Insurelane Insurance Blog

A study by MetLife insurance group that polled married men and women with children under the age of 18 showed that on average, men who have young children have life insurance policies that cover them for five times their yearly household income. Whereas women who have minor children are insured on average up to three times the household income. For some insurance experts, it concerned them that women didn't have as much coverage as men.

They point out that if a working parent passed away the family's source of income would be affected as well as other things such as their tuition assistance, health insurance, and other types of financial benefits. They feel citizens should get professional assistance from insurance agents to make sure they have an adequate amount of life insurance, especially after the study showed not too many women consult anybody about their financial matters.

More men surveyed, 48 percent compared to 26 percent of women, said their employers do a good job of educating them on their options when it comes to life insurance, which can also lead to better job satisfaction. According to the poll, only 38 percent of the women said they were happy with their employer benefits compared to 56 percent of men.

MetLife says there are some things to consider when it comes to life insurance, such as enrolling in employers' group life plans, even if you have to pay some of the costs yourself as these plans are less expensive and have no medical or limited underwriting.

The company stated many businesses offer employees the chance to buy supplemental life insurance at affordable group rates in the enrollment period and sometimes at other times of the year.

Hurricane Katrina caused widespread devastation back in 2005 and cost billions of dollars to clean up. However, it seems many residents on the Mississippi coast are still paying for the destruction five years later as their homeowners insurance premiums have jumped through the roof. It's been reported by New Orleans News that some homeowners on the Gulf Coast have seen their insurance costs skyrocket up to 200 and 300 percent.

Some relief may be in sight as Mike Chaney, the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner, said while prices are still pretty high, they are starting to level out. He stated it was inevitable insurance rates would rise due to the cost of rebuilding. Also, residents have been helped out by state-funded coverage named the Wind Pool.

Before the hurricane hit, coastal homeowners were paying $952 on average for a years worth of insurance on a $100,000 policy. But those who reside between the beach and Interstate 10 are now paying an average of $1,869 a year, which is close to an increase of 100 percent. In the Jackson, Mississippi area, $1,050 is the average for a year.

State insurance rates are still a sensitive topic with many residents as they feel they are paying some of the highest premiums around. But over at the State Capitol, the lawmakers state they have tried to help ease the burden for Mississippians should a catastrophe strike. A Policy Holder's Bill of Rights was passed by lawmakers, which states insurance companies have to inform customers about all policy exclusions — including wind and flood damage.

Rates have risen in Mississippi but not as much as in Florida, where tighter regulation was in place. There could be some light at the end of the tunnel though as 105 new insurance providers have started offering policies since Katrina, providing residents with more options.

If you’re accident prone, you might want to stay away from Roseville, California, as the city is charging fees to non-resident drivers who use its emergency services or cause road accidents.

It seems like such a good idea that the city of Sacramento could start doing the same thing when city council meets in mid-September according to The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento is considering fees from $435 for a fire department response up to $2,275 hazardous-waste leaks, helicopter transportation, and driver extrication.

The fees would be aimed at anybody who isn’t a resident of the city who is involved in a crash or some other costly incident in city limits. The money would then be used to upkeep and improve city services.

While some people might balk at the idea, especially those from out of town, it’s apparently legal in California to charge people the full cost of emergency responses and a few cities are jumping on the bandwagon. It became law in 1987 as many districts were struggling with costs.

The bills for the accident usually get sent to the person’s insurance company, but many of their policies don't cover the fees for emergency services. For instance, if an out-of -town driver causes an accident where somebody needs to be extricated from a vehicle, the recovery fee of about $2,000 will be filed by the fire department with the driver who caused the accident’s insurance company.

In Roseville, the fire department reported that it recovered about $30,000 of its costs. However, some nearby communities, like Rancho Cordova, don’t like the practice as it affects visitors and those people who commute to Roseville to work.

