In my previous article about finding the best deal on insurance, I touched on the idea that insurance, for the most part, is a necessary evil that plays an important part in our financial liabilities. The vast majority of consumers know why it is important to carry serveral insurance policies for their home and family. What most are unaware of is the important role adjustors can play in a settlement.

When an insurance policyholder files a claim, an adjuster will be brought in to verify that the coverage applies to the insurance policy, investigate liability for any damages and make restitution to the policyholder. In most cases, an insurance company will appoint a staff adjuster to the case and the policyholder will be offered a settlement based on the staff adjuster’s findings and recommendations. All too often, a policyholder will accept the settlement without dispute and feel they have been given the best deal possible. To understand why this is type of thinking can possibly cost a policyholder significant amounts of money owed to them, you must understand a few basic principles about insurance adjusters.

To begin with, there are three type of insurance adjusters:

• Staff Adjusters - Hired by the insurance company to investigate claims for the company.
• Independent Adjusters - Independent contractors hired to investigate claims for the insurance company
• Public Adjusters - Employed by the policyholder to negotiate with the insurance company

Both staff and independent adjustors have the insurance company to think of first when they are evaluating a claim. Independent adjusters often are retained with a commission based incentive which means they will get paid more if they are successful in getting the policyholder to agree to a lesser amount. Staff adjusters are working a different angle for the insurance company because a salaried adjuster will be subject to routine performance evaluations that can impact their salary and benefits.

A public adjuster is an an advocate for the policyholder in appraising and negotiating an insurance claim. Public Adjusters exist because of the a conflict of interest that arises when one person attempts to represent both sides of a settlement. Public adjusters are the only type of claims adjuster that can legally represent the rights of a policyholder during the claim process.

It is always a wise idea to let public adjuster review your claim even after you have settled with your insurer because most of the time a public adjuster can request that the claim be reopened to negotiation for more money if discrepancy is found.

The majority of policyholders are unaware that public adjusters even exist as an option to dealing directly with the insurance company representatives. A professional, conscientious public adjuster can make a tremendous difference in the amount of a policyholder’s settlement.

If you’re a policyholder and have filed a claim, don’t let your insurance company walk away with money they owe you. Make sure to consult a public adjuster before taking any offer.

While European countries such as Italy, Spain, France, and Germany has seen property values skyrocket (especially anything near water) there are still very many lucrative places to purchase investment property for unheard of prices. While the United States is undergoing a fickle Real Estate market at the moment, those who purchase property as an investment may want to shift focus to the emerging countries in the European Union. Although the US Dollar doesn not buy as much as it once did compared to the Euro, there are still incredible deals in exotic locations for those bold enough to take a step out of their backyard. Today I’ll introduce you to three relatively unknown countries in Europe that are rapidly becoming the “In Thing” in investment property or even for an alternative to the fatigued lifestlye currently plaguing the United States.

#1- Croatia - Croatia is one of the most undervalued areas in Europe for Real Estate speculation. Although the Ex-Yu and the fighting between the Serbians, Croatians, Bosnians and Slovenians divided the country formerly known as Yugoslavia and has worried many Real Estate speculators there is still much beautiful Adriatic Real Estate for sale at good prices in Croatia. The culture is mainly Roman Catholic, Middle-European and Mediterranean people and the scenery is amongst the most beautiful in the world. From a brochure I gathered on one of my trips to the country of my families origin, Croatia, there is a passage, “Much has been said about the beauty of Croatia. “Heaven on Earth” has been described in many books by artists, in paintings and countless photographs. “God wanted to crown his creation, so on the last day he created the Croatian Adriatic from his tears, the stars and sea breeze”. This prose was writen by an author long ago about the splendour of this most beautiful and preserved ecological corner of the modern world.” According to the 2006 survey of the USTOA, the hottest new tourist destination for United States citizens is Croatia and many are choosing to purchase investment property after admiring the breathtaking beauty of the country and intermingling with it’s intelligent, friendly and accepting citizens.

