Before credit reports and scores existed, financial institutions had to guess whether someone was a good applicant (or risk) for taking out a loan. Credit reports and scores were “invented” to take the guess work out of it. The national average credit score is approximately 672 – – but how are credit scores calculated?
A few weeks ago, an insurance broker made the national news. His name is Jerry Goldman and he was the insurance broker for Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. Goldman pleaded guilty to mail fraud for overcharging Hanks and Wilson hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess premiums. Over a 13 year period, Jerry Goldman inflated premiums as much as 600% and presented phony invoices to hide the overcharges. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay about $840,000 in restitution.
On August 12th, Justin and Kasia Purcell of Surprise, Arizona were away from their home and staying with relatives while awaiting the birth of a child. They received a call that night from a neighbor letting them know their home was on fire. They drove the 45 minutes home after that call and arrived to find firefighters putting out the flames to what had been their home. It was a total loss and no one knows what caused the blaze.
The best kind of home fire is no fire. Preventing a fire is much easier than trying to put one out and dealing with the aftermath it causes, but we’re not always able to do that. Sometimes a fire happens and that’s when detection and containment become critical. Here are two pieces of fire safety equipment every home, condo, and apartment should have.
I was helping a new client with his home insurance earlier this week. I’d made the final modifications to the application and sent it to him to be electronically signed. We reviewed it together by phone and he wanted to ask a couple of questions about a notice on the last page of the application. The notice mentioned he had not received the “best” pricing due to a couple of items that were returned on his insurance score including inquiries.
You’re awakened from a dead sleep by the sound of your smoke alarm going off. In spite of your grogginess, the smell of smoke hits you and you are wide awake. There’s a fire in your apartment or home. Do you know what to do? If you have children, do they know what to do?
The Dallas Morning News published an article in February 2010 of insurance don’ts that I filed away because it’s worthy of being repeated. This list applies to both car and home insurance claims, so let’s take a look at 7 things to avoid doing.
The end of October is a few days away. Even though Fire Prevention week is past, many fire departments across Dallas, north Texas, and the country take the month to educate people on the causes of home fires. Most of the emphasis is placed on reaching school age children with presentations at schools reasoning that if kids are educated, they’ll teach their parents what to do should a home fire occur.
Some people dream of having a home in the country; a place to slow down, smell the air, and escape the busyness of life in the big city. Providing home insurance for someone’s dream in the Texas countryside can present some interesting challenges. Such was the case last week.
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