Some local residents and politicians say it’s a fair practice though, as city taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the negligent acts of individuals who cause accidents.

It appears many Americans are buying homeowners insurance, but aren’t exactly sure what it covers and what it doesn't. Many consumers are buying higher priced premiums to make sure they have the appropriate insurance on their homes, but in some cases they might be paying for coverage that isn't really needed or not buying enough.

The best way to buy homeowners insurance is make sure you buy a policy that suits your specific needs and circumstances. If you just look around for the lowest premiums available there is a good chance you might not have enough coverage.

A survey reported by Insurance & Financial Advisor stated that 31 percent of United States citizens weren't sure how much their homes are insured for. In addition, 46 percent of people didn't know what the coverage was for the contents of their homes, which includes their clothing, furniture, and other items.

It was also reported that 30 percent of the homeowners surveyed think the coverage represent the present market value of the home. But in reality, the homeowners coverage limit is actually based on how much it will cost to rebuild it. This is what often confuses many people when they buy homeowners insurance and why some people don't buy enough coverage.

While many people are working hard to save more money and cut down on their expenses, they are leaving themselves open for costly bills by not having adequate insurance. When buying homeowners insurance the trick is to know exactly what is and isn't covered and to talk to an insurance agent for clarification.

The car-buying public may want to think twice about buying a new hybrid-electric vehicle after reading the Mitchell International's Industry Trends Report. According to The Car Connection, hybrid cars such as the popular Toyota Prius costs on average $182 more to fix than regular vehicles if they’re involved in an accident.

Now insurance companies have started raising insurance rates for the higher repair costs. In fact the insurance costs for hybrid vehicles are predicted to go up at a quicker rate than overall insurance premiums.

It’s estimated that hybrid sales make up about three percent car sales in America these days and a more diverse group of people are now buying them. When hybrids first hit the streets, most owners drove them pretty conservatively and didn’t get involved in many accidents. This of course meant very few insurance claims which resulted in relatively low premiums.

However, the cars are now more popular and there are quite a few more of them on the road as more and more manufacturers are producing them.

And the main reason they cost more to fix is that there are less used hybrid car parts on the market. So when a vehicle has to be repaired, there’s a good chance brand new parts are used to replace damaged parts. When new parts are needed owners generally get them from a dealer instead of a regular repair shop and results in higher labor costs.

While hybrids may be good for the environment and get pretty good mileage, you may want to figure in the cost of insurance and repairs when budgeting for a new car.

It can be a touchy subject for dog owners and lovers, but some insurance companies are hesitant to cover homeowners who own certain types of dogs as they have a reputation for biting people and being aggressive. It is hard to argue with insurers as over 4.5 million people suffer from dog bites every year, with close to a million of them needing medical attention.

According to The Palm Beach Post, the cost of dog bites on insurance claims rose about 20 percent in America between 2003 and 2008.In fact, about a third of homeowners' liability claims are related to dog bites and it cost insurers close to $400 million in 2008 as over half the incidents took place on the dog owner's property.

Some insurance companies won't offer homeowners, condo, or renters policies to people who own dogs that are known to bite.

However, State Farm Insurance doesn't focus on the breed of a dog and ask dog owners to fill out a survey before they get coverage. The survey asks owners if their dog has ever bitten anybody and if so what was done about it to stop it from happening again. The company prefers to judge each individual dog instead of the whole breed as any type of dog can turn vicious.

However, many experts often blame a dog's behaviour on its owner and it's not fair to label a whole breed as being vicious. But most insurance companies don’t really care who is to blame as the average payout for a single dog bite is close to $24,500.This can reach as high as a $1 million depending on medical costs and jury awards as many attacks end up with the victim needing reconstructive surgery.

Other people argue the insurance companies are doing the right thing by banning breeds of dogs as they point out getting bitten by a Rottweiler is a lot more serious than being bitten by a Chihuahua.

