Finance Information Today

The top 3 money management apps

There are a great many apps available designed to help people with their money management, which can be utilised both by the owners of small businesses and just for personal money management purposes. These are three of the best apps currently available for helping you to manage your money effectively.

My Student Budget Planner

As the name clearly indicates this app is aimed primarily at one of the groups in society which most needs effective money management strategies. With the rise in tuition fees, cash is scarcer than ever for students, but this app is very simple to use and it covers all of the major parts of student finance – including loans, wages, savings and expenses. Despite its simplicity it enables students work out weekly budgets.

Budget Me Free

Students are not the only ones who need to know what they can and cannot afford, so this app is perfect for people wanting a simple way to keep track of this. It is certainly not a completely comprehensive app for money management, but it provides you with the opportunity to set a monthly budget factoring in expenses such as utilities and groceries, while adding in expenditure as you go. It then provides you with a variety of expenses, which includes the amount spent on different items in the form of a pie chart. It doesn’t allow you to enter comprehensive information on your spending, but it provides the basis for a monthly budget in a format which is easy to use.

Budget

This app provides something similar to Budget Me Free, this iPhone app is designed to offer a basic budget planner which is simple for anyone to use. It offers clear information detailing what you’ve used of your monthly budget at any given point in the month, a comparison between your actual and planned expenditure and an overview for the year. This is a fine app for planning budgets for the future, as it can be sent between members of a family.

What is income protection insurance?

Endsleigh.co.uk offer an array of insurance covers, one of which includes income protection insurance.

Income protection insurance comes in the form of a cover that protects you against the loss of income. It also offers those that invest in it with a financial peace of mind.

Endsleigh.co.uk offer income protection insurance that can be paid for with tax-free monthly payments.

They also provide those that purchase such a cover with back to work support.

Income protection insurance has been designed to provide those that work with support when they are unable to work. This could be due to an injury, an illness or any other emergency that may prevent someone from working.

If you have to claim, the insurance company will provide the policyholder with a tax-free monthly payment. This payment will be paid out until the policyholder is able to return to work or alternatively until the policy has run its cause.

This money can be used to protect any financial commitments. These could include the likes of rent, mortgage repayments, day-to-day living costs, insurance policies, car repayments and any other costs that have deadlines on repayment dates.

Monthly repayments will be deposited into the policyholders account until he or she is well enough to return to work.

Those with families and also those that live alone should certainly invest in income protection insurance as both of the above will more than likely depend solely on their monthly income. In fact any one with regular monthly outgoings should most certainly invest in such an insurance cover. This will enable he or she to carry on paying all of these outgoings!

With this policy there is no limit to the number of claims, therefore if you are unable to work even after making a claim, you will still be entitled to tax-free monthly repayments.

The different types of property insurance and the who offers them

As the name indicates, property insurance policies provide coverage for damage to property, either as a result of external forces – for example extreme weather conditions causing flood or storm damage – or due to internal problems, such as fire damage. However there are a number of different types of property insurance offered by the major providers, such as www.towergateinsurance.co.uk with these being the major types available and those who will be most in need of them.

Commercial property owners insurance

This is a type of property insurance designed to cover properties that are utilised as business premises. Within this framework, many of the major providers – such as Towergate Insurance – offer a variety of forms of cover, dealing with business insurance and rental income losses, to cater to the needs of all commercial property owners. If you own a property for any business purposes, you need to ensure the building and contents with this sort of policy.

Landlords Insurance

This deals with those properties that are rented out as homes and covers landlords in the event of these properties being damaged – either by external factors such as flooding or storms – or as a result of tenant negligence. This is vitally important for those who have buy-to-let properties – whether they are let through an agent or not – as this is likely to be their major source of income, thus they cannot afford to have properties left uninhabitable.

Unoccupied Property Insurance

This type of property insurance policy covers those owning properties that are temporarily unused. These can be either commercial premises or homes and many companies offer policies of varying lengths, ensuring you do not choose a policy of too great a length for your requirements.

The type of property insurance you will choose will depend on what you need it for, with all of the major policy types and further information being available via the websites of major providers.

Finding the best landlord insurance

Searching the market for the best available insurance policies can be time consuming, but a quick visit to www.towergateinsurance.co.uk will help you make a better decision.

