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This topic is a real bugaboo that seems to be attracting quite a bit of attention these days, what with foreclosures, short sales, bankruptcies and walk-aways in full bloom in the garden known as the mortgage meltdown. Unfortunately, there seems to be more misinformation and urban myth floating around than good professional advice. If you have any reservations at all about your status, don't make any assumptions about this subject without consulting a lawyer or accountant.

The short answer is that Congress did pass the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which does provide a lot of relief, and will probably benefit most of the folks that are most in need of the relief it provides. But if you have investment property or a HELOC, keep reading.

First of all, the general rule is that forgiven debt gives rise to "ordinary income" which is a taxable event ordinarily reported on IRS Form 1099. Historically, there has been an exception that if the taxpayer is insolvent (which means only that their debts exceed their assets) then the forgiven debt is not taxable to the extent of the insolvency. This means simply that if I owe $100 but my assets are only $80, then I am "insolvent" to the measurable tune of $20, and the amount of the forgiven debt that is not taxable would be limited to that $20. The filing of a bankruptcy petition gives rise to a "presumption of insolvency" which usually is the end of the issue and the taxpayer won't be taxed on the forgiven debt. Absent a bankruptcy petition, you would normally have to prove the insolvency to the IRS in order to avoid the tax.

Last year Congress passed H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. This statute, which is a change to the Federal tax code, creates a specific carve out to the general rule without requiring the taxpayer to prove insolvency or go through the bothersome chore of filing bankruptcy. But it is not the free ride that some news sources and pundit-sorts have made it out to be.

First, the real property securing the forgiven debt must be the taxpayer's principal residence, which means that the taxpayer had to have resided in it as a principal residence for the prior two years. A taxpayer can only have one principal residence. Second homes, vacation homes, investment property and raw land do not qualify. While this won't disqualify the mass of folks currently awash in the foreclosure paper chase from sea to shining sea, it means that this is not a safe harbor for investors.

Second, the amount is limited to $2 million. Not a huge obstacle in most parts of the country, but with real estate prices in the Bay Area being what they are, this limit could still hit some poor soon-to-be-homeless gazillionaire where it hurts.

Third, the window is only open for three years. The debt must be discharged between January 1, 2007 and January 1, 2010, unless extended before then. So if you're going to lose your home, you better hurry!

Fourth, the debt canceled must be a loan that was used to "acquire, construct or substantially improve" the property. Sounds innocent enough, but this will exclude many home equity loans and probably all home equity lines of credit. Given that a lot of the loans that are causing the most pain right now are second deeds of trust that might not have been purchase money loans, this limitation could catch a lot of folks looking in the wrong direction. If the loan that is about to adjust up and double the monthly payment on that second you took out to pay down some college tuition or credit card debt, this law won't help you.

While the IRS hasn't yet published one of its riveting standard publications yet--the law only went into effect January 1, 2008--you can still get their current spin on the law's provisions here. This is the bookmark publication until something more formal is issued.

So you’re getting global travel insurance, and you’re up to the pre-existing conditions section. You’re probably wondering whether you should declare and play it safe, or whether your predisposition to the sniffles is something to be brought to their notice. Hopefully this article will go some way to explaining the point of pre-existing condition surveys in global travel insurance, as well as explaining why you need to make it clear, and what is worth mentioning…

What are pre existing conditions?

When a travel insurance company offers you a policy, they consider the likelihood of you needing to claim on it. If you’re doing something potentially dangerous, like skiing say, then you’ll need a more expensive policy than someone planning on just seeing the sights of a city, because they’re more likely to make a loss on you. Then of course there’s the risk involved in covering the person going – certain people are more likely to have accidents than others. This is where pre-existing conditions come in. The idea is that people with, say heart complications, are more likely to need medical attention abroad than those who are as fit as a fiddle. It’s worth mentioning too that you need to declare these even if you are on medication that keeps them under control – you never know when something may go wrong, and you’ll need your global travel insurance company to foot the bill if the worst happens.

What happens if I keep them quiet?

Probably nothing… IF you don’t need to make a claim! If you do need to, and it comes out that you neglected to mention your condition, the travel insurance company are well within their rights to refuse to pay the expense. Make sure you have it in writing that your condition is covered too – take no risks, and you should be fine.

What conditions are likely to be worthy of mention?

Anything that you are taking medication for, or that you have a family history of suffering is worth covering – and if you’re in doubt, ask! The last thing you want to find is that your cheap travel insurance was worthless because the benign disease you’ve carried all of your life suddenly flares up in the sun!

Obviously some illnesses are going to send your premiums up, and these tend to be the ones that put you at a real risk: heart conditions, asthma, diabetes and allergies should be drawn to the insurers’ attention. There are certain conditions that many cheap travel insurance companies will flat out refuse to cover: serious kidney problems, strokes, cancer and HIV sufferers are unlikely to find cover, but are doing themselves no favours by buying travel insurance without declaring – because their claim will be turned down anyway, should they need medical attention while abroad. The rule is that global travel insurance is designed to cover unpredictable emergencies, and not the usual protection you’d get in the UK – if you need cover of that kind, then you need to pay that bit extra.

