Saving You Money For Life

In early March, a year and a half after hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, the city of New Orleans filed a $77 billion claim against the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal Tort Act indicated that March 1 was the last day claimants could file against the Corps, a required step before any recovery lawsuit.

The Army Corps of Engineers designed the levee system to protect the city. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that Louisiana’s Hurricane Katrina losses were about $25.3 billion, noting that the levee collapse flooded about 80 percent of the city with water 20 feet deep in some places. The city filed its $77 billion claim, about $170,000 for each person in the city’s pre-storm population of 455,000.

The claim was filed on March 1, the same day President Bush returned to the devastated region for the first time in six months.

The city’s attorney, Penya Moses-Fields, said the filing was made under the tort act to preserve the city’s claim. The Corps can accept, settle or reject the claim in the next six months. If it rejects the claim, the city of New Orleans is free to sue the federal government.

Posted in Uncategorized | | 1 Comment »

Here’s an article in which I was quoted regarding how much money it costs to pay your auto, home or term life insurance premiums other than annually. Once you read the article, I think you’ll have a better understanding of how you’d like to pay your premiums.

To find out the real cost of paying your premiums other than annually, check out the APR calculator on AccuQuote.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Private reinsurance companies in Florida can now obtain less expensive reinsurance coverage, which helps them pay claims after a devastating event, like a hurricane. The reinsurance coverage comes from the state fund and the companies are required by Florida law to pass that savings on to their customers.

The insurance companies will file rate filings to the state by March 15, reflecting the “catastrophic fund” savings. They will then make rate adjustments for policies that renew after June 1. Many customers will save money as a result of these changes – about 10 percent in the panhandle to about 50 percent in the Miami area.

Since the state’s projected savings are an average, though, the rate reductions will depend on individual policies, which factor in geographic location, the insurance company itself and how much savings the company will realize from being able to buy the state-backed reinsurance.

Consumers should also note that if the state has already approved a rate increase for their particular private insurance company, the property rates will increase, but not as much as they would have. Florida’s largest home insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, will not see savings from the new plan because the state-backed company does not have private reinsurance. Instead, policyholders will receive a separate refund.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Mortgage term life insurance is just one type of term life insurance. Mortgage term life insurance is insurance that is meant to pay off your mortgage in case of your death. It does not provide you with any type of extra cash once the house is paid off.

Traditionally, the amount of mortgage term life insurance policies usually decrease as your morgage obligation decreases. This is a great product if the only thing you’re worried about is your family being able to keep the house, but what about everything else? For instance, will your family have enough money to send the kids to college?

If you want your family to be protected, your best bet is to go with an affordable level premium term life insurance policy. This type of insurance can be purchased in increments of 10, 20 or 30 years. The policy will not decrease and the premium will remain the same for the entire legnth of the policy. This type of policy will ensure that not only the house can be paid off but the standard of living for your family will remain the same.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

At the end of February, Oregon’s Federal District Court Judge Anna Brown approved a nationwide class settlement lawsuit between Hartford Fire Insurance Company and more than 700,000 of the company’s policyholders. The group said that Hartford Fire and its subsidiaries did not abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and did not provide notice to them when it charged them more for insurance based on information in their credit reports.

The multimillion dollar settlement is an agreement in which every qualified class action member who submits a claim form on time will receive a payment of at least $150. If members had been able to prove at a trial that the company’s violations were willful, they might have been entitled to recover between $100 and $1,000 each in damages.

Initially, the Oregon District Court ruled that Hartford Fire had complied with the act, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case, sending it back for a determination if Hartford Fire acted willfully when it made the increased based on policyholders’ credit histories.

Consumer advocates hailed the settlement, noting that consumers should be made aware that their credit report can adversely affect their insurance premiums.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

If you’re looking for the best term life insurance deals available, my recommendation would be to visit several different online term life insurance quote and brokerage services like AccuQuote. Brokerage services monitor the rates, features and ratings of not just one life insurance company, but hundreds.

And, whether you buy direct from Prudential or a Prudential product from AccuQuote, your going to pay the same term life insurance rate based on the health and lifestyle questions you have answered.

So, in the end, it will pay to go to a broker because you’ll get quotes and recommendations not just from one company, but from an indepenedent, objective person that deals with several life insurance companies in order to find you the best deal available.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Posted in Uncategorized | | 3 Comments »

While his auto insurance company paid a Gary, Indiana, couple $477,968 in damages, Nasir Farrakhan has refused to pay $350,000 in punitive damages.

Farrakhan, son of the spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, was ordered to pay actual and punitive damages to Gladys and Charles Peterson for maliciously smashing their vehicle in 2003. He admitted liability for actual damages, as he said he fell asleep at the wheel after leaving a Chicago all-night party. He was not licensed to drive at that time, and the couple claims he crashed his Hummer SUV into their Honda two times in an apparent effort to make them move so he could pass. The Peterson’s attorney, Michael Back, said that Farrakhan’s insurance company could not pay the punitive damages the court ordered him to pay.

Farrakhan denies he should have to pay punitive damages because juries in the state can only order that kind of damage if the behavior was grossly negligent or malicious.

Authorities found a bottle of Vicodin, a prescription painkiller, and a type of glass pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine-though without any residue-in the vehicle, which Farrakhan said belongs to his father.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

Most people don’t understand what’s involved in the term life insurance underwriting process. That’s why it can be very frustrating at times. So here’s a brief overview of how to avoid delays in the process:

Underwriting is a time where the life insurance companies gather information about you. This is done in several ways: the application, the paramed exam, and additional requirements by the insurance company, to name a few.

The sooner you return the application, the quicker the underwriting process can begin. However, before you return your application, make sure it is complete. Missing information can cause delays into the process. This is a simple problem to avoid. In addition, make sure you get your paramed exam done quickly because without it we can’t get the process started.

If there are additional requirements needed (such as additional tests e.g. electrocardiogram and treadmill, physician’s statements, and medical records) they can be sources of long delays. In order to minimize the delay, you can assist your life insurance agent in obtaining these by scheduling any additional tests immediately and call ing our physician(s) to expedite records and statements.

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »

With many insurance companies waiting to announce their profits for one quarter until the next quarter is more than halfway over, it’s often difficult to accurately analyze the insurance industry’s financial stability.

However, based on some of the numbers available, here are a few hints about the financial workings of some insurance industry players.

Surprise Earners

Forecasters make predictions about the stock market much like the weather and often the results are just as reliable. A few companies who out-earned their forecasted estimates include: CNA Financial Corporation, James River, Ohio Casualty, American Financial Group, American Safety, Navigators Group, and Hanover Group. Fewer claims and higher premiums may be the cause.

Mortgage Insurance

Earnings aren’t so good in this sector. Claims are up across the country, which is a good indicator as to where mortgage premiums are heading: up and up and up.

Life Insurance

Higher death claims hurt profits in the life insurance industry, too. Will premiums rise in this arena as well?

Posted in Uncategorized | | No Comments »