This is a useful review for Direct Line comes from http://www.ciao.co.uk/Direct_Line_Insurance_plc__Review_5468683
written by Andy0304
Every year that time comes when I have to phone around to find out who wants to charge me what to re-insure my car for another 12 months. Every year I try all the top companies and all the little ones, I have had insurance with various different companies including the likes of Endsliegh, Tesco Insurance but keep coming back to one company, Direct Line.
Since being with Direct Line I have had 3 different cars and with every car they come back with the cheapest insurance quote, and they allow me to pay it monthly. This is a bit of bonus as there is no way I could afford to pay out them amounts in one go.
Although this year they were only just the cheapest, by about £30, this year with Tesco coming in a close second. Having had insurance with both these companies I knew pretty much about there insurance policies and felt that out of the two Direct Line was the better company. To get my insurance quote I visited their website as they actually give you a 5% discount for buying online. However you can also get quotes by calling them as well.
This year was my second year in a row with them without changing companies in between time and the renewal with them could not have been easier. All I had to do was precisely nothing! They sent me a letter two or three weeks before my insurance was due to expire and this letter contained all the information about renewing my policy. Including the part everyone wants to know, the cost!
To renew my insurance with them all I had to do was sit and wait. The letter quite clearly explained that if I decide to keep my insurance with them for another year then there was no need to get in contact with them as they will renew it automatically for me. I only needed to contact them if I had a desire to cancel my insurance and move it elsewhere. As part of this they also would continue to use my direct debit instructions from last year and just amend the amount they were taking out to reflect this year’s policy. How easy is that!
One of the main reasons that I had always favoured Direct Line was that when I had previously been with them I was unfortunate enough to have an accident. Well I had 3 to be precise in my first 18 months of driving, all not my fault though I may add! The accident I am talking about was again the fault of the other driver but unfortunately had left my car is an un-drivable state.
So I gave Direct Line a call on their 24 hour claims line and they took all the details of the accident down whilst I was on the phone and everything was still fresh in my mind. This would save me the job of having to do this later on. They also at that point took the details of the other driver involved and their insurance details. Once we had completed all this they noted all the details of the present state of my car and said not to worry someone would be along to recover it. Sure enough within 45 minutes of my phone call to them a recovery truck turned up and took my car to a local garage about half an hour drive away.
OK, so they had taken my car, but what now? I was definitely not a fan of walking! So the following day I gave Direct Line a call from work and asked them what the process was reference a courtesy car, once again a very helpful response. They arranged for one from the garage my car had gone to, to be delivered within 2 days at my workplace. If I remember rightly it was a nearly brand new Fiat Punto, not my favourite car but it would do and have to admit was rather nice to drive.
Through the post they had sent me an accident claim form which detailed all the details of the accident that I had reported over the phone. All I had to do was to draw a picture of the accident scene, write a statement a sign it to confirm that all the details were correct and send it back.
It took a while for the work to be done on my car as the whole front of the car was battered. But during this time the garage and Direct Line were in constant contact informing me of what was happening and when and kept me informed of how much longer they expected things to take. Once my car was ready the garage called me and I went to them to hand back the courtesy car and pick up my own one and it was as good as new they had done a great job.
Direct Line fought the case on my behalf and I had t do nothing else other then let them get on with it. To this day now I still have a full no claims bonus so they obviously did a good job.
With their car insurance you can add some extras to the insurance all at a small fee. No Claims Discount Protection, this allows you to protect your no claims bonus after 4 years so that in the event a one accident or claim your NCD is not affected. Guaranteed Hire Car means that they guarantee you will receive a hire car even if yours is written off, damaged or stolen.
Optional Legal Protection which again for a small fee means that on your behalf Direct Line will instruct a legal team on your behalf to fight for costs such as personal injury, loss of earnings and excess fees. However this is only applicable in claims that are not you fault.
Voluntary Excess allows you to opt to pay more excess, although this sounds completely crazy its not. For the sake of an extra say £50 excess this could significantly reduce your insurance premium. Be careful though not to go too high with the excess just to get you a lower premium as f in the worst case and you do have an accident then you will have to pay out this excess.
There is various types of cover that you can take out on your car, the first being Third Party Liability, this is the cheapest type of insurance but only covers you against injury to third party. For example if you injure someone then they will be paid out by your insurance company. It is a legal requirement that you must have third party cover as a minimum.
