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.
When I talk with someone about Texas car insurance I cover a number of items with them including the kind of vehicles they have, who drives which one, and how the cars are driven (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/what-type-of-driver-are-you/). Add to this data a person’s credit or insurance score along with their accident and ticket history and I’m able to provide any Texan with an accurate car insurance quote.
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.
About two weeks ago, Cecilia Abadie of Temecula, California, was issued a speeding ticket by a California Highway Patrolman. That’s not unusual, but what followed may be the first ticket of its kind in the country. The CHP officer noted Abadie was wearing Google Glass and gave her a second ticket which is usually reserved for drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen.
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.
In case you missed it National Teen Driving Week occurred two weeks ago. The goal of National Teen Driving Week is to improve teens driving safety by getting parents and teens working together. This year’s focus, “5 to Drive” was designed to start at least one conversation between parents and teens on safe driving habits. My hope is that there would be multiple conversations between teens and parents on driving. As a dad who’s helped raise three sons during their driving education process, I can attest there will be multiple opportunities to discuss all of the topics the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggests.
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.
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