Business & Finance Tips

There’s never reliable information on driving habits. Everything changes as the price of gas rises and falls, and as family budgets come under more pressure. All we can say with any certainty is, regardless of the state of the economy, people do try to get together to celebrate the holidays as a family. This can mean traveling significant distances and it’s where the budgets come in. When people have the money, they tend to drive to the nearest airport and board a plane. Even though the new security measures can threaten the privacy of your junk, most people find flying better than sitting in a car for long periods of time. Yet, when you add up the cost of the tickets plus the need to rent a vehicle at the other end, you can save so much money if you all get into a car and share the driving to where you are going.

So let’s say you decide to make the long drive, here are a few basic precautions before you set off. First, the farther you are proposing to drive at a busy time of the year, the higher the risk of an accident. Sadly, the holidays bring out a lot of weekend drivers who suddenly switch from short runs to a long journey. They tend to lose concentration. Some even fall asleep at the wheel. So now is the time to think carefully about collision and comprehensive cover (assuming you don’t already have them), and check your health insurance to ensure there will be enough money to cover any visits to the ER out-of-state should you have an accident. That way, you can avoid unpleasant surprises if your journey is interrupted.

Now spend a little money on some routine maintenance. You trust your vehicle when it’s just running around locally. A long run is a whole different ballgame so check the tires and have the engine serviced. The last thing you want is a breakdown in the middle of nowhere when no local garages want to come out and rescue you. Remember to pack emergency supplies should you be stuck by the road in bad weather.

Now suppose you decide to rent a big comfortable people mover for the journey or you fly and rent at the airport. You need to think carefully about insuring the rental. The rental company must give you the basic minimum liability insurance for the state(s) in which you will be driving. Remember, most of these policies do not cover you if you drive into Canada or Mexico. Now the big decision. Even if you have a collision and comprehensive policy on your own vehicle that covers you when you drive a rental, you can find your premium rates climb if you make a claim. It therefore makes sense to buy the Loss Damage Waiver. This pays all the bills if the rental is damaged or stolen. Finally, check your homeowners insurance to see whether all your possessions will be covered in a rental vehicle. It’s probably better to deal with this before you confirm the rental agreement. Get auto insurance quotes for the different possible types of cover. If you are paying for the rental by credit card, there may be some auto insurance thrown in but check the terms and conditions carefully.

There’s now a training and accreditation body called the Wellness Council of America. It’s trying to catch the wave by establishing standards for all sides of the equation, namely the employers, the employees, the medical profession, wellness professionals and the insurance industry. This is like trying to herd cats. Most employees come to work and fail to see any benefit to them in participating in any fitness exercises or comparable activities. Indeed, many grow deeply resentful if their employer tries to push them into dressing in something sporty and getting out of breath doing something aerobic. They see this as an invasion of their privacy. If they want to be overweight or merely unfit, that’s their business and their employer is not paying them to lose weight or prepare for the next NY Marathon. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, three-quarters of all employers are now offering some type of program. We all know this enthusiasm for encouraging greater levels of activity in their employees is rewarded by lower premium rates from the insurers, but why has it become so popular?

This is where statistics hit the wall of prejudices from all the individual employees who resist being rousted out of their comfortable offices and set workplace routines. The evidence suggests that every $1 spent on a comprehensive wellness program saves about $3 in health costs. Even more interestingly from the employer’s point of view is that healthy employees tend to have better morale and work more effectively. When you add in better attendance and greater productivity, employers tend to be pleased by the outcomes. So how are employers persuading their employees to play ball (literally and metaphorically)? The answer comes in two completely different elements.

First, the program must be well-designed. This starts with an analysis of the health records of all the staff. When the employers look back through all the health claims made over as long a period as possible, it’s possible to identify the health problems most consistently affecting the loyal workers. Pleasingly, this may indicate changes to work practices to reduce the incidence of these problems. For example, if too many staff are affected by repetitive strain injuries, a simple redesign of the work may avoid the problem. This will improve the attitude of the staff who will no longer feel victimized and save money on health claims. To speed this process along, it’s often a good idea to establish employee committees to discuss workplace problems and suggest improvements to minimize injuries. Again the evidence shows directly involving the employees in changing workplace routines to make life easier and safer is highly motivating.

Second, staff have to feel motivated not just in theoretical discussions but also in participation. This relies on financial incentives. Look at bonuses for completing a course of activities, or in hitting a weight target, or being able to meet a jogging target. This can be in cash or in contributions to the health savings accounts. The more employees receive incentives, the better their active engagement. The result of the best programs is cheap health insurance rates for all active participants. The word of mouth generated by those with savings encourages the slackers. Health insurance rates will be lower if all if employers plan and reward their staff.

There are many aspects of insuring your car that may seem a bit strange and even unfair. The price formation of policies is usually conditioned by factors that an ordinary consumer may consider irrelevant yet the insurer will see a precise way to asses the risk of insuring a particular person. And of all the factors that will affect your insurance premium one of the most strange is the gender. Yes, that’s right the price of insurance will vary depending on whether you are a male or a female. Sure, it may sound sexist and discriminatory but there are real facts supporting such an approach. And if you think that male drivers are charged less because they are better while behind the wheel you’re in for a big surprise!

Yes, it’s a fact that you can get a different premium just because of your gender. But before you start calling in the court for a discrimination case take a look at the facts that drive the insurance companies to act so strange. First of all you have to understand that insurance companies are crazy about assessing the risk they take upon themselves when insuring someone. They will use any awkward factor that will allow them to predict how it is likely for a person to file an insurance claim. And while the place of residence, education and marital status may seem logic from that perspective the gender of the driver isn’t something rational from the customer’s point of view. Yet, the statistics state otherwise and insurance companies are happy to use them in order to support their approach.

According to statistics female drivers file less claims then male drivers. And not because there are more men on the road in general. In relative terms the percentage of women filing claims is less compared to men. Moreover, female drivers tend to end in far less serious accidents, causing less damage and implying less costs to cover. Because of that the insurance companies usually charge female drivers with lower auto insurance rates than men. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all female drivers are good on the road and don’t cause any trouble. There are always good and bad drivers no matter the gender, age, social status and place of residence. However, the general trend is as described above and insurance companies take in consideration every aspect of the statistics that allows them to handle their risks.

If you are a male driver and find yourself offended by such a trend in auto insurance price formation there’s only one solution available – shopping around. There are many companies out there with different statistics concerning their customers, so there is a chance to find a company that has as many accidents with female drivers involved as men. Still, the best thing to really set your mind to is having a good auto insurance policy. Does it really matter who is paying more or less? The really important thing is that your policy would be adequate to your personal needs and priced as competitively as possible.