Times have definitely changed. People used to head out to school with a compass and an emergency phone number, but these days the first things loaded into backpacks are cell phones, laptops, iPods, and other electronic devices that are deemed necessary by today’s youth.

When young adults head to college their packing list is generally related to the newest gadgets on the market. However, many students forget one of the most important things, which is renters insurance.

Most young people are in tune with today’s technology and own a multitude of electronic devices to keep them entertained, but they forget about insuring them against things such as fire, theft, and natural disasters. This also goes for their furniture and clothing.

The chances of losing your possessions may seem pretty remote, but there’s always a possibility and you can’t rely on the landlord’s property insurance to cover your personal belongings. This goes for students living on campus too.

It’s also recommended that you check to see if the coverage is for replacement cost or the cash value of the items that go missing or are damaged. Policies that pay cash value will reimburse you for what the items were worth at the time they went missing or were damaged.

For instance, an appliance that cost $1,000 a few years ago won’t be worth that today according to most insurance companies. They will usually pay what they think the old one was worth, and subtract the deductible from it too.

But if the insurance policy covers the replacement cost, it means you’ll get what it costs to replace the missing or damaged items, minus the deductible of course. Therefore your $1,000 television set will be replaced by a brand new one, no matter what the cost is. While this type of insurance appears to be the best, it will cost a little more in premiums.

The best thing to do when buying insurance is to make a list of everything you own, write down the serial numbers, and take photos of them if possible. Keep a record of everything and store it in a separate place. When buying something new, make sure you keep the receipt.

If you’re interested in renters insurance, remember the amount you pay is determined by several factors, such as where you reside, the insurance company, the amount of deductible, and other coverage you might need. But renters' insurance is very inexpensive and worth its weight in gold.

Unfortunately, we live in a pretty unstable world these days and the threat of terrorism is all too real. The United States government has been told by the country’s insurance companies that terrorism risk insurance can’t be offered without their help.

According to Insurance News Net, the government introduced Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) back in 2002 and hoped a private self-sustaining market would evolve. The program was then extended by seven years in 2007 and could be extended again before it expires.

Marliss McManus, who is a federal affairs director with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, stated that while terrorism insurance is going to be needed, it can’t really be handled by private firms without the help of the feds. She told the government that it’s unlikely any private company will take on the task of terrorism insurance, especially when it comes to weapons of mass destruction.

J. Stephen Zielezienski, who is senior vice president of the American Insurance Association, agreed with her and said it’s doubtful the private market will take it on. In 2006, the government also found there is little potential interest for private terrorism risk insurance for nuclear, chemical radiological, and biological attacks and has found nothing has really changed in the last four years. Zielezienski added that a federal terrorism insurance program definitely needs government help along with the removal of specific regulations that are currently in place on private insurers.

The government looked to private insurers for explanations on terrorism risk insurance and at what it would cost. However, McManus said terrorism is so unpredictable that it’s hard for the private market to develop and to give an estimated cost for it.

Do you ever wonder what really goes on when an elderly group of women get together? Well in the case of 67-year-old Jean Crump of South Los Angeles and her friends, it was pretty creative, but unfortunately illegal.

The States News Service reported that Crump was convicted by a federal jury for staging phony funerals to bilk money out of insurance companies by seeking payouts on their life insurance policies.

Crump was working at Simpson and McGee Mortuary and got involved in the racket to defraud the insurance providers by filing false claims for life insurance policies totalling $1.2 million for somebody who hadn’t died.

Crump and her associates were pretty thorough as they had phony death certificates prepared, bought a burial plot and then lowered an empty coffin into it. The fake funeral made everything seem normal, but a couple of insurance firms got suspicious and starting poking their noses around. This worried Crump, and she then dug up the coffin and filled it with body parts of a cow and a mannequin before cremating it.

The women then filed more bogus documents at the County of Los Angeles which stated the fake corpse's body was cremated and the ashes scattered at sea. Crump even tried to bribe a doctor by offering $50,000 to falsify medical records to support the phony death certificate.

