The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) is a professional financial advisor specializing in developing effective solutions for individuals, business owners and professionals in the areas of income replacement, risk management, estate planning, and wealth transfer. For more than 80 years, the CLU designation has been widely recognized as a mark of excellence in the industry.

Among successful insurance agents, one common factor is the CLU designation. That’s why leading insurance companies strongly encourage their agents to earn the CLU designation, as a way to enhance their knowledge and demonstrate their commitment to meeting their clients’ insurance needs.

Insurance companies must hate it when they’re taken by one of their own. In Waukesha Wisconsin a prosecutor who vowed to file “numerous additional charges” against a former American Family insurance agent accused of setting up secret policies for unwitting customers has delivered on that promise, adding 100 felony counts.

The Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney said Wednesday that authorities believe that Nancy L. Paquette’s criminal scheme isn’t fully covered by the 106 counts she now faces, but the state’s six-year statute of limitations for felonies precludes her from filing further charges.

Paquette, 45, of Delafield was charged in the case in May in a criminal complaint that says she paid $200,000 of her own money to establish the policies while working out of a Waukesha office as an independent agent for the firm. The scheme, prosecutors say, paid off with big bonuses Paquette reaped after seemingly successful 11th-hour pushes in the closing days of policy sales campaigns.

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Many people have called AccuQuote asking for a life insurance policy that covers the entire family. New York Life Insurance Co. has recently introduced Family Protection Insurance. It’s a term-life policy that can cover both adults and dependant children with conversion priviledges and the ability to increase coverage without further insurability at the same rate as teh initial purchase. The maximum face amount per adult is $500,000 and up to $1 million after partial conversion.

Is this policy competitively priced? I honestly cannot say. I haven’t seen the costs. If you’re interested in obtaining coverage for your entire family my suggestion would be to shop around. Look at this product as well as products that have child riders and also individual child and adult policies.

Katrina’s aftermath has generated an enormous debate over where storm damage insurance ends and flood damage insurance begins. In some areas, there is also the prospect of basement flooding due to septic or sewer backup. Insurance companies are meticulous in differentiating among the three.

Essentially, coverage is determined by how the water enters your home. If it enters from your roof, that is covered under homeowner’s insurance. If waters swell on your street and flow into your house horizontally, it’s covered under flood insurance. If it comes from the bottom up, or through your basement drain or sump pump, typically that would be covered under a special sewer-drain backup endorsement.

Sometimes it’s not so black and white, and an insurance adjuster will have to determine whether the damage is covered under flood insurance or the sewer-drain backup endorsement.

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In general, no. Life insurance proceeds are not taxable, but can be in some cases. For instance, if you receive proceeds in installments and interest is paid, the interest portion of the payment generated after the insured’s death is treated as taxable income.

If you were named the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and aren’t sure if you should pay taxes ask your financial planner. He or she should be able to tell you if they are exempt.

Insurance is regulated by the states. While the regulatory processes in each state vary, three principles guide every state’s rate regulation system: that rates be adequate (to maintain insurance company solvency), but not excessive (not so high as to lead to exorbitant profits), nor unfairly discriminatory (price differences must reflect expected claim and expense differences).

Rate making is the process of calculating a price to cover the future cost of insurance claims and expenses, including a margin for profit. To establish rates, insurers look at past trends and changes in the current environment that may affect potential losses in the future.

Rates are not the same as premiums. A rate is the price of a given unit of insurance – $2.50 per $1,000 of earthquake insurance, for example. The premium represents the total cost of many units. If the price to rebuild a house is $150,000, the premium would be 150 x $2.50. Rates vary according to the likelihood and potential size of loss. Using the example of earthquake insurance, rates would be higher near a fault line and for a brick house, which is more susceptible to damage, than a frame one.

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There have been a lot of great articles on life insurance lately. I shared one with you yesterday about how life insurance needs are often neglected. Today I’d like to share an article from Forbes about life insurance trusts. I hope you find it very insightful.

In the United States, malfeasance by an insurance company usually seems to result in restitution to victims, payment of a fine, and – as part of the settlement – no admission from the insurance firm of any wrongdoing.

In Japan, tradition takes them in a little different direction. Last week, Nippon Life Insurance Co. said Friday it has imposed penalties on 16 of its executives, including a 30 percent cut in President Kunie Okamoto’s pay for six months, over nonpayment of insurance claims.

The insurance company submitted a business improvement plan to the Financial Services Agency and pledged to work harder to restore public trust. Last month, Japan’s financial watchdog ordered Nippon Life to correct its business practices as the company admitted falsifying documents to avoid insurance claim payments worth 200 million yen for 29 cases.

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Looking for that perfect gift? Look no further. Just think about it. Life insurance could be the best gift you’ve ever given your family. And, it’s the cheapest it’s ever been.

A 40 year old male (non-smoker) can get $500,000 in protection for 20 years for only $365 a year! Think about some of the gifts you might buy for your family this year, I’m sure some of them cost more than a year’s worth of life insurance protection. Get a quote today!

News reports of major security breaches that led to data being stolen or compromised have sparked rising interest in insurance products to address the risk. There’s not a lot that’s available, but interest is growing rapidly.

St. Paul Travelers offers an Internet liability protection policy that provides coverage for third-party claims resulting from a policyholder’s failure to protect confidential customer information. The policy would respond even if the breach occurred overseas which is critical because, given the global reach of the Internet, security breaches can originate from anywhere in the world.

National Union Fire Insurance Co. provides a variety of network security liability policies. Its information asset policy pays a policyholder’s costs related to recreating and restoring data or software on the network that might have been damaged. It also offers a business interruption policy that would cover losses of income related to network security issues and a cyber extortion policy that pays for damages in the event of a threatened or actual breach of a company’s security system.

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