Archive for June, 2009

Questions about being a Bankers Life and Causalty Insurance Agent..please help?

I have an interview on Monday for a job with them…What is the process of being a worker there and how much is it going to cost? Is it a legit place or one of those door to door sales people? Pay salary said it could be anywhere from 28,000 a year to 36,000 a year..is that true or no? Please if anyone has any information about this job or anything let me know…I dont want to waste my time, because I need a job ASAP and cant afford to go through some BS..

Charlie,

Understand that a salary in the life insurance business is an illusion. This job, as any sales job, is based on your personal production. If you don't sell you will not be receiving a salary because you will not be employed for long.

Nobody does "door to door" sales but in order to maintain your production level you will spend a good part of your day doing a lot of cold calls. Likely you will be calling relatives and friends you haven't talked to in years (again looking to keep up that personal production).

If you are persistent and don't mind being rejected by "prospects" day after day you could get some valuable experience and make some money. A sobering thought to keep in mind is that 95% of life insurance sales people wash out before the completion of one year..

Do I have to add my husband to my auto policy if he has his own insurance?

I (Wife) need to get insurance on my truck. My husband already has insurance on his truck in his name (Commercial insurance), do I have to add him to my policy? I am asking because he has had 1 ticket, and it is making my insurance sky high, and if I don't have to claim him, my premium is much lower.

Yes. That commercial insurance policy does NOT cover him, the way a personal auto insurance policy would – he has NO personal coverage, under that commercial policy.

So you need to add him. If you don't add him, then you have to EXCLUDE him from your policy – meaning, he has no coverage, and neither do you, if he drives your car. And HE has no coverage, AT ALL, if he's driving a borrowed vehicle, or rents a car, etc.

retail insurance question?

I'm doing a project for school, and I really just need a guestamated answer. A friend of mine said that a lot of the numbers for insurance are done as a percent of the overall profits of the business, knowing that number would be great.

Alright so, I’m working on an automotive repair and used cars sales type deal, comparable to a small dealership. I’d need workers comp, coverage on the land and building and shop equipment, (land is about 2.7 acres) and probably some sort of theft coverage because I would have a lot of other peoples property on hand. There is a way to lock down the parking lot. I would have about 34 people about in my full time employ.

If any one could help that would be awesome.

Wow, this is a very, very large shop.

I've insured these types of businesses before.

Roughly, here's the breakdown, IME:

Property coverage (land, buildings, tools you own: $15,000

Garage liability including dealer/repair plates – you probably have 5 – and $150,000 GKLL coverage – direct excess basis – $70,000 including two paint booths. No tow trucks.

Workers Comp: about $50,000, assuming total payroll about $1,250,000 (given your number of employees)

Misc bonds – licensing, tax bonds, state inspection machine bonds, etc – $5,000

Whats the best company to get home insurance with i the uk?

I'm due to move house at the end of the month and cant decide who is best to go with?

Royal and SunAlliance Insurance Company. It's the oldest and the no. 1 insurance company in UK. Overall profit and Loss paid was good.

Has anyone purchased wedding insurance?

Who did you buy it from? How much did it cost?

Some of my past brides have.

http://www.wedsafe.com

I don't know how much it was though.

How is property value calculated on a homeowner’s insurance claim?

I have an older laptop that was damaged during a hurricane. Shingles were torn off my roof and water got into my home. The fair market value is probably only about $200 – $300. However, I probably won’t be able to find the same make/model laptop. How will my insurance company (Farmers Insurance) reimburse me for my loss?

You should really ask your agent that question, but let me explain to you how it worked with a claim that I recently handled for a client.

They had replacement cost so it will depend on if you have replacement cost and the claim’s process at Farmers (I’m not too sure how they do it). So this case is just an example.

For my client, any items that became less valuable as time passed (depreciated) were paid out as follows:

What you paid for it (example, $800) minus the deprecation value (example, 40% or $320) = what the company initially pays you (example, $480). Now you go out and buy a like item…it doesn’t matter if it’s the same brand, speed, whatever, it just has to be like. So you buy any other laptop and give us the receipt. We pay you anything you paid over our initial payout ($480) up to what you paid for your original laptop ($320 extra).

So if you buy a new laptop for $300, we give you nothing extra and you just pocketed $180. If you buy a new laptop for $700, we give you an extra $220 and you come out even. If you buy a new laptop for $1200 we give you and extra $320 and you had to spend $400 out of pocket to upgrade to the new laptop.

I hope I explained that well for you, my client had trouble grasping it and thought she could somehow profit from the claim (albeit she has a few bolts loose).

Farmer’s may vary from the company I work for, but that’s how we handled it.

Has anyone taken the ARM 54 (Associate in Risk Management) exam? What can I expect? How difficult is it?

I went to law school (briefly) and am working towards my MBA. I have been in the insurance industry for about 6 years.
I've been in the class for about a month and a half and am scheduled to take the exam in about three weeks.

ARM 54 is like a single undergraduate college course (although they seem to think it is graduate level). They spoon-feed you the material with the Course Guide, giving you an outline, objectives, and sample questions. The exam is extremely similar to the sample questions. They really want you to pass.

