| 4/10 life insurance customers ripped-off by ratings
Shocking research from specialist insurance website BestDealInsurance.co.uk reveals how greedy life insurers are making huge profits from loading up customers' life insurance premiums for what are sometimes only minor ailments. David Thomson, Chief Executive from the company says: “It is scandalous just how many consumers are getting hammered by their life insurer for so-called health risks. For example, if you want insurance and a family member has multiple sclerosis some companies will impose a limitation on to what you are covered for.
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We are starting to hit the limits of the net's current capacity to ...
At the turn of the last millennium financial markets around the world realised that the valuations they were offering for companies whose business plans included the word internet were completely ridiculous and that there was no way most of them were ever going to make money. Share prices for those that had already floated collapsed; second round venture funding for start-ups disappeared, even for good ideas with a solid track record; and the angel investors took their money elsewhere. Individual investors - the "day traders" who had sunk their savings into stocks that looked like they would grow forever - lost the most money, but pension funds, insurance companies and other big holders of shares also suffered. The companies, large and small, went under. Who now remembers etoys.com or Online Publishing? But the effect of the collapse was like a neutron bomb, a nuclear weapon that produces high doses of radiation but with a relatively small explosion, and the damage it did was limited.
New AAA "Your Driving Costs" Brochure Available at Auto Club's 75 ...
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/05/07 -- The Automobile Club of Southern California is helping consumers understand the costs of driving a car by offering a new "Your Driving Costs" brochure explaining the costs of owning and operating a new vehicle. The 2007 brochure, "Your Driving Costs; How Much Are You Really Paying to Drive?" offers substantial information about how much it costs to drive new vehicles equipped with standard and optional equipment including automatic transmission, air conditioning, power steering, antilock brakes and cruise control. It is available at all 75 Auto Club offices. Driving costs in each category are based on average costs for 5 top-selling models selected by AAA, including passenger cars, minivans and SUVs. AAA projects the cost of owning and operating a new vehicle in 2007 as basically unchanged from a year ago at 52.2 cents per mile, or $7,823 per year, when driving 15,000 miles annually.
Insurance law 'glitches' put lobbyists in mood to tweak
TALLAHASSEE - Florida's insurance industry lobbyists, unbent by the populist tide, are quietly asking lawmakers to rewrite parts of the January law that cleared the way for premiums to drop. "Just a small simple change," State Farm's Mark Delegal said at a meeting last week. "Just repeal House bill 1A." Delegal was joking. Sort of. The hurried pace of January's special session on insurance produced a new set of insurance regulations that even advocates say needs to be amended to eliminate technical errors. But insurance industry lobbyists are hoping that any "glitch fix" legislation will allow them to change elements of the law they find objectionable. Among the "glitches" they want to fix: - Ease the new requirement that claims be paid in 90 days.
Aptly named car makes great bait
I recently said goodbye to an old friend, Jinx, my 1988 Toyota 4Runner. It wasn't the first time I said goodbye -- in fact, it was the fifth. I was never certain how to interpret Jinx's departures and eventual returns. It seemed bad karma that he was stolen so often, but he always came back. I was frustrated with Seattle police for never attempting to locate the thieves; but relieved when the only damage done was one burn hole on the passenger-side carpet. Regardless, not unlike the challenges of a romance, the emotional bumps and potholes in our relationship nurtured a strong sentimental attachment. My husband insists that all automobiles are "shes." But Jinx was a "he." Nobody knew him like I did. After the first time Jinx was stolen, I learned to keep my mouth shut with the insurance company.
•Insurer's handling of fire has Ossining condo owners fuming
Ask some distraught people in Ossining and they'll tell you emphatically that integrity went up in smoke on April 7, 2005, when a basement electrical fire destroyed, or badly damaged, six townhouse condominiums. Since the fire, they haven't been able to return to their homes. That's two full years ago Saturday. And the way things are going, it could conceivably be another two years before life is back to normal at Building G of the Cedar Garden Townhouses. The Cedar Garden condo owners blame the delay on their insurance carrier, the Insurance Company of Greater New York, whom they claim has scandalously low-balled the estimated cost of reconstruction. No one from GNY Insurance could be reached for comment yesterday. I tried their marketing and legal departments in New York City without luck.
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