There are some hard and fast rules about what is and is not worth insuring. Blackjack hands in which the dealer is showing an ace — no. Cars — yes, as is required by law. Health — only if you don’t want to go bankrupt. It’s a trickier proposition when it comes to smartphones. [More]
insurance
Allstate Denied Man's Insurance Claim Because He Went To The Hospital 5 Hours Too Early
By 11.10.11
Usually you’re rewarded for showing up early. How could showing up 5 hours early cost you $10,000? [More]
10 Million More In Poverty Because Of Medical Expenses, Census Reports
By 11.10.11
If you were to subtract the cost of health care expenses from family incomes, an additional 10 million more Americans would be considered in poverty by official measures, the U.S. Census Bureau said this week in a new report. [More]
Blue Cross Blue Shield Says Man Should Pay $2,306 To Avoid Dying In His Sleep
By 11.3.11
Jason has sleep apnea. When he sleeps, if it can be called that, he stops breathing up to twelve times per hour. His body’s reflexive response is that his jaw shoots around wildly, chipping and grinding his teeth, and then he wakes up for a second. A dozen times every hour, every night, he wakes up to his teeth clanging around his mouth. As if that wasn’t fun enough, of the $2,400 the mouth guard his doctor prescribed prescribed him, his insurance plan is only going to cover a max of $94. [More]
After Media Exposure, Insurance Firm Reverses Claim Denial Against Tornado Hero
By 10.25.11
After an AP story ran about it, an insurance company has reversed its decision to deny paying the medical bills of a man who barely survived the Joplin tornado while he tried to safeguard three developmentally disabled adults in the group home where he worked. [More]
Choosing The Right Type Of Travel Insurance
By 10.24.11
An effective way to cut travel costs is to schedule trips out far in advance. But the earlier you lock down transportation and accommodations, the less certain you’ll be that something won’t come along and mess everything up. That’s where travel insurance comes in, allowing you to hedge your bets against circumstances beyond your control that scuttle your travel plans. [More]
Hero Social Worker Barely Survives Tornado, But Workers' Comp Gets Denied
By 10.24.11
Social worker Mark Lindquist almost gave his life to try to save the three developmentally disabled adults in his care when the big tornado hit Joplin, Missouri in May. But despite being impaled by metal in the course of his work and suffering other near-fatal injuries, his insurance company has denied his worker’s comp claims. [More]
Buyers, Beware Of Irene-Damaged Used Cars Flooding Dealer Lots
By 9.1.11
Even if you live thousands of miles away from where Irene hit, that’s no guarantee that you won’t run into a storm-damaged car on the used car dealer lot. These cars could be salvages or total losses, with screwed up engines and rotting components. Here are signs to watch out for. [More]
Will Insurance Pay If Irene Flooded My Basement After My Sump Pump Failed?
By 8.31.11
Ok, so you don’t have flood insurance, but what if your basement flooded after Irene because the sump pump failed when the power went out? That sounds “homeowner’s insurance-y,” right? Will insurance pay for it then? [More]
Irene Knocked My Neighbor's Tree On My Deck, But He's Run Away From His Foreclosure
By 8.31.11
Irene blew a listing tree onto Brian’s property from his neighbor’s yard, smashing both his deck and fence. A seeming wrinkle is that his neighbor has long ago skipped town, leaving behind his foreclosed house with its drowsy trees untended. Brian wants to know how he can track the guy down, private eye style, and get reimbursed for the tree removal. [More]
When A Tree Falls, Who Pays?
By 8.30.11
There’s lots of trees down after Irene and someone has to got to pay to get rid of them. But who? What if your tree fell on your neighbor’s house? What if their tree fell on your house? Who’s responsible? Here are the general rules of thumb. [More]
What Do I Do With A Flood-Damaged Car?
By 8.30.11
Your car took a big bath during Hurricane Irene. Now what? [More]
Getting Through The Post-Irene Insurance Claim Process
By 8.30.11
The first floor of a friend’s house in Vermont was completely flooded by Hurricane Irene, forcing the family with two kids to evacuate to a nearby church. But braving the storm may look like blowing bubbles in the park after they start the insurance claims process. Here’s some tips they, and you, can use to make it easier. [More]
Why No One Is Safe From Hurricane Irene's Fallout
By 8.30.11
Despite the destruction and death caused by Hurricane Irene, the disaster generally wasn’t as awful as advertised. But even if the storm didn’t harm you directly, it still just may mess with you by spurring insurance companies to hike their rates. [More]
Strange Types Of Insurance You May Have Without Realizing
By 8.26.11
By signing insurance policies for your home, car and health, you might have gotten yourself more coverage than you’ve bargained for. According to a veteran insurance writer, there are several obscure coverages most beneficiaries might not realize they qualify for. [More]
Allstate Won't Cover Bat Infestation Because It Thinks Bats Are Rodents
By 8.24.11
The words “bat” and “rat” rhyme and some folks have been known to refer to bats as “flying rodents,” but that doesn’t make it so. If only someone would tell this to the folks at Allstate, who have told a California homeowner that it won’t pay to rid her home of bats — something it had previously covered — because the insurance company now believes bats are rodents. [More]
The Letter That Got My Homeowner's Insurance Company To Pay Up
By 8.17.11
Reader S finally got his homeowner’s insurance company to pay up for the rebuilding of the glass railings around his condo, thanks to a well-crafted and scary letter he wrote them. Here is his story, and his ass-kicking letter. [More]
Elderly Couple Thought They Canceled The Insurance, End Up Overpaying Anthem $5,000
By 8.1.11
By the time the couple in their 80’s noticed the monthly auto-billing on their bank account, they had overpaid Anthem $5,000 for insurance they thought they had canceled two years ago. That’s money these two living on pension could have been using to fix their crumbling front walkway. It was until they beseeched their local consumer reporter and he took an interest in their story did Anthem retroactively cancel their policy and refund their money. [More]
