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May29
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Drivers in Sioux Falls, S.D. appear to be the most cautious and law abiding according to a study called “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report” I found on nationalunderwriter.com. Sioux Falls has the “lowest accident rate while drivers in Newark, N.J. are the most crash prone.”
This study was conducted in 200 of the largest cities in America showing drivers in Sioux Falls were 30 percent less likely to have an accident than the national average. Newark drivers on the other hand are just over “100% more likely to have a crash than the national average.”
I was shocked a city in California did not make the list, especially here in Southern California. The safest driving city with a population over 1million was Phoenix while Philadelphia fell to the bottom of this list with a 51 percent chance above the national average of having a motor accident.
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May27
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This weeks’ installment of insurance fraud, scammers and all around craziness features some astonishing stories. I am continually amazed at the degree of harm people will cause to others simply in the pursuit of money. From murder plotting teens to...
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May26
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Earlier this month severe storms and flooding caused damage to residents and business owners in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) R. David Paulison made federal funding available to the following...
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The following is a list of steps to take when filing a claim for damage to your home. This list is from a consumer alert on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website naic.org Call your insurance company or agent...
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Information about federal products liability lawsuits compiled from the LexisNexis Market Intelligence database was released today according to insurancejournal.com. This data shows “products liability lawsuits filed in the U.S. declined by 14% last year and is on pace to decline...
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A report released yesterday from the California Insurance Department website shows “the burgeoning profitability of Homeowners and Private Passenger Automobile Insurance companies.” The study revealed insurance companies have enjoyed excess profits while the amount they pay for claims has decreased. ...
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Merrill Lynch conducted a study of 1,000 U.S. employers with 100 or more employees and another study of 5,111 U.S. adults ages 25-70 according to this study. These studies revealed some startling information for employers not currently preparing for the...
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May25
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Have you been in an automobile accident in your life? Ever wonder what you should do in the minutes after the accident and the following months? Assuming the accident was minor and you have all of your faculties about you...
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In Louisiana a law called the valued policy law allows payment of the full value of a homeowners’ policy. Louisiana homeowners are “seeking full value replacements under windstorm coverage for houses that were destroyed by flood as well as wind”...
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An agreement to pay $4 million in penalties and reduce rates was made this past Tuesday between the Elliot Spitzer’s New York Attorney General’s office and two title insurance companies. The two companies paying $2 million each are Fidelity National...
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Today a bill to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be considered by the Senate Banking Committee according to nationalunderwriter.com. This bill is supported by insurance industry trade groups and “requires more policyholders to pay fair-market rates and...
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According to businesswire.com the Mexican government’s finance ministry issued an innovative catastrophe (cat) bond. This bond is the “first time a Latin American government has turned to the capitol markets to cover potential catastrophe costs. “The bond provides catastrophe cover...
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May24
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In a news brief from nationalunderwriter.com the president of Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) Bryan Freeman commented on state broker disclosure requirements. According to Freeman “at least 15 states have included broker disclosure requirements in viatical laws.” Freeman also said,...
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Florida’s Department of Finance Officer and Fire Marshall Tom Gallagher is urging Floridians to prepare for the ensuing hurricane season according to an insurancejournal.com article. This preparation is being helped by the state’s “Hurricane Preparation Tax-Free Holiday” which is “providing...
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A new national survey done by Trusted Choice® exposes “25 million U.S. families renting their homes” without proper insurance coverage. This survey can be found on The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America website iiaba.org. The survey found: 2/3...
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I thought all major insurance and financial companies had gone paperless for quite some time, but I was wrong. One of the oldest fraternal benefit societies Knights Of Columbus (KOC) has decided to “image 1.8 million insurance documents” according to...
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May23
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The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America issued a press release stating their Trusted Choice® Brand, “the consumer marketing brand for independent insurance agencies and brokerage firms, has reached its 2006 goal of 6,000 participating agencies eight months ahead...
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In Maryland an oddity in the traffic laws are allowing judges to “dismiss routine traffic violations at military bases, hospitals and research centers” according to insurencejournal.com. These judges are acquitting drivers with suspended licenses and even “throwing out every traffic...
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Not surprisingly Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire Hathaway are at it again. Berkshire Hathaway has acquired Applied Underwriters, “an industry leader in integrated workers’ compensation solutions and all of its subsidiaries” according to a news release on berkshirehathaway.com. Since...
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As a veteran insurance agent you probably have established yourself in a certain area of insurance and nestled into a comfortable position. While marketing your services have you come across opportunities to cross-sell to clients? According to an article on...
