US Finance World

Direct Line travel insurance protects against airline failure. Holidaymakers who are concerned by the number of airline companies going out of business may find peace of mind if they take out a travel insurance policy with Direct Line.

The insurer has introduced a new level of cover that protects policyholders in the event that their airline goes bust.

While the policy cannot remove the inconvenience of having to make alternative travel arrangements, it will at least ensure that holidaymakers are not left out of pocket by covering the cost of a flight home.

Furthermore, Direct Line’s policy insures against the financial failure of hotels, villa rental and car hire companies, as well as excursion providers and other services.

Jennifer Thomas, from Direct Line Travel Insurance, pointed out that many holidaymakers now book directly with airlines and hotels to save money, meaning that they do not gain the protection afforded by schemes such as Atol or Abta.

“With our updated travel insurance policies, our customers can now travel with increased peace of mind, knowing that they will be covered in the unfortunate event of a supplier’s collapse,” she confirmed.

Tourists should always check the small print on their travel insurance documentation to ensure they have purchased sufficient cover for all eventualities.

The importance of caution was underlined by the news on Wednesday (December 16th) that Scottish airline Flyglobespan had collapsed, leaving thousands of passengers in need of alternative flights. Read more…

Start 2010 off the Right Way. Are you slowly sinking deeper into higher debt year after year? Now is the right time to start getting your finances under control. Start the year off debt consolidation and your monthly expenses could be reduced as much as 90%. There is no need for you to continue suffering when there is help available right now. You don’t have to carry the overwhelming weight of high interest rates all by yourself. Debt consolidation is the solution to making your monthly expenses easier to manage. Paying off all your loans and credit card bills is something you can accomplish.

What is debt consolidation? Debt consolidation is a way of eliminating the heavy interest rates that have been haunting you and replacing them with a far more manageable single payment plan. Debt consolidation companies can do this because they negotiate directly with your creditors and get them to agree to sell your debt to them at a discounted rate. T

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Campaigners are concerned about the proposed withdrawal of cheques. Read more…

If you are self-employed, you will have to attach a Schedule C to your 1040 form. You will also need to compute your self-employment tax on a 1040 Schedule SE. You have to pay this tax if you work for yourself and your net earnings are $400 or more.

Net earnings include profit from a farm or non-farm business. If you own more than one business, your self-employment tax is based upon the net earnings from combining all of your business profits. The benefit of owning more than one business when filing this tax is that a loss from one business reduces the income from another. It is the full share of Medicare and Social Security taxes against your income. Employees who work for other people only pay half of these taxes, as the people who employ them pay the other half. A self-employed individual is liable for the entire amount.

The Farm Optional and Non-Farm Optional Methods may be used as options for computing your self-employment tax liability.

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The Sign Online 17 tariff carries a £907 annual cost. Npower has launched a new best-buy gas and electricity tariff, carrying an average cost for dual fuel customers of £907 per year.

The Sign Online 17 deal undercuts British Gas’ £928 Websaver 5 tariff, which was launched last week, and Ovo Energy’s £921 new energy plan, the previous chart-topper.

Npower’s decision to launch the deal reflects an increasingly competitive gas and electricity market, with price cuts driven by wholesale fuel market trends.

The tariff also offers a guarantee that prices will remain 2% or more below Npower’s standard gas and electricity deal.

However, customers are warned that the Sign Online 17 deal comes with £20 cancellation fees for both gas and electricity if customers switch to a new provider prior to April 2011.

On the other hand, British Gas’ Websaver 5 carries a discount rate of 6% or more from the firm’s standard tariff rates until February 2011.

Customers who wish to leave this deal before July 2010 are charged £30 if they transfer to another electricity provider and another £30 if they switch gas firm.

Npower retains 6.6 million gas and electricity customers throughout the UK, while British Gas has around 16 million.

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