Archive for October 26th, 2007

118 118 - Directory Assistance Service in the United Kingdom

Friday, October 26th, 2007

118 118 is a United Kingdom supplier of directory enquiries services, facilitating users to get hold of phone line data on top of additional useful information.

118 118 utilize The Number UK Ltd’ to supply directory assistance data - the firm is a child company of US Company InfoNXX - the very largest independent directory enquiries supplier internationally.

Directory enquiries before now was found by calling 192 (UK), even so, the market was deregulated in ‘02 and in August 2003 192 was decommissioned.

Along with supplying a directory enquiry resource, 118 118 also provide a facility where you could ask 118 118’s personnel about anything, for instance, ‘Where is the tallest man-made construction in Cyprus’ and 118 then can deliver the answer, over the phone, or even through a text message (genuinely handy for quizzes!)

118 118 have unleashed various impressive ad campaigns over the past few year, making two cheeky chappies with droopy moustaches, well known for promoting 118118’s service. The men who have have appeared in various different circumstances, including an imitation of ‘The A-team’. They are, now, a super famous part of the 118 brand across Britain, and are unmistakably recognizable.

What the insurance companies aren’t telling you about your premium

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Although insurance companies offer peace of mind to the policy holders, it is important for all customers to remember that they are for profit companies, and accordingly your own personal interest is not their number one priority. Consequently, any insurance company will capitalize on every opportunity to extract money from its customers. The primary source of income for an insurance company is the premiums which it levies from its customers.

The premium is the fee which keeps the insurance policy alive. Each company collects the premium on a regular basis. The policy holder is expected to pay the premium on time. Delayed payments may lead to consequences such a fine or even termination of the policy. If a lapse in your payments does take place, this will render the earlier premiums paid by the policy holder useless. So, in order to reinstate oneself, the policy holder might even have to renew the entire policy.

There has also been a recent trend of policies being sold at inflated prices by a few agencies. Some of these companies that claim to be consulting organizations fail to ask important questions such as salary and mortgage details that are essential to assess the appropriate cover. So, an ideal solution to this problem would to make selling of insurance more transparent. But like all practical solutions, it is not in everyone’s interest to do so. As a result, insurance companies have lobbied congress men and women very heavily to ensure that despite the benefits of transparency, obscurity remains the law.

Another problem with insurance that is often never disclosed by sellers, is that the insurance premium is also very unstable. The rates may even change between consecutive billing cycles. For example, a driver with a recent accident history will have a pay a much higher premium than a regular driver. Such a driver will be left with no other option but to pay a high premium, since insurance has been made mandatory for driver in many states.

Insurance premiums are also very relative. They are based on extensive research and statistics. For instance, a policy holder who smokes might have to pay as much as twice the amount paid by a non-smoker. Some companies also have a provision wherein the premiums are reduced if the policy holder changes his habits. However, evidence based on medical tests will have to supplement this argument. Premiums may also fluctuate according to market trends.

As stated previously, it is not always in the best interest of the insurer to be up front with you regarding the many pitfalls which surround the purchase of insurance. However, by understanding not only some of the omissions as well as grasping the underlying motivations of insurers customers can be must better situated to make good decisions regarding their insurance needs

Marcus Dubois is a veteran in the insurance industry, and recommends InstaQuoter to get an instant insurance quote. See www.instaquoter.com/ for more information

Back Surgery Is Not Always The Answer

Friday, October 26th, 2007

So many people suffer from chronic low back pain. Its the number one reason Americans miss work. Back pain can either come on slow and get worse, or all at once you wake to find you cant get out of bed like a lighting strike out of the blue. Either way its a terrible thing to cope with. When after a few days or a couple of weeks at tops, most people end up going to the doctor. Upon going to the doctor, a lot of the people hurting with low back pain are told by physicians that surgery is needed. This news alone can be devastating in itself. Back surgery required recovery time that most people cant afford to take from work. Back surgery also is very expensive. Not only does it take a to recover and expensive, its also sometimes not even necessary.

So many people have low back surgery when other alternatives could have been used. Other methods of dealing with back pain can be physical therapy, biofeedback, traction, exercise, steroid injections, and electric stimulation therapy of muscles and nerves just to name a few. People that rush into back surgery have found that their back actually hurts worse than it did before the surgery. Some people also need follow up surgery either to correct mistakes made in the initial surgery, or problems in the back that crops up later. Either way this is also devastating. By this time, the patient has been out of work so long, that a financial hardship has occurred, medical bills have piled up, or some people have lost their employment, and find their back pain is no better or even worse.

