Today’s teenagers are different to us. When we were younger, any suggestion of a family day out was met by cheers as us kids got excited about whatever was on the agenda; going to the beach, packing a picnic, a day out to the country side, visiting friends and relatives or going for a walk to the woods with the dogs.

When you suggest any of these or similar activities to your children today, they seem to be too busy to join you. They are busy, but without leaving their bedrooms. How is that possible? Well, from their bedrooms, they can access the whole of their world via Face book, twitter, Xbox360 Live, mobile phone, text and TV. Majority of their interaction is no longer face to face with other people. They seem perfectly happy to communicate without uttering a word aloud all day.

But it does not need to be like that. It is helpful if teenage children know and understand what is expected from them as members of the family. To change the dynamics of the family interaction, it helps if some rules or guidelines have been agreed and are followed by all member of the family.

Example Plan for Teenagers:

• Agree a time limit for the spent on the computer (Face book)
• Limit the time spent on computer games
• Insist on a minimum number of meals together at the table
• Talk through at least the top and bottom events of the day
• Agree a minimum of one joint family activity per week
• Play or take part in at least one sport activity a week outside school
• Take part in at least one face to face social activity per week with peer group
• Collaborate or check out at least one piece of home work a week
• Insist on daily personal hygiene
• Set out one task per individual per day to be completed around the house/family

Example Plan for Parents:

• Agree meals and mealtimes in advance
• Don’t assume but be interested in what teenagers get up to
• Give options and agree joint activity together
• Make sure failure has consequences
• Remember how it was to be young
• Don’t nag
• Make time to listen
• Don’t judge
• Don’t criticise
• Lead by example for a healthy and active lifestyle

Non of these items for either group should take very long to complete but they should guarantee a daily interaction between the members of the family. It is much easier to keep communications open than try to restore those once individual members of the family have lost the belonging, responsibility or respect for each other.

My view is that it is somehow better to be safe than sorry. You could arguably say that if you add up all insurance policies you ever bough and all costs that you have needed to pick up because you did not have insurance, you may be better off just paying as you go.

But what happens when a disaster strikes? You could be out skiing with the family, there is an accident, and you need special flights home not just for one but maybe two people as you do not wish to leave injured family members alone when they are feeling vulnerable?

Well, just one of those events could cost you as much as all travel insurance policies you will ever buy. Would it not be good to have the peace of mind, not needing to worry about the unexpected while you are supposed to have a relaxing time with your family? In my opinion – absolutely!

An annual cover is a good way to make sure that you can have a relaxing holiday without worrying about any potential accidents or needs to visit the doctor. An annual policy including winter cover and golf for a family of four people costs jut over £100. That is good value as buying those policies individually would cost almost a double of that. You can use your European Union health cover in countries in the EU, but the standards vary and if you need transport back to the UK, that is not covered by the free EU cover.

With health insurance it is slightly a different matter. We all know that NHS health cover is free and of course, hospitals have in the past ten years got better and waiting times have been reduced. With a private policy you will get immediate treatment and a probably a private room. It all sounds wonderful, but these policies are expensive. A family of four could be paying out up to £5,000 per annum for a premium cover. That kind of policy is not as affordable, particularly as our national health service provides a credible alternative.

It is a very individual choice and depends on the level of security that you require. If you choose to go for taking insurance, don’t forget to shop around as the prices vary to an astonishing extent. Spend a bit of time researching, buy from a reliable and reputable company and don’t be shy asking for a deal!

Dental Family Insurance

I had looked into dental insurance for my self and the family in the past. It is surprisingly affordable with premiums from around £7 per month per person and discounts available if you take the dental insurance cover for all the family members. It would have been more cost effective to sign up for these reasonable premiums than having to find hundreds of pounds to pay for unplanned treatment costs. I could have and should have seen this coming…

It all started with a bit of a sore gum that kept coming back to annoy me. Two months ago it was there again, but this time not clearing after a few days. I was in such discomfort that I had to pop in to my dentist to ask for help. He reassured me that it was nothing to worry about, just an infection and prescribed 7 days of antibiotics – that will get rid of it he said. But it didn’t and I had to go back to see him. And this is where I missed the boat! He was surprised, then concerned and finally told me that I needed to have root canal treatment and scheduled an appointment to that effect.

I rushed home to sign up for dental cover – too late! Already diagnosed conditions do not qualify and most insurance companies have a qualification period before paying out for treatment. You can understand that as if that was not the case, the majority of us would only buy insurance when we need cover and that is of course not the way insurance works.

Dental Plans

Well, it’s too late now for this bit of treatment but I have learned my lesson and have signed up not just my self, but the whole family to have cover through dental insurance plans.

This way we can budget for unplanned expenditure and in the long run, I firmly believe that this will be the most cost effective way to us to budget and cover our dental costs.

There are many dental plans in the market place. Some of them are only available if you take other private health cover first, but there is no need for that unless you wish to do so. Most companies now offer a quick and simple process for signing up and claiming online. No need for pages of forms to fill in getting lost in the post and a long wait for compensation.

Dentists sometimes offer their own schemes but in most cases, it is better to go with an independent provider unless you absolutely understand how the scheme works. Some of them reward the dentist for treating you less as you keep paying which may in some cases  limite the amount of preventative care on offer.