Money Talks

How To Find New Car Insurance

May 5, 2009 – 8:19 pm

Best Value New Car Insurance
New car insurance - your car dealer may offer to make your life easier by organising new car insurance for you, but that’s often not a wise financial move. The insurer will be paying the car dealer a fat commission, and guess who will pick up the tab for that in the end? That’s right - the policyholder, aka you.

Insurance for your new car is likely to be a major expense, and like all major purchases, your new car insurance should be considered carefully. Before you finalise the purchase of your new car, you should already have calculated the likely cost of your new car insurance, and set aside the money to pay for it.

Factors Affecting Your New Car Insurance
Insurers are essentially bookies, and new car insurance is no different. Your premium is like a small bet at long odds - if the unlikely event happens, and your car is stolen or damaged, your bet pays off. If you car is OK, you lose, and you forfeit your money.

This makes insurers very interested in the odds of all these events happening to you, so they can price the odds correctly and make sure they come out ahead, either way.

Things which make you more likely to have an accident, or have your car damaged or stolen, or have a personal injury claim associated with your car, will make your premium higher. Things which make those events less likely, or reduce the payout the insurer will have to make, will reduce your premium.

Your new car insurance premium will vary based on whether you have young drivers, and the driving records of all the regular drivers, as well as the car itself - the make, model, price, and features of the car.

Your new car insurance premium will also vary based on the postcode where the car is garaged, and sometimes even your credit score.

Some insurers will allow you to trade a lower premium against a higher deductible - the amount you pay when you make a claim. Needless to say, this is only a good idea if you are pretty confident you’re not going to need to use the insurance.

How To Get New Car Insurance
Because of the requirements for new car insurance, you are unlikely to be able to prepay the premium before you own the car. Instead, you will need to arrange a temporary new car insurance, called a “cover note”, which you can usually do over the phone. Once the cover note has been issued, you will have a few days to get the proper paperwork completed for your new car insurance.

The company which issues the cover note should not require you to take out one of their policies as a condition of issuing the cover note. They may well send you paperwork to take our their new car insurance, but you should not be obligated to go with that particular company if you can find a better deal elsewhere. Make sure you ask that question when you are ordering your cover note over the phone.

The issuer of your cover note will require much of the same information that your insurer will require - your personal details, the make and model of the car, its value, and any other information affecting their possible liability. The issuer of your cover note will not require as much detail, or as much documentary evidence, as your final insurer.

This article is an extract from Mark Bennett’s comprehensive guide on finding new auto insurance, which is available from AllFinanceAdvice.com.

Mark Bennett is a staff writer for AllFinanceAdvice.com, and is syndicated widely to other reputable financial websites and publications.

Posted in Insurance | 1 Comment »

Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event

August 15, 2008 – 6:47 pm

Breaking news - the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event has been launched! I am watching Sean Roach and Pat Lovell speaking at the Focus Marketing Seminar in Washington, DC, and they have just announced that the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event is open for bookings.

Get details and book here for the UK Event.

As I sit in the Focus Marketing Seminar in Washington right now, I can tell you that if it’s anything like the Washington event, the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event is going to be a blast! Sean Roach started the Washington event this morning by announcing a huge range of give-aways for the people in the room. These guys are really serious about giving back. I’m sure the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event will have equally spectacular unannounced benefits!

The people who attend the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event will not only get access to the latest financial and investment information, great internet marketing strategies, and business networking opportunities, they will also get access to Got Access(TM). Sean Roach will be explaining to Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event attendees how they can take advantage of the next wave of development on the internet - which he calls Web 3.0.

If you have spent any time in marketing, you will know that finding the prospects is the most difficult part of any business, and in internet marketing in particular, the Holy Grail of marketing is targeted traffic. At the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event, Sean Roach and Pat Lovell will explain how Got Access solves that age-old marketing problem once and for all.

Well, the lunch break is almost over, and I want to be back in the room on time because the next give-away is happening right after the break! Remember to check out the Focus Marketing Seminars UK Event if you’re in that part of the world.

Get details and book here for the UK Event.

Posted in Events | 9 Comments »

Earning A Second Income Creating Incense

July 2, 2008 – 3:40 am

 

If you are interested in earning a second income, and do not know where to start, you may consider creating incense for cash. Incense is still a relatively big hit among people of all ages. People enjoy the various aromas that are created using incense. They also enjoy the fact that the smell of incense can linger in the air for hours at a time.

Many people actually buy incense to use as an air freshener, much like pot-pourri, and do not even burn it. The aroma is usually so strong in various types of incense that it can last for a long time and produce a similar odor as if it were being burned, without ever having the mess and fuss of burning it.

