It is important to obtain title insurance whenever you purchase real estate, whether you are buying a home, business or investment property. Title insurance protects the buyer of a piece of real estate from loss due to problems with the title, or deed, to the property. These problems can arise due to transactions in the past that were not completed properly. For instance, a husband and wife own a house but she never signs off during the sale. In a case like this, the wife may come back later and claim that she owns half of the house. Title insurance protects you in cases like this.

Title insurance also protects the buyer from liens against the home that they might not be aware of. For example, the IRS can put a lien on someone's house if they are behind on their taxes. The city can place liens if the water bill or other service bills are unpaid. Even contractors who have done work on a house can place liens against. When you obtain title insurance, the title insurance company will check to see if there are liens against the house and they will disclose their findings before you buy. If it is later learned that there was a lien that the title company did not find, then the title company will be responsible to pay the cost to resolve the problem.

If you are getting a mortgage to purchase property, your lender will insist on you getting title insurance. The title insurance protects the lender as well as the buyer. You will not be able to obtain a mortgage to purchase a piece of real estate without purchasing a title insurance policy for the property.

Purchasing title insurance is vital because there is no way that you can know what has happened in the property's past without extensive research. Even then, unexpected things can happen. What happens if you buy the house from a man who inherited it from his grandfather, and then someone else claims that the house should have gone to them and decides to contest the will? Situations like this can be very messy, but if you have title insurance, then the insurance company will have to pay you back for the house, and often your legal expenses as well, if you end up losing it due to problems with the title.

Since you are making a large investment whenever you purchase real estate, you need to make sure that your investment is well protected. There are many things that can affect the title to your property, and obtaining title insurance is the only way to make sure that you won't lose your investment if there turns out to be a problem with the title of your property.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_H

When insuring a buy to let property, the risks involved vary significantly from those when insuring your residential home with a standard buildings insurance policy. With this in mind it is important to select a purchase a specific buy to let property insurance policy.

Buy to let property insurance is different from regular property insurance in several ways;

Unoccupied property limitations

On a standard residential property policy this limitation is usually about 30 days. This means that should you go away on holiday for more than this and leave the property empty and then have to raise a claim, the insurer can avoid paying out.

Buy to let property insurance policies usually allow a much longer period (e.g. 90 days) to allow for periods of un-occupancy between tenants. This can be very useful for example if your target tenants are students who often vacate the property during the summer months.

High Risk Tenants

Some buy to let property insurance policies require you to tell them what kind of tenant you will or are letting to. Many insurers will refuse cover or demand a higher premium if you are letting to what are deemed to be higher risk tenants such s students, house shares or those that receive housing benefits.

Always inform your insurer

When entering the buy to let market, it is essential you inform your insurance policy. Failure to do so could and most likely would result in any subsequent claim being refused.

Emergency repair cover

Many buy to let property insurance policies offer an add on repair cover. This can provide cover for the costs of emergency call outs of tradesmen, for example if the boiler blows up in the middle of the night.

Read the small print

Finally it goes without saying that all buy to let property insurance policies are different. You should always check the specifics of the policy you choose to ensure they meet all of you needs.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_McKerr

Personal Accident Insurance - Working Overseas

You've just been awarded a new position by your company; overseas. Do you Have Personal Accident Insurance? They will be transferring you to Moscow, Russia to run the Marketing Department of your Fortune 500 Corporation. It's a very big step up the corporate ladder and a great opportunity. You also have so many things to think about however; so many lose ends to take care of. Certainly, the last thing you want to be concerned with is your International Benefits package.

What is the International Benefits Package, does it provide Personal Accident Insurance?

You're sure that you'll have International Health Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance and you've already signed up for the free Life Insurance that's provided. So that's enough, correct?

Well, unfortunately it's not, it appears that they left out Personal Accident Insurance Personal Accident Insurance.

When a company sends their employees overseas, they generally provide the above referenced coverages in the benefits package. This is not always enough though. Reason being, you will indeed have health insurance if you or a family member becomes ill. If you're injured on the job then of course Workers Compensation Insurance will cover you. Additionally, if you are in a declared War Zone, then Workers Compensation Insurance will provide 24 hour coverage. But what if you are not in a War Zone and God forbid, you lose a limb, or worse - your life, and you are not engaged in work activities?

Where Does International Workers Compensation Insurance Stop Covering?

Example, a 40 year old Engineer is in Saudi Arabia working on a project for his company. He comes home Friday night not feeling well, so he skips dinner and goes to bed early. The next morning, no one can reach him. A colleague is sent to check on him and finds him unresponsive. It's later determined that he died of a heart attack. What will his family do? Workers Compensation Insurance won't provide ANY coverage because Saudi Arabia is not a War Zone and the event didn't happen while he was "on the job". Essentially all his family will receive is a minimal Life Insurance settlement.

Personal Accident Insurance;

This is where Personal Accident Insurance comes in. It is critical that your company carry Personal Accident Insurance Coverage if you are on an overseas assignment. A Personal Accident Insurance policy would send a check immediately to the family for the agreed upon amount by the company. In this particular narrative, a true story, by the way, the family received a check for $500,000 along with the life settlement. They would have been devastated without this coverage as Life Settlements are rarely enough. If however you lose a limb and can't work, the policy would also respond and pay the designated amount for a loss of limb.

What About War And Terrorism Coverage is it included in Personal Accident Insurance?

Here is the most important part: War and Terrorism ARE covered by our Personal Accident Insurance making it a very broad policy. Further, Life Insurance Always Excludes War/Terror. So, worst case scenario, you are on an overseas assignment, off work, and an IED - Improvised Explosive Device is triggered, killing you. There would be NO coverage from any Life Insurance Policy, Workers Compensation Policy, or Life Settlement Insurance Policy, unless, you are insured by Personal Accident Insurance. Unfortunately, in our current unstable political climate, this type of event happens more often than one might think.

If you should find yourself with the opportunity to work overseas, congratulations! It is the chance of a lifetime to live and work abroad. Just be sure to confirm that the Benefits Package will indeed take care of your family's needs if something happens. Make sure they include the Personal Accident Insurance.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trey_Wilder