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[C989]Consumer Guide To Insurance

by Mridu Sinha, Mri

Professional Indemnity Insurance
protects you against your legal liability for losses suffered by your customers as a result of your negligent advice. Professional Indemnity (PI) is legally required in certain professions, such as law, accountancy & financial services. It is common in other areas such as management and computer consultancy, publishing, engineering and design. If you give any advice which could make you liable, or if you are working in a collaborative arrangement, you should have a suitable professional indemnity policy. Your professional indemnity policy should include retroactive cover, so that you are insured for any claims arising in the next 12 months, but also for your work or decisions back to the date you commenced trading. When you complete your proposal form, you will need to disclose any likelihood of a future claim, as the underwriters will want to protect themselves from taking on any current or known claim exposure. Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance works on a 'claim made' basis, and so when you cease trading, retire or take a permanent job, it is wise to purchase run off cover for at least 12 months after that in case a claim is made against you, after your policy has expired for work done previously.
Employers Liability Insurance

Professional Insurance for Employers Liability
The Employers Liability Act 1969 requires all employers, unless they are exempt, to have at least 5 million GBP of employers liability insurance with an approved insurer to protect them against claims from employees for accidents or sickness caused through work. In practice most insurers offer at least 10 mill GBP cover. The law was amended with effect from 28 February 2005 to exempt very small companies that employ only their owner. As a freelance consultant or contractor operating outside IR35, however, you are likely to have a substitution clause in your contracts. Without employers liability insurance, you cannot fulfill this clause without breaking the law, so in practice you ought to have cover. There are no hard and fast rules about who counts as your employee for the purposes of employers liability insurance. People who you many think of as self-employed may be considered as your employees for the purposes of employers liability insurance; what matters is the real relationship with the people who work for you and the degree of control you have over the work they do for you. Even part-time and casual staff may count as your employees.
Public Liability Insurance
Professional Insurance for Public Liability
Public liability insurance covers you against accidents to members of the public or damage to property that occurs as a result of your business activities. It also covers any related legal costs. Even if you work from home, you may need public liability cover. If clients visit you there, the policy will cover you if they injure themselves while they are on your premises - it could be something as silly as tripping over a computer cable. If you regularly work off-site, your policy should cover this too. Product Liability Insurance

Professional Insurance for Product Liability
Product liability insurance covers you against injury or damage caused by faulty goods. This can be important if you manufacture, repair, install or even retail goods; a small defect could open you up to massive claims. Your policy should guard you against safety claims, manufacturing quality, spoilage and indemnity costs.
Property & Contents Insurance
Professional Insurance for Property & Contents
You will need to insure your business property, including premises, fixtures and fittings, stock, computers and equipment. If you work from home, you need to check that equipment used for business purposes is still covered by your home contents insurance, or purchase specific business insurance. In response to a growing trend in home working, an increasing number of insurers no offer buildings and contents policies that specifically include cover for business stock and equipment. IR35 & Legal Expenses Insurance

Professional Insurance for IR35 & Legal Expenses
IR35 Insurance pays costs to cover professional fees relating to tax investigations covering;

Income tax self assessment full enquiries
Corporation tax self assessment full and aspect enquiries
Employer compliance disputes in respect of PAYE, P11D and NIC
VAT & IR35 disputes, S660A enquiries.

Income Protection Insurance

Professional Insurance for Income Protection
Income protection insurance schemes can be used to cover employees in the event of long-term sickness, paying their salaries during the period of incapacity. Executive income protection provides cover for both salary and dividends.
Permanent Health Insurance
Professional Insurance for Health & Medical
As a freelancer, you do not the safety net of a permanent employer to pay for sick leave. It is worth investigating permanent health insurance to cover your personal outgoings should you ever be unable to work for long periods, Private medical insurance can make a lot of sense. Quicker treatment times through private care can help you avoid lengthy lay-offs. Some policies pay a lump sum in the event of a critical illness. It is advisable to apply for medical insurance before you experience symptoms of a serious nature.
Other types of freelance professional insurance

Business interruption (or consequential loss) insurance compensates you for extra costs incurred and trading profits lost if your business suffers disruption after, say, a fire.
Tax loss insurance reimburses the tax, penalty and interest losses arising from an HMRC ruling against you which results in additional tax to be paid, especially in relation to IR35.
Legal expenses insurance covers legal costs such as solicitors fees and court costs. Many policies offer legal guidance via a telephone helpline.
Key man insurance can make your business less vulnerable to the illness or death of key employees.

