adequate coverage.

Auto liability insurance will be needed if you have leased trucks to deliver materials.

Business interruption insurance will also be beneficial when damage due to tornados etc occur. This will help to pay the employees, taxes etc. as well as provide compensation until normal business is resumed.

Make sure the building as well as the equipment owned as well as the contents are covered by the insurance.

Large establishment will provide health and medical insurance for the employees.

These are a few things to look for when you opt for insurance for vacation businesses.

Make sure that your property is regularly assessed as well as be sure to pay the premium and keep the policy active as if you have not paid the premium, not only will you have lost the valuable much needed insurance but should calamities strike, will be left with no option available to get back in business, hence face closure. Select a reputable and trust worthy carrier after carefully checking their financial position by checking with rating firms. Make sure that your insurance for vacation businesses provides adequate coverage.

CLEAN GUTTERING IS IMPORTANT

Whilst clean guttering may not necessarily cause problems relating to an insurance claim we always advise customers to do this in the Autumn (thats Fall to all you Americans) as it can cause damage to property when it overflows. The claims we have had though are of a liability nature. Guttering overflowing due to being blocked and causing water and leaves to land on the ground, on which unsuspecting visitors can slip and break bones.It is particularly important therefore to ensure that guttering is clear where elderly people may be likely to walk.

WHAT CAUSES THE GUTTERING TO BE BLOCKED.

The majority of blockages in guttering are caused by leaves or twigs from trees or debris and rubbish washed off the room by rain. Normal guttering is sufficient provided that it is kept clear of leaves and debris so water cannot accumulate.

WHEN TO CLEAN GUTTERING

Fall or Autumn as we call it in the UK is the big time when gutters need cleaning. Gutter cleaning is an often overlooked part of house maintainance. The easiest time to replace guttering is when the weather is clear. Gutter cleaning is a must for this time of year. Leaves that fall in the autumn can also block the down pipes, so check that they are clear also.

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT

Usually guttering is held on by clips you can unclip by hand, after you have scraped away the obligatory moss and build up of crap. Efficient guttering is important for your home. I would just mention that when clearing guttering you also need to check that the joints are sealing properly and that none of them are broken. Basically you need to make sure your guttering is cleared and repaired and in perfect condition. It does not matter what kind of trees over look your house, their leaves all seem to end up in your guttering. Clear leaves twigs and debris from guttering by scraping them out and placing in a bucket.

Once all debris is cleared I then wash my guttering out with water containing a little washing up liquid. Don't use washing powder unless you want your roof looking like an overflowing washing machine when it rains heavily. A number of products are available that can keep large items, such as leaves, from the guttering but personally I think they are unnecessary if you keep the gutters clean.

It may be worth cutting back any tree branches that are shedding leaves or dead twigs into your guttering.

SAFETY

There are a couple of things to remember.

Guttering is not sufficiently strong enough to support the weight of a ladder and the person using it, so do not rest any ladders on the guttering.

When cleaning the guttering of a bungalow,always place stepladders at right angles to the exterior walls.

Businesses need insurance to ensure it will be able to operate in case any kind of disaster strikes, otherwise all the hard work, time money and effort put into running a business will be wasted. The first step taken to ensure continuity of a business is through insurance. A lot of care should be taken in selecting the right agent, the right carrier and getting the best-suited policy that provides adequate coverage.

Things to Look While Shopping For Business Insurance Coverage:

Choose a package policy rather than going for several separate policies. Try and obtain low rates by opting for a policy offered by a group or professional organization. Make sure the policies do not overlap or duplicate.

# Be certain to have a building (building and permanently installed equipments as well as other fixtures) and content (all property in the building used by the business) coverage policy as it will insure the premise against fire, hurricane, flood, earthquakes etc.

# General liability coverage that protects you against suits filed by clients, customers, delivery people etc. who were injured or suffered property damage while conducting your business is a must. Be certain to include bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal injury liability, and advertising liability coverage and a few essential things to look while shopping for a business insurance coverage.

# Auto liability insurance will be necessary if your company uses vehicles to transport goods or people.

# It will be advisable to go for a workers compensation insurance as well as Employee practice liability insurance as these are extremely necessary in the current environment where suing the employer has become a trend!

# Seeking business interruption insurance may also be helpful as in case of a fire or damage to the property the insurance will cover the expenses {rent, payroll, taxes etc.} until the premise is repaired and ready for use. Make sure that an adequate number of days are allotted. Go for a policy that will compensate you for decreased income on reopening.

# Professional liability insurance will be useful too with a virus liability endorsement in case you are in the business of storing sensitive data on computers servers etc and one of the essential things to look while shopping for a business insurance coverage.

# Adequate medical and health insurance for your employees should be provided.

# Having a Director & Officer policy will be useful too.

Hire a good agent who understands the needs of your business and who will guide you to select the best possible package at the lowest rates available. Adequately protect your company against unforeseen disasters making sure your business will continue its operation no matter what. There are a few firms that offer their help to make the task of running a business easier for new entrepreneurs.

Though home insurance is not a legal requirement, it is definitely high on the list of priorities of life’s financial requirements. It is because home burglaries are increasing and there are even chances of natural catastrophes like flood etc. Apart from that most of us have expensive items at our place like computers, laptops, televisions and other costly electronic gadgets. But mishaps can happen anytime and anywhere which may lead to damage of the building structure of your homes. All these can be taken care of by home insurance.

