Home Owners Insurance
Home insurance, also commonly called hazard insurance or homeowners insurance (often abbreviated in the real estate industry as HOI), is the type of property insurance that covers private homes. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insurance protections, which can include losses occurring to one's home, its contents, loss of its use (additional living expenses), or loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home.

The cost of homeowners insurance often depends on what it would cost to replace the house and which additional riders—additional items to be insured—are attached to the policy. The insurance policy itself is a lengthy contract, and names what will and what will not be paid in the case of various events. Typically, claims due to earthquakes, floods, "Acts of God", or war (whose definition typically includes a nuclear explosion from any source) are excluded. Special insurance can be purchased for these possibilities, including flood insurance and earthquake insurance. Insurance must be updated to the present and existing value at whatever inflation up or down, and an appraisal paid by the insurance company will be added on to the policy premium.

The home insurance policy is usually a term contract—a contract that is in effect for a fixed period of time. The payment the insured makes to the insurer is called the premium. The insured must pay the insurer the premium each term. Most insurers charge a lower premium if it appears less likely the home will be damaged or destroyed: for example, if the house is situated next to a fire station, or if the house is equipped with fire sprinklers and fire alarms. Perpetual insurance, which is a type of home insurance without a fixed term, can also be obtained in certain areas.

In the United States, most home buyers borrow money in the form of a mortgage loan, and the mortgage lender always requires that the buyer purchase homeowners insurance as a condition of the loan, in order to protect the bank if the home were to be destroyed. Anyone with an insurable interest in the property should be listed on the policy. In some cases the mortagagee will waive the need for the mortgagor to carry homeowner's insurance if the value of the land exceeds the amount of the mortgage balance. In a case like this even the total destruction of any buildings would not affect the ability of the lender to be able to foreclose and recover the full amount of the loan.

Life Insurance
Life insurance is simply intended to cover the financial risk of death. In general, anyone who wants to make sure that their family does not have to change its lifestyle after his or her death needs to have it. Life insurance has several variables: duration of coverage, frequency and stability of payments, as well as payout method and amount of coverage.

You can use simple rules of thumb, but a real evaluation of your needs should take your whole financial picture into account. Most advisors recommend an amount between 5 to 10 times your salary. Feel free to contact us if you would like to find out more about developing a financial plan.

Universal Life Insurance
Universal Life is a type of permanent life insurance based on a cash value. That is, the policy is established with the insurer where premium payments above the cost of insurance are credited to the cash value. The cash value is credited each month with interest, and the policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge, which is drawn from the cash value if no premium payment is made that month. The interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer; often it is pegged to a financial index. Because only the amount of interest credited and not the cash value itself varies, UL policies offer a stable investment option. A similar type of policy that was developed from universal life policies is the variable universal life insurance policy, or VUL. VUL's allow the cash value to be directed to a number of separate accounts that operate like mutual funds and can be invested in stock or bond investments with greater risk and potential reward. Additionally, there is the recent addition of Equity Indexed Universal Life contracts that invest in Index Options on the movement of an Index such as the S&P 500, Russell 2000, and the Dow (to name a few). These type of contracts only participate in the movement of Index and not the actual purchase of stocks, bonds or mutual funds. They may have a cap (but not always) as to the maximum amount they will credit interest to and a minimum guarantee which keeps the principal of the contract from losing money in a down year. Typically each year the starting point is last year's ending point which means that: (1) the policy amount is locked in at the end of the year; and, (2)the beginning value from which the movement measured is reset.

Universal Life is used as a tax-advantaged way to purchase life insurance. In the early years of the contract, the premium far exceeds the cost of insurance (COI) charges. The difference between the two (the "inside build-up") will grow tax-deferred so long as the policy remains in force. If the policy is held until death, this inside build-up will escape taxation entirely. This is because you paid the premium with after-tax money, so the money going in has already been taxed. So only growth would be taxed. However, since you only pay taxes on the growth of an investment, and you rarely see growth relative to premiums paid, the money in the end is able to escape taxation. Policyholders may also be able to access the inside build-up via a policy loan without incurring it as taxable income for the same reasoning.

Health Insurance
Health Insurance is a form of insurance that pays for medical expenses. Health insurance can be provided through government-sponsored social insurance programs or from private insurance companies, and can be purchased on a group basis or by individuals. Insurance premiums are paid and help protect those covered by the insurance from high or unexpected healthcare expenses. Goverment funded social welfare programs also provide similar benefits for medical expenses.

A premium is determined by estimating the overall risk of healthcare expenses an individual may encounter, and a route financial structure is developed to guarantee that money is available to pay for healtcare expenses. The insurance premium and insurance coverage and specified in an insurance agreement. Healthcare beneifts are administered by a central organization, typically a private or not-for-profit entity or a government agency.

