Entries from June 2010 ↓

Insurance companies are known to cost lots of money. They make your face pale just with one thought. But hey, brighten up! It doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It can be pricey but without driving you totally nuts.

We all were born to believe that good things don’t come free when it comes to purchases. We hate to break it but this is not so. You can save pretty much on anything you want nowadays without making yourself to regret this thing. How come? This is only because the market is bombarded with companies that want to compete for people like you. They know the chain reaction works well here. What do we mean by that? Let’s take a look at the following example. You come in without any clue about what you need.

The clearest of it all in such case has to be the price comparison between different companies. You need to do this thing in order to find out your possibilities and options with various insurance providers. With the help of online quotes you can do it easily and hastily. But, remember not to rush such moments. You have been waiting long enough without any insurance plan so it is better to take an extra day or two to sort the situation out.

There are many sites that will give you a list of companies, their best offers and rates. Consumer buying guides that compare premiums from different insurers together will the feedback from different costumers – this is what some independent insurance sites have in store for you.

Keep in mind that every detail counts. When you have chosen the company to trust, it is important to fill in the application the right way. We would like to advice you not to lie in your application. Lies are always punished in the end. Fill it in frankly, without making it seem too good or too bad. When you fill in the line about your expectations – please let the company know that you would like to take advantage of any discounts that you are eligible to and let them think you are interested in the decrease of your payments. If you are a part of a certain group of people – for example veteran or a teacher, if you are a student as well, be aware of discounts coming your way as very often these categories and people that are a part of those have a right to a discount.

If there is a possibility for you to pay your whole premium in one go, please do so. But know that most carriers charge some additional money for those of us who pay on installments. Don’t let something go wrong with your payments. It is important to be updated with what you have to do at the right time before the situation gets out of control.

If you are the owner of an ordinary car, these advices were suitable for you. If you are about to get yourself a brand new car, take into consideration the fact that expensive cars demand high premiums. Simply make sure everything is the way you can afford it to be. Continue reading →

This is one of the more difficult questions to answer. If you were to ask an insurance agent, the answer would obviously be the largest number he or she thought could be mentioned without you fainting away. For anyone earning commission on a sale, the biggest sale is always the first suggested. So how should you approach your own answer? Well, this is as scientific as crystal ball gazing. You are trying to guess what is going to happen to the amount of your current debts, the actual needs of your dependents over time, and value of money as inflation takes it toll. Since we all hope to live until we are at least seventy, this can be projecting today’s values into complete unknowns. Just think how much society has changed over the last fifty years – $100 in 1960 was worth approximately $734 in today’s money, i.e. there has been inflation of about 4%. In international terms, an inflation rate of only 4% is remarkably low. Other countries have experienced significantly higher rises in prices and pay. So if you are going to project today’s value over the next 50 years, you have to decide whether this rate is going to remain stable. Being optimistic by nature, you probably decide to continue the current rate. Now you need to value your current debts.

The best approach is to do a simple set of accounts. List all your current borrowings by way of mortgage, bank overdraft, credit cards, and so on. Hopefully, because of the recession and the credit crunch, you have been paying down some of these debts. Now look at the positive side. Although your housing equity may have disappeared for the next five to ten years, you may have investments and savings. Do not forget your 401k account and any other places where value may be stored. This should give you a net figure of debt. How do you see this number changing? Are you going to be virtuous and continue to pay down the debts, or will some expenditure be unavoidable, e.g. paying your children through college, preparing for your own retirement, etc.? Be as honest as you dare and make whatever estimates seem reasonable. All this money will have to be found, i.e. your pay will drive all this spending. So do a quick calculation and see whether you can pay for all this new debt out of your existing pay or will your debts increase? Now think about insurance as a worst case scenario. You have all this debt. It costs this much to run your household. The expenses at life’s end will be. Continue reading →

In all the insurance markets, there is one underlying truth. The insurance companies are for profit and they will always act in their own best interests and not yours. For planning purposes, you should always assume there are better ways of doing things than the ways suggested by your own insurer. Let us take the question of the cash value in permanent life policies. All these policies have a value. If you approach your insurer and ask how this value can be realized during your lifetime, two answers are given. The first is the option to surrender the policy. This is an early termination of the policy. Thus, the insurer is no longer obliged to pay the sums estimated or guaranteed at the end of your life, but pays you a proportion of those benefits based on the amount you have paid in. The second option is a loan. This can either be a loan of some or all of the cash value, or it can be a free-standing loan with the cash value account used as collateral. Obviously, loans come with interest obligations attached. Borrowing your own cash value attracts a lower rate. Free-standing loans have higher rates. What, if anything, is wrong with these options?