The next is Fire and Theft, which basically covers you car for exactly what is says, fire and theft. For example if you car is burnt out or stolen then you will be paid out by the insurance company. Most people combine the above 2 insurance covers and opt for what is known as Third Party, Fire and Theft as this covers you against all three of the above incidents.
The next level of cover is what is known as Fully Comprehensive, and although this is the most expensive type of cover it also covers you for pretty much everything. This includes any accidents that are your fault and damage your car, under the previous two types of cover your own car is not covered if the accident is deemed to be your fault.
Most types of insurance also cover Windscreen damage and what this covers is your windscreen. However be prepared to pay an excess fee though as to have your windscreen replaced is very expensive and so an excess of £50 is worth paying though. Under Direct Lines windscreen cover it also covers any scratching to your body work that has occurred as a result of the windscreen damage.
If you are planning a trip to France or other country then make sure that your car is covered for foreign use. A lot of companies do not add this as standard and you will have to ask them to quote you for this, but if you are taking your car abroad then this has to be a must.
On Direct Lines website you can view a full policy booklet with the use of Adobe Reader, which they also have a link for you to download this reader if you do not already have it. To find this policy if you go into the Motor Insurance section of their website there is a link on the left hand side titled The Policy and this policy booklet can be found here.
On the website of Direct Line you are able to set up your own section called ‘My Direct Line,’ within this section you are able to save any quotes you may wish. As well as accessing any details of current policies you may have, or even obtain further quotes on other Direct Line products without having to re-enter all of your details again and again. If you wish to do this and already have a policy with them just click the register link and follow the instructions and when your pass word arrives through the post from them you will be able to see and manage the details of your current policy.
When I have changed cars or moved address during my policy I have phoned them to make the relevant changes to my insurance and have to say that their staffs are always more than helpful. Not only are they very polite they actually make you feel like they want to help you and are not just there because they have to be and I have to say for an insurance company this appears to be quite a rare occurrence.
As far as their car insurance goes they are definitely worth getting a quote from, and if you find that they are around the cheapest then consider the service you will receive as well because not many companies provide the level of service they do.
As well as car insurance they also provide other types of cover for your car, this includes breakdown cover, specific European breakdown cover, loans and specific car buying loans via one of their other websites www.jamjar.com which have quite competitive rates.
Other than cover for your car Direct Line can be a one stop finance company if you want them to be. They now offer all sorts of finance and insurance packages.
Insurance:
Car Insurance
Home Insurance
Travel Insurance
Pet Insurance
Life Insurance
Critical Illness Cover
As well as insurance though they also offer:
Loans
Mortgages
Breakdown and European Breakdown Cover
Pensions
Home Security Systems
Car Buying Loans (jamjar.com)
Business Services including Telephone services giving you a 0845 number
Savings Accounts
ISA Accounts
Direct Line is also a member of the General Insurance Standards Council or GISC, what this means for you is because they are a member of this Watchdog for insurance companies they are fully regulated and allows you to buy from companies with confidence.
The Direct Line Group of companies is actually part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Some of the other companies that form part of the Direct Line group are Jamjar.com, Green Flag Assistance as well as Privilege Insurance.
For more information on Direct Line you can visit their websites at;
www.directline.com
www.jamjar.com for car loans
www.greenflag.com for motor breakdown cover
www.rbs.co.uk The Royal Bank of Scotland
Or write to them at the following addresses:
Direct Line Insurance plc
3 Edridge Road, Croydon, Surrey CR9 1AG
Direct Line Financial Services Limited
250 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5SH
Direct Line Life Insurance Company Limited
14-18 Cadogan Street, Glasgow G2 6QN
All of the various departments under Direct Line have various different phone numbers you can call all of which can be found on their website under the Contact Us button or under the relevant headings such as Travel Insurance etc. But for car insurance you can call 0845 246 8706.
Sunday 30 December 2007
Saturday 18 August 2007
Price comparison sites -- how impartial are they?
Peter saw this on Scotsman.com and thought you should see it too:
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Price comparison sites -- how impartial are they?
By Jennifer Hill
Personal Finance Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Turn on the television, open a newspaper or surf the Internet nowadays and chances are a new financial price comparison site will pop up.
These so-called aggregator sites...
http://business.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1304272007
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Johnston Press plc
Registered in Scotland no. SC015382
Registered Office: 53 Manor Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7EG
[82.35.112.240]
Saturday 11 August 2007
Life Insurance
10 Year, 20 Year And 30 Year Term Life Insurance
by: Donald Lusan
Let us take a look at the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies.
