LIFE ASSURANCE RENEWAL 2014 ---- BEING FRUITFUL AND THANKING GOD

If the Lord had not given me an insurance cover, where will I be -- I will say.

In consideration of the provisions in this Policy, conditions, stipulations, payment of initial premium and payment thereafter of all premiums due during the continuance of the policy, You, I AM THAT I AM, hereafter, referred to as God did grant me cover.

The term of the policy was from 30 July, 2013 to 30 July, 2014 at 12:01 am Local Time.

The Policy covered my life here on earth, against all the storms of life, all physical attacks from men and all spiritual attacks from the Devil and his cohorts. No exclusions were provided therein.

God, it time for renewal and here am I again negotiating for another term, though I have not paid my premium in full and not adhered to most of the Terms, Conditions and Warranties of this contract.

..........

As I am about to sign the renewal of my life cover, I have realised how merciful and awesome You are.

You never took into consideration my Mistakes, Misrepresentations (Innocent and Fraudulent) and Non Disclosures (hatred, lies, etc).

God, You have decided to provide me with better renewal terms and better methods of paying my premiums. Completely removed the "No Premium, No Cover" clause and replaced with 365 days premium warranty.

Wow, God you have also decided to waive all my outstanding. How can I thank the Lord?

Praise the Lord, Praise God, Praise Him for his acts of kindness, Praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Let everything in me praise the Lord.

All day, all month and even all year will not be enough to write out the full details of this wonderful policy that I am reading. I express my gratitude.

Thanks for showing me my destiny.

"In witness, God had caused this policy to be issued in Heaven this 30 July, 2014 at 12:01 am, Local Time."

On Behalf of God
Signed: Holy Spirit

WORLD CUP TRAVEL INSURANCE

The 2014 FIFA World Cup, hosted across 12 cities in Brazil, kicks off on 12 June. The tournament is the most viewed and followed sporting event in the world and also an exhibition of the very best in the beautiful game.

Heading off to the World Cup in Brazil is a once in a lifetime experience for all football loving fans. However, fans planning for the trip really need to think about travel insurance before they go. They should not only think about it as a visa requirement but also a measure of mitigating many of the risks that will occur during their visit.

Brazil is the largest country in South America. Brazil is also a country with paradise-like beaches, the legendary Rio Carnival, and the famous Christ the Redeemer- a massive statue of Jesus Christ watching over Rio de Janerio. Ghana is in Group G alongside Germany, Portugal and USA. Ghana will be playing the group stage matches at Estadio das Duncas in Natal, Estadio Castelo in Fortaleza, and Estadio Nacional in Brasilia. The driving time from Natal to Forteleza, where our second group match will be played against Germany is about 7 hours. It will take you over 28 hours to drive from Forteleza to Brasilia to watch the final group game against Portugal.

One thing you should know is that, driving in Brazil is not the same as driving in Europe or the USA. The streets of Brazil are not pedestrian friendly. Although, the Local Organising Committee has assured travelling fans of tightened security during the tournament, I will advise you to take the appropriate travel insurance cover for the journey. There are too many risks you could face during your visit to Brazil; illness or sickness, personal injury, death, loss or baggage, loss of passports and other valuable documents, etc.

What Travel Insurance does like any other insurance policy does for anyone who purchases it, is to offer security which gives you peace of mind. Thousands of Ghanaians travel overseas every year but many choose insurance based on cheaper quotes, rather than benefits, meaning they are not properly covered against accidents or illness abroad. With many insurance companies offering similar products on the market, it is important that customers, both consumers and corporate bodies, are aware of the differences and that standard cover is not always enough.

The travel insurance policy helps a would-be traveler meet the travel documentation requirement for those countries that make proof of insurance cover mandatory. The policy itself provides financial and other forms of assistance to the holder in the event of mishaps occurring, whilst he/she is in another land outside the country. Two types of policies are available;

·         Single trip, where cover must be arranged each time a trip is undertaken. Most policies offer cover for a period up to 90 consecutive days stay per trip.