The insurer will calculate the surrender value by counting how much you have paid in premium instalments, deducting any commission, management fees or expenses, and adding a sum of interest. You therefore receive more than you paid in but significantly less than would be paid out if you kept the policy in being. As to the loans, unless you repay the loans in a timely fashion, the interest eats away at the remaining value of the policy. It is not unusual for people who take a loan to find all the value in their policy wiped out by the interest. Obviously, this defeats the purpose in keeping the policy in being because your dependents will get little or nothing when you have gone. Continue reading →

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if you collect one speeding ticket, there’s a significant rise in the probability you will be involved in an accident in the next three years. This is not opinion. It’s a statistical fact that the chances of an accident rise by 50%. If you have two speeding tickets, the chances of an accident double. Since insurance companies set their premium rates according to these risk assessments, there’s an automatic linkage between a traffic citation and your premium rate. Depending on who you are, the rate can rise just a little or triple. For example, a wife rushing to her husband’s hospital bedside will be penalized less than a young man out street racing. The reality of the insurance market is that, according to the statistics, you get the premium rate you deserve. Since this is going to make the difference between potential discounts for being a safe driver with no claims and no tickets, and rate hikes worth several thousand dollars over the next three or four years for picking up a ticket, it can be worth fighting traffic tickets.

Obviously, it’s better to drive safely and within the law. It’s just as important to protect your reputation. Every few years, spend a few bucks at your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to ensure your driving record is accurate. If there’s a mistake, have it corrected. This could save you big dollars on the premium rates overnight. Now, let’s face the worst. You get pulled over. Remember never to admit guilt to the officer. Just be polite. Upsetting the officer could result in the addition of “ND” to the citation. That’s a note to the prosecutor not to do a deal, but to push for the maximum penalty. OK, so now you are in the system. What should you do? Don’t ignore the ticket. In many states, the police issue an arrest warrant. The first step is talking to your local DMV. Many states have programs in place to help drivers. For example, some will defer judgment and, if there are no violations in the next six months, the ticket is dismissed. Other states have driver safety courses. For minor offenses, attending a course on driving wipes the conviction from your record. You still have to pay the fine and the tuition fees, but this is less than the premium rate increases. Continue reading →

The insurance companies will always reward you for driving less. If you rarely put wheels on the road, the chances of a claim are small and all your premium will be “profit to the insurer. So how does this work? In theory, it could not be more simple. The insurance company looks at who you are, when you drive and where you drive in deciding how much of a risk you represent. If you live 50 miles from your work and have a daily commute along a busy Interstate, the chances of an accident are high. But if you live on a bus route to work and only use your vehicle for odd journeys at off-peak times, the chances of an accident are small. When you answer the questionnaire, you will see questions covering these possibilities. Remember, if you get caught out in dishonest answers, the insurer will cancel your policy and leave you without any coverage.

The first question is where you live. Although some states like California have outlawed setting rates according to your zip code, the majority of companies focus on your home address. If there’s a high accident or theft rate among people living in your area, you will all pay a higher premium. The only choice, if you can afford it, is to live some place where the crime and accidents rates are lower. You look for the middle ground between the worst inner city crime hot spot and a house on the prairie where you never see another vehicle from one day’s end to the next. All the discounts favor drivers who only drive off-peak during the day, and restrict their annual mileage. No more late night and early morning driving when the majority of other drivers may be tired or affected by alcohol and/or drugs. This raises the question of monitoring. It’s easy to answer the questionnaire and claim the maximum discounts. But the trend among insurers is to ask people to drop their vehicle in for a regular inspection of the recorded mileage. The maximum discounts are given to the drivers who agree to devices being installed which collect all the data on driving and transmit it to the insurers. These devices have a GPS element that records where you drive, the time and, in some cases, some measurement of the quality of your driving, e.g. how often you brake. The reward for accepting this invasion of your privacy can be discounts of up to 25% on top of the usual discounts. Obviously, it’s not a good idea to use your own vehicle to rob a bank since the insurance company will know you were there. Continue reading →

