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insurance
insurance
How Going To HR Made A Health Insurance Co-Pay Hike Less Huge
By Laura Northrup on January 13, 2012 11:33 AM
65 Comments
The beginning of a new year often brings an unhappy change: rate and co-pay hikes for your health insurance. E's insurer made a change to ER visit copays that, given that his daughter is being treated for cancer and makes more frequent emergency visits than most children, would have cost the family a lot more money. So he turned to his company's HR department for help...and actually received it. More »
How To Get Out Of Private Mortgage Insurance
By Phil Villarreal on December 13, 2011 9:30 AM
56 Comments
Banks typically make homeowners with less than 20 percent equity add private mortgage insurance (PMI) premiums to their mortgage payments. The insurance helps the lender guard against the borrower defaulting on the loan. Owners who want to lower their payments can work toward getting rid of the insurance, but doing so can be tricky. More »
States Push Insurers To Pay Off On Policies
By Phil Villarreal on December 6, 2011 9:30 AM
27 Comments
Silly insurance companies, forgetting to pay off policies owned by beneficiaries of dead policyholders. Good thing state governments are there to help refresh their memories. More »
Determining The Right Amount Of Life Insurance
By Phil Villarreal on November 22, 2011 10:30 AM
53 Comments
If you rely on someone else's income or financially support others, the decision of whether or not to buy life insurance is easy. Determining the right amount to buy is far more difficult, requiring an alchemy of guesswork involving lost income, projected expenses and life expectancy. More »
(NASA)
Insurance Company Allianz Will Cover Your Next Space Flight
By Marc Perton on November 18, 2011 3:00 PM
26 Comments
Just because you're ready to drop $200,000 to take a quick trip into space with Richard Branson, there's no reason you shouldn't take out some travel insurance in case you lose your luggage or your medical coverage doesn't extend beyond the stratosphere. At least that's what German insurer Allianz is thinking. The company is rolling out a new policy, that could cost up to $10,000, for space travelers who want to play it safe. More »
How Removing Your Late Spouse From A Car Insurance Policy Raises Your Premiums
By Laura Northrup on November 18, 2011 11:30 AM
98 Comments
Statistically, married people are safer drivers than unmarried people, and car insurance premiums vary accordingly One of the things that Dan had to take care of after his wife died was taking her off the car insurance policy. While the GEICO employee he spoke to was very kind and helpful, his new premium caught him by surprise. Removing his wife from the policy didn't cut it in half: it raised it by ten percent. More »
Deciding Whether Or Not To Insure A New Phone
By Phil Villarreal on November 15, 2011 9:30 AM
84 Comments
There are some hard and fast rules about what is and is not worth insuring. Blackjack hands in which the dealer is showing an ace — no. Cars — yes, as is required by law. Health — only if you don't want to go bankrupt. It's a trickier proposition when it comes to smartphones. More »
Allstate Denied Man's Insurance Claim Because He Went To The Hospital 5 Hours Too Early
By Ben Popken on November 10, 2011 5:00 PM
139 Comments
Usually you're rewarded for showing up early. How could showing up 5 hours early cost you $10,000? More »
10 Million More In Poverty Because Of Medical Expenses, Census Reports
By Ben Popken on November 10, 2011 4:00 PM
116 Comments
If you were to subtract the cost of health care expenses from family incomes, an additional 10 million more Americans would be considered in poverty by official measures, the U.S. Census Bureau said this week in a new report. More »
Blue Cross Blue Shield Says Man Should Pay $2,306 To Avoid Dying In His Sleep
By Ben Popken on November 3, 2011 11:00 AM
207 Comments
