More or less every site offers advice on saving money when buying insurance. One of the standard tips is bundling auto and homeowners policies with the same insurance company. If you check around the companies, the discount varies between 10 and 15% and, if you agree an increase in the deductible from $500 to $1,000 this increases the discount to 25%. At this point, many people are sold on the idea. A saving of up to 25% looks like a good deal and frees up cash in the family budgets for a whole range of other basic necessities. So is it worth it? The first question is whether you are getting the standard auto and homeowners policies. If you are starting off in the same position as the stand-alone policyholders, you have more protection. But there can be problems with limitations and exclusions if the company produces a single policy to cover both home and vehicle. You must read such a policy very carefully before deciding whether it represents good value for money. Secondly, what are the rules about overlaps between the two policies? Suppose, for example, you have a traffic accident while carrying your laptop and other property potentially covered under your homeowners policy. Is all the damage and loss covered under the auto policy or are you expected to file separate claims for damage to the vehicle and loss of household contents? This could make a big difference if there are separate deductibles on the auto and homeowners policies.

So, assuming you do bundle, how should you protect your interests? First off, never assume it’s enough just to buy the policies. When it comes to the homeowners policy, always make a full inventory of the contents of your home. You can do this by making a simple list and taking a few pictures using your cellphone. But it’s better to take a more professional approach. Go room by room, make a full inventory and record the purchase price and current value. Where you have the original receipts and invoices, put everything together in a file. If you want to store information outside the home, you can use a site like http://www.knowyourstuff.org/ which offers a free and secure service. Why bother? Because it gives you a realistic basis on which to decide how much contents insurance to buy, identifying any individual more expensive items that should be separately insured. More importantly, it saves time and effort should you have to make a claim. The faster you can make a comprehensive claim, the quicker you can rebuild your home and restock it with the “stuff” you have lost. Hopefully, your homeowners insurance pays for alternative accommodation while repairs are underway. Finally, never do any major repairs before the loss adjuster arrives. You bought all this coverage and you want the adjuster to see the full extent of the loss. That said, you should take emergency action to prevent the condition of the property getting worse like sealing broken windows and securing doors. This is the time to use your video camera to record the damage before and during emergency repair.

Homeowners insurance is always a balancing act between buying coverage against the most obvious perils and not making small claims to keep your record clear for the sad day when a big claim comes along. If you have bundled the policies, it’s more likely you will have to make a claim and this can produce a premium hike on both policies.

The Andorra economy has been used to a decade of steadily rising real estate prices, with many of the local population buying new property off-plan and selling them again at higher prices to outsiders later on.

But 2007 has seen a hiccup in this wealth creating enterprise, with prices not expected to show a double digit rise again for 2007, as they did in 2006 and 2005.

But a different kind of buyer has become apparent in 2007, quite different from the traditional 2 and 3 bedroom ski apartments which have dominated the Andorra property scene in the recent past.

The new buyers are more likely to be buying a house at over a million Euros, than an apartment at 300,000. And it is these buyers who have helped to sustain a property market that might otherwise have been seeing a dip in fortunes.

The real estate big spenders have come about in Andorra as a direct result of fellow tax haven Monaco’s rising property prices.

Many looking for a tax haven initially look at Monaco, but soon come to realise that one to two million Euros is going to buy a one or two bedroom apartment, while in Andorra – which has the same tax benefits as Monaco – offer good apartments for between 300,000 and 400,000 Euros, and houses starting for under a million. And many opt for Andorra because of that.

One UK company who specialises in tax haven properties agrees that there is a direct link between the high prices of property in Monaco, and the high spenders moving into Andorra, commenting that Monaco property prices have risen in recent years to the extent where it challenges London for having the most expensive real estate in the world, adding that Andorra has consistently seen double digit property inflation, but is still considerably less expensive than Monaco.

The property buyers tend to head for different areas of Andorra, with the ski apartment buyers tending to purchase in the key ski resorts of Soldeu and Arinsal.

Those looking for residency for tax reasons go more for the year round villages and towns which have a resident community. Outside of the capital (la Vella) these tend to be La Massana and the upcoming village of Anyos, Ordino and Arinsal, although Arinsal’s nightlife during the ski season early December to late April tends to steer many newcomers to La Massana and Ordino.

As long as Monaco’s real estate prices remain high, Andorra looks set to benefit as Europe’s second most popular tax haven for 2008.

More information about Andorra is available at YourAndorra.com

For those readers considering residency in a tax haven, PropertyAndorra.com offers details about the Andorra residency system and gaining residency in Andorra

As well as general information about Andorra YourAndorra includes ski information and 2008 ski holidays to Andorra