High Voltage Shareware/high1.zip/high1/DIR15/INSURANC.ZIP/APPNDX.DOC

Text File | 1990-02-16 | 14KB | 335 lines

     A P P E N D I X   A


     INTRODUCTION



         Home Insurance is software that allows you to keep track
     of what you own, where items are located and how much it
     would cost to replace something that is lost.    Unfortunately,
     most of us do not find out how much property insurance we
     need until after we suffer a major loss.    We then may
     learn that our insurance coverage, although based on
     replacement value, is not sufficient to cover the complete
     loss.    Or, worse yet, we are unable to document the true
     value of our possessions and thus the insurance will only pay
     to replace our lost possessions with lower quality items.

         Home Insurance provides protection in several ways.
     First, it provides a way for you to determine whether or not
     you have adequate property insurance.    For example, insurance
     policies generally limit the coverage for some special items
     such as jewelry, collectibles (coins, stamps, plates, dolls,
     ect.), guns and furs.    By categorizing items by type, Home
     Insurance can give you the total replacement value for each
     type of item you own.    This allows you to compare what you
     actually have versus the limits given in your insurance
     policy.

         For those special items that need to be covered for more
     than a minimal amount, you generally will need to "schedule"
     them.    What this means is that you give your insurance agent
     a list (or schedule) of the special items to be insured so
     that those items are specifically identified and the
     appropriate insurance supplied.  Some of them may
     already be covered by your existing insurance.  For others
     you may need to consider additional insurance.  Your
     insurance agent will know the details of your policy, so once
     your inventory is complete, discuss it with your agent to
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     determine if you need to schedule any items.  Policies vary
     and it will take someone familiar with your policy, such as
     your agent, to provide you with specific recommendations.  Of
     course, Home Insurance can provide the list your agent will
     need.

         If you should suffer a loss, from theft, fire, vandalism
     - any type of loss, Home Insurance is your record of what you
     had.  It will allow you to put together a list of what was
     lost, providing you with model numbers, serial numbers and
     descriptions.    If the loss was due to theft, this provides
     the police with the information they'll need to identify and
     hopefully recover your things.  It also provides the
     insurance company with the documentation they need to replace
     the lost items with items of the same or similar quality.

         Insurance companies generally try to protect themselves
     from people out to take advantage of them.    Thus, if you
     have not documented the description, model number and
     serial number of the items you lost, you may not be able to
     recover the full replacement value.  You should keep the
     receipts for every major purchase you make.  This is the best
     documentation. But, what if your shoe boxes of receipts also
     go up in a fire?    With your complete inventory on one
     floppy disk you can easily keep a copy at home and another at
     work or in a safe deposit box, so your records will be safe.


     Using Home Insurance

         Depending on the size of your home and how much you've
     packed into each closet, you can expect to spend several
     hours entering the list of everything you own into your
     inventory for the first time.    I suggest setting aside one
     day to do a complete inventory.  Start in one room and list
     the complete contents of that room (a clip board with a pad
     of paper will be helpful for this).  Go from room to room
     until everything is listed.  If you take a break, or have
     other people in your house (i.e. your kids), be careful not
     to move items from room to room as this can cause some
     confusion.
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         If you haven't had an appraisal done recently, you might
     use your Sears, Penney's or other catalog to determine the
     current replacement value for some items.  For others you may
     need to do a little window shopping to get a good idea of
     what it would cost to replace them.  If you want to be
     accurate, don't guess.  If you guess high, you will be paying
     for more insurance than you need.  A low guess will result in
     inadequate coverage.  Valuable items should be appraised by a
     professional appraiser to get a realistic estimate of their
     value.  Talk with your insurance agent to get his
     recommendation concerning what items you should get
     appraised.


         Home Insurance provides level levels of detail.  This
     three level feature allows you to determine the amount of
     information you want to store for each item.  If you have
     valuable things, or need more complete descriptions for
     insurance use, you can keep information to a level of very
     fine detail.  On the other hand, if you just need a quick way
     to find specific stuff (a technical word meaning anything you
     own) you may use the first, less detailed, level of Home
     Insurance.  Since you can set up as many separate catalog
     files as you wish, you can divide your inventory and
     categorize each part of it in as much or little detail as you
     want.

         Home Insurance is completely menu driven and easy to
     operate.  Since the computer does all the hard work for you,
     this manual is short.    We'll describe how to enter
     information; what to do to edit existing entries; and how to
     find the item(s) you need.
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     THE THREE LEVELS OF HOME INSURANCE



     The three levels of Home Insurance are: Insurance, Detail and
     Complete.  Each level provides progressively a greater detail
     of information that can be stored for each item.

     The following is a list of the information that can be
     entered at each level.  As the higher levels are used,
     however, the data files use more disk space.  Using the
     Insurance level allows you to have twice as many entries on a
     floppy disk as you can get at the Detail level.

     Insurance      Detail            Complete

     Description      Description            Description
     Model #      Model #            Model #
     ID Marks      ID Marks            ID Marks
     Serial Number      Serial Number         Serial Number
     Note          Note                Note
     Value          Value             Value

              Owner(s)            Owner(s)
              Location            Location
              Other             Other
              Type                Type
              Purchase Date         Purchase Date
              Updated            Updated
              Note -1            Note -1
              Note -2            Note -2
              Note -3            Note -3

                            Purchased From
                            Address
                            City/State
                            Original Cost
                            Note
                            Miscellaneous
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         Home Insurance allows you to keep inventories for several
     insurance policies on one one disk or you can keep each on a
     separate disk.  Since you can specify virtually an unlimited
     number of locations and owners, each item can be pinpointed
     as to who owns it and where it is located.  Thus you can
     include items that are in your office or at a summer home.
     Home Insurance can sort them out and provide a print-out for
     each location and owner.


