Flood Insurance Nightmare

Flood Insurance Nightmare

A Houston family's flood insurance premium went from $475 to about $2,600 annually! Umesh and Kimberly Kant moved into the home on Sapphire Circle near FM 1488 in March 2016. Their home were flooded twice in less than two months. The first time was during the Tax Day Floods in April 2016 and again in May. They were spared from Hurricane Harvey’s floodwaters.

Since the area where they live is a high-risk flood area they were required to get flood insurance by their mortgage lender. They were able to get a policy though their insurance agent as part of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.

They filed claims and fixed up their home. They felt very blessed to avoid flooding again during Harvey until they found out how much is their insurance premium. Their premium went from $475 nearly $2,600 a year.

The National Flood Insurance Program subsidizes flood insurance into what’s called the Preferred Risk Program. However, when you file two claims totaling more than $1,000 each in a 10-year period, you’re no longer eligible for the program. The Kants are now required to buy a standard-rated policy which costs a lot more.

Jim Blackburn is an expert in environmental law and flooding along the Gulf Coast. He’s also a professor at Rice University. No matter the current charges, he strongly urges homeowners to get insurance even if it’s not required.

"It’s a bargain compared to pure actuarial rates,” Blackburn said. “The pure actuarial rates could easily rise to $20,000 a year. No one is paying anything close to that right now.”

For the Kants, their skyrocketing policy feels unfair and way too expensive.

“We owed that money back to the insurance company,” Umesh Kant said. “We will pay that money back but it has to be in a systematic way. We’ve become house poor now to figure out whether to pay the insurance back or we pay for him to go to school or college.”

FEMA is supposed to send a letter if your premium is going up. The Kants say they never got it.

In the end, the Kants managed to get their premium down to $1,600 by adjusting their coverage to exclude contents. They also found a different insurance agent and are hoping for better communication when prices go up and down.


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Common Terms Health Insurance Terms You Need To Know

Common Terms Health Insurance Terms You Need To Know

Claim: this is the detailed invoice or the bill that your health care provider (such as your doctor, clinic, or hospital) submits to your health insurance provider for any care you receive. If you paid for service out-of-pocket, you can also submit your own claim to your insurer directly to try and get reimbursed.

Premium: This is the amount you pay monthly to maintain your health insurance plan. Even if you never end up needing health care services, you still have to pay your monthly premium to your health insurance company to stay covered.

Deductible: The amount you pay for covered health care services before your insurance plan starts to pay. Your insurance company usually doesn't start covering your health care bills right away. You'll probably have to pay a set amount first. That's called your deductible. Usually, the cheaper the plan, the higher the deductible.

High-deductible health plans: Under these plans, you're expected to pay more of your health care bills, but your monthly payments for coverage will be cheaper. It can be a good option for a young, healthy person who doesn't expect to go to the doctor much. These plans allow you to stash away money into a tax-advantaged account called a Health Savings Account (HSA) that can be used to cover deductibles and other medical expenses.

Copayment: A set fee you pay when visiting a doctor after you've met your deductible. You might have different copayments for doctor visits, hospital stays and other types of care.

Coinsurance: Some insurance plans expect you to pay a percentage of the bill even after you've met your deductible. For example, you could be on the hook for 20% or 30% of the bill while the insurer handles the rest.

In-network provider: A medical professional who is part of your health insurance coverage and has pre-determined agreements with your insurer on what to charge for certain services and visits. Staying in network means your insurance will cover more of the costs and your bills will be much cheaper.

Out-of-network provider: A medical provider who does not have a contract with your health insurer, and will likely be more expensive to receive care from. You can end up being responsible for most, if not all of the bill if you go to an out-of-network doctor.

Out-of-pocket maximum: While deductibles and coinsurance could mean you end up paying a lot of money for health care, the good news is there is a limit to what you'll be responsible for paying. If you end up with a lot of medical bills one year and reach your plan's cap, the insurance company will cover 100% of your medical services for the rest of the year.

Explanation of Benefits: While it may look like a bill, it isn't. An EOB is just an overview of what (and how much) your doctor billed to your insurance company and what the insurer has agreed to cover. It can also include an estimate of how much you might be expected to pay, but the medical provider will send a bill separately.

Source CNN MONEY

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Why Do You Need Flood Insurance?

Why Do You Need Flood Insurance?