People needlessly put themselves in this situation. I blame this on a couple of things. Physicians are quick to suggest surgery for the simple reason they do not believe in treating people with pain medicine. Some physicians are more worried about writing prescriptions for pain medication, than the pain your suffering from. This is due to people abusing the system when it comes to prescription drugs, or the lack of knowledge the physician sometimes has towards chronic pain sufferers. Either way the true chronic pain patient suffers tremendously.

When it comes to your back, going under the knife should always be the last resort. Everything under the sun should be tried, and tried again before anyone should have surgery. There are a few exceptions when having back surgery right away is necessary, but for the most part, other measures and therapy are out their and should be used. As a low back pain sufferer myself, though Im not a medical doctor, I would suggest something like this. First find a doctor who believes treating pain with pain medication. Combing physical therapy with pain medication can relieve pain tremendously. Do physical activities such as stretching, walking, sit-ups if possible, this strengthens the muscles around the disc taking the pressure off the nerves that cause such pain. A good program of pain medicine combined with other pain management tactics can do wonders over a period of time. A lot of people have found that the pain has actually went away with this type of therapy.

Worse case scenario, its better to have your back still in tact with pain, compared to the many complications, the severe pain, permanent nerve damage, loss of physical mobility, being unable to work, and even becoming disable due to having low back surgery. Remember no matter what anyone tells you, its your back, not theirs. Its easy for someone to tell you what you should do, but they don’t have to walk in your shoes after a failed back surgery.

Copyright 2006 Robert Gould

Author is an advocate in pain managment, helping people who suffer from chronic pain to get the proper pain medication to treat their pain for a better quality of life. For more information go to:
http://www.rxscripts4u.com

Charity donations basics

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Charity is perhaps the best feature of humanity. It is a perfect
way to support the downtrodden. There are many types of natural
and man-made evils in our society. So, there are variable causes
for which the blessed ones can and should donate. Unlike before,
nowadays there are numerous charitable institutions across the
globes that are working in different areas. The main aim of a
charitable organization is to help the people in need and work
for their development. For instance helping in the
rehabilitation of victims of natural disasters like famines,
tsunami, earthquakes etc., working for prisoners of war or any
oppressed community, child education, women upliftment and so
forth are some different tasks taken up by these organizations.
So, charitable organizations can variously be literary,
religious, scientific and so forth. These organizations largely
rely on government grants and the charities/ donations by the
well-to-do section of society in order to function or continue
with their respective social service. However, people may have
different motives behind donating money in these charitable
foundations. While there are those who contribute for the sake
of human welfare there are others who do it to earn recognition
and save tax. Tax wavier possibly is one of the foremost reasons
at the moment that instigates many affluent people,
multinational companies, and corporations to give money in these
institutions. However, those who donate for the purpose of
saving tax should keep in mind that every charity is not tax
deductible.

There are basically two types of non-profit organizations.

1. Charitable institutions that are exempted from paying taxes.

2. Institutions to which the donations made are tax-free. Such
organizations are registered under the 501 (c)(3) category of
the Internal Revenue Service. Once you make a donation to any
such organization, get a receipt made as evidence to assist you
in tax deduction.

But besides enlisted in the 501 (C)(3) category, several other
things about an organization should be considered before making
a donation.

• Check the annual report of the organization. Annual report
will brief you with the requisite crucial details such as
current work, situation, finances etc. of the organization.

• Also take into consideration the institutions aims and means
proposed to achieve them.

• Notice the amount of donations the charity receives annually
and its sources.

• In case of door- to- door solicitations, prior to parting off
with your money, try to wrinkle out the important details (the
name, full address, goals, licensing, tax deduction and so
forth) of the organization. If that person is unable to present
the details, he might be fake, trying to befool people.

Charities can be made in different forms. Giving cash is one
way; other ways include giving those items that the constitution
requires. For example if the charity is working for
rehabilitation of tsunami victims then facilitating it with
tents, food stuffs, clothing etc. will be an appropriate rather
wonderful charity. Generally people are under the illusion that
only large sum of money can be given as charity, but this is not
the case like. Donation can be as small as 10 or 20 dollars. The
amount does not actually make a difference, what actually
matters are your philanthropic feelings and desire to
contribute.