With Alice back in Wonderland thanks to Tim Burton, we continue this series of articles on how to earn discounts when insuring your vehicle. This time, the trip down the rabbit hole (or through the looking glass as you prefer), deals with the practicality of your use of private transport. Remember the insurance companies want as little risk as possible so they prefer you to have the vehicle parked on your front yard where you admire it from a distance and, when it gets dusty, wash and polish it. In short, the less you drive, the more you save. So lets see how it works. There are three times during the day when accidents are more likely. These are the two main periods for commuting to and from work, and the late night and early morning when driving is often associated with alcohol and other “substances”. The statistics show the more vehicles there are on the road around you, the greater the chance one will collide with another. At peak times for commuters, the roads are suddenly full and the risks of accidents are high. Now change the weather from sunshine and gentle breezes to the first ice and snow of the winter. The majority of drivers have forgotten the risks, made no advance preparations and find themselves on a skating rink without any way of stopping in a hurry. The accident rate goes sky high until people relearn their winter driving skills. At night, its the reverse problem. From 11 p.m. through to the early hours, there are fewer vehicles on the road, but the majority of drivers may be less alert. At best, this is simple tiredness. At worst, its substance abuse and you are in the way.

So, if you agree not to drive at the most dangerous times, you get a discount. For the same reason, agreeing to restrict your mileage also earns a discount. If you only drive a few miles every now and again, the chances of you being involved in an accident are small. The lower the mileage you accept, the better the discount. For the same reasoning, where you drive affects the premium. Although the practice is outlawed in some states, your zip code sets the tone for the premium rate. Some areas of the cities and larger towns are statistically more accident-prone. Equally, if you live in a wilderness area or in a remote part of the prairies, you can go miles without ever seeing another vehicle. Collisions are therefore rare, although some trees are known to throw caution to the wind when crossing the road. Be honest with yourself. Do you have to use the vehicle? Yes, it may be slightly inconvenient to use public transport but, if you are saving money on your insurance, you can be safer and better off financially. Continue reading →

There are times when you get an overview and then it hits you, “Somethings just don’t add up.” Well, you remember Wellpoint, don’t you? This is the friendly company that, around January or February, announced it was going to increase premium rates by up to 39% in a number of states around the Union. President Obama got himself all worked up, citing them as the real reason why all the Democrats in Washington should band together and take a stand against the insurance industry. Then, sure as eggs is eggs, there was a stampede to get the healthcare reform bill to the President for him to sign it into law. Those Democrats sure did have fun beating on Wellpoint. So the big question is what happened next? Here’s one of the largest corporations in the insurance market demanding premium increases. Did it get its way?

The answer starts off in California where the maximum rate of 39% was due to take effect. The state referred the proposed increase to independent auditors for an opinion. The answer came back negative. It seemed Wellpoint couldn’t add up. Well, that’s oversimplifying things a little. But the reality is that the numbers Wellpoint offered to support their premium increases were based on some very shaky mathematical assumptions. When news of the report became public, Wellpoint withdrew the proposed increase. Acting on this, Kathleen Sebelius who is Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services sent out a letter to all state insurance commissioners encouraging them to review every proposed premium increase. This is the first sign that the balance of power is shifting against the insurance industry and in favor of the consumer. For too long, insurance companies have hidden behind complicated mathematical explanations and gamed the system. With the Affordable Care Act now law, Sebelius is encouraging every state to give itself the power to approve rate increases. The first sign of continuing good news for consumers comes out of Connecticut where Attorney General Blumental forced an audit of Blue Shield and Anthem Blue Cross, both Wellpoint subsidiaries. Connecticut’s Insurance Commissioner Sullivan rejected these companies requests for increases last year. It seems likely the same thing will happen this year. Continue reading →

Credit repair begins with you. Many people have bad credit and they don’t even know about it or they think they have no way to repair it. Everyone has the right to see their credit reports and to repair their credit score.
I have listed the top 5 steps to credit repair and how to restore your credit today:

Top 5 Steps To Credit Repair

1.  Pay Your Bills On Time – This sounds like a no-brainer, but I can’t stress how important it is. One little 30-day late payment will set you back a year or more. Set up automatic payments with all your creditors. If you can’t make a payment, call your creditor and make something work so that they won’t report it to the credit bureaus. You would be surprised how many times this works.

2.  Dispute Negative Items – The main reason most people get denied loans is because of past negative items. A lot of the time these items aren’t even yours because of identity theft, reporting errors and other factors. The Fair Credit Reporting Act was implemented to allow consumers the right to dispute or verify any listing that is on their reports. 4 out of 5 credit reports contain errors, make sure yours is not one of them.

