We Brits are famous for our love of property websites and browsing all of the homes for sale. It has been claimed that some property websites receive more visits than search engines such as Yahoo. Many people even buy property directly after viewing it online. So where are the best online resources for buying a house? These are our top five picks.

The largest property website is Rightmove. The site aggregates information from around 20,000 individual estate agencies. It is without doubt an excellent website for finding a house and it also provides a great deal of information on the whole process of house purchase. For many people looking for a standard property, this is often the first port of call.

For people looking for an upmarket property, Prime Location tends to be a popular choice, particularly for homes costing more then £500,000. The site specialises in what it calls quality estate agents, for which you should read estate agents specialising in the more expensive homes. With over 5 million unique visitors a month you would never expect there waws a cooling in the housing market.

Find a Property has been providing information for both homebuyers and tenants since 1997 and you will find details of over 625,000 properties there on sale or for rent from around 8,800 estate agents. With over 2 million unique users every month and 80 million page views, it is one of the more popular sites of its type. There is also a collection of guides on buying, selling and renting along with a wealth of local information and guides.

For people looking to buy their first home and get on the property ladder, First Rung Now is an excellent resource. This website provides first time buyers with a large amount of information and advice about buying a home. Included is information on mortgages, how to go about shared ownership and part ownership schemes, along with rent to buy and shared equity. There is also some excellent advice on how to put together a deposit.

For people looking for a period property, the website of choice must be Period Property UK. Here you will find some wonderful period properties for sale all over the UK along with a considerable amount of advice on buying them, restoring them, insuring them and more. The benefits and drawbacks of owning a listed property are debated in detail.

Well, it all depends on where you go! Have a look online and find an insurance company who have a background in classic cars rather than one who would treat your pride and joy as just another car - when it’s not! Heritage-quote.co.uk is ‘run for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts’ and offers expert and specialist advice for all types of classic vehicle. Modern to vintage, they will cover the lot and they even offer schemes that are not available anywhere else. Some features are;

- Cover in European countries for up to ninety days per trip and unlimited trips

- A designated repairer in the event of an accident

- Free valuation service with certificate.

And we don’t mean just that gorgeous model that nobody make anymore. Cars that are over fifteen years of age are considered ‘classic’. If this applies to you, a specialist may not be what you’re looking for. Again, shop around and use comparison websites to ensure you get the best deal possible for the lowest price you can. The AA offer competitive prices in the UK and take things like age, condition and location (such as your area and whether the car has a garage) into consideration.

Classic-car-insurance-experts.co.uk offer a comparison service for competitive prices, although these are for the vintage model as opposed to an older car.

Check out the various policies available at Yesinsurance.co.uk for older models and also for older drivers. The website has easy to find quotes - why not see if they have something to suit you as they also specialise in insurance for women, as well as small vans and non-comprehensive insurance.

For the over fifties, Saga.co.uk seem to be the definitive insurance company and their policies will suit all budgets. Their competitive prices ensure you are covered and have piece of mind without having to re-mortgage the house or empty your savings account. Have a look at their site for everything from car to boat insurance - all at very reasonable prices.

Home Insurance is an important way to cover our most economically valuable possession: our houses. It’s divided into two important categories, Buildings and Contents Insurance. These categories can then be broken down further into endless sub categories and without clear direction or explanation gathering insurance quotes can be painstakingly slow. For this reason, it’s good to know which sites give quick quotes via online forms or perhaps even late opening call centres.

Endsleigh are an excellent example of a company that doesn’t waste time in giving you a quote. There online form involves 3 simple steps, details-quote-payment, can lead to a policy that suits your needs for a good price. They can also be contacted by phone between 8am and 9pm which means you can get a fast personal quote after work. Endsleigh are amongst the market leaders in terms of sheer variety of policies combined with quick access.

Quickhomeinsurance.co.uk is a service that prides itself on fast quotes and still manages to search over 40 providers like Swinton and Endsleigh. Their quote forms aren’t overly extensive like some other firms and you can be insured in minutes.

A good way to gather a handful of quotes instantly is to visit price comparison websites like gocompare.com. After entering our details, they will trawl a database of over 80 Home Insurance companies and save us a lot of spadework associated with taking quotes from individual brokers. Their quote arrives after six simple steps.

For most of us, time is at a premium and we don’t wish to be bogged down by time consuming insurance quotes. Insurance is a business where outside of the levels of cover we receive, we aren’t too interested in drawn out correspondences between ourselves and the companies involved. Insurance is vital for our peace of mind and should certainly not add to our stresses.

The beauty of Towergate Insurance is not just the way they put the customer first and compare quotes, taking all the hard work out of the equation, it’s the fact that every member of staff is a specialist in his or her field. They know their business and they also know what you will expect from the level of cover you decide to purchase.

