Junius Swindle Insurance Blog

Snap it Screen Capture

2010-10-04T10:33:00.000-04:00

If you have a blog and you need a great tool to do a screen capture, you should use

Snapit Screen Capture , this is the program that I use if I want to do a screen capture. It is a very convenient tool for bloggers. When you write posts on your blog you need to capture and crop images from different sources; it will support hotkeys, auto-saving, clipboard and can save files in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG and TIFF formats. I looked around for different screen capture tools and this one was the best available.

How to make a mini-tort claim in Michigan

2010-09-22T18:35:00.000-04:00

Mini-tort or (limited property damage liability) is a provision under Michigan's no fault law.

Under this provision if you are 50% or more at fault in an accident, and damages to the other driver's car are not completely covered by his or her insurance, you may be sued and may have to pay up to $500 in damages. This also means that you may sue the other driver for damages to your car which are not covered by your insurance if the other driver is 50% or more at fault.

A lawsuit made under the mini-tort provision will usually be made in a small claims or municipal court. Either party can ask to have the case moved to a higher court, but the person who asked to have the case moved will be responsible for the additional court costs and the judgment will not be higher than what would have been paid out in the lower court.

Damages will be awarded based on the amount or percentage at fault. For example if the damage is $500 and the other party is 60% at fault he or she will have to pay $300 to the other driver. Insurance companies will usually provide coverage for "mini-tort" as an optional coverage called limited property damage liability or the other party can elect to pay out of pocket.

Filing a mini-tort claim is an easy process usually you will need 3 things to make claim.

The first step is to get an estimate from a body shop, you have to prove to the insurance company that you have damages. If the damages are less than your deductible the insurance company will pay the lesser amount.

The second step is you will need a copy of your declarations page to show the insurance company what your deductible is. The insurance company will pay the lesser of your deductible or damages not to exceed the $500 max.

The third step is to get a copy of the police report. The other insurance company will want a copy to verify who was at fault and in Michigan the insurance information from the other party will be listed on the police report.

If you are not happy with your agent and they are not helping you with these types of claims and services, then contact State Farm agent Jay to get a quote.

Other helpful articles available at e-michiganinsurance.com

Kids Health Insurance Delay

2010-05-10T09:49:00.000-04:00

Some parents may have to wait to add their children (up to the age of 26) to their health insurance. All private purchased health insurance have to add the health insurance benefit effective Sept. 23 , as long as the child doesn't have access to an employer-provided plan, but a lot of people are covered by employer sponsored plans and a lot of employers did not budget for the increase or can make the changes to their benefit plans prior to their renewal on January 1, 2011.

One other concern is that employers still do not know how they will charge for the new coverage. They could spread the cost across their entire pool of employees with family coverage. Or they could charge families that elect to cover their young adults a separate premium, which would be noticeably higher.

Stay tuned as these decisions get ironed out.

Michigan Texting Ban

2010-04-29T20:28:00.000-04:00

Effective July 1st, 2010 writing or reading texts while driving will be a primary offense, meaning police officers can pull drivers over if they are seen typing while their vehicle is in motion. Violators can be fined $100 for a first offense, and $200 if they are caught again. Currently 22 other states and the District of Columbia have texting bans while behind the wheel and 6 states ban hand-held cell phones. This bill follows a federal ban issued by Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood which prohibits truck drivers and other commercial operators from texting while driving. They can face fines up to $2500.

Health Insurance Bill

2010-03-23T10:22:00.001-04:00

What will the Health Insurance Bill do this year:

Uninsured people with medical problems will be able to buy coverage through a high-risk insurance pool later this year.

Starting this year, insurance companies can no longer exclude coverage for pre-existing health conditions. They also cannot suddenly cancel your policy. Some carriers might charge extra for pre-existing conditions.

Beginning this year, children can be covered under parents health plan up to age 26 -- no matter their status, in school or out, working or unemployed. This will begin 6 months after the bill passes.

