2017 is winding down and 2018 will be here before you know it. Various web sites and blogs will soon be posting articles and tips on end of year financial planning and moves to make before the new year arrives. Some will address tax moves you can make now, while others address rebalancing your portfolio, opening an IRA, and steps to improve your financial position for 2018.
I wrote a car insurance policy for a friend’s son last year. It’s an interesting story that’s worth retelling because most people aren’t aware that many car insurance companies won’t write a policy if you or one of your kids does this. You may surprised by this too!
The value of a totaled vehicle is one of the most contested car insurance claims. Is it too low, is it fair, or is it more than you expected? It doesn’t have to be, based on a recent article in the Dallas Morning News by Jerry Reynolds. His article, “How to Negotiate with Insurers,” suggests, if you’re willing to do a little homework, you’ll know whether the offer you receive for your totaled or stolen vehicle is fair or not.
A client texted me early Monday morning letting me know his car was broken into overnight. The good news was his car wasn’t stolen. What was stolen, though, was his wallet, watch, possibly his passport, a ring, and a few other items. His question was, did his car insurance policy cover this? He has “full” coverage policy on his car which results in a yes and no answer. Let’s look at the reasoning behind the two answers.
In July of this year, news agencies announced Wells Fargo forced unwanted car insurance on 500,000 to over 800,000 of its car loan customers, most of whom had valid car insurance. The type of insurance used is referred to as forced place or lenders insurance. The results of this practice were devastating; 274,000 of Wells Fargo’s customers were forced into delinquency and 25,000 vehicles were wrongfully repossessed. Wells Fargo reaped millions in revenue and fees from this practice.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Corpus Christi nearly two weeks ago then moved eastward along the Texas coast where it stalled over Houston for several days before moving on to Louisiana and off to the northeast. A one-thousand-year flood resulted from the trillions of gallons of water that fell along the Texas coast, enough to depress the earth’s crust by 2 centimeters. The estimate on the number of cars destroyed by Harvey ranges between 500,000 and 1,000,000. Let’s examine what kind of car insurance covers your car from flood damage.
There are a couple of car insurance related topics every parent of a college student should discuss with their son or daughter before they head off to school. Both have a financial impact on the family’s car insurance rate. The biggest one is allowing a friend or roommate to drive their car or truck if they take one to school. The other one relates to grades. Let’s review this issue and ways to lower your car insurance rate.
I received a call a couple of weeks ago from someone who’d been referred to me. The caller needed car insurance for a Blue Bird bus he and his wife were buying. Their plan is to convert it into an RV and live in it as they drive to different parts of the country where they’ll live and work for varying timeframes. The question is what kind of car insurance would they need and who’d write it?
My office is in east Dallas one of the melting pot areas of the metroplex. Across the street on both corners are two insurance agencies which advertise car insurance for as little as $25 to $30 a month. You may wonder if it’s a sweetheart deal that no one really gets, so I thought I’d answer the question in this post which wraps up a look at liability oriented car insurance. The answer is yes, no, and what are truly getting or giving up!
How would you like to pay less for your home and car insurance? I don’t know of anyone who wants to pay more than they need to! Most people I talk with realize paying less for their insurance is attainable simply by improving your credit, or insurance, score. People with good credit pay less for their insurance than someone with not so good credit.
Subscribe to my newsletter by filling the form below.
A confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox: please read the instructions to complete the subscription.
