insurance

State Investigators Find All Sorts Of Dirty Tricks At Mercury Insurance

By Chris Walters on February 8, 2010 6:12 PM 0 views
This summer Californians will be able to vote on Proposition 17, which if passed will allow insurers to bypass some legal restrictions on how much they can charge for auto insurance. Mercury Insurance Group is a big proponent of the proposition, but maybe that's because it's been possibly sidestepping the law in recent years anyway. Hey, making it legal will just prevent another state report like the one Carla Marinucci at the San Francisco Chronicle obtained, which contains findings that Mercury "has engaged in practices that may be illegal, including deceptive pricing and discrimination against consumers such as active members of the military and drivers of emergency vehicles." More »

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Guy Refuses To Return Insurer's Calls, So Insurer Says It Doesn't Have To Pay For The Car He Hit

By Chris Walters on February 3, 2010 5:48 PM 0 views

(Raelene G)

A woman in Philadelphia says her neighbor just laughs every time he sees her now, because his insurance company refused to pay a claim on her car that he hit. The company told her that the man won't answer his phone, so there's nothing they can do. Update: Right after I posted this, the OP emailed with an update. See the bottom of the post. More »

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Protect Yourself From Unexpected Fees At Medical Clinics

By Chris Walters on January 27, 2010 6:17 PM 0 views

(Photo: sun dazed)

An anonymous reader wrote to us to ask what he should do about unexpected bills from a medical clinic. He chose the clinic precisely because he can't afford hospital bills in the hundreds of dollars, and was led to believe that there'd be no out-of-pocket cost. It turns out there was. More »

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Why Aren't Cellphones Under Warranty For The Duration Of Your Contract?

By Chris Walters on January 11, 2010 10:06 AM 12783 views

(Photo: CoreForce)

Adam got a bad iPhone that stopped providing some key functions--he can't make calls on it, for example--18 months into ownership. He didn't buy Applecare when he purchased it, which would have covered him during the second year of his contract. But that shouldn't matter, he argues: "[Why isn't it] incumbent upon a device maker to guarantee a product's proper function for--at the very least--the length of the contract required at purchase?" More »

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What Were The Top Ads Of 2009?

By Ben Popken on December 29, 2009 8:14 AM 6761 views
What were the top ads on TV this year for you? For me, it's got to be GEICO's googly-eyes-on-a-pile-of-money bits. At first I didn't like them but after the 20th viewing or so, I got it. More »

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Progressive Offers Discount To Those Who Let Company Spy On Them

By Phil Villarreal on December 25, 2009 10:00 AM 8756 views

(Photo: mariwilson)

Progressive has a rather creepy yet potentially money-saving way to save on car insurance called MyRate, WalletPop reports. More »

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Senate Passes Health Care Reform Bill

By Chris Walters on December 24, 2009 10:32 AM 3746 views

(Photo: cliff1066™)

In case you missed it, Senate Democrats managed to succeed at their goal of pushing through some sort of health care reform bill before Christmas Day--the chamber voted this morning 60-39 along party lines and passed the bill. Up next: the Senate and House have to get together and negotiate some final version. If you want to compare what's in the House and Senate versions, the New York Times has put together an excellent side-by-side comparison tool. More »

138 Comments

AAA Canceled My Bro's Insurance Without Telling Him

By Phil Villarreal on December 10, 2009 8:00 AM 9974 views

(Photo:diaper)

Adam says his brother thought he had car insurance through AAA, but discovered when he was pulled over that the company had dropped him without notifying him. Then he got stuck with two $600 tickets in the same day for driving without insurance. More »

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"Public Option" Removed From Senate Health Care Reform Proposal

By Chris Walters on December 9, 2009 5:09 PM 4156 views

(Photo: erix!)

