Posted: November 30th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Insurance, Tips | Tags: How To, Insurance, Insurance Ratings, Tips | 1 Comment »
Want to know if that lower insurance premium is worth it? Want to know if that good deal is from a good company, or just the latest come-on from a disreputable insurance company looking to take you for a ride?
Here’s how to find out if the insurer does a good job of paying out claims.
State insurance departments keep records of complaints against insurers, and you can get the details at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners website.
At that site, you can search by company name, state and type of insurance(property/casualty for home owners and auto insurance). Once you have the listings for the company, state and type of insurance, select the Closed Complaint Ratio Report link.
This report displays the ratio of complaints compared to the National Median Complaint Ratio. If your company is significantly above the national ratio then there may be a problem. It may just be that the company’s market share is much larger than the average, and they get more complaints simply because they have more customers.
Here’s a result for Progressive Direct:
As you can see, Progressive Direct’s complaint ratio is 23% less than the national average.
In addition to the complaint ratio, you’ll also want to look for red flags like the number of complaints rising in the last few months. That would be a bad trend, while a decreasing number of complaints would be a good thing. You can check that by clicking on the Closed Complaint Trend Report link.
Here’s the compliant trend for Progressive Direct:
Not only is the number of complaints trending downward, but it appears that the rate at which complaints are dropping in increasing. This would seem to suggest that Progressive Direct is making a concerted effort to please its customers.
Also, check insurers record at your state insurance department for any history of enforcement actions taken.
All in all, this site makes it very easy to check up on an insurance company before you become a customer. You can see whether that great deal is being offered by a good company, or if that great deal is likely to cost you more in the end than you’re bargaining for.
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Posted: November 28th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Debt | Tags: Debt, Myths | No Comments »
Earlier this week, Ray from the Financial Highway blog had a great list of his Top 6 Debt Myths that I thought I’d share on this rainy Saturday… well, it’s rainy where I am anyway. 
1. Debt Is A Necessary Evil
2. Paying the Minimum Payment is Fine
3. I Can Borrow More Money to Pay Off My Debt
4. Takes Forever to Pay off a Debt
5. I’ll Just File Bankruptcy
6. Just a Few More Charges Will Not Hurt
Ray does a nice job of putting the spot light on the thinking (I won’t say “reasoning”) behind each myth, and why is isn’t true. And it’s always nice to see someone who is realistic about debt. For example, some people like to preach the no-debt lifestyle, even though it isn’t practical. Ray’s view is much like my own that some times debt (like student loans, and a mortgage) is necessary…. just don’t over do it. 
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Posted: November 27th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Credit | Tags: Credit Cards, news | No Comments »
The Deal.
According to the AP, some Citibank credit card customers can now get a rebate of up to the total finance charge on the balance.
The details are still a bit loose, but here are the minimum requirements according to the article:
- Meet the spending minimum (may be as much as $750 a month).
- Have a “good” credit history.
According to Citibank, nearly 50% of its customers will be able to eliminate more than half of the effect of the recent rate increases through these rebates. This is all a part of the credit card industry’s mad dash to ensure their income from fees and rates doesn’t suffer when the “Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009″ comes into full effect in February 2010.
Why it stinks.
On the surface, this probably seems like a good deal to most people. After all, they get to slash some of those rotten interest payments.
But the whole point of this “rebate” is to offset some of the interest charges, and the only way you have interest charges is if you carry a balance on your credit card from month to month. So, in order to benefit from this rebate, you need to not only carry a balance but keep spending!
If you can’t pay off your credit card balance, the last thing you should be doing is continuing to charge new purchases on the card!
This type of “benefit” only serves to keep the card holder in debt, and increase the profits of the credit card company.
You may be wondering how they can profit from this plan when they’re reducing the interest charges. The answer is interchange fees.
Citi’s move, meanwhile, is likely intended to generate greater interchange fees, which banks reap from merchants when customers use credit or debit cards, said Ben Woolsey, director of consumer research for CreditCards.com. If customers spend more to qualify for lower rates, Citi will benefit from the additional transactions.
Bottom Line: This is the same kind of “perk” that the Best credit card for automatic savings uses – it’s a perk you can do without. You’re much better off simply paying off the balance once and for all, then you’ll never have to worry about finance charges again.
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Posted: November 24th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Insurance | Tags: Auto Insurance, Best, Health insurance, Insurance Quotes, Life Insurance | 3 Comments »
This list is compliments of Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition. Today, we’re focusing on the best insurance related web sites.
Best site for health insurance quotes.
eHealthInsurance.com.
eHealthInsurance.com offers quotes for most major health insurers as well as the ability to compare coverage, and find plans that include your current doctor. If you are without employer provided health insurance, it’s essential that you at least check out this site.
Best site for health coverage information.
CoverageForAll.org.
CoverageForAll.org provides strategies and resources to make it easier for low-income people and people with existing medical conditions find more affordable health coverage.
Best site for life insurance quotes.
AccuQuote.com.
AccuQuote.com allows you to search hundreds of top rated providers and provides half a dozen quotes for you to pick from. I used AccuQuote.com when I was looking for a life insurance provider for my wife and myself. The process was very easy. AccuQuote.com provides a manager to work with you one-on-one and see you through the entire process from selecting a provider to having any required blood tests performed. In our case, the blood tests were done in the comfort of our own home by a sort of visiting nurse paid for by the Insurer. The AccuQuote case manager them ensures that the blood results are filed correctly with the Insurer and gracefully bows out once the contract is signed and you become a customer of the Insurer.
Best site for Medicare Part D.
medicare.gov/mpdpf.
This is an excellent tool for comparing Medicare Part D prescription drug policies. You can check out premiums and co-pays for Part D plans.
Best site for Medicare Advantage.
MedicareNewsWatch.com.
This site’s CostShare report provides analysis of the best Medicare Advantage plans in your area.
Best site for Auto Insurance.
InsWeb.com.
InsWeb, like AccuQuote for life insurance, allows you to search hundreds of auto insurance providers based on your personal criteria and provides several quotes from top rated insurers.
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