It was also revealed the criminals defrauded a number of companies that hand over cash advances for funerals in return for some of the decedents' life insurance policies. Crump made up phony invoices which claimed a funeral took place at three separate mortuaries. Two of the insurance providers sent her money in advance to cover the fake funeral.

Crump was convicted on a count of mail fraud along with two counts of wire fraud and faces a possible prison sentence of up to 90 years. Three other women will face charges as well.

Term life insurance provides coverage at a fixed rate of payments for a limited amount of time. After that period expires, coverage at the previous rate is no longer guaranteed, and the client must either lose coverage or purchase additional coverage with different rates and conditions.

Now, homeowners who have tied their term life insurance policy to the final payment of a mortgage, and then refinanced their mortgage for a longer term, are finding themselves in a pickle.

According to Insurance & Financial Advisor, homeowners who experience this unintentional consequence should recalibrate their term life insurance policy so they can avoid this problem.

Record low interest rates have caused many homeowners to refinance their mortgage at least once or twice in the past few years, and many have chosen to extend their terms to 15, 20, or even 30 years.

Many buyers are choosing the term life insurance based on when they will conclude their mortgage payments. This protects them from leaving family members with large debts in the event of their untimely death. When changing the terms of their mortgage upon refinancing — many fail to renew their term life policy as well.

Premiums can quadruple for customers who wait until the end of their term life insurance policy to renew the policy. Term life insurance tends to be the most expensive form of life insurance but becomes more expensive with age.

The Youth Policy Institute in Los Angeles recently started a program which aims to train low-income and unemployed persons as medical assistants, pharmacy technicians and certified nursing assistants. According to The Los Angeles Times, the program has 400 people already enrolled with openings for an additional 1,200. The program is rapidly growing in the area with the hope of creating some much needed health care jobs.

Unemployment in the Los Angeles area is currently at 12.3 percent and the program seeks to alleviate many from the stresses of unemployment as well as offer a solution to the shortage of health care workers. The area is especially hurting from a lack of nurses and nurse assistants.

The program seeks to train the students efficiently and quickly, to get them into medical-related jobs as soon as possible. Case managers are working to decrease any barriers that will stand in the California residents way of getting their free training.

Residents who participate in the program will take classes, free of charge, at Los Angeles Valley College and participate in paid internships at designated medical facilities after training. The program is sponsored by the federal stimulus package costing $3.6 million) and state and local grants are providing $2.4 million.

The program is offering many different types of help, just as an incentive to get residents into classes. Case managers are equipped to help students with issues such as housing, child care and transportation, to name a few. Costs of books as well as items such as uniforms and other training materials will also be covered at no cost to the student.

Banner Supply Company is currently facing a class action lawsuit, which will attempt to include all Florida homeowners who bought drywall from the distributor. The class action suit follows Banner Supply’s recent loss of a Chinese drywall lawsuit. The class action suit alleges Banner knew the drywall was defective in 2006 and did not warn consumers.

According to Lawyers and Settlements, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal recently signed legislation preventing insurance companies from cancelling homeowners’ insurance coverage as a result of policyholders filing claims based on tainted or defective Chinese drywall.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said if the insured has been with the insurance company for more than three years, the insurer will not be able to cancel policies related to tainted drywall that is manufactured overseas.

Due to large public outcry when consumers discovered that Chinese manufacturers could not be held legally accountable under United States law for the defective drywall — the federal government stepped in. Lawmakers are in the process of passing a bill known as the Foreign Manufacturer Legal Accountability Act. The Act will require foreign manufacturers of "covered products" to designate a registered United States agent to receive service of process on behalf of their companies. This also means that foreign manufacturers can be sued in the United States for any civil action related to the products.

Lawmakers are currently trying to establish rules in Chinese drywall settlements but for now victims of poor Chinese drywall have won a few more rights and can keep insurance coverage.