·         Annual, where cover is automatically provided for all trips within a twelve month period. Each trip must not go beyond 90 consecutive days. Frequent travelers are advised to purchase this cover as this is cheaper compared to taking up insurance cover for every single trip.

Majority of the policies on the market include at least the following basic cover;

·         In the event of illness or injury, the insurance will pay for emergency medical treatment including surgical fees, hospital charges and other medical costs. It will also pay for emergency dental fees and pharmaceutical products prescribed by the attending medical officer.

·         Transportation or repatriation costs in the event of illness or injury where the insured has to be moved to a well equipped hospital or sent back home.

·         Repatriation of mortal remains in the event of death.

·         Emergency return home following hospitalization or death of a close relative after the departure of the policyholder.

In addition to the basic cover provided by most insurers, some insurers also provide the following additional cover. Most are automatically included; others may require the payment of an additional premium.

• Cover for loss or damage to personal belongings (including clothing) and personal luggage.
• Delayed baggage cover provides monies to make essential purchases of clothing and toiletries as a result of delayed bagged.
• Compensation for loss of baggage.
• Cover for locating lost baggage and arranging for its delivery
• Travel delay covers the delays in departure of aircraft, ship or train. The policy pays for additional expenses borne by the policyholder.
• Personal accident benefits provide cover for capital sums for death, loss of limbs or sight, or permanent disability caused by an accident whilst on holiday.
• Loss of passport and driving license cover is provided for the additional travelling and accommodation costs to obtain a replacement of passport or driving license following loss or theft. Cover also includes the costs of temporary replacement passport or driving license.

Each section cover is subject to a limit of liability/sum insured and sometimes an excess.

The cover takes effect from the time the policyholder sets off for the port of departure, during his/her stay at agreed destination and ends at the port of entry back into his/her country of usual residence (Ghana). This is however subject to the period of insurance.

Policies are sold to adults of sound mind although there are age limits. Underwriters usually charge extra premium if the age of the policyholder exceed the limit.  Some underwriters also offer free insurance cover for children below a certain age limit. The premium charged is primarily based on the country (ies) being visited. The most common territorial limits used by insurers are;

•  Africa
•    Europe
• Asia/Middle East
•  Worldwide

The standard exclusion applied to majority of the travel policies on the market include;

·         Taking part in hazardous activities.

·         Travelling against medical advice or to get treatment.

·         Pregnancy or child birth

·         Self-inflicted injury, solvent abuse, alcohol and the use of drugs.

·         Suicide or any attempt thereat

·         Chronic illness or previously knowing existing prior to the inception of the policy.

·         Loss of baggage caused by confiscation

It is essential that the policyholder keeps the document issued in a safe place and takes it when he/she travels. Insurance is a contract; therefore you must read and understand the policy document very well. Insurance companies offering travel insurance policies are agents for foreign insurers offering same products. In the event of illness or injury whilst abroad, most insurers provide a contact number on the policy document that the policyholder must call for assistance. If you bought the insurance through a reputable insurance broker, the policyholder may contact them as well. This is one of the many advantages of arranging travel insurance as well as other insurances through a reputable broker. The broker could take prompt action to assist you in processing your claim whilst you take care of other issues.

Receiving medical care outside Ghana is very expensive and also losing your valuable documents and baggage can be very frustrating, especially when you are in a country where English is not the first language and so large like Brazil. It is quite a jungle out there. But that is what we are here for- to help the customer, both consumers and corporate bodies make the right decisions and ensure that they make the right insurance choice. 

THE DUTIES OF AN INSURANCE BROKER

Broking is a profession. If you are a broker, then you are at law a member of a profession. You make recommendations to a customer and as such give advice. There is no much difference between an insurance broker and other professionals like lawyers, doctors, accountants and quantity surveyors. The devil lies in the details.