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Researchers from George Washington University “looked at 88 Medicare Advantage managed care plans for The Commonwealth Fund, New York” according to an article on nationalunderwriter.com. These researchers were “concerned about the effects of the Medicare managed care program on consumers.” ...
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May22
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During a conference call last week, according to nationalunderwriter.com, climatologist Jim Elsner of Florida State University said, “another elevated hurricane season is expected this year, although not on the order of 2005.” This conference call was for analysts at Bear...
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Insurance agents in South Dakota are not allowed to offer “commission rebates in the sale of insurance products subject to state regulation,” according to a bulletin addressed to the state’s insurance producers by Merle Scheiber, director of the South Dakota...
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May20
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I have decided to start a new weekly installment of insurance scammers to help you the consumer. This information is to assist you in being more aware so as not to fall prey to an insurance scam. Insurance fraud and...
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If you are an agent with Drive® Insurance from Progressive then you might or might not be aware of the new co-branding tools they have come out with. From article on insurancejournal.com; “According to the company's press release, the Drive...
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ABM Industries provides janitorial services among other facility services. They had a contract with the World Trade Center but obviously have lost considerable revenue because of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. ABM owned a business interruption policy purchased...
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May19
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The deadline has passed as of May 15 for Medicare recipients to sign-up for Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage. However, this information will still apply for the next round of Medicare recipients. Unfortunately there are people taking advantage of Senior Citizens...
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The floodwaters soaked not only homeowners but businesses as well this past week in New England according to an article on insurancejournal.com. A business owner of an Asian-Mediterranean restaurant might incur upwards of $200,000 in damages. The storm hit three...
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Are they overpaid or underpaid? According to Graef Crystal of Bloomberg news, blomberg.com, they are not overpaid. This is based on some calculations of his own based on their pay in relation to 492 CEOs of companies with market caps...
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Confused by the many different types of health insurance plans? Below is a list of the 4 types of health insurance plans and a brief description of both. This information is from bankrate.com.This listing is from least to most expensive:HMO,...
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If you make at least $200,000 annual gross income and have a net worth of $750,000 or more including your home then you can compare your experiences to this survey. The survey conducted by Luxury Institute, an independent research institution,...
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May18
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The last time I wrote on this topic in this post I stressed the importance of your personal financial situation when considering life insurance. Now I want to write about the first category of life insurance, temporary life insurance.Temporary life...
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An article on nationalunderwriter.com talks about reaching more “ordinary consumers” through technology. You mean they are talking about people like you and me? Here is an idea. Why don’t insurance/financial advisors focus more of their general efforts on the middle...
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I just read an interesting article on insurancejournal.com about the percentage of automobile drivers who actually wear a seat belt. The overall amount of people wearing a seat belt is up but still "48 million people" do not buckle up. ...
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Governor Jeb Bush of Florida this past Tuesday signed into law a $1.2 billion bill to “help the state’s insurance market as well as homeowners better cope with a severe hurricane season.” according to this article on bizjournals.com Over the...
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Of course we know of the physical damage caused by hurricanes and the short-term mental damage but what about the long-term mental effects. From insurancejournal.com I found a mental health study was released from Florida State University indicating survivors of...
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May17
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Job related injuries appear to be on the decline according to an economist from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), ncii.com. This decline of “more than 30%” is a bit of a mystery. In an article online economist Harry...
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I have previously posted on flood insurance and the importance of having this coverage if you are in a potential flood area. On the insurancejournal.com today they have an article containing a list of tips for filing a claim. I...
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The last post in this series I wrote about the potential for expanding your insurance practice to include other financial products and services. Today’s post is about the power of repeat clients. The insurance industry gives you the opportunity to...
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I found this story on the Detroit News website, detnews.com about a murder for insurance money. Murders have been committed to collect insurance money in the past. This unfortunate fact is nothing new and speaks to the thirst for money...
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In an article on NorthCountyGazette.org New York insurance fraud is “costing New Yorkers more than one billion dollars a year.” Because of this staggering number legislation has just passed through the New York State Senate and onto the Assembly that...
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May16
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This is a very interesting ruling by the supreme-court that can be found in its entirety on the supreme court website, supremecourtus.gov, in a PDF. This case involves Dr. Joel Sereboff vs. Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. This time the...
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I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for statistics no matter the topic. There is something about being able to look at a solid number that gives me a good feeling. With that in mind I turn...
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I was perusing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) website, naic.org and found this interesting consumer alert. I’m sure we have all heard and read about the unfortunate rise in identity theft in this country. Identity theft usually involves...