Many people do not buy a home insurance policy because of the high cost of these policies. But many companies now offer low cost home insurance policies. So you can easily purchase a low cost home insurance policy and thus can provide security to your home and its contents.

There are different types of low cost home insurance covers. They are:

Home building structure: With this cover the building structure of your house can be taken care of. Even if some damage is done to your home, you can easily rebuild the structure without spending much from your pockets.

Home contents: This cover can be a fairly cheap way of ensuring peace of mind as far as the loss of material objects goes. Many insurers offer extensions to their policies which mean's that if you have bikes in the garage or shed, expensive garden plants or out door furniture, you can add these on to your policy.

Liability cover: With this cover you can easily tackle those legal liabilities that may happen if someone gets hurt in your house.

Apart from that you need to take care of certain things to avail a low cost home insurance. Like, you can install anti-burglary alarm; fix better lock system to your houses etc. Your insurance provider will provide you with a low cost home insurance if you get all these things fixed at your home.

You have to undertake a thorough research of the insurance market and when you are satisfied that a particular policy is suiting you the best, you can get that policy at that instant. With internet facilities, this task is performed more easily and conveniently. So come online and get low cost home insurance policy for your home.

Employment practices liability insurance offers protection to business against claims that their legal rights as employees of the company have been violated. This policy offers the business protection against lawsuits filed by its employees such as sexual harassment, wrongful infliction of emotional distress, failure to employ or promote, breach of employment contract, discrimination of age, sex, race, disability etc., wrongful termination, negligent evaluation, wrongful discipline, deprivation of career opportunity, unfair hiring practice etc.

Policy Overview:

The cost of employment practices liability insurance policy depends on the size and type of your company, number of employees, the risk factors involved, history of the company being sued over employment practices etc. the policy will compensate the company for the costs incurred while defending a law suit in court, its judgement and settlement etc. it usually covers all the legal costs no matter if the company wins or loses the suit. The policy not only covers the employer entity but also its directors, partners, officers etc. Employers should try to obtain the broadest coverage available, making it possible for part-time, temporary, leased, seasonal employees and independent contractors to be covered too. It is common for these policies to offer severability, where an innocent insured will not lose his insurance when another insured acted in such a way as to be excluded from the coverage. The employment practices liability insurance agencies allow the employer to select their own defence counsel. This policy has a draw back as insurance agencies may refuse to pay punitive damage claims! The claim that the employer seeks coverage for must take place with in the period of the policy.

The current trend to sue the employer has resulted in corporate countering them by drafting policies that forbid discrimination and harassment, training personnel to reinforce the policies, making sure that the employees’ complaints are heard and that appropriate action is taken. This is a serious matter as employment disputes make up over 30% of all civil litigations! The current federal and state employment laws have favoured employees, making them seek broader than ever rights of recovery. Therefore the employer will benefit if the policy applies on a per claim basis as, if the business faces a class act lawsuit, it will just have to pay one deductible for the entire claim. The business will benefit if it obtains a cap on the total amount of the deductible to be paid under the Employment practices liability insurance policy.

When an insurance company insures itself it is called as reinsurance, where by it shares the risk of loss with another company. Insurance companies need reinsurance, when they face the danger of having to pay a multitude of claims at the same time and hence have no option but to face bankruptcy, where as if they have reinsured they are protected to a certain extent. Event like the September 11 attack of the twin towers have caused the closure of several small reinsurance agencies, hence the significance of reinsurance for an insurance company is tremendous.

Types of Reinsurance:

There are two kinds of reinsurances, treaty reinsurance and facultative reinsurance. Treaty Reinsurance: This kind of reinsurance requires that the reinsurer will assume part or all of a ceding company’s responsibility for certain sections or classes of business in accordance with the terms of the policy. It is an obligatory contract as the ceding company has to cede the business and the reinsurer is obliged to assume the business as per the treaty. It is the preferred type of reinsurance when groups of homogenous risks are considered.

Facultative Reinsurance: This kind of reinsurance is used while considering a particular underlying risk of an individual contract. It is the reinsurance of all or part of a single policy after the terms and conditions have been negotiated. It reduces the ceding company’s exposure to risk from an individual policy. It is non- obligatory.

In another way, reinsurance is classified as proportional and non-proportional reinsurances. Proportional Reinsurances: The two companies share the premium as well as risk. The reinsurer usually pays a ceding commission.

Pro-Rata Reinsurance: It is a classification based on the way the two companies share the risk. The cedent and the reinsurer share a pre decided percentage of the premium and losses. It is used widely as it provides surplus protection. There are two types of pro-rata reinsurance, quota share and surplus share.

Quota Share Pro-Rata Reinsurance: The primary insurer cedes a fixed percentage of premiums and loses for every risk accepted.

Surplus Share Pro-Rata Reinsurance: It is different in that not every risk is ceded but only those that exceed certain predetermined amounts.

Non-Proportional Reinsurance: As the name suggests it is not proportional and the reinsurer only responds if the loss suffered by the insurer exceeds a certain amount.

Excess of Loss: It covers a single risk or a certain type of business. Catastrophe reinsurance is a type of excess of loss reinsurance. It provides the captive with a great deal of flexibility. Stop Loss Reinsurance: It covers the whole account and is also known as excessive loss ratio reinsurance.

These are the various types of reinsurances. There are firms that offer their services as well as their products to help new business start up flourish and succeed.