An insurance broker is an independent insurance agent who works with many insurance companies to find the very best available policies for his or her clients. There is a whole lot of difference between personal lines and commercial lines insurance. This article would look at the duties of an insurance broker in relation to commercial lines business. If you work for a broker, it is important that you realise that you are working for a professional firm, and whiles you do what you are doing, you will be held liable at law. You have duties and responsibilities.

In the course of your duties, you must act with reasonable care, skill and diligence. Much of a brokers work stems from this. This means you can do the job you do to a legal standard of reasonable competence. Simply put, you are expected to act in a manner that is acceptable by a “reasonable” insurance broker. Your job employer should give you a job specification. This often describes your duties, required knowledge, skills and abilities and minimum qualifications you should have to do your job and the standard you are to meet. Majority of these would enable you to be competent. Competence is something you can really achieve if you don’t let your customer down. It is the duty of the broker to highlight the risk and also advise the client on alternative ways to mitigate risk. In commercial insurance business you will be required to know the class of insurance business you will recommend, to the extent that you will ideally tell them about it without any errors. You will be expected to know how knowledge weaves into the subject. Also you will be expected to apply that knowledge and understanding in a real life situation. If you can do this then you will always be competent. Your duty to a client is to do your best to remain reasonably competent and to reach a standard of skill that all your college brokers will regard as competent.

It is the duty of a broker to gather sufficient information to allow a fair presentation of the risk to the underwriters and to recommend a policy which suitable to the customer’s demand and needs. A broker must not go on forensic inquiry but he should use the skill of a reasonable broker i.e. proposal form of insurers and also additional skills to go on further enquiry.

A broker is expected to keep up to date with laws and regulations and it is no excuse to say that only you only need to know what the insurer asks. This will enable you not to let customers down. Can you imagine being treated by a doctor who bases their advice on what they learnt for their exams about 30 years ago? From the above, a broker must have good knowledge of different types of businesses, how the risks relate to the type of insurance you are recommending and what the underwriter would need to know to rate the risk. Remember as well as acting for your client, you are the eyes of and ears of the underwriter, especially where the insurer is not arranging for a survey for that risk.

A key expectation of a customer is that a claim will be paid. A customer will always have in mind what they think they want, but the reason why they always approach a broker is to cover the things that they may not have thought about. An insurance broker should be able to give a customer sufficient information for them to be able to make an informed decision about the recommended insurance. Always consider if the insured must do anything for the policy to be effective i.e. the insurer will have no right to turn the claim down or reduce the sums.

Your client must disclose all material facts both at inception and renewal. A material fact is one which will influence the judgment of a prudent underwriter in deciding whether to accept the risk and if so at what terms of cover and at what standard rate of premium. Have you drawn the attention of conditions and warranties, if any, which are often buried deep in the policy wording? If so, does he understand the effects on non-compliance? Customers must understand adequacy of sums insured and average. Client must understand the consequences of underinsurance. Avoid the trap of valuing a client’s property. You are not a professional valuer. You must ensure that your client understands the doctrine of utmost good faith. Declare any information which is relevant to the risk, including what might be considered sensitive. Example, previous claims made. Must explain how and where the insured is expected to contribute to a claim i.e. policy excess or deductible. In commercial lines, there is most of the time confusion about insurable interest. Example, a parent may own a building and his or her son operates the business. This could be different insurable interest for the building and contents. It must be resolved at the proposal stage. Insurable interest is the legal right to insure arising out of a financial relationship recognized at law, between the insured and the subject matter of insurance. Simply put whose name must be on the policy. Advising the customer about the breach is also important as advising the terms of the policy. Without both parts the broker has not completed the duty of explanation to the customer.

One of the common complaints of by customers when a claim is being repudiated is that they did not understand what they were buying. Make a judgment as to whether the customer understood what they were buying. Asking the customer as to whether they understood what you have explained is one thing. You will be the best judge of whether the message is will understood.