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I found this very informative guide on the California Department of Insurance website, insurance.ca.gov. I was intrigued by the title “What they don’t teach you in high school”. This guide is within the consumer auto insurance section.I for one was...
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I will be commenting on insurance crimes from time to time and I thought this one was worth mentioning. You can visit this link to get more information about this case.A father and son in Southern California were arrested and...
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May15
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Insureuonline.com is a site sponsored by The National Association Of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), naic.org. I wrote about this organization in an earlier post. This site gives consumers the chance to learn more about insurance in regards to their specific situation. ...
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I saw a Frontline upcoming report on the PBS website and thought the information might be good for people to take the time to tune in. Even though this is an insurance blog I am acutely aware that insurance is...
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A report released by the US Census bureau on their website points to a strange discrepancy among different age groups. People born between 1928-32 are facing disability at a rising rate compared with people in other age ranges. According to...
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Have you ever heard of accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D)? If you have a major credit card chances are you have from $100k to $1 million of this coverage. Not only do you carry this coverage but it is...
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If you are not familiar with Alzheimer’s disease chances are your familiarity will increase according to current statistics. “U.S. cases have increased to 5 million from 4.5 million in the past 5 years,” according to David Shenk, author of “The...
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May14
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A new tax bill has glided through the House and Senate this past Wednesday and currently awaits the Presidents signature. The bill makes changes to the income cap on conversions of traditional IRA’s to Roth IRA’s. The Adjusted Gross Income...
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May11
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Have you ever searched for car insurance online? I’m sure you have come across quite a few different sites. I went searching high and low through the internet and found some of the more visited and popular sites. If you...
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The tobacco industry had to face down Richard Scruggs in court in the late 1990’s and coughed up a record $250 billion of which Scruggs got $1 billion for his part. That astronomical amount is now being plied towards taking...
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Starting an insurance career in and of its self can be a full-time job with plenty to learn. But soon after starting your work you will find insurance is just one part of a bigger financial picture. Whether or not...
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May10
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The Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm and her husband Dan Mulhern did not file unemployment compensation insurance reports for their kids nanny according to this article. The couple did not know they were in arrears for more than a year...
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Elliot Spitzer on May 5 sued another major insurance company for bid-rigging. According to the filing “Liberty Mutual offered incentives to agents to bring clients to Liberty as well as “violating their fiduciary duty to assist in finding the best...
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A report released by The National Insurance Crime Bureau exposes the most popular cities for car thieves. It appears that California has the most entries on this very unpopular list. For 2005 the ten metropolitan statistical areas with the highest...
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I was amazed to read about a program for free life insurance, LifeBridge, being offered by Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company. They started this program in 2002 in selected states but now offer these policies in all 50 states. They...
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The estate tax has been a big issue for the insurance industry, the wealthy who have to plan for this tax and the government. The estate tax exclusion amount has been creeping up since 2003 when it was raised from...
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May 9
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California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi revised regulations for auto insurance premiums on April 26. I wrote about this topic in an earlier post and the positive benefit for good drivers. Auto insurance premiums will be based on your driving record...
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A panel of executives from Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. talked about helping baby boomers “by making savings products easier for the boomers to understand.” The current stable of products geared towards aging baby boomers can be daunting for agents...
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May 8
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Long Term Care Insurance (LTC) is not something I have written on yet but I wanted to bring up the topic with some statistics for daily room rates in semi-private nursing homes. These stats might get you thinking about LTC...
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I want to continue on the topic of life insurance with a discussion of the different types of life policies on the market currently. I also want to stress the importance of knowing the difference as a consumer between these...
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May 7
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If you are mulling over the idea of entering the insurance industry as an agent these are some great places to start. Kaplan Financial is a huge pre-license and continuing education company for the insurance and investment industry. They have...
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May 4
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Whether you are buying car, life or truck insurance it is imperative that you protect yourself against insurance scams. I will be “showcasing” from time to time some of the latest scammers, mostly in California, who have taken advantage of...
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May 3
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Dread having to pay too much for auto insurance because of your zip code? An announcement made by California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi could change drivers outlook on purchasing auto insurance. Less importance will be placed on where you live...
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May 2
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We as a nation are getting old fast, at least the 12% of us who are 65 or older. I read a brief article about this fact based on a study from the US Census Bureau. This is not a...
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May 1
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The last post on this topic I wrote of the difference you can make in families lives by properly setting them up with different types of insurance. Another reason for beginning a career in insurance is that you are stepping...
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