All State Insurance

Posted on Friday, 17th June 2011 by

Coventry First is suing an anonymous critic who posted fake tweets, making the company appear to cheer for the death of policyholders. The Fort Washington, Pa.-based secondary life insurance firm filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Philadelphia federal court, accusing the critic of unfair competition and trademark infringement.

Anonymous Critic Sends Damaging Tweets

Coventry First, which is considered a leading player in the secondary life insurance marketa market in which investors pay individuals for the right to collect on their policiessays the anonymous critic has set up the Twitter account @coventryfirst and is breaking the law by sending damaging tweets.

The tweets consist of messages like horrible weekend no plane crashes and natural disasters are good for business!

Read full article…

Tags: Company, Life Insurance

No Comments »

Posted on Friday, 17th June 2011 by

Michigan Senator Virgil Smith is looking to help some Detroit residents lower their auto insurance rates drastically by introducing new legislation that would allow certain drivers to obtain scaled-back policies and thus cheaper coverage.

Under the new legislation, drivers with a clean record (i.e. no points in the last three years) who earn less than $30,000 per year and drive a car worth $20,000 or less would be eligible to obtain auto insurance with lower minimum requirements for personal injury protection (PIP) coverage.

The lower minimum requirements would drive down the cost of the insurance policies and would make securing coverage more affordable for many Detroit residents.

Read full article…

Tags: Auto Insurance, Auto Insurance Rates, Insurance Rates, Rates

No Comments »

Posted on Sunday, 12th June 2011 by

There are several ongoing challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Last Wednesday, one of the cases got to the apellate level when the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services (3:10-CV-91-RV/EMT).

This case involves the State of Florida and 26 other states (including Ohio) and a business group. In January, 2011, the federal district court, through Judge Roger Vinson (Reagan appointee, 1983), ruled the individual mandate aspect of the Act was unconstitutional and could not be stripped away from the remainder of the Act and, therefore, the PPACA was unconstitutional.

Read full article…

Tags: Case

No Comments »

Posted on Tuesday, 31st May 2011 by

Dave Jones, Californias Insurance Commissioner, has stepped up his effort to investigate top life insurance companies. The top 10 companies in the industry, the commissioner says, have been accused of not properly paying death benefits to family members after policyholders have died, which is illegal.

Companies Accused of Not Paying Benefits

Similar to an investigation against John Hancock Life Insurance Co., Jones wants to take a look at the top 10 life insurance companies under the accusation that these companies are not ensuring the beneficiaries of deceased policyholders get paid.

The fact that these companies allegedly have not been contacting beneficiaries for payout is heightened by the fact that the companies are said to make an active effort to find deceased annuity customers so that they can stop making annuity payments.

In addition to John Hancock, the states facing investigations are MetLife, Prudential, Nationwide, New York Life, Lincoln National, Sun Life Financial, The Hartford, Pacific Life and Aegon Group.

Jones intends to push for so-called market conduct examinations in 35 states, which will probe violations of the law by these companies. If

Read full article…

Tags: Insurance, Life Insurance

No Comments »

Posted on Monday, 30th May 2011 by

When you are budgeting for a new car, do you think about how your new wheels will change your auto insurance rate? I have been involved in auto sales, arranging auto loans, and auto insurance for many years. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone stretch to make a car payment fit into their budget only to have the cost of car insurance blow that budget to pieces.

It happened to me once with a motorcycle. I called around for quotes, and found what I thought was a great deal. I bought the motorcycle, paid my vehicle insurance, and then got hit with a “we goofed” notice billing me for an additional $2400 per year.

Read full article…

Tags: Car, New Car

No Comments »

Posted on Monday, 30th May 2011 by

Earlier this month, comScore, Inc. released its 2011 Online Auto Insurance Report, the results of which pointed to the stabilization of online auto insurance activity by consumers in 2010 after the big growth that was seen in the sector in 2009.

From 2008 to 2009, there was tremendous growth in consumer auto insurance activity online, as consumers submitted 21 percent more auto insurance quotes online and purchased 22 percent more policies year-over-year in that span.

Read full article…

Tags: 2010, Auto Insurance, Auto Insurance Activity, Insurance Activity

No Comments »

Posted on Monday, 30th May 2011 by

This season seems to be one where I spend a good deal of time posting about resources for disaster victims.

The storms and tornadoes in Joplin Missouri devastated the area and our hearts go out to the victims.

The Missouri Department of Insurance has posted a page entitled “Joplin Tornado Resources” to help victims get in contact with their insurers. It lists contact numbers of various insurers to help victims reach their insurers. The page also lists a set of tips to assist in working through a disaster and working with your insurer.

Insurers may have set up mobile claims units to assist. For example, Allstate has set up a mobile claims center at 3950 East Newman Road in Joplin with hours from 8:00 a.m.

Read full article…

Tags: Victims

No Comments »