So the lesson of this is that it’s worth highlighting any serious conditions you have when ordering your cheap travel insurance, because if anything bad happens relating to the illness, then the policy may not be worth the paper it’s written on! It may cost you a little extra by way of premiums, but as of many things in life, here honesty really is the best policy!

Good news for the consumer is that a keenly competitive market has made available a wide range of cheap house insurance. As with any consumer goods or services, however, it is important to remember that cheap does not necessarily mean the best. Probably a better yardstick, when choosing house insurance, is to look for good value for money rather than a cheap product that might let you down when you most need it.

That said, home insurance – which will include both buildings and contents insurance – is inherently cheap when set against the value of the assets it protects. The home is most people’s single biggest investment, after all, and protection against the ever-present risks of fire, flooding, subsidence or storm damage make it more than sensible an asset to protect. Indeed, if a mortgage is involved, then the mortgage lender will insist on the insurance of the fabric of the house itself (i.e. buildings insurance) as a condition of advancing the mortgage.

Although the lender will insist on buildings insurance being in place, this does not mean that you have to buy the house insurance from the bank or building society advancing the loan. In fact, if you are looking for cheap house insurance you will probably find that the lender’s product is more expensive – since they will also be taking a commission on its sale – than standalone house insurance from a reputable, independent insurance provider. This is where an independent insurance broker’s advice can also prove extremely useful in matching your precise needs to the best – and cheapest – of the competing products available.

Some homeowners will discover to their bitter cost the perils of buying cheap house insurance by deflating the premiums they need to pay as a result of under-valuing the house itself. There is no short-circuiting the fact that house insurance must be based on the cost of completely rebuilding the property in the event of a disaster. This insured sum will be the total amount that the insurer will be prepared to pay against any claim. The effect of this, in the event of the very worst happening, therefore, is that if you have under-valued the property, there will not be adequate compensation to have it rebuilt. More than this, the insured sum will also determine the amount paid against lesser claims. These will be decided by the insurer on the basis of a proportion of the total sum insured. If the property is under-insured, therefore, the result of any claim will also be disappointingly inadequate.

The best way of ensuring that you obtain cheap house insurance is by helping yourself and the insurer by mitigating the risks to the property. Guard against theft, for example, by fitting security alarms, upgrading all locks, installing timer-controlled lighting and joining your local neighbourhood watch. Fit – and properly maintain – smoke alarms. Consider increasing the compulsory excess written into your policy by taking on an additional voluntary excess. Claims-free policy holders are, of course, insurers’ favourite types of customer. Some companies will recognise as much by offering no claims discounts of up to 20%, thus bringing cheap house insurance within the grasp of even more home owners.

"Safe as houses" is probably one of the most unfortunate expressions. Reports on the devastation of spring and summer flooding have become almost commonplace in Britain today, whilst storms, fires and subsidence continue to seriously damage a surprising number of homes. Add to this the alarming statistic that one in three home occupiers will be burgled at some stage in their lives and it becomes quite amazing that an estimated one in four homes have no form of house insurance at all.

A roof over your head is probably the most basic and essential human needs. If you are buying your own home, therefore, you will want to ensure that it is adequately protected against the major hazards of:

- Fire, explosions (from a gas leak for example) and smoke damage;
- Ingress of water from burst or leaking pipes;
- Flood and storm damage;
- Vandalism and malicious damage;
- Subsidence.

Most home buildings insurance will cover all of these risks in a policy where the total insured sum is sufficient to entirely rebuild the home in the event of its total loss (burnt to the ground by a fire, for example). The cost of rebuilding your home, of course, does not include the cost of the land on which it is built. Nevertheless, reconstruction costs can be greater or indeed less than the market value of the property. Calculating such rebuilding costs can be a complicated business and a professional quantity surveyor is sometimes engaged to make the calculation. Other insurers take a simplified approach and calculate the likely rebuilding costs on the basis of the property’s age, construction type, location and design features.

Although most buildings insurance is offered on a reconstruction basis, it should be noted that some policies are written to cover the market value – which might or might not be sufficient to cover the cost of totally rebuilding the property in the event of a total loss. Obviously, you need to be clear about the basis of valuation or rebuilding costs from the outset.

In the event of such serious damage that your home is no longer habitable, a further consideration will be whether the house insurance makes provision for alternative accommodation for the duration of any repairs (which, clearly, could prove quite extensive). This is a further feature which should be checked before signing the insurance proposal form.

Most house insurance will cover not only the building of the house itself, but also any other structures on the land – garages, sheds and greenhouses, for example. Less commonly will such insurance cover garden walls, gates, fences, drives and pathways or swimming pools.

House insurance is designed to offer financial protection for what is probably your single most valuable asset, so it is worth getting the cover you buy absolutely right. For the reassurance and peace of mind that you are indeed adequately insured, it is worth seeking the guidance and advice of a specialist insurance broker who is experienced in the field of house insurance.