It is essential to have a good idea of what kind of policy you need, before you begin browsing around. Landlord insurance is a specialist type of insurance which covers landlords in case of damage to their property, as well as any legal disputes between landlord and tenant. A lot of popular insurance firms do provide landlord insurance as well as the more common policies for the home, but landlord insurance is distinct from general home insurance, offering more comprehensive coverage for the kinds of situation you, as a landlord, may find yourself in.

Spending an inordinate amount of time trying to find the best policy to suit you may seem like a daunting task. It is essential that you find a policy that offers everything you need and at a reasonable price, but you don’t want to waste hours doing so. Luckily, thanks to price comparison websites you can often compare quotes from a variety of different insurers very quickly and efficiently. There are even several sites that specialise in landlord’s insurance, although you should always be cautious when entering personal details online.

Buy to let insurance, as it is often known, is a very important tool for landlords. A standard home insurance policy does not cover the relationship between tenant and landlord – should any disputes arise between you, or should the tenant make a claim against you, standard house insurance won’t offer any cover or compensation. Be sure to look for a comprehensive policy at a reasonable price, and read all the necessary details in order to fully understand exactly what is covered and what is not. The last thing you want is to be caught short and lose money, not only through paying out for damage or settlements, but also through losing several month’s rent whilst the problem is being resolved.

Top Three Online Insurance Providers

Does Law Require Business Insurance?
Business insurance is not required by law in the UK, in most of the cases. As an exception, employers’ liability is compulsory for companies that have more than one employee.
A company faces uncertain risks while it operates and insurance is useful because it eliminates high risk by transferring them to the insurance company in exchange for a small fee.

Top Three Business Insurance Providers
Aviva is a large insurance group well known in the European market for its life and pension products. As a quality insurance provider in UK, it offers business insurance policies fit for sole traders, for companies with 2 – 49 employees, or 50 – 249 employees, or over 250. It also offers policies that are tailored for small businesses as well as for large corporations. You can contact them at 01603 622200 for general enquiries.

MORE TH>N BUSINESS is a business insurance provider from the RSA Group which is specialized in providing the right insurance policies for shops, offices, small businesses combined, commercial properties, tradesmen and start-up companies. It can also assist professionals with indemnity, public liability for contractors, business car insurance and office. Contact them at the service helpline, at 0844 854 8888.

Towergate is an insurance provider group with over 60 years of experience, and cover everything you could think of – from business insurance to military insurance! Towergate offer expert advisers and are ‘Europe’s largest independently owned insurance intermediary’, offering over 200 products. You can contact them by going here: http://www.towergateinsurance.co.uk/contact-towergate.aspx and choosing your category.

All one has to do is determine the risks his company is most likely to face and their consequences, then select the business insurance provider which offers them the right policy to cover potential risks.

Learning About Invoice Factoring

Invoice factoring is a lending service that helps businesses to receive money for their current invoices before their debtors pay them.

How Does It Work?

Factoring increases the work capital allowing the company to manage it more flexibly. Of course, this type of service comes with a price.

Factors will visit the company and verify the company’s records to see if it is eligible for a factoring facility. If the factors consider that the company can be approved for invoice factoring, an agreement is signed. In this agreement the factor will agree to pay up to 85 percent of the invoice value. The percent is calculated after reviewing the company’s data. The payment to the company is usually sent in 24 hours.

The company raises an invoice and sends it to the customer with the instructions to pay the invoice directly to the factor. Furthermore, a copy of the invoice will be sent to the factor. Then, the factor will put at the company’s disposal the amount of money specified in the agreement. The factor will make all the necessary arrangements for the customer of the company to pay the bills.
Advantages and Disadvantages
One of the biggest advantages is that a company will have access to the money faster than the customer may have paid. Considering that there are a large number of factors, the competition is high so prices should be low. Moreover, by working with a factor, a company might have a better understanding of its partners especially if they have credit problems. A company will also be protected against bad customer payments if it has a non-recourse factoring.
Of course, there are some disadvantages in dealing with factors. One of them is that some of your customers may refuse to work through a factor and prefer working directly with the company. The invoice factoring costs money and it signifies a decrease of the company’s profits.

Types of Business insurance

There are various types of business insurance policies available. Choice certainly isn’t the problem, obtaining the correct type to suit all of your needs however is a different story!

The insurance coverage you choose usually depends on the risk characteristics of the business you own.

You can use a broker in order to research the various types of insurance available, you should however also do your own research as at the end of the day; you will be the one investing in the insurance.

The relationship you build with your broker will however be extremely important in making the right decision and getting the correct advice.