Recently, many Michigan residents have become angry with the costs of their high premiums for flood insurance. They claim that despite being in low risk areas, they are stuck with bailing out disaster prone areas. These residents are trying to convince their insurance companies and banks that they aren’t at the same risk of flood as those who live along river basins or on the Gulf Coast.

The recent raise in premiums is due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updating their maps to show certain Michigan properties as being high risk. This has left citizens angry and incredulous according to The Detroit News.

Residents argue that the recent flood-risk mapping on the shore lines should not be an issue, as Great Lakes water levels have been dipping to historic lows in recent years. This decrease in water levels has affected thousands of miles of freshwater coastline in Detroit’s popular waterside communities and several townships. Despite this knowledge, the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to map Michigan’s shorelines as being high risk for flooding, which is resulting in costly premium increases.

From 1978 to March of this year, Michigan had remained of the lowest beneficiaries of the National Flood Program. In that period of time, the state has paid 6,414 claims (totaling about $45 million). In comparison, homeowners in Louisiana have had payouts on 315,942 claims, totaling over $16 billion dollars.

Citizens are upset with FEMA’s updated floor maps, because with the new high risk label for their coasts, homeowners will now likely be required to obtain flood insurance, but with little expectation of payout should they actually go through a flood. The rates have increased exponentially, and buyers are surprised to find out that their mortgage lenders are requiring high-premium flood insurance before they will even sign for a home loan.

In recent years, many hospitals and medical facilities have begun using means to control violent and unruly patients. More than 150 hospitals throughout the United States are currently using or testing tasers to try and control this growing problem according to The Washington Post.

Many hospitals have patients that come from jail or patients from mental hospitals. There are also some visitors that come to visit patients or harass staff members. The tasers are just a precaution to protect staff and other patients.

Dr. Jeffrey Ho, an emergency room doctor at the University of Minnesota Hospital, thinks that using tasers against patients who are violent is the best possible method. He believes that violence occurs in hospitals and that the hospitals need to act.

According to one study, the number of violence-related injuries on hospital property has dropped by approximately 35 percent after tasers were distributed to guards at the hospital. Still many health care providers disagree over the use of stun guns in hospitals.

Robert Philibert, a professor at the University of Iowa, does not believe that tasers should be used in care-giving facilities. While he admits that they are "better than a gun," he also argues, "Tasers are still a threat, a symbol that breaches the trust and the understanding of the patient that you have a comprehensive, beneficent attitude towards the patient."

The number of uninsured motorists in Texas has been on the decline for the past two years, ever since the launching of the TexasSure Auto Insurance Verification program.

According to Claims Journal, the program was launched two years ago, and has been available to all law enforcement and 254 county tax assessor-collectors since June 2008. Since that time, the database showed a statewide decrease in the number of registered vehicles that could not be matched to an insurance policy. Since June of 2008 the number of uninsured vehicles has decreased from around 24 percent to 21 percent.

The database provides law enforcement with tools to determine whether or not a registered vehicle in Texas has legitimate automobile insurance and is able to match over 99 percent of all policies to a vehicle. TexasSure regularly checks up on those insured customers who cannot be matched with a policy.

TexasSure is also able to find the registered vehicles that cannot be matched, thus determining which vehicles are uninsured vehicles. Beginning mid-June of 2010, TexasSure officials began sending letters via mail to these motorists who appear to be uninsured, advising them of their status. Motorists who receive this letter are given the opportunity to update their information on file and provide any information that may help TexasSure to resolve the issue. They may respond via mail, website or call an agent.

Several reasons exist for having a registered vehicle that is not also insured. Some include falling out of service due to extended repair, illness, extended military service or travel, or having a vehicle whose class does not require auto insurance.

Motorists who do not have valid insurance for a registered vehicle are subject to fines up to $350, plus court costs and may be assessed additional fees. Repeat offenders may lose their license for up to two years.