There is a myth that every insurance broker is an expert in insurance. That is not so.

You have duty to keep records of good and reasonable standard. A professional record is one which records details of relationship with a customer, which in the event of disappearance of the person or people conducting that relationship, are of the standard that a peer practitioner ( someone from the industry or similar standard of competence) can refer to those records and continue the relationship without referring to anyone else. This will include but not exhaustive, clear record of information gathering, presence of risk, advice given, explanations given, telephone conversations, meetings, who, where, when and what was discussed. Sign and date it. Quality records are a deterrent for those who want to blame the insurance broker if something does not go as expected. Remember the golden rule of modern day business, “If it is not written down, it did not happen”.

Remember that at renewal, the whole process starts again. It is a new contract and all obligations must be renewed. For commercial clients, you may not always deal with the same person. It may be that a senior staff member may be the contact person whom you deal with. If that person leaves, you cannot assume that his replacement is familiar with insurance or indeed familiar with the insured’s own program. Try and seek a meeting with him or her and point it out as you did with his predecessor. This has important values. You would have done as much as you can to make sure that the person responsible for insurance in the firm is up to speed with the insurance program. Also as part of his induction, you have provided him with key information he needed to know. Finally you would have made your mark, with the contact, thus mininising the potential of seeking someone he might have dealt with in his previous position.

ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR FROM NOW ON.

The Bible says in Luke 6:29 and i quote "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic".
Nelson Mandela is respected in the world today not because he fought Apartheid rule in South Africa, but that he decided to work with those who imprisoned him. He was able to rise above what the normal human being would have loved to do.
I love the game of football with such passion that I would want to talk about a human being who has decided not to behave like a normal one.
His name is JUPP HEYNCKES. He is the coach of Bayern Munich FC.
Heynckes was appointed the coach of Bayern Munich for the second time in July 2011. His first season back at the club saw Bayern fall second to Dortmund in both the league and cup. Last May he was within a couple of minutes of becoming the only fourth man -after  Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jose Mourinho- to win the European Cup with two different clubs before Didier Drogha's header hauled Chelsea level in the 88th minute of the final in Bayern's own Allianz Arena, then going on to triumph on penalties. So close and yet so far. He ended the season the season trophyless.
Bayern has put their disappointments behind them and have used them as a motivational tool which has made them close to perfection in this campaign. I would like to credit Heynckes for that, even if he is not soley responsible.
During this campaign (2012-2013), the top management have appointed former FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola to take over from Heynckes whose contract is due to run out in summer 2013. Privately, the German has disclose his discontent at both the timing and way in which the appointment has been handled by club. Many people believe that the offense he committed was that he was 67 years old and would like to retire and the end of the season. But the management got it all wrong. He said he would like to continue his career after this season.
Heynckes leads a rampant squad into the final knowing that even winning the continent's premier club competition will not be enough to keep him in his post. If you were this coach, would you do the normal thing?. The normal thing Heynckes should have done is to try as much as possible to leave the Bayern in a bad shape before he leaves because he is bitter.Doing the normal thing is very easy and everyone can do it. Those who have left footprints on this earth have often gone against what was normal in their days. I have a strong believe that JUPP HEYNCKES will be able to lift three trophies(one of which he has already won) this season and he would go down in history as one of the few men who has behaved abonormally in the face of a great opposition. Just wondering what would have happened to him if decided to behave normally.
As human beings we always want to be loved and to belong. We want to be accepted and therefore do what is normal, given the circumstance. But if we want to be remembered after we have gone then we should behave "abnormal".
To borrow from the teaching of Jesus; if you want to become first, you would have to be the last; if you want to live, you will have to die; if you want to be a master, you have to be a servant; if you want to get, you will have to give.This world would be a better place if we all behaved abnormal.
This is the lesson I have learnt in this years Champions League.