You know, you have a bunch of great policies that the public can choose from, however, for some reason there are certain ones that just stand out. They tend to stand way above all level term life insurance policies. Sometimes I wonder why. Don't misunderstand what I am saying here, the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies are great policies but so are the 15 year and 25 year term life policies.
20 Year Term Life Insurance
Why would the breadwinner of a family consider the 20 year term first? I guess the choice depends on the point in time that this person decides to buy. In some cases there is a new baby in the family, perhaps the first child. These young people are so overjoyed at the presence of this newborn they just want to do everything possible to protect their new bundle of joy. 20 years sounds like a good period of time to plan for so off they go and buy their 20 year term life insurance policy. A 25 year or a 30 year term life insurance policy probably would have done just as well but they choose the 20 year policy.
30 Year Term Life Insurance
Why would one choose a 30 year term life insurance policy. Keep in mind the 3 most outstanding term policies are the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies. I think that people buy the 30 year term life insurance policy because they simply choose to look further ahead. These people look as far ahead as the college years. They want to be assured that the children are well protected right up until graduation from college. Sometimes they plan to have sufficient cash to give each child a start after graduation as well.
Business people often choose the 30 year term life insurance policy over the other policy types as they want to do their insurance buying now and not think about it any more for a while. They should rethink their insurance needs every year but at the outset they choose the 30 year term anyway.
Some of the buyers examine the 10, year, 20 year and 30 year term live insurance policies and choose the 30 year policy because they are acutely aware that if a shorter term was chosen they may outlive their policies. They may still need insurance thereafter and possibly may not qualify for it.
10 Year Term Life Insurance
The 10 year term life insurance policy is usually chosen for one of 2 reasons. It is quite inexpensive thus more people can afford it. They buy this policy intending to buy one for a longer period of time sometime in the future. If they are unable to qualify for the new policy in the future the life insurance company may allow them to convert to a permanent policy. This, of course, would be by contractual agreement. Buy buying the 10 year term policy they at least have the coverage now. They can feel more secure.
The other reason why the 10 year term policy may be chosen above the others is that the purchaser is buying his or her first policy later on in life. Your youngest is now a teenager and you are aware that you are getting older. The 10 year policy will guarantee that this child will have sufficient cash to help him or her through high school and college.
The 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies are great policies. Give them some thought when you feel you need some life insurance.
For additional information on 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance go to: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net/termlifeinsurancequotes.html
About The Author
For more than 40 years Donald Lusan has been known for his extensive knowledge of the life insurance business. He has represented some of the largest and most admired life insurance companies in the United States as well as Canada. His advice is invaluable.
Donald's website is: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net
by: Donald Lusan
Let us take a look at the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies.
You know, you have a bunch of great policies that the public can choose from, however, for some reason there are certain ones that just stand out. They tend to stand way above all level term life insurance policies. Sometimes I wonder why. Don't misunderstand what I am saying here, the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies are great policies but so are the 15 year and 25 year term life policies.
20 Year Term Life Insurance
Why would the breadwinner of a family consider the 20 year term first? I guess the choice depends on the point in time that this person decides to buy. In some cases there is a new baby in the family, perhaps the first child. These young people are so overjoyed at the presence of this newborn they just want to do everything possible to protect their new bundle of joy. 20 years sounds like a good period of time to plan for so off they go and buy their 20 year term life insurance policy. A 25 year or a 30 year term life insurance policy probably would have done just as well but they choose the 20 year policy.
30 Year Term Life Insurance
Why would one choose a 30 year term life insurance policy. Keep in mind the 3 most outstanding term policies are the 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies. I think that people buy the 30 year term life insurance policy because they simply choose to look further ahead. These people look as far ahead as the college years. They want to be assured that the children are well protected right up until graduation from college. Sometimes they plan to have sufficient cash to give each child a start after graduation as well.
Business people often choose the 30 year term life insurance policy over the other policy types as they want to do their insurance buying now and not think about it any more for a while. They should rethink their insurance needs every year but at the outset they choose the 30 year term anyway.
Some of the buyers examine the 10, year, 20 year and 30 year term live insurance policies and choose the 30 year policy because they are acutely aware that if a shorter term was chosen they may outlive their policies. They may still need insurance thereafter and possibly may not qualify for it.