Jason has sleep apnea. When he sleeps, if it can be called that, he stops breathing up to twelve times per hour. His body's reflexive response is that his jaw shoots around wildly, chipping and grinding his teeth, and then he wakes up for a second. A dozen times every hour, every night, he wakes up to his teeth clanging around his mouth. As if that wasn't fun enough, of the $2,400 the mouth guard his doctor prescribed prescribed him, his insurance plan is only going to cover a max of $94. More »
(jczart)
After Media Exposure, Insurance Firm Reverses Claim Denial Against Tornado Hero
By Ben Popken on October 25, 2011 10:00 AM
67 Comments
After an AP story ran about it, an insurance company has reversed its decision to deny paying the medical bills of a man who barely survived the Joplin tornado while he tried to safeguard three developmentally disabled adults in the group home where he worked. More »
(taiyofj)
Choosing The Right Type Of Travel Insurance
By Phil Villarreal on October 24, 2011 1:30 PM
24 Comments
An effective way to cut travel costs is to schedule trips out far in advance. But the earlier you lock down transportation and accommodations, the less certain you'll be that something won't come along and mess everything up. That's where travel insurance comes in, allowing you to hedge your bets against circumstances beyond your control that scuttle your travel plans. More »
Hero Social Worker Barely Survives Tornado, But Workers' Comp Gets Denied
By Ben Popken on October 24, 2011 11:00 AM
181 Comments
Social worker Mark Lindquist almost gave his life to try to save the three developmentally disabled adults in his care when the big tornado hit Joplin, Missouri in May. But despite being impaled by metal in the course of his work and suffering other near-fatal injuries, his insurance company has denied his worker's comp claims. More »
Buyers, Beware Of Irene-Damaged Used Cars Flooding Dealer Lots
By Ben Popken on September 1, 2011 1:00 PM
57 Comments
Even if you live thousands of miles away from where Irene hit, that's no guarantee that you won't run into a storm-damaged car on the used car dealer lot. These cars could be salvages or total losses, with screwed up engines and rotting components. Here are signs to watch out for. More »
(dr.regor)
Will Insurance Pay If Irene Flooded My Basement After My Sump Pump Failed?
By Ben Popken on August 31, 2011 5:00 PM
56 Comments
Ok, so you don't have flood insurance, but what if your basement flooded after Irene because the sump pump failed when the power went out? That sounds "homeowner's insurance-y," right? Will insurance pay for it then? More »
Irene Knocked My Neighbor's Tree On My Deck, But He's Run Away From His Foreclosure
By Ben Popken on August 31, 2011 11:57 AM
81 Comments
Irene blew a listing tree onto Brian's property from his neighbor's yard, smashing both his deck and fence. A seeming wrinkle is that his neighbor has long ago skipped town, leaving behind his foreclosed house with its drowsy trees untended. Brian wants to know how he can track the guy down, private eye style, and get reimbursed for the tree removal. More »
When A Tree Falls, Who Pays?
By Ben Popken on August 30, 2011 3:00 PM
90 Comments
There's lots of trees down after Irene and someone has to got to pay to get rid of them. But who? What if your tree fell on your neighbor's house? What if their tree fell on your house? Who's responsible? Here are the general rules of thumb. More »
What Do I Do With A Flood-Damaged Car?
By Ben Popken on August 30, 2011 12:00 PM
27 Comments
Your car took a big bath during Hurricane Irene. Now what? More »
Getting Through The Post-Irene Insurance Claim Process
By Ben Popken on August 30, 2011 10:00 AM
30 Comments
The first floor of a friend's house in Vermont was completely flooded by Hurricane Irene, forcing the family with two kids to evacuate to a nearby church. But braving the storm may look like blowing bubbles in the park after they start the insurance claims process. Here's some tips they, and you, can use to make it easier. More »
Why No One Is Safe From Hurricane Irene's Fallout
By Phil Villarreal on August 30, 2011 9:30 AM
45 Comments
Despite the destruction and death caused by Hurricane Irene, the disaster generally wasn't as awful as advertised. But even if the storm didn't harm you directly, it still just may mess with you by spurring insurance companies to hike their rates. More »
