Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 18-07-2010
Sometimes life just is not fair. You think you have done everything absolutely right and then circumstances show you everything is turning out wrong. So it is that you get to see the end of hope played out in court cases. You know it should never come to this but, when it comes to people’s lives, there are few real choices if you feel you want justice. You do your best to be reasonable. You offer to settle. But the other side just fights on. It all comes down to willpower. Whoever is strongest will be left standing.
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Filed Under (Home Insurance) by FA Protect on 16-07-2010
Tough times for the Commissioner
One of the most important lessons of the last two years is that having regulators in place does not mean having consumer safety. Wherever you look from the failure of the SEC to police the banking industry, to the failure of the FDA to keep food and drugs safe, to the failure of the Minerals Management Service to prevent the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s clear the regulators have been asleep at the wheel of a Toyota car speeding out of control thanks to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It does not matter who you want to blame: the politicians who take the money of business and industry to pay for their expensive election campaigns, the leaders of business and industry who want the maximum profit with no accountability, or the regulators who sit in the middle and hope no one will notice they do nothing. The result has been a catastrophic series of failures. And who gets to pick up the bill? Why taxpayers and consumers, of course. Tax revenues are used to bail out the companies too big to be allowed to fail, and everyone who buys goods and services gets to pay a little more every year in prices to keep the wheels well greased.
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 13-07-2010
Even though the warring parties cannot agree on any policies to reform the healthcare industry, there is some agreement that what we have now is broken. Looking around the world makes for depressing comparisons. As a nation, we pay a higher percentage of our wealth on healthcare, but receive a significantly inferior product. More people die through lack of adequate care in our country. This year, as if to add insult to injury, the insurers have been pushing through major increases in premium rates. Ironically, it was these increases, in part, that allowed President Obama to push the reluctant Democrats into passing the reform bill. Sadly, the signing of the bill into law has not stopped the premium increases. We are all paying more. As a less publicized side effect, these rises in health costs have also been passed on to drivers. The coverage on liability and other policies includes payment for the treatment of anyone injured in a traffic accident. Insurance companies are for-profit. If their costs go up, those costs get passed on to the policyholders.
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 11-07-2010
For most people, especially car owners, it’s quite evident that having their vehicles insured is a required measure that will save a lot of time and money if something bad happens on the road. In most cases when purchasing a vehicle, especially with a use of auto loan, the insurance policy comes with the car itself as a requirement. But not many of those car owners know that they can simply switch to another provider or modify the policy when its term expires. And that could mean a lot in terms of money.
In fact, there are numerous insurance companies that you can buy insurance from, and their rates differ just as the prices on autos at different dealers. It all boils down to shopping around and defining your insurance needs. There are companies that will offer low rate services, but their customer support will be weak and they won’t process your claims rapidly. Other companies will have great 24/7 services but their rates will bite your wallet hard. In the end, looking for the cheapest offer might be not the best idea and you will have to take other important elements in consideration besides the price. Here are some things to think about when choosing insurance for your vehicle:
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 09-07-2010
In another article, we looked at the decision of the Wisconsin state government to double the minimum liability insurance requirement. It had been $25,000 per individual injured and $50,000 for multiple claimants in a single traffic accident. This doubled to $50,000 and $100,000 respectively. There was a general feeling this would push an increasing number of the poor into driving without insurance. And, as was predicted at the time, one of the results of this change in the law has been an increase in the premiums. In some ZIP code areas, the rates have gone up by as much as 40%. This has put a lot more pressure on family budgets around the state.
At the same time this law was going through the state legislature, a second bill was produced which increases the pressure on law enforcement to check whether drivers are carrying valid insurance. This is a logical development. There is little point in making it mandatory to carry liability coverage if there is no effective enforcement. So, as from June 1st, all drivers in Wisconsin must carry proof of a valid insurance policy in their vehicles.
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 08-07-2010
No distractions, please. I’m driving!