3.  Increase Debt to Limit Ratio – Two ways you can do this, keep your balances low and increase your limits. Always make sure your balances are below 35% if possible. Increasing your limits will help the ratio as long as you don’t increase your debt on those accounts too.

4.  Diversify Your Credit – This can difficult for some that can’t get a mortgage or car loan. Start with the basics, get a checking account with your bank with a line of credit. Get a credit card attached to your bank account. Then get a merchant store card. All these things will help your score by diversification A mortgage and car loan are the best ways to diversify, but take time to get up to.

5.  Contact Your Creditors – Creditors want their money too and they will negotiate to get it. Make sure you have talked to your creditors before paying off a bill. Use your leverage to negotiate the removal of the negative items upon final payment.

There are many factors that can contribute to low scores, but credit repair can help bring it back up again. I urge you to use these steps to repair your credit today and get your finances back on track. Continue reading →

This article draws on a big court case in Indianapolis with AIG disputing a life policy worth $15 million. Under normal circumstances, insurers pay out whenever they receive the death certificate. They may privately grumble the claim has come earlier than expected, but their public face will offer sympathies for the loss and pay. Indeed, if any company gets a reputation as a bad payer, their business is likely to dry up fast. With PR and marketing being everything in persuading people to part with their money, insurers usually pay out without comment. Why so different in this case? Well, the first issue is the circumstances of the death. This was a confident older woman aged 74 and she was found fully-clothed, drowned in her bath. The homicide unit has investigated and, despite the fact her family said she always preferred to take a shower, it has ruled her death accidental. No matter that the world might find the circumstances “suspicious”, particularly because the holder of the life policy admitted to being the last one to see her alive, there is no ongoing investigation. This has left the insurance company to dispute the payment.

Four years ago, this active lady was a director responsible for marketing. The company and fellow director insured her life for $15 million. This is perfectly proper as a part of succession planning. It gives the company the cash to buy out the shares and cover losses while a replacement key person is found. Except there is some suspicion the appointment of this lady as a director was only done to justify getting the insurance coverage. The rules are reasonably straightforward.

If you go to a race track, you can bet which horses will win and place. You pay and if your luck (and skill) give you the right result, the bookmaker pays. You could ask the bookmaker whether it is possible to bet on the day, week, month or year someone will die. If such a bet was accepted, you would have a direct financial incentive to arrange for this stranger’s death at the appropriate time. To insure someone’s life requires you have some direct interest in the individual, usually as a relative or someone upon whom you depend. That is why this company insured a marketing director and not an office cleaner. That position fits into the expectation of the insurer and justifies the big pay out. Continue reading →

The world of insurance is ruled by statistics. Actuaries collect all the information they can about every traffic accident in the US. Then, because everyone wants the most complete information possible, the insurers share the information about their own claims and the accidents they have found where no claim was made. It makes for an impressive amount of data. The majority of the information about claims is routed through the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE). Because this is a national resource, all the major insurers from around the country search it before making quotes for new business. If there are no claims registered against your name, the premium will be the standard rates for someone of your gender, age and driving experience with local variations based on where you live. But if one or more claims are registered, the new insurers may decide you are a high-risk driver and try to deter you with a high premium. There’s nothing illegal or unethical about this. It’s just the way the business works.

Because it’s a national resource, the quality of the information is usually quite reliable. When a search is made, your history over the last seven years is supplied. If you are worried about what data is stored about you, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to a copy. Write to Consumer Disclosure, PO Box 105108, Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5108, or you can call (866) 527-2600 toll free. If you find any of the information is wrong, you are either allowed to have it put right or to have an explanatory note attached to the information explaining how the loss came to be made. Unfortunately, some of the insurers run private exchanges in individual states. It can be more difficult to police the accuracy of this information. That’s why it’s good news to see Attorneys General policing the system. In Massachusetts, for example, ten insurance companies have agreed to pay penalties for failing to correct records in their private exchange. The initial findings of at-fault were accurate, but the companies then failed to record when appeals reversed the findings. This left thousands of motorists wrongly recorded as at fault. So, if you have any reason to suspect your local insurance industry is relying on inaccurate information about your claims history, it’s vital you take action. Failure to have the record set straight can cost you thousands of dollars over the years. If the information in CLUE is correct, get your local state’s Department of Insurance to check into any local databases. Continue reading →