         Let's look at the type of information that can be entered
     on each line:


     Description - You this line is used to enter and
     descriptive phrase that applies to this object.  Depending on
     what the item is you could include information such as the
     brand name, color, the material it is made from, the style,
     or shape.  NOTE: You can also use the "NOTE" line at the
     Detail level for additional descriptive information.  Be
     consistent in the type of information you enter, however.  If
     you use the NOTE -1 line to describe the color of an item,
     always usethe NOTE -1 line for colors and nothing else.

         When making entries you should be consistent when using
     upper and lower case letters.    During searches the software
     will differentiate between upper and lower case letters.
     Thus entering the work "Computer" is not the same as
     "COMPUTER."  I usually enter the description using all upper
     case letters.

     Model # - Enter the model number, if there is one.

     ID Mark - This line is for any identifing marks on the
     item.    This could be a social security number engraved on the
     back of it; a specific pattern of scratches, dents, or other
     damage; or anything else that would uniquely identify this
     item.

     Serial Number - Enter the serial number, if there is one.
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     Note - This line is provided for miscellaneous information.
     You can enter an abbreviation for the type of item; or
     describe the condition of the item; or any other information
     you feel is valuable.

     Value - Enter the current value of the item. This should be
     a realistic replacement vaule, which may be less than what
     you think the item is worth.    If you over estimate the
     replacement value of an item, you could end up paying for
     more insurance than you are getting since your insurance will
     only pay the minimum amount need to replace an item.


     (The Detail Level)


     Owner(s) - Enter the name(s) of the people who own this
     item.    Some of the Home Insurance functions use just the
     first three letters of the owner line to identify the owner.
     Be sure that the first three letters are different for each
     owner.  For example, if two different owners have the same
     first name, start the owner line with their initials.    For
     example, for Steven C. Hudgik and Stephen F. Zabilanski make
     the entries on the owner(s) line as follows:

     SCH - Steve Hudgik

     SFZ - Steve Zabilanski

         NOTE: In the case of joint ownership, more than one name
     can be entered on this line.

     Location - Enter a description of the location of this
     item.    The description can be a single word such as "Bedroom"
     or a complete address.  Home Insurance also uses the first
     three letters on this ine to classify items by their
     location, so be sure that you don't duplicate the first three
     letters for two different locations.

     Other - Like the NOTE line you can enter whatever
     information you feel is useful.  You may enter more
     information about the owner(s) or location, or use this line
     to expand on the description of the type of item.
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     Type - Use this line to classify items by type.  The
     classifications you use will depend on your requirements.
     You can classify items by style, use or function, or any
     other way.  Some examples of types would be: furniture,
     clothes, books, computer, stereo, auto parts, collectable,
     art, coins, furs, guns, and dishes.  Entering a type
     classification is very important in that some items (guns,
     furs, collectibles, etc.) may require separate insurance.
     This is called scheduling and you should talk to your
     insurance agent about this once your inventory is complete.

         Like Owner(s) and Location the first three letters of the
     Type designation are used to sort your inventory.  You should
     avoid entering types that start with the same first three
     letters.    By the way, you do nt need to enter three
     letters on this line.    You can identify item types (and
     owners and locations) using a single letter or two letters.


         NOTE: The searches are not limited to the first three
     letters.  You can search for any or all words (or individual
     characters) on the Owner(s), Location and Type lines.


     Purchase Date - The purchase can be important for
     establishing the vaule of an item.    In most cases the
     specific day is not critical, so you can enter just the month
     and year.  For things you've owned for awhile you may only be
     able to remember the year they were purchased - that's OK,
     enter just the year.  However, for some items, such as stock
     certificates, you need to enter the exact date.

     Updated - You can not enter anything on this line - the
     cursor will skip over it.  Each time you save a new entry or
     edit an existing entry Home Insurance will get the date and
     time from your computer's clock and enter them here.  (Be
     sure the date and time are set, if you don't have a built in
     clock).  This tells you how recent the information for this
     entry is.

     Notes-1/2/3 - The next three lines provide space for you to
     enter additional information about each item.    You can enter
     anything on these lines and Home Insurance can search to find
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     any specific information you enter.  I do urge you to be
     consistent in what is entered on each line.  For example, if
     Note-1 is used to describe the color of an item, always use
     Note-1 for color and nothing else.


     (The Complete Level)


         All of the information at this level is intended to
     identify where you purchased (obtained) the item from. This
     could be a dealer, wholesaler, radio station contest, gift
     from a neighbor, etc.    This information allows you to go back
     to the original dealer, if you need to replace the item.
     It may also help substantiate the value and quality of the
     item for an insurance claim.

     Purchased From - Enter the name of the dealer or person you
     got this item from.

     Address - Enter the street address for the above.

     City/State - Enter the city and state the above address is
     in.

     Original Cost - Enter the amount you paid for this item.
     If it was a gift you can enter the value of the item at the
     time you received it.    This is particularly important for
     items such as stocks or collectables as you will need to be
     able to determine your gain or loss on the item should you
     sell it in the future.

     Note - This line provides additional space for information
     about the place your purchased the item from or it's orginal
     cost.    I've made this line long enough so you can enter the
     dealer's phone number, if you wish to have an easy reference
     for that.

     Misc. - Use this line to show any other additional
     information - for example you could enter an abbreviation for
     the type of dealer.
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e to show any other additional
     information - for example you