You will be spoilt for choice as Towergate offer cover for over five hundred different professions; if you’re just starting out and are a little confused at the variety of policies available, Towergate’s easy to use website will answer any questions you may have. They’re also happy to have a chat on the phone if you’d rather speak to a person and not a computer screen.

From choosing the right level of liability insurance for your business to landlord insurance tips, there is something for you, no matter the nature of your business - it’s also all explained clearly, with no jargon. There are even tips and guides for your perusal, invaluable for a first time business owner, and perhaps a few things that established businesses won’t be aware of.

The claims process is as simple as possible, with no need to jump through hoops to get what you need. In the event that you do need to make a claim, it will be resolved quickly, efficiently and with the minimum of disruption to your business. With all centres based in the UK, it’s just a matter of picking up the phone stating your needs. Or if you are online go to www.towergateinsurance.co.uk.

Pets are a very important part of one’s life; this is why you do your best to keep them happy and healthy. In order to attend to your pet’s needs and not be overwhelmed by the costs, the best thing to do is buy a pet insurance policy.

There is a variety of insurance companies that offer pet insurance policies that can cover illness, accidents and financial protection. The best policy is full coverage, which is expenses but covers a wider range of illnesses, accidents and can give you larger compensation.

Steps in Choosing a Pet Insurance

Firstly, you should talk with your vet to see which risks is your pet is most likely to face and what the vet recommends. Secondly, you should see what there is available on the market, what it covers, how much it costs and previous claims issues. After you determine the risks and the general offer, you are ready to make a decision.

Top 5 Pet Insurance Companies

Healthy Pets have awards and accreditations like Moneyfacts 2010 Consumer Awards and their clients can benefit from paid vet fees up to £7,500 in cases of illness and injury, flexible cover levels, no upper age limit and cover for ongoing treatments, overseas travel and holiday and immediate cover online at www.healthy-pets.co.uk.

Animal Friends Insurance offer insurance policies for dogs, cats or multi-pets. The company donates a part of their profits to animal charity. Their policies cover a wide range of risks from illness and accident to public liability, loss and many more. Find out more on www.animalfriends.org.uk.

Aviva Pets Insurance offer policies fit for cats and dogs and also cover the costs of treatment even if the problem continues or reappears; your pet is covered in case it needs long-term treatment.

Direct Line Insurance offers a 15% discount if you ensure more than one pet. Moreover, there is no restriction on the number of claims due to the fact that the pet is covered per condition.

Tesco Insurance has been awarded at Your Money 2011 Awards as the best direct pet insurance provider. The policy can be made for pets from 8 weeks old and the policy conditions do not change as your pets get older; so, no maximum age limit.

Critical illness insurance can be a confusing business with a host of policies all offering various levels of cover, so the bare facts are important. Discover more at Endsleigh.co.uk.

What is a critical illness?

A critical illness is often summed up by the insurers as an acute condition: conditions that respond readily to treatment. It differs from a chronic condition which has no apparent cure – it reoccurs and needs long term surveillance.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) helpfully takes this definition further. Their Statement of Best Practice for Critical Illness Cover regulates what any ABI member must class as a critical illness in order to fulfil the lowest level of service. The ABI’s core illnesses are cancers, coronary artery by-pass surgery, heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure, major organ transplants and multiple sclerosis. It seems obvious that these diseases should fall under the banner of critical illness.

One in five critical illness claims is for breast cancer. This is a regular example of what critical insurance will cover. The buyer must still be wary as some insurers will further define cancer in terms of “pre-malignant” or “non invasive.” When someone signs up for critical illness cover, they may overlook specific definitions, which is understandable. This has heaped controversy on the critical illness insurers, but if the insured take time to read the documentation, any definitions should be clearly spelled out.

Critical illness insurance can become invalid if your ailments are, for example, self inflicted, if you have indulged in hazardous sports or if you live outside the European Union.

With one in three people developing some form of cancer during their lifetime, critical illness insurance is more important than ever. It may feel like a gloomy policy to take out but it does mean your health woes won’t be added to by economic misery.

A critical illness policy can be researched through the Endsleigh.co.uk website and talking to their advisors.

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The Debt & Loan Info Centre endeavours to give seekers clear and concise information about loans and debts as possible. One of the many queries people have had in the recent past is that of wanting to know the difference between secured and unsecured loans.

The easy answer is that one requires security and the other doesn’t. As you know, whenever you approach a financial institution for a loan, they will require you to give them something against which they will lend you money. This is so that in the event that you are unable to repay the full amount, they will sell the item to recover their money. In most cases, the item in question is landed property. This in essence means that only homeowners or those who own land can access secured loans.

