Posted by Gabriella Hopkins | August 27, 2011

Australia steps closer to plain cigarette packaging

By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

Australia is set to become the first country in the world to introduce plain cigarette packaging in a plan that has enraged tobacco giants.

This week, the parliament’s lower house passed two bills aimed at banning tobacco company product branding. The legislation, which dictates that cigarette packets must be a uniform olive green with the name of the brand in small, standard type, is expected to pass the upper house in the coming weeks.

The new law is set to reduce smoking rates to below 10 per cent. It says packets will be plastered in graphic health warnings and will not be allowed to bear any tobacco company logos. Nicola Roxon, the health minister said, “This is the first very courageous step that our parliament has taken to introduce plain packaging… We’re going to be the first country around the world to introduce it. January 1 is the start date and it looks like the legislation will be well and truly passed by then.”

Tobacco companies are unhappy with the turn of events to say the least. They claim there is no evidence that plain packaging will reduce smoking rates and argue that it could spark a rise in illegal tobacco, known as ‘chopchop’. British American Tobacco Australia is now weighing up whether to seek an urgent hearing the the High Court in a last-ditch bid to release confidential government legal advice on plain packaging that it hopes might influence the upper house vote.

Steve Hambleton, the Australian Medical Association president, has urged senators to get support the bill when it reaches the upper house. He said,

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Tags:
Cigarette Packaging, Packaging, Plain Cigarette, Plain Cigarette Packaging
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | August 26, 2011

House Insurance: How to Reduce the Costs of Home Cover

There are specific ways you can lower premium costs for home insurance. Security, crime prevention groups, higher excesses and smart shopping can all help.

If youre looking for new home buildings and contents cover, it may be tempting to simply shop around, find the lowest quote and buy that. This may save you some money. But, if you really want to access discounts and reduce your overall house insurance costs, you may need to think smarter. How can you cut your premiums?

Good Home Security Equals Lower Insurance Costs

Increasing your home security makes you less of a risk, and many insurers will discount premiums in return. Taking a long hard look at your home and how attractive or unattractive it may look to a burglar can also help.

Some Insurers Discount for Local Neighbourhood Watch Membership

You may also be given a discount on home cover if you are a member of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. This will involve working with a group of your neighbours, the police and your local council on improving crime prevention and community security. Again, this reduces claim risk for insurers, hence the discount.

Increasing Your Excess Can Lower Premiums

Most insurance policies give a set amount that you commit to covering before the company pays out on a claim.

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Tags:
Home, Home Cover
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Posted by Victoria Milson | August 26, 2011

Trip Cancellation Insurance Prevents Financial Disappointment

No one likes to see their well-planned trip cancelled. Add to that the worry of the financial losses related to the cancellation, and the frustration can be overwhelming. Trip cancellation insurance helps offset the financial part of the cancelled trip.

Trip cancellation insurance is especially useful when you book the best deals, which can save you a lot of money. But the fine print contains details that usually include the disclosure that the expenses are not refundable, in case the reservations are not used. Trip cancellation insurance steps in to protect your “investments” in the trip.

Trip cancellation insurance covers the cost of airline tickets, hotel reservations, and even event tickets. It also covers baggage loss or delay, and trip interruption. Plans also provide some accidental death and dismemberment, and medical expenses coverage, for the duration of the travel.

When purchasing trip cancellation insurance, check the covered reasons for cancellation. Plans usually cover cancellations due to death or illness, terrorism, weather, natural disasters, and bankruptcy of the airline or travel agency. Some plans also cover cancellation due to work-related reasons. Check the reasons that are covered under your trip cancellation insurance plan. Now, if only there were an insurance plan to protect against the emotional disappointment of a trip getting cancelled!

Tags:
Cancellation Insurance, Financial, Trip Cancellation, Trip Cancellation Insurance
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | August 25, 2011

A photo essay of Old Mother Kernow – that’s Cornwall

I dont get home to the motherland as often as I would like but have just found time to spend a long weekend there with my girlfriend, armed with my usual array of cameras including my standard weapon of choice: the Canon 50d equipped with a Canon 50mm prime lens, the sharpness of which is truly amazing! The thing is, it didnt actually make it out of my camera bag!

The reason the Canon became slightly ignored this weekend is due to taking delivery of my shiny new white iPhone! And then going into a camera app downloading frenzy. I downloaded Hipstamatic , Scratchcam and a few others the evening before leaving and was like a child with a new toy. Hipstamatic gives you a lovely lo-fi effect which i really like. I usually spend hours taking photographs with my £1000 DSLR and then spend many more hours making it look like they were taken on a £20 Russian charity shop camera. Not anymore thanks to these toy-camera apps.