The destruction left by hurricanes Irma and Harvey has left a reminder to homeowners to get a flood insurance, specially this year which has been particularly bad for disastrous weather.

Here are the basics for flood insurance policy:

Who needs flood insurance?

People who live in high-risk areas with federally backed mortgages are required to buy flood insurance. For renters in high-risk areas, or if you know your apartment has flooded in the past, you should consider buying insurance. However, apartments below street level are almost never covered by flood insurance for renters.

For homeowners and renters who live outside the high-risk areas, it can be a low-cost expense.

Where to purchase flood insurance policy?

You can purchase a policy from National Flood Insurance Program, if you live in a participating community, or from a private insurance company.

How much does flood insurance cost?

Premiums depend on the area where you live. The average annual price of flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program was about $878 in April of this year.


Does my homeowner or renter’s insurance protect me from floods?

Ussually homeowner or renter’s insurance doesn't cover flood damage it is one of the most commonly excluded hazards in homeowners insurance policies. You should check your individual policy. Homeowners and renters need to buy separate flood insurance. As a renter, you may be able to buy flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program if you live in an area that participates in the program.

Does flood insurance cover water damage from plumbing leaks?

It doesn't cover it. Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance usually cover something like a ruptured pipe or sudden damage.


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Harvey victim Goes Off On CNN Reporter, For Taking Advantage of them

Harvey victim Goes Off On CNN Reporter, For Taking Advantage of them

CNN wants to capitalized on the Houston hurricane coverage so they decided to set up shop in an evacuation center, interviewing those who have been picked up by rescuers from the rising waters. Unfortunately for them, a distraught Houston mother is not having it. She blast the reporter for putting a microphone in her face just moments after she arrived at a shelter with her two young children.

“Y’all trying to interview people during their worst times. Like, that’s not the smartest thing to do,” the shaken up parent, identified only as Danielle, told reporter Rosa Flores.

“People are really breaking down and y’all sitting here with cameras and microphones trying to ask us what the f–k is wrong with us,” she seethed. “And you really trying to understand with the microphone still in my face! With me shivering cold, with my kids wet! And you’re still putting a microphone in my face!”

The interview happened a little before 1 p.m. central time at a shelter in Houston. Flores appeared to approach the woman at random just after she arrived there with her kids.

“We was waiting for the police for like 36 hours and they never came,” the mother said. “We did the white flags and everything — and nobody came.”

The woman went on to explain how she fled her home, walked to a nearby gas station, and remained there until someone picked her and her children up.

“We had been there for five days with no food, no lights,” she said. “We got through four feet of water to get them food on the first day…Yea, that’s a lot of s–t.”

During her outburst, Flores can be heard apologizing to the woman and her children.

“It sounds like you’ve got a very upset family there,” CNN anchor Jim Acosta tells Flores, before cutting away.






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Insurance Claims After a Hurricane

Insurance Claims After a Hurricane

Hurricane Harvey started with sustained 130 mph winds and a seven-foot storm surge and it also has dumped trillions of gallons of water onto the city of Houston that is enough to fill the Great Salt Lake twice over. It also soak much of Louisiana into midweek that caused massive flooding. Homeowners maybe wondering how to file a claim and if they have enough coverage to repair and rehabilitate their destroyed, flooded homes.    

What you should do?

1. Homeowners shoudl call their insurers as soon as possible to start the process of filing a claim. After contacting your insurer, an adjuster will contact the homeowner to schedule a visit to the location of the insured property and inspect the damage. Adjusters will start by visiting areas that experienced the most severe damage once they are allowed by emergency officials.

2. Make sure you have prepared a thorough list of your property that has been destroyed and damaged. You will need to give purchase receipts or estimate how much the belongings cost and when you bought them.

Take photographs and record video of every area of your home and property for documentation.

3. Don't throw anything away without checking with your insurer first. You'll likely need to show that damaged items were impacted by the storm.

4. If your home is severely damaged and uninhabitable that you need to check in a hotel, keep the reciepts including your transportation and meals. People with wind damage coverage are eligible for reimbursement for additional living expenses. Flood insurance, however, does not cover these expenses.

5. Once you report your claim be sure you get your claim number and write it down this will help insurers locate your file quickly and keep things on track when you speak to customer representatives.