Here is a beautiful view of Split, the economic and administrative center of Dalmatia on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia.

#2 - Cyrpus - The Republic of Cyprus is an island country in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey. Many British citizens have been choosing Cyprus as a destination for retirement because of the beautiful scenery, the temperate climate and the undeniable value. As with Croatia, much of Cyprus’ image has been tarnished because there had been decades of in-fghting between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots for control of the island. It is this constant strugle that has made many outsiders weary of making any major property purchases for investment purposes because ownership of property on the island could be held in jeopardy pending the outcome of civil turmoil. Any time there is an ongoing confilct in an area, the value of property decreases, however the Greeks and Turks have settled down over the last decade and have begun realizing that their tiny island nation has a value that is beneficial to both parties. Cyprus has been recently sought as a basis for many offshore businesses. This is due to its highly developed infrastructure. While Greek and Turkish are the official languages of Cyprus, however, the vast majority of the inhabitants speak English.

A view of Nicosia, the capital and largest city of Cyprus and the only divided capital city in the world

#3 - Latvia - The Republic of Latvia is located on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, shares land borders with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south, both Russia and Belarus to the east. The attraction packed little nation has the fastest growing economy in Europe. It has had high GDP growth since 2000. In 2003, Latvia’s GDP growth was 7.5% compared to inflation at 2.9%. Unemployment was 8.8% in 2003, almost unchanged compared to the previous two years. Privatization is mostly complete, except for some of the large state-owned utilities. On May 1, 2004, Latvia joined the European Union. The capital, Riga,is a vibrant coastal capital and the countryside has many photogenic castles, music festivals and scenic river valleys. Latvians are as intent on revitalizing and nation-building as any newly independent nation. Visitors can witness first-hand the rapid transformation of this country that has only recently crept from under the doormat of history. Latvia is one of those ‘check it out before it’s too late’ places. This is true for property investors as well as tourists. In Riga, property in some areas rose by around 40%. This has been fueled by strong economic growth and EU entry. Most properties in the historic capital are renovations and there is a limited stock of such buildings. All this suggests that the rises seen in Latvia’s property market over recent years are set to continue.

Historic Old Riga, Latvia Skyline view from Vansu Bridge

In my next blog post I will be exploring more hot, sleeper Real Estate investments in South and Central America.

I received a message from some spammer yesterday asking me if I wanted to buy some E-Gold hacking tools. I reported this to E-Gold and they responded with a very informative email on protecting your e-gold account from hackers. I thought I’d share it with all you Hyip and autosurf enthusiasts.

The majority of novice hyip players are likely to learn common due diligence practices by trial and error. This process generally involves the loss of significant amounts of funds, however the losses could be minimized if there were a “Golden Rule” to follow regarding choosing a program to sink your hard earned cash in hoping for a return. Kent Smith and Frank Parades new e-book entitled “Due Dilligence 4 HYIP” is a coherent starting point for novice hyip enthusiasts as well as a powerful reminder to experienced players. The e-book covers most of the common techniques for digging up dirt on hyip admins such as whois, dns lookups, forum posts, and the information is delivered with urls to websites where you can practice your hyip sleuthing skills. Overall “Due Diligence 4 HYIP” is factual and informative, written in an easy to read style that does not go overboard in technical detail. The authors do not come off as pro or con regarding hyips, and maintain a neutral approach to the subject, and remain focused on the topic of due diligence.

Due Diligence 4 HYIP
http://www.dd4hyip.com/

Sure there are a lot of scams out there on the internet, and it can be a very sobering and humbling experience when a program you’ve put faith in has decided to perform a vanishing act. Don’t let this get you down, or take your attention off your game strategy, treat losses as a learning experience and move on without becoming jaded unless you are ready to throw in the towel. Losses are inevitable in the playing of the game and if you are prepared for losses, it will not throw off your game. Having your game thrown off is how losing streaks begin, and once your strategy is on the skids it becomes expoenentially more difficult to bring your game back around without busting. Avoid becoming emotionally involved with a particular program at all costs.