I am a street photographer by choice, where the idea is to get the photograph without being seen! Thats not easy if you are using a large digital SLR. So the iPhone makes the perfect street photography and holiday camera. Its got a 5mp lens, there are some great apps for it and nobody seems to take any notice of you using it. Perfect.

Heres some of my iphoneography from the trip.

Lands End The end of the UK.

St.Ives in the rain. I

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Tags:
Mother, Mother Kernow
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Posted by Admin | August 15, 2011

What is public liability insurance?

When it comes to running a business there is a seemingly never ending list of things to consider. If you’ve never run a business before then you’ll have a sharp learning curve as you start to consider issues that have never come up while you were working for someone else. If you have been running your own business for a while however, then you will have a better idea of what is needed to run your business.

Whichever category you fall into, one of the most important considerations of any business is insurance. No-one can predict when something will go wrong, resulting in an accident or damages, or who might be responsible for those There are several different types of insurance that might be relevant to your business, but one of the most important is public liability insurance.

But just what is public liability insurance, available from Endsleigh.co.uk, and what does it cover? This kind of insurance policy will cover you against claims arising from injury or damages. This means that if your customers, or members of the public, are injured whilst at the premises of your business then you will be covered for any claims that they make against you. Public liability insurance will also cover self employed workers who work from their homes, and you would treat your home as your workplace. Cov Read more…

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public liability insurance
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Posted by Admin | August 10, 2011

Tips to Affordable Private Health Insurance

Every month when your insurance bill comes in the mail, you curse and wonder why on Earth you are paying such high premiums for something that you don’t use anyway. For starters, it is a good thing that you have private health insurance because you are safe guarding yourself against a future calamity. However, you actually do not need to be paying such high premium on your private health insurance. There are actually ways and means in which you can get around the system in order to enjoy affordable health insurance.

First off, the best thing you can do would be to scrutinise the fine print. Certain insurance agencies would already have included every sort of coverage in their basic policies. If you are a single man, you definitely do not need coverage which includes pregnancy related illnesses. Look through your policy again and you might find that you are being charged for something that does not apply to you at all.

You already know that the older you are, the higher your premium will automatically be. The best tip would be for you to start buying your insurance as early as possible. You will also need to keep healthy for this tip to work. Those who smoke and drink often will definitely have higher premiums as compared to non-smokers and teetotallers. This could be a good incentive for you to finally kick off bad habits.

You might shave off some money from your premium by purchasing insurance online. Y Read more…

Tags:
Health Insurance
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Posted by Admin | August 09, 2011

Business insurance will cover all possible accidents

business insuranceMost business owners are accustomed to taking certain types of risks. However, not being insured property is a risk that you can not afford to take. When you need to get business insurance, you want to be sure it sufficiently meets the needs of your specific activities.

Every good business plan, whether for a new or existing business, must include an appropriate insurance coverage is designed for this particular company. Most of coverage you want is not necessary or required by law. However, not having the right time can mean the difference between success and failure. catastrophic losses can often be avoided by having proper policies in place.

When you begin to establish an insurance plan, try to think about the worst things that can happen in your industry. You should start with yourself. As a director, you are a key element of your organization and you must consider your absence could influence the daily operational process.

Then you’ll need liability coverage provided for and protect you from all possible damages to third parties. Read more…

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Business Insurance
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Posted by Admin | August 04, 2011

Advice On Individual Health Insurance

It is not enough to settle for just about any health insurance policy. That would hardly help at the time of an emergency because each health-related emergency would be specific and would demand specific attention. Therefore, when fixing an individual health insurance for oneself or one’s family, it is important to take several factors into account. There are, in fact, certain tips that could help a person get a pocket-friendly insurance. The first trick involves applying when one is young. This is because mens health insurance companies conduct a health examination before deciding upon the premium. A healthy and young person would definitely have an edge over an old ailing person. That is how the process works.

Having a health condition which calls for constant medical vigilance obviously means a high premium. In fact, companies might decide not to allow insurance to such a person altogether. They would simply cancel his application. Once this bit has been taken care of, it is important for anyone applying for an insurance to be well-acquainted with the technical terms of an insurance policy. This is for his own advantage and would work like a kind of self-defense tactic. It is not wise to trust a company completely and not check up on their policies and dealings. When provided with a policy, the client should be able to understand how the policy is supposed to function and what each clause in the policy denotes.
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Health Insurance
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