10 Year Term Life Insurance
The 10 year term life insurance policy is usually chosen for one of 2 reasons. It is quite inexpensive thus more people can afford it. They buy this policy intending to buy one for a longer period of time sometime in the future. If they are unable to qualify for the new policy in the future the life insurance company may allow them to convert to a permanent policy. This, of course, would be by contractual agreement. Buy buying the 10 year term policy they at least have the coverage now. They can feel more secure.
The other reason why the 10 year term policy may be chosen above the others is that the purchaser is buying his or her first policy later on in life. Your youngest is now a teenager and you are aware that you are getting older. The 10 year policy will guarantee that this child will have sufficient cash to help him or her through high school and college.
The 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance policies are great policies. Give them some thought when you feel you need some life insurance.
For additional information on 10 year, 20 year and 30 year term life insurance go to: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net/termlifeinsurancequotes.html
About The Author
For more than 40 years Donald Lusan has been known for his extensive knowledge of the life insurance business. He has represented some of the largest and most admired life insurance companies in the United States as well as Canada. His advice is invaluable.
Donald's website is: http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net
Insurance Agencies
Insurance Agencies Are Missing Out On Millions
by: Kelvin Shaw
Agencies Missing Out On Millions
Is it true that Insurance Agencies are supposed to provide beneficial products and services that their clients need and deserve? Insurance agencies have been around for hundreds of years providing many forms of insurance plans and policies that are greatly needed. However, there is a huge $15 to $25 billion available market ready for insurance agencies, agents, and any professional sales person to jump in and take advantage of this huge opportunity. As I see it, there are not many agencies providing these beneficial products and services to their clients. If this is truly the case, whose interest are these agencies really looking out for—it seems not the client’s interest. The bottom-line is consumers need these products and services so why aren’t the agencies providing the services at neck-breaking speed.
The Huge Need for Product
In North America and Canada, there is a huge need for legal counsel services. Less than 3% of the population has access to quality legal services. Why is that? It could be that people are intimidated by lawyers, they simply don’t know whom to call, or maybe they feel as if they will not be able to afford the attorney’s fees. This very instant over 50% of families today has a legal situation. The sad part of this is that most of the families will either ignore the problem or try to handle it themselves.
The Value Of A Plan
With other insurance products and services, the client have to wait for something bad to happen before they can extract any value out of the plan they prepay for on a monthly basis. Like a prepaid cell phone, a prepaid calling card, or a prepaid debt Visa/Master card, as a client, I want to be able to reap the benefits of having the plan the very same day if needed. This usually not the case with insurance plans today.
Insurance agencies, you can make this happen for millions of North Americans and Canadians today. Remember less than 3% of the people have these products and services. Only one company has these products and services ready for your agency and sales team to provide to your client base. If you are not ready to provide your clients legal service plans then someone else will.
If you are talented in selling and motivating a sales force then legal service plans are the perfect product for you and your sales force. The challenge to you is whether you choose to get involved with this moneymaking product and million-dollar opportunity. “Human Capital” is an expensive investment and by giving your sales staffs the opportunity to sell legal service plans and services. You will be giving them the ability to make as much commissions as they want to make without huge overhead cost to the agency. With these legal plans alone, your agents can give themselves a raise any time by selling more plans. As they sell more plans, you will see your bottom-line profits increase tremendously. The benefits here are the agency makes more money and retains more of its sales force, the agents makes more commissions, and the clients gets the products and services they can use minutes after purchasing. By adding, this product to your existing products and services can ind!
eed enable any company with a professional sales force to grow faster than its competitors. Increased profits and commissions without additional overhead cost, this is truly a powerful moneymaking opportunity for sales companies.
Benefits All
When an insurance agency or any sales professional provide these products and services everyone involved benefits with each sale. For instance, the agency benefits immensely because:
1. It allows its sales force to provide a product that the client can use immediately after purchasing.
2. It gives the agency’s sales team the ability to make money daily and as the sales team earns immediate commissions the agency will be earning daily revenue via direct deposit if it choose to.
3. The sales agency locks in it sales force even if the sales person is no longer employed with the agency. The agency continues to profits whether your sales agents are selling your products or the legal service plans and services.
As long as the sales person continues to make sales, the agency will continue to earn revenue from the sales person. For the sales person, they can set the limit of how much their income increases by the level of their sale production. A top money earner in the company, who was once a Real Estate agent in the family business, started selling the products and in two and a half years, he earned over $1 million in commissions. With several agents earning a million dollars in commissions, you could very well see a six or seven figure increase in your year-end revenue report. Lastly, the benefits for the client are immediate use of the plan from the time of sale. The client is also able to provide legal services protect their family with one low monthly fee.