Professional Insurance Tips

It can be more cost-effective to buy employers liability, public liability and business equipment insurance as a single package.
Professional indemnity insurance premiums will depend on the type of business, your turnover and the number of employees. Don't underestimate the level of professional indemnity protection you need.
Read the small print in any policy documents. Question any clauses that you don't understand.
Be scrupulously honest with your insurance company about information relating to your business and any previous claims.

Food supplements are one of the hottest selling products in the market these days. Their total consumption values billions of dollars in the U.S. alone. Recent surveys show that more than half of the adults in the U.S. consume food supplements in different forms, such as tablets, capsules, powders, soft gels, gel caps and liquids.

The increased consumption of can be attributed to public awareness of health issues and improved standard of living in our society. Many studies have shown that there is a close correlation between health and nutrition. Insufficient supply of nutrients can weaken our body defense mechanism, causing medical problems from common ailments to more severe illnesses in the long term.

Many people argue that there is no need to consume food supplements as long as you have a healthy lifestyle and eat a balanced diet. While this may be true, the fact is maintaining a healthy lifestyle and proper diet is difficult to achieve by many people.

The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has increased yield and shortened the growth period, but these farming practices can deplete soil nutrients and beneficial soil microorganisms rapidly, making the farm produce less nutritious than before.

A stressful lifestyle, improper eating habits, imbalanced diet and increased exposure to chemicals such as environmental pollutants (air, water) and pesticides, drugs, hormones, heavy metals in foods also weaken our body gradually.

Although food supplements can be beneficial to our health, consumers should still choose the products carefully. Here are some general rules for buying food supplements:

1) Supplements made from whole foods, natural sources are better than the synthetic ones. They are more bioactive, can be absorbed readily, and less likely to be contaminated by chemicals such as coal tars used in chemical synthesis.

2) Protein-bonded vitamins and minerals (vitamins and minerals in organic form, binding to amino acids) are more bioactive than the inorganic forms.

3) Buy supplements using safe extraction methods, such as cold pressed extraction or supercritical extraction. This can avoid the harmful residue from chemical extraction.

4) Herbal concentrate and extract are usually more effective than the raw herbs.

5) Organically grown or wild crafted herbs are less likely to be contaminated by heavy metals, pesticides and other chemicals.

6) Read the labels, do not consume more than the recommended dose.

7) Be careful when consuming certain herbal supplements, such as Ma Huang / ephedra, Kava Kava, comfrey, etc. Some studies have shown that these herbs may cause severe side effects to some people. Stop use if unusual signs appear after consumption.

8) Some food supplements may interact with drugs, either by decreasing or increasing their effects. Consult your doctor if you are currently taking medications.

9) Pregnant and nursing women, people with specific medical conditions such consult the doctors when consuming food supplements.

10) If in doubt, contact the supplement manufacturers or distributors for more information of their products.

Article Source : Pg. 32

About Author

Both Mridu Sinha & Kwan H Lo are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Mridu Sinha has sinced written about articles on various topics from Insurance, Sales and Negotiation and Interior Design. For further information on for UK freelance professionals please contact Coulson Pritchard Associates directly on 01480 470220 or vi. Mridu Sinha's top article generates over 590 views. to your Favourites.

Kwan H Lo has sinced written about articles on various topics from computers and the internet, Audio Books and Insurance. Kwan H Lo holds a Ph.D. in Biology and is the owner of , a review site providing information on. Kwan H Lo's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.