Before you start creating incense, it is a good idea to decide what kind of market that you would like to sell to. There are various markets when it comes to incense. People in religious communities, such as the Catholics, implement the use of incense in their prayers. People who are into Wicca and New Age often use incense to accompany their spells and rituals. Many other people use incense simply for the atmosphere that it establishes in the home. You can reach your chosen market by direct sales, selling online, or selling at flea markets.

Creating incense is surprisingly simple.

In order to get started earning a second income from creating incense, there are a few supplies that you will need to have on hand:

1. DPG Solvent
2. Oils in various fragrances, such as “Dragon’s Blood” , and “Sandalwood”
3. Unscented incense sticks
4. Unscented incense cones
5. Dyes of various colors if the oils are not already colored
6. Ziplock bags that are the appropriate size for your incense cones and sticks
7. A dropper

Once you have gathered all of the materials necessary to create your incense, you can start immediately. You simply take one dropper of the oil of your choice and apply it to the incense. Once you do this, take two droppers of the DPG Solvent and apply it to the incense.

You may also mix the ingredients of one part of the oil of your choice to two parts of the DPG Solvent and then allow it to soak. This is a good approach if you are also using dye.

Once the incense is thoroughly soaked with the mixture of the essential oil, dye and DPG Solvent, you will want to allow the incense to dry for approximately two days. You may choose to allow it to air dry for up to five days.

Once the incense is dry, you simply divide the incense into sellable lots and put each lot in a ziplock bag. For example, you may want to place ten incense sticks in one bag for $1.00. You can buy labels from your local computer and printer supply store and print out labels to stick on each bag. If you have a pack of ten incense sticks in the aroma of Dragon’s Blood, your label may read “Dragon’s Blood Incense Sticks 10 for a $1.00 – Hand Dipped”.

It may be that incense is not your cup of tea, in which case you could consider making candles, or printing T-shirts. You may not want to actually make a product by hand, of course. There are still many ways to earn a second income, and you should be able to find something more to your taste amongst the Top 14 Ways To Earn A Second Income.

Image: aubergene

Posted in second income | 6 Comments »

Credit Card Debt Negotiation

June 25, 2008 – 2:37 am

Credit card debt is really a menace and a lot of people are grappling with it, all around the globe. Credit card debt consolidation and debt consolidation bank loans are well known as ways of reducing and eliminating credit card debt. In all this confusion, credit card debt negotiation is often ignored.

Credit card debt negotiation starts right from your credit cards where you have the most hard-hitting credit card debt. This means credit card debt negotiation has to be taken up with your current credit providers.

Before you misinterpret it, let me clarify that we are not talking about chucking off a portion of your debt through credit card debt negotiation. We are talking primarily about using credit card debt negotiations for getting the APR on your current credit cards reduced to a lower figure. So, credit card debt negotiation is about talking to your current credit card suppliers for informing them about your intention to clear off your credit card debt, and then using your skills (credit card debt negotiation skills) to agree a lower APR rate with them.

Basically, credit card debt negotiation is about asking your current credit card suppliers for co-operation in clearing off your credit card debt. If credit card debt negotiation is successful, it will save money (due to reduction in APR) but it will also save you the hassle that is associated with looking for a new credit card to transfer balances, or finding a bank loan to pay off the cards.

If the credit card debt negotiation with your current credit card supplier doesn’t yield the desired results, you will still have to look for other credit suppliers who can help you in consolidating your credit card debt. Again, you will need your negotiation skills (again, your credit card debt negotiation skills) to get a good deal from them. Alternatively, move away from credit card suppliers, and take out a bank loan instead.

If your credit card debt negotiations work out well, you might be able to get a really low standard APR or you might get a longer than standard term on 0% APR (or you might get both). Interest rates are really the most important things and your credit card debt negotiations should concentrate more on lowering rates and extending “honeymoon” periods than anything else.

A secondary thing to include in your credit card debt negotiation would be the credit limit and other benefits. Here, you are basically trying out the possibility of getting a better credit card as part of your credit card debt negotiation. For people with really bad credit rating, getting an unsecured bank loan or getting another credit card (for balance transfer) is really difficult. In some cases, refinancing a mortgage is the only available option for credit card debt consolidation.

So, in summary, don’t hesitate in going for credit card debt negotiation. You can gain some tidy benefits and improve your financial position, simply by “using your words” and asking what deals are available.

Image: KM

Posted in Credit Cards | 9 Comments »