Important terms related to Health Insurance:
Premium - a premium is the monthly amount a policy-holder must pay each month to purchase health coverage.
Deductible - a deductible is the amount of money a policy-holder must pay out of pocket before the health plan pays its share.
Copayment - a copayment is the amount of money a policy-holder must pay out of pocket before the health plan pays for a visit or service, and must be paid each time a service is received.
Coinsurance - a coinsurance is the percentage of a particular service that a policy-holder must pay before the health plan pays the rest.
Exclusions - exclusions refer to those services that are not covered by the health plan.
Coverage Limits - a coverage limit is the maximum dollar amount a health plan will pay.
Out-of-Pocket Maximums - an out-of-pocket maximum is the highest dollar value a policy-holder has to pay before the health plan covers all remaining and further costs.
Capitation - a capitation is the amount paid by an insurer to a health care provider, and which the provider must agree to treat all members of the insurer.
In-Network Provider - Insurers often have a preferred list of health care providers that they have preselected. These are In-Network Providers, and these health care providers are often associated with discountd or lower coinsurance or copayments and additional benefits.

Life Insurance
Life insurance provides a cash benefits to the insured's family or other designated beneficiary, and may specifically provide for burial and other final expenses. Often life insurance will cover mortgage payments and other significant costs to ensure the ongoing financial viability of the family or loved ones.

Business Insurance

Otherwise known as "catch-all" coverage, business owner insurance provides damage protection from fire and other mishaps. Owner coverage also offers a degree of liability protection.

Property insurance.
This can augment the property coverage offered by business owner insurance. Property insurance covers damage to the building that houses your business, as well to as items inside, such as furniture and inventory.
Business owner coverage.

For insurance coverage and policies in Frederick Maryland and other areas of Frederick County please visit : http://www.insurancefrederick.com/

Professional liability insurance, also called Professional Indemnity Insurance, protects professional practitioners such as architects, lawyers, physicians, and accountants against potential negligence claims made by their patients/clients. Professional liability insurance may take on different names depending on the profession. For example, professional liability insurance in reference to the medical profession may be called Medical Malpractice. Notaries public may take out errors and omissions insurance (E&O). Other potential E&O policyholders include, for example, real estate brokers, home inspectors, appraisers, and website developers. There are also specific E&O policies for technology companies, such as software developers, technology consultants and other creators of technology. This coverage focuses on the failure to perform, financial loss and error or omission of the products or services sold. Additional coverage for breach of warranty, intellectual property, personal injury, security and cost of contract can be added.

The primary reason for professional liability coverage is that a typical general liability insurance policy will only respond to a bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury claim. The above mentioned professional services and products can cause claims without causing a bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury. Common reasons alleged in making claims on these policies are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. For example, if a software product fails to perform properly, it may not cause physical damages, personal or advertising injuries, therefore the general liability policy would not be triggered. It may, however, directly cause financial losses which could potentially be attributed to the software developer's misrepresentation of the product capabilities.

Product liability insurance.
You might want this form of coverage if you make a product that could conceivably harm someone else. For instance, catering businesses worried about some dicey-looking truffles or Brie would do well to tack on this coverage.

Errors and omissions insurance.
This coverage is particularly important to service-based businesses, offering protection should you make a mistake or neglect to do something that causes a customer or

Automobile Insurance
Automobile insurance, also known as auto insurance, and car insurance, is probably the most common type of insurance and typically covers both legal liability claims against the driver and loss of or damage to the vehicle itself. Most states require purchasing an auto insurance policy to legally operate a motor vehicle. In some jurisdictions, bodily injury compensation for automobile accident victims has been changed to No Fault systems, which reduces or eliminate the ability to sue for compensation but provide automatic eligibility for insurance benefits.

In the United States, auto insurance is compulsory in most states, though enforcement of the requirement varies from state to state. The state of New Hampshire, for example, does not require motorists to carry liability insurance (the ballpark model), while in Virginia residents must pay the state a $500 annual fee per vehicle if they choose not to buy liability insurance.[4] Penalties for not purchasing auto insurance vary by state, but often involve a substantial fine, license and/or registration suspension or revocation, as well as possible jail time in some states. Usually, the minimum required by law is third party insurance to protect third parties against the financial consequences of loss, damage or injury caused by a vehicle.

Arizona Department of Transportation Research Project Manager John Semmens has recommended that car insurers issue license plates, and that they be held responsible for the full cost of injuries and property damages caused by their licensees under the Disneyland model. Plates would expire at the end of the insurance coverage period, and licensees would need to return their plates to their insurance office in order to receive a refund on their premiums. Vehicles driving without insurance would thus be easy to spot because they would not have license plates, or the plates would be past the marked expiration date

Pet Insurance
Pet insurance covers any veterinary costs that may result if a pet become ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies will pay if a pet is lost, stolen or dies.

Pet insurance was developed to mitigate the risk of significant expenses to treat injured or ill pets. As medical techniques and procedures have developed, so has veterinary medicine, and pet owners have higher expectations for the health care options and standard of living available to their pets.