Senate Democrats have just hammered out a new version of their proposed health care reform proposal, and as a compromise they've removed the part about requiring a government-run insurance program. The public option is still part of the proposal, but now it will only be triggered if the private sector doesn't create some new national nonprofit policies as spelled out by the government. More »

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PayPal Abandons Another Scammed Seller

By Chris Walters on December 8, 2009 2:02 PM 17689 views
Todd got ripped off by a scammer on an eBay purchase. He made sure to insure the device before shipping it off via the United States Postal Service, but it turns out that an insurance claim won't help him get PayPal to step up. More »

114 Comments

5 Questions To Make A Doc's Head Explode

By Ben Popken on December 2, 2009 10:30 AM 17029 views
Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield has a microsite game called "Resist The System" where if you ask too many questions the health care receptionist's head explode.
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New Study Suggests Drug Ads Ineffective, But Expensive For Consumers

By Chris Walters on November 30, 2009 1:32 PM 3256 views

(Photo: formatbrain)

Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver looked at sales figures and prices for the blood thinner Plavix after direct-to-consumer advertising started in 2001. What they found was that the campaign was largely ineffective at increasing prescribing rates, but that the price of the drug shot up 12% almost immediately to cover the cost of the marketing campaign. More »

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Does This Potty Seat Need An Extended Warranty?

By Chris Walters on November 20, 2009 8:47 PM 6054 views

Kelly just bought a plastic Baby Bjorn potty seat at Babies R Us. When the cashier rang it up, the system told her to ask Kelly if she'd like to pay another 30% of the purchase price for a service plan.  More »

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Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos

By Ben Popken on November 20, 2009 6:16 PM 50602 views

A depressed woman has lost her benefits because her insurance agent found Facebook photos where she appears to be having fun.  More »

295 Comments

Quickly Find Nearby Flu Shots With Google Maps

By Ben Popken on November 11, 2009 5:33 PM 4582 views

Want to quickly and easily know where you can get a flu shot nearby?   More »

58 Comments

Your Credit Report Isn't The Only Report You Should Monitor

By Chris Walters on November 11, 2009 3:53 PM 10519 views

When an insurer decides whether to offer you a new policy, or whether to raise rates on a current one, he most likely pulls a CLUE report that lists any homeowner or automobile insurance loss claims (or sometimes even just inquiries) that you've made over the past 3-7 years. Hopefully you monitor your consumer credit report for errors, but as you can see, that's not the only one you should keep an eye on.  More »

29 Comments

10 Strategies To Lower Your Auto Insurance

By Chris Walters on November 10, 2009 10:32 PM 8427 views

Over at the Mint blog they've posted a list of 10 ways to reduce your car insurance premium. You'll want to contact your current insurer and ask some questions, like whether they offer a discount for paying up front, or if they'll cut you a deal for being a long-term customer.  More »

81 Comments

What To Consider Before Buying An Extended Warranty

By Chris Walters on November 9, 2009 9:43 PM 8206 views

The New York Times has an article about why consumers buy extended warranties for electronic products and other appliances, especially since we rarely have enough information at the moment of sale to make an informed decision. Here are three things to watch out for the next time you're buying some fun electronic device.  More »

53 Comments

Capital One Activates Payment Protection Plan Thanks To EECB

By Chris Walters on November 7, 2009 12:25 AM 2771 views

Earlier this week, I posted about a college student who couldn't get Capital One's Emergency Payment Protection Plan activated on his account because of missed deadlines. Andon wrote back today to say that after he sent an EECB to the credit card company's executives, they apologized and activated the service.  More »

7 Comments

Capital One Tricks Customer Into Not Activating Emergency Payment Protection Plan

By Chris Walters on November 3, 2009 7:58 PM 9899 views

Cory wrote in earlier to complain about Capital One's nasty habit of having their collection department call you to upsell you on other products. At almost the same time, Andon wrote to us to let us know that the company's protection plan—the sort of thing they're trying to sell to people like Cory—is useless unless you can manipulate time (Andon can't).  More »

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