The relationship you build with your broker will determine how deep you delve into your insurance options. You should feel at ease asking any questions and also be able to clear up any cloudy areas!

As your business begins to expand you should feel confident in knowing which insurance policy suits all of your needs, which is why it is important to ask as many questions as possible in the initial stages.

The areas that you can expect to cover with your preferred type of business insurance include the likes of property insurance, commercial property, inland marine, worker’s compensation, commercial general liability, and commercial umbrella, commercial automobile, casualty insurance, boiler and machinery, and crime. These may not all apply to you; you will be wise to cover everything that does however.

In order to find the best deal to suit you, you should research a variety of companies online. Go on good recommendations and reviews in order to help you to choose the best one to suit all your needs.

The key features of public liability insurance

Public liability insurance, of the kind offered by major insurance companies such as Endsleigh, has a number of key features that makes it of significant benefit to businesses – especially small and medium sized enterprises, which will be in particular need of financial protection. Essentially it is intended to offer overall coverage for claims against a business – either for damages or injuries.

To begin with public liability insurance offers a business financial cover in the event of a member of the public, employee or client suffering an injury while on the business premises. Were this to occur, the injured party could make a financial claim and, unless it had the appropriate insurance cover, the business would be held liable for any sum awarded to this party in damages.

Another key feature of public liability insurance is that of legal expenses coverage. This type of policy will also pay for any legal costs a company accrues as a result of such an incident occurring. Furthermore, this type of insurance will also cover medical expenses, such as charges for hospital treatment or ambulance costs that may be claimed against you by the NHS, as a result of the injury, which occurred on you business premises.

Another area that this form of insurance policy covers is that of damage or loss of goods and/or equipment, owned either by the business or by a third party supplier. Furthermore most public liability policies will also cover a business in the event of this damage occurring away from the central business premises – say in transit – as long as this is part of the running of the business. This is a vitally important feature of this type of insurance, as the loss of important equipment, in addition to the costs of replacing it, can be financially disastrous for a business.

Know Your Limits

Stepping up your game and saving money is the best way to manage and understand your finances. Having a five-year plan and a solid savings account is a must if you want to prepare for your future, if you don’t keep an eye on your finances you may find yourself in trouble and in need of help. You may then have to look into loans, which will only cause more stress in the long run as you will constantly be having to find ways to pay such loans off, which is often impossible to do when the interest rates are so high!

Having savings behind you not only allows you to do fun things, such as go on vacation, check out that new restaurant in town, attend the theatre or check out the latest movie at the cinema it also allows you to fund the likes of your children’s education costs, a wedding, school trips, sports and music lessons and an assortment of other social activities and events that occur in life.

Opening a savings account is easy and is a great way to save for any of the above, by putting a small amount of your wage in each month you will begin to see this grow and when you do really need that little bit of extra cash you will know where to go.

Savings are also a good thing to fall back on if the likes of your boiler breaks or you have to fix something on the car as these things do unfortunately happen quite often in life and have to be dealt with in order to carry on living your life the way you wish to!

Other things such as personal items including laptops, televisions, household objects and personal pieces all at some point will need to be replaced as wear and tear is inevitable. This is also another reason why people should keep on top off their savings.

What Is Public Liability Insurance?

Law requires public liability insurance and if you are a tradesman you will need to invest in such a policy, this doesn’t matter whether you work as part of a traditional trade or a more unique trade. In order to invest in such a policy you will need to find an industry leader in public liability insurance and business insurance that is specifically designs for tradesman.

This type of insurance doesn’t have to be costly, however it is necessary, especially if you want peace of mind against the likes of public liability claims.

If you don’t have public liability insurance and someone in your work force is injured then you could not only be in big trouble, you could also be met with a large price to pay! If an incident does occur and you don’t have such a policy then you may be asked to pay out thousands, this could even result in you losing your car or home in order to meet the costs.

It is an easy task to find a quote and a simple process to set up public liability insurance. Firstly you will need to invest in the advice of an insurance representative, you then will be given a quote in return, this could be as little as the cost of a carton of beer a month.

Another way to find a quote is to search the internet or alternatively speak to an insurance over the phone or directly. There is usually a page on insurance websites that allows you to request more information, you simply have to fill in your details and a consultant will gt back to you in no time

Be vareful to check the Product disclosure Statement prior to investing in public liability insurance as this is often different for various trades and you could end up paying for something you don’t have too