More info at the web site below, click on the Insurance & Finance Professionals link.
http://www.DailyPayWeb.com
About The Author
Kelvin Shaw has been helping people succeed online for over 10 years and has dedicated his life to Internet Marketing and helping others. Visit his web site http://www.DailyPayWeb.com to find out how you can create success online with your own home-based business.
Christain Business 1-800-585-5873 code# 11043 Free Info Pack.
by: Kelvin Shaw
Agencies Missing Out On Millions
Is it true that Insurance Agencies are supposed to provide beneficial products and services that their clients need and deserve? Insurance agencies have been around for hundreds of years providing many forms of insurance plans and policies that are greatly needed. However, there is a huge $15 to $25 billion available market ready for insurance agencies, agents, and any professional sales person to jump in and take advantage of this huge opportunity. As I see it, there are not many agencies providing these beneficial products and services to their clients. If this is truly the case, whose interest are these agencies really looking out for—it seems not the client’s interest. The bottom-line is consumers need these products and services so why aren’t the agencies providing the services at neck-breaking speed.
The Huge Need for Product
In North America and Canada, there is a huge need for legal counsel services. Less than 3% of the population has access to quality legal services. Why is that? It could be that people are intimidated by lawyers, they simply don’t know whom to call, or maybe they feel as if they will not be able to afford the attorney’s fees. This very instant over 50% of families today has a legal situation. The sad part of this is that most of the families will either ignore the problem or try to handle it themselves.
The Value Of A Plan
With other insurance products and services, the client have to wait for something bad to happen before they can extract any value out of the plan they prepay for on a monthly basis. Like a prepaid cell phone, a prepaid calling card, or a prepaid debt Visa/Master card, as a client, I want to be able to reap the benefits of having the plan the very same day if needed. This usually not the case with insurance plans today.
Insurance agencies, you can make this happen for millions of North Americans and Canadians today. Remember less than 3% of the people have these products and services. Only one company has these products and services ready for your agency and sales team to provide to your client base. If you are not ready to provide your clients legal service plans then someone else will.
If you are talented in selling and motivating a sales force then legal service plans are the perfect product for you and your sales force. The challenge to you is whether you choose to get involved with this moneymaking product and million-dollar opportunity. “Human Capital” is an expensive investment and by giving your sales staffs the opportunity to sell legal service plans and services. You will be giving them the ability to make as much commissions as they want to make without huge overhead cost to the agency. With these legal plans alone, your agents can give themselves a raise any time by selling more plans. As they sell more plans, you will see your bottom-line profits increase tremendously. The benefits here are the agency makes more money and retains more of its sales force, the agents makes more commissions, and the clients gets the products and services they can use minutes after purchasing. By adding, this product to your existing products and services can ind!
eed enable any company with a professional sales force to grow faster than its competitors. Increased profits and commissions without additional overhead cost, this is truly a powerful moneymaking opportunity for sales companies.
Benefits All
When an insurance agency or any sales professional provide these products and services everyone involved benefits with each sale. For instance, the agency benefits immensely because:
1. It allows its sales force to provide a product that the client can use immediately after purchasing.
2. It gives the agency’s sales team the ability to make money daily and as the sales team earns immediate commissions the agency will be earning daily revenue via direct deposit if it choose to.
3. The sales agency locks in it sales force even if the sales person is no longer employed with the agency. The agency continues to profits whether your sales agents are selling your products or the legal service plans and services.
As long as the sales person continues to make sales, the agency will continue to earn revenue from the sales person. For the sales person, they can set the limit of how much their income increases by the level of their sale production. A top money earner in the company, who was once a Real Estate agent in the family business, started selling the products and in two and a half years, he earned over $1 million in commissions. With several agents earning a million dollars in commissions, you could very well see a six or seven figure increase in your year-end revenue report. Lastly, the benefits for the client are immediate use of the plan from the time of sale. The client is also able to provide legal services protect their family with one low monthly fee.
More info at the web site below, click on the Insurance & Finance Professionals link.
http://www.DailyPayWeb.com
About The Author
Kelvin Shaw has been helping people succeed online for over 10 years and has dedicated his life to Internet Marketing and helping others. Visit his web site http://www.DailyPayWeb.com to find out how you can create success online with your own home-based business.
Christain Business 1-800-585-5873 code# 11043 Free Info Pack.
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