6. Avoid fraudulent contracts! Major catastrophes like Harvey can be a boon for fraudulent contractors. The fraudsters go from home to home offering to do repairs. Always get a written estimate and not rush into signing repair contracts. You can also ask your insurer, since most insurers will have a reliable network of repairers.

Never pay anyone upfront!!! It is an immediate red flag if they ask for payment before the work is completed

What if insurance companies refuse to pay claims?

“60 Minutes” had an episode titled “The Storm After The Storm” after Super Storm Sandy. They tackled the issue of “wide scale fraud where original damage reports were later changed to make it look like the damage wasn’t as bad.” Similar reports were released following Hurricane Katrina documenting wind vs. water cases. Wind vs. water cases consist of engineering reports that intentionally misidentify damage as caused by water rather than the true cause, wind.

Finding that home damage was caused by floodwaters rather than wind is significant for the private insurance industry. The significance is that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed and underwritten by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. This means private insurers are not on the hook for the losses caused by flooding.

If you don’t get the service that you expected from your insurance company you should file a Consumer Complaint with your state insurance department.

Important things to note:

Flood insurance - Home insurance doesn’t cover flooding. You’ll need to buy a separate flood insurance policy, which takes 30 days to take effect. If a hurricane strikes within that 30-day window, your policy won’t pay for flood damage to your home or belongings.

Windstorm insurance - Many homeowners policies include coverage for wind, especially if you don’t live in a hurricane-prone coastal state, so you might not need to buy additional insurance. However, coastal states like Texas and Florida you’re more likely to need separate wind insurance.

Auto insurance - Comprehensive car insurance pays to fix damage to your car from flooding, hail and other nasty weather.

For more information about Flood Insurance visit FEMA






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IRS: 4 million Americans paid Obamacare penalties averaging $708 for 2016

IRS: 4 million Americans paid Obamacare penalties averaging $708 for 2016

Obamacare has rear its ugly head again this time it's about money, four million Americans paid Affordable Care Act penalties averaging $708 for not having insurance in 2016, based on the preliminary figures released by the Internal Revenue Service.

The average is just over the base penalty of $695 imposed for a whole year without coverage; those with higher incomes paid more. Overall, that's about $2.8 billion. The agency noted that those numbers are subject to change as processing continues.

The penalty started in 2014 with a base penalty of $95. The IRS reported that 7.9 million people paid an average of $210 that year, for a total of $1.6 billion.

In 2015 the base penalty rose to $325, and the IRS reported that 6.5 million people paid an average of $470, for a total of $3 billion. The penalty is called the individual shared responsibility payment (Obama tax), you owe the fee for any month you, your spouse, or your tax dependents don’t have qualifying health coverage. You pay the fee when you file your federal tax return for the year you don’t have coverage. There are few health coverage exemption from the requirement to have insurance.

Liberals and freeloaders wants to increase these penalties they say the penalties are not steep enough to push enough people into the marketplace.    

Good thing President Donald Trump ordered the Internal Revenue Service to stop their plan to reject tax returns that didn't indicate whether or not people had health insurance. So, if you have no health insurance just don't tell the IRS and don't pay the penalty!




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Wells Fargo Guaranteed Auto Protection Insurance Program

Wells Fargo Guaranteed Auto Protection Insurance Program

Wells Fargo's Guaranteed Auto Protection Insurance Program (GAP) is intended to protect a lender against the fact that a car, which is the collateral for its loan, loses significant value the moment it is driven off the lot. Basically it protects the bank or financial institution that lends the buyer money for the purchased car. GAP insurance makes up that difference for a lender if, for instance, a car is stolen before the loan is paid off. Regular car insurance typically covers only the current market value.

Wells Fargo is being investigated for this, The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are examining this issue.

Wells Fargo is in hot seat again over the last few weeks after it was exposed that they may have forced unwanted insurance on customers who took out car loans. On Tuesday, California’s insurance regulator said he would investigate the bank and the insurer, National General Holding Corp., over the "improper placement" of such coverage.

More bad news about Wells Fargo, the company said that they found more fake accounts that has been created by employees.

The bank said in a regulatory filing that its review of potentially unauthorized accounts could reveal a “significant increase” in the number of accounts involved, up from the 2.1 million that it previously estimated. Wells Fargo said it had expanded its investigation to add three years to its review period, which covered accounts opened from 2011 to mid-2015.


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