Unsecured loans, on the other hand are accessible to those with no land or homes. The borrower however, needs to show that he is able to sustain the monthly instalments that will be required to repay the loan, plus its interest. This in most cases means presenting the lender with payslips to show that you earn a regular income. Another requirement, again based on the lack of security, is a good credit rating. Those with bad credit history will be unlikely to obtain unsecured loans particularly from high-street banks.

Another difference is in the length of time allowed for repayment. Generally, secured loans can be for long periods of time, often up to 25 years. This is not the case with unsecured loans and this is again down to the security provided by the borrower. Lenders will also feel comfortable lending bigger sums to those who provide security than to those who don’t. For more information, you can visit the Debt & Loan Info Centre.

What you require from an insurance company is a thorough and detailed approach. And one which you might have the opportunity to add in cover for contents and personal belongings as well as insurance for your listed house.

Firstly, just to be sure about the definitions, a listed house is an official status. To be listed, the house has to be acknowledged as such by the secretary of state as being of special interest and furthermore, worthy of the special protection that being listed implies. And the building will be ‘listed’ on a register.

In other words, being listed is an official status and not up to the owner alone to change. And many structures can be listed, not just houses, and includes walls, milestones and canal locks.

A little confusingly, there is no one set reason for a property becoming listed, it more concerns an opinion as to whether it is worthy of being protected for the current and future generations. Created just after the second world war, the listing process came about as a response to the destruction wrought by five years of conflict with Germany.

Organised into three main areas (in England and Wales), only about 2% of buildings are Grade One (of exceptional interest); 4% are Grade 2* (important examples of special interest buildings); and, the vast majority, around 94%, are Grade 2 (of special interest). And these grades are protected by law. For example, making structural changes, even minor and cosmetic, without permission, can cause you a lot of trouble.

Therefore, when it comes to insuring the structure of a listed house, the insurance company needs to understand the major, but also, the subtle differences when it comes to protecting against the risks. And of course, the biggest problem is ensuring that there is enough cover to rebuild the house should the worse happen and it be completely destroyed. And although rarely is the house completely destroyed, the insurance has to be based on the worst scenario.

And in reaching a premium estimate, the insurance company has to consider a number of things:

• confirmed listed status;
• current market value;
• estimated cost of total reinstatement (to effectively re-create the building using authentic materials);
• estimated cost to rebuild with modern materials;
• estimated cost of indemnity insurance (basic cover which provides for a rebuild, but not to the level of the original building);
• on-going maintenance costs;
• house owners background material (surveyor’s reports, measurements and photographs of existing property).

And in deciding upon a premium, the insurance company has to take into account not only the listed status, but the owner’s wishes and their ability to pay for certain levels of the insurance.

In other words, the insurance company has to highly experienced in such buildings and in their ability to deal with the owners.

Remember, only choose an insurance company which has a deep empathy with a listed house.

However, if there is one thing that shouldn’t be skipped on it is business insurance. Business insurance can cover you if the unexpected happens and can stop your business being hit with hefty bills for compensation or to put your business back together after an act of nature. But just what does business insurance cover?

Well that depends on what you need covered. Different businesses have different insurance needs so your insurance will differ from other businesses. But there are a few basic areas of cover.

Employer Liability Cover:

This will cover you for any injury or illness that your staff might get as a result of your business activities. So if a member of staff has a trip or a fall on your premises they could put in a compensation claim for loss of earnings, future loss of earning and if it is found to be your fault the NHS could even put a claim in. These costs could run into the thousands but on top of this it is a legal requirement to have Employer Liability cover in place if you employ staff and risk a hefty fine if you don’t.

Public Liability Cover:

This will cover you for any injury or damage to property as a result of your business activities. So for example if a customer slips on a wet flaw in your shop or restaurant they could put in a compensation claim which public liability cover would cover you against. Therefore, if you come into contact with members of the public in your business it important cover to have.

Professional Indemnity Insurance:

This is aimed businesses which sell their knowledge and skills. It covers against any claims that a third party makes against you if you have made a mistake or are even found to be negligent in any of the services you provide.

Property insurance:

This covers any loss or damage to your business property and assets

Motor insurance:

This covers your business vehicles and any property in them.

You can offer health insurance as a benefit to your employees no matter how small your company. You can either pay for the cover yourself or offer it a voluntary employee paid benefit.

However, why should your business offer health insurance, well there are actually a number of benefits. Because diagnosis is so fast and treatment so prompt your staff can quickly return to work after an illness. This means that you can cut down on the level of absenteeism which can be a huge expense for any business. The sooner you can get your workers back to work the more productive your company will be.

It is also a very highly rated employee benefit. More and more staff rate health insurance as a highly prized benefit. So by offering it to your staff you will be able to attract the brightest and best staff to your team as well as retain the staff you have which is hugely beneficial to businesses as in the current climate they need to have the best possible talent available in order to expand and grow and retain customers. What’s more having a plan in place shows that you care about the health and welfare of your staff which helps in rentention.