I like the ARM series because it gives you the perspective of the insurance buyer, whose wisest use of funds is not necessarily to buy insurance. As an insurance company employee, you don't normally get that perspective from the job.

If you are taking MBA level classes, you will find ARM to be reasonably easy.

1977 National Women's Conference Plan of Action success?

The plan of action adopted at the 1977 National Women’s Conference featured 26 resolutions, or planks, on the following topics:

By a topic by topic breakdown how successful have each of these been?

Arts and humanities: Women should have equal opportunities in federal posts and equal access to arts grants.

Battered women: A national clearinghouse must be created to support local organizations helping battered women and working to prevent domestic violence.

Business: More government contracts to women-owned businesses, which numbered less than one percent in 1977.

Child abuse: More prevention, treatment and protective services.

Child care: Care must be low cost and high quality.

Credit: The Equal Credit Opportunity Act must be enforced to make sure that women are no longer denied credit on the basis of gender.

Disabled women: Equal access to education, training, employment and child custody rights.

Education: More women in leadership positions and in textbooks. Title IX must be enforced.

Elective and appointive office: More representation of women.

Employment: More job opportunities and less discrimination.

Equal Rights Amendment: The ERA must be ratified.

Health: Health insurance benefits must include family planning and other concerns relevant to women.

Homemakers: Must be covered under Social Security and have greater economic security, especially in the event of divorce or the death of a spouse.

Insurance: Eliminate practices that deny women coverage on the basis of gender.

International affairs: Increase the number of women in the departments of state and defense, aid women in developing nations and promote nuclear disarmament.

Media: More women in media jobs, especially in leadership positions.

Minority women: Eliminate discrimination, support affirmative action, guarantee tribal rights and prevent deportation of mothers of American-born children.

Offenders: Improve health services and educational and vocational training.

Older women: Help older women live with dignity.

Rape: Expand the definition of rape to include married men who abuse their wives and reduce legal burdens on victims.

Reproductive freedom: Support Roe v. Wade, promote family planning and allow Medicaid payments for abortion.

Rural women: Create a federal rural education policy and expand ownership rights for farm wives.

Sexual preference: Implement legislation to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual preference and repeal state laws restricting private sexual behavior between consenting adults.

Statistics: Federal agencies should collect and analyze data in ways that assess the impact on women.

Women, welfare and poverty: Improve social security and retirement systems, raise minimum wage, provide child care and focus on welfare and poverty as major women’s issues.

Continuing committee of the conference: Create a committee to follow up on recommendations and take steps to convene a Second National Women’s Conference.

Some of it has been achieved. Discrimination in lending has mostly disappeared, the federal government does a lot of gender based analysis, there are laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and Title IX is generally enforced.

But a lot of things haven't happened.

-The ERA wasn't passed.
-There are many health plans that cover Viagra (!) but not birth control. Which is frankly, ridiculous since childbirth costs insurance a fortune, but companies have learned they can force women to pay for it.
-Women pay more for health insurance.
-Child care is very expensive in the US and gets less government funding than it does in other Western countries.
-Homemakers do not get social security.
-Rape is rarely prosecuted and even when offenders are convicted, they generally serve less time than small scale drug dealers.
-Roe v Wade has been severely curtailed in the last 30 years.

Home insurance companies are evil!?

Well, some tweakers broke in and took 4,850 in electronics. A new triple core pc, hdtv, sony dream theater system, xbox360, to name a few. And even busted and damaged the door completely! Anyway, the insurance just called and offered me 1,606!! I have gave them some but not all receipts, pictures, etc. I cant settle for that amount! This is just another constant reminder of the idiots that broke in to my home and ruined my life! Im supposed to call the adjustor tomorrow and talk about this measly settlement. I know im not getting all the full amnount, but the offer they gave me was just an insult. What should i tell him? I cant believe i pay a hefty amount to have this insurance, and this is how they disappointed in my time in need!
And yes i know theres an appreciation value, but this too much if u ask me…

They'll throw that "depreciated value" thing at you all day. If you have your original policy, see if there's a clause in there about offering depreciated value, or "replacement value." The company is prepared to offer a reduced settlement to you – the agents are trained for this. BE PERSISTENT. Don't use bad language of course. Rehearse your arguments prior to talking to the agents. Make your point, and keep making it. The point is not to cave in to their low offers. I've seen cases where persistence pays off, and the customer indeed get replacement value. It's a bargaining game, and your persistence will pay off.

Remember. Insurance companies are in the business of selling policies – not paying claims.

Umbrella insurance???

I am fixing to buy a business and my current insurance company does not cover commercial properties. With that said, is it better for me to get the Umbrella coverage or go separate. I have a home and 2 cars on my current policy but need to find a company that will cover it all. Any suggestion what to do? Thanks in advance

You will need a commercial policy for both liability and property. The umbrella policy requires that you have an underlying policy in place first, then the umbrella kicks in for liability above your underlying policy. The umbrella from your current homeowners insurance will not cover anything for the business.

You'll want to visit a local independent agent that deals with commercial policies. The agent will know what types of policies you will need for the business. They can shop the market for you to find a policy that's best for your situation.