There are many ways in which you can describe some of Big Government’s departments and their campaigns. Feeling polite and well-balanced, you can say some are worth every cent. Then you get others where you cannot help feeling a little insulted. Like this site: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hey, come on, guys. We are all drivers here and we know how to drive safely. Except, perhaps, we “kinda” forget some basic rules when we get behind the wheel and back out of the driveway. So just how bad is it?
Well, the police are supposed to report the circumstances of all the traffic accidents they attend. This does not always produce a reliable record but, in 2008, the police recorded driver distraction as the main cause in almost 6,000 deaths (that’s about 15% of all the fatal accidents in the US) and more than 500,000 injuries. So just what is distraction for these purposes. The list is what you would expect: Read the rest of this entry »
Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 21-06-2010
There’s much debate around the healthcare system reform proposed by President Barack Obama. And while there are many people who protest against it, and those who support it, it is important to know what it is all about in the first place. Here is a short overview of the reform, which is comprised of three essential parts:
1. Assure all American citizens with access to comprehensive and affordable health coverage
The main features of this part are:
- New Public National Health Plan, which will be very close to the current health coverage provided to federal employees. The main difference is that the new plans will be available to all US citizens for a reasonable price no matter of their financial situation. Deductibles and co-payments will be reduced to minimum, while low-income persons will have the possibility to use additional subsidies.
- National Health Insurance Exchange, which will allow US citizens to look for private health plans. It will set regulations on private insurance providers in order to make sure that private plans are not too different form public ones.
- New business mandate requiring national enterprises to pay for the Public National Health Plan.
- Individual mandate aimed specifically at children.
- More support provided to existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 18-06-2010
Having a fast and powerful sports car is something that many people dream of, loving the aggressive sound of the engine and the speed potential such vehicles can deliver. There are many speed lovers out there, wishing they had a car to satisfy their thirst for speed in a street or track race, pushing the gas pedal into the floor and having the head blown back by the power of their car. And taking into account that sports cars are sometimes quite inexpensive compared to other types of vehicles, many drivers choose to follow their passion and buy a roaring beast on wheels.
But after they do purchase the beast of their dreams and start burning gas and tires, the question of insurance coverage comes into mind that’s where the thrill starts to fade away. Because with most sports cars no matter how inexpensive they may be compared to other vehicles, your insurance rates will be considerably higher, making the car quite expensive in overall when you add up the overheads of owning such a car. And that’s when sports car owners start looking for cheaper policies for their monster wheels.
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Filed Under (Home Insurance) by FA Protect on 17-06-2010
Insurance coverage for the house is quite often one of the most important investments that you will undertake after actually buying your home. Most insurance policies will cover the home itself, your belongings contained in it and liability due to accidents on your property. And when you start looking for the right policy it may be a bit difficult at first, taking into account the large diversity in policies and the large number of providers that offer their products. There are different types of coverage each policy carries to a different extent, and in each case the amounts of it have to be adequate in order to meet your exact needs. Yes, it’s a bit overwhelming at first, that’s why you would want to spend some time learning the basics before doing any comparison shopping.
Types of coverage
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Filed Under (Insurance) by FA Protect on 16-06-2010
If you own a car for quite some time, you probably know how much money it takes to maintain it in a good condition. With the past years the payments on insurance have increased so much that people no longer want to have it. Unbelievable, isn’t it? If you are not a newcomer to driving, you probably have always invested big sums in your cars. A good driver knows that the better conditions he will provide, the better result with be. But what about those who simply cannot afford to pay too much? Well, they have to start searching for other options. Frankly speaking, in the world of today it is not difficult to find an offer that will give you certain financial advantages. So if you are a new motorist or if you are planning to review your insurance plan, listen up. We are about to tell you how to save money on you auto insurance. You may remember it from years ago but believe us, prices don’t wait around. They change significantly. But you can always find a possibility to make the payment comfortable for yourself.
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