Personal Finance Blog

Have you ever thought about what the contents in your home are worth? If anything happens to your home, you likely have home insurance to cover the damages, but you may not have adequate coverage for your contents.

Why Contents Insurance?

Although it may not seem like you have a lot of stuff, you may reconsider once you discover how much it would cost to replace all of the things that you use on a daily basis. Your furniture, electronics and other valuables can add up quickly to an amount that is hard to afford.

Contents cover can help you replace your contents if they are ever damaged with your home. Depending on your policy, you may also be able to get coverage against theft, which is a real possibility that affects many people.

Who is Under Insured?

Sadly, many people overlook the actual value of their contents because they are too concerned with getting cover for their home. While it is good to make sure that your home is adequately protected, it is just as important to make sure you have enough cover for the contents inside your home.

While some simply overlook this cover, others discount it altogether or under insure their contents purposely, in an effort to keep their home insurance premiums affordable. This may make sense on a month to month basis, but is taking a big risk when it comes to the ability to replace your valuables.

Taking a Good Look at Your Contents

It is not difficult to estimate how much cover you need for the contents of your home, but it can be time consuming. Begin by going to each room of your home, one at a time. Take a look around and write down anything of value, including the cost to replace said item.

After you have completed each room, tally up how much money you would need to replace the items in that room. Do the same for each and every room in your home. Once finished, make a final tally by adding the costs from each of your rooms together. This should give you an accurate estimate of how much cover you will need.

Getting Contents Insurance

You can easily add contents insurance on to your home insurance policy, if you have not already done so. If you do already have contents insurance, check your home insurance cover to be sure that you have enough contents protection. If not, you should increase your protection immediately.

This will, of course, raise your home insurance premium, but it is protection that will save you money if you ever need to replace the contents that are inside your home.

A Final Word on Contents Insurance

No matter what, contents cover is almost as important as home insurance itself, since you may not have a way to replace your valuables if they are lost. It may cost a little more now, but it will help protect your future.

written by Scott \\ tags: Contents Coverage, home insurance

With an increasing number of households across the US experiencing financial difficulties, bankruptcy no longer holds the social taboo that it did in the past. But is there ever any way back once you have been declared as insolvent?

Bankruptcy is undoubtedly a serious step and there are many different options that should be considered before deciding there is no other way to free yourself from debts. Consolidating is a possibility and by searching for loans at moneysupermarket or any other comparison website can help you identify the right type of finance for your circumstances.

However, if you opt to take the plunge and file for bankruptcy, it is important to know that not all debts are wiped out by the order. Student debts, for example, are exempt from bankruptcy and must still be repaid in full.

Other types of credit will be covered by the bankruptcy, such as the kinds of loans at moneysupermarket as well as credit cards and overdrafts.

Creditors will in all probability shut any existing accounts, even if the balance is zero to prevent you running up any further debts.

It is likely to be very difficult to obtain credit for at least 10 years and to stand any chance of rebuilding your credit score, it is imperative to ensure any credit entries are positive. Any sign of ongoing financial problems will just exacerbate the situation even further.

Although it will be very difficult to get credit and it is probably not a good idea to jump right back into borrowing again anyway, it is important to get some entries on your credit record to counterbalance against the bankruptcy.

Repaying student debt installments is one way to help build up some points without borrowing more money.

It is also essential that your credit file be updated to reflect the debts that were included in your bankruptcy petition. Unfortunately, this does not always happen automatically even though it should and showing undischarged debts can impact a credit file even more.

Once the credit files have been updated, it may well be possible to qualify for a high interest credit card with a small limit. Even if no finance is needed, it can be a good idea to get one of these cards, ensuring you pay off the entire balance each month so you do not pay high interest charges.

By doing this, you are demonstrating to creditors that you can be relied upon to make repayments as and when due, despite the issues you may have had in the past.

Surprisingly for many people, it is possible to get a mortgage after being declared bankrupt, providing it was over six months ago, as a general rule.

Of course, you would not qualify for the most competitive rate and your lender will need you to have some kind of deposit, but getting a home loan is likely to be easier than finding a new credit card.

The good news is that mortgages build credit ratings back up very rapidly, which is the one essential thing after a bankruptcy.

Those individuals who have gone through the bankruptcy process and are trying to rebuild their credit rating should be wary of bogus firms that either offer to ‘repair’ a credit file or offer a guaranteed loan.

There are a number of fraudulent firms that prey on individuals who have been made bankrupt, as they know they will be more vulnerable due to their lack of options.

written by Scott \\ tags: bankruptcy, credit, credit card, debts, interest, loans

When it comes to personal finance, many people may be under the impression that there are enough security measures taken by financial institutions, such as banks, to ensure their safety. Whilst these institutions do take steps to protect their clients from threats such as theft, the primary onus of safety for matters of personal finance is on the individual.Cards with electronic chips such as credit and debit cards are widely used and give individuals quick and convenient secure access to bank accounts. However, if proper safety measures are not taken to keep these cards and their corresponding account and access pin numbers secure, it can result in theft.

The foremost tip to securing access to credit cards, bank accounts or other personal financial accounts is not to let anyone else gain access to any card. Whilst it is advisable to possess more than one card in the event that one card is lost, it is not wise to have more cards than you can keep track of.It is also not a good idea to reveal your account number to strangers without prior checks with the card’s issuer. Account details and bank statements should not be left lying around or given out freely and where possible, should be destroyed after reading.

More crucially, pin numbers should never be revealed under any circumstances. Only the account holder should have access to pin numbers and these should be changed immediately if anyone else finds out, no matter how close the person is. When making transactions using in person at automated tellers or shop checkouts, it is best to shield your pin number from prying eyes. Also make sure to keep an eye on the card at every stage of the transaction, particularly in stores, as card details can be stolen and may result in identity and credit theft.

If there is even the slight chance that the secrecy of a pin number or card details have been compromised, the best course of action is to ask the bank or card provider to change the number. Meanwhile, bank accounts should be checked regularly and carefully, to look out for any discrepancies. If any unusual purchases or financial activity show up on the account, the relevant financial institution should be contacted immediately. It is best that pin numbers are memorised rather than written down. Pin numbers should be unique and obvious or easily identifiable information such as telephone numbers, dates of births or addresses should be avoided, since this might make it easier for criminals to guess the pin number.

The more detached a number is from the account holder’s personal life, the more secure the account is likely to be. At the same time however, the number should be easily remembered.Today, many more people use the internet for online banking and online purchases. In addition to a wide variety of electronic shopping sites and comparison websites offering consumers the chance to find the cheapest loans or affordable travel options, many people have started managing their personal finances online.

With e-commerce and transactions, it is best to err on the side of caution. Personal computers should always be secure and updated with latest versions of anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Firewalls should also be switched on to protect computers from potential hackers. Transactions or online banking should be carried out on secure internet servers rather than on a public computer or on public access wireless internet connections. When using particular sites for online purchases, make sure the site is trusted by looking for electronic security certificates or other external indicators that guarantee a secure connection. It is also advisable to exit from accounts and browsers in the recommended fashion and where possible, to clear browser cache and history after transactions.

Written by moneysupermarket.com, the UK’s number one site for loans and credit card comparisons. If you have a damaged credit file it may be worth checking out the range of bad credit credit cards at moneysupermarket to help repair your credit score.

written by Scott \\ tags: money, money protection, protect your money, security