Senior citizens on Medicare, who have a coverage gap for prescriptions will get a $250 rebate this year.

Business with 25 or fewer employees will be able to claim a tax credit of up to 35% of the cost of providing heatlh insurance for their employees.

For a full list of benefits scheduled to activate in the first year, download this document. For a full timeline of the all the bill's implementation, go to this one.

If you need health insurance or are not satisfied with the service that your current agent is providing then contact State Farm Agent Jay to get a quote or more information.

Financial Calculators

2010-03-08T08:45:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of links to pages for financial calculators.

You can find mortgage rate calculators, credit card calculators, Savings Calculator among others.
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators.aspx?ec_id=Goog_ag_HV_Fin_Calc_Goog_BRM_ky_Broad_K_interest_calculator

State Farm has a great life insurance needs calculator to determine how much life insurance you might need at the link below.

http://www.statefarm.com/learning/calc/calc.asp#retirement

Here is another site with useful financial calculators.

http://calculators.interest.com/index.asp

Credit Card Act

2010-03-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

Not insurance news, but related financial service news.

The credit card act includes the most sweeping changes in how credit cards are marketed, advertised and managed in the past 20 years. The law limits when credit card interest rates can be increased on existing balances and allows consumers whose interest rates have been increased to reduce their (APRs) to previous levels if they've been good and paid their bills on time for six months.

To read the link Read the act .

Consumer protections will be start in over the next 15 months starting Aug. 20, 2009. By that date, all card issuers must begin giving 45-day advance notice of significant changes in card terms. August 20 is also the deadline for giving consumers at least 21 days (instead of the 14 currently) to pay their monthly credit card bills.

Other provisions of the bill will include:

Fines of up to $5,000 for card issuers that violate the act.

Banning universal default and double-cycle billing.

Prohibiting over-limit fees unless consumers agree to allow transactions that exceed their credit limits to go through rather than be denied.

Fees for late payments, over-limit charges or other penalty fees must be reasonable and related to the violation.

Extending the life of gift cards and gift certificates so that they cannot expire within five years of activation. Banning dormancy or inactivity fees on gift cards unless there has been no activity in a 12-month period.

Requiring that card issuers disclose how long it would take to pay off credit card balances if cardholders make only minimum payments each month and how much users would have to pay each month if they want to pay off their balances in 36 months. Here is a site to get your own calculations. www.federalreserve.gov/creditcardcalculator.

National Insurance Flood Program

2010-03-04T11:10:00.000-05:00

Flood program extended to March 28, 2010. The government is looking for broader bills to extend to December 31,2010.

National Flood Insurance Program

2010-03-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

National Flood Insurance Program is currently suspended effective March 1st pending Congressional approval. The bill to extend coverage was being held up by Senator Jim Bunning (R- KY) who objected to the bills price that would give the Flood Program a 30 day extension. This is not the first time the Flood Program has waited for an extension it has had several because the House and the Senate cannot agree whether the program should be expanded to included windstorm coverage.

A long-term extension to the program has been halted because proposals to add coverage to wind damage, something Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) has tried to get passed with his Multiple Peril Insurance Act, this would allow homeowners to buy a single policy from the Flood program covering both wind and flood damage. Reform has also been stalled over debates about the forgiveness of nearly $20 billion in debt from catastrophic storms in 2004 and 2005, including Hurricane Katrina. It is believed that the extension will soon pass and be retroactive to March 1st.

Renters Insurance

2010-02-26T19:01:00.001-05:00

You need renters insurance whether you are renting a house or an apartment.

Renters insurance can help to protect your personal property against fire, vandalism or theft.

Renters insurance can also provide valuable protection if your home is made unlivable due to a loss. Your policy can pay for another place to live while your home is being repaired.

This type of policy can also help to protect you in case of a lawsuit due to a liability claim caused by an injury to another person or damage to someones property. A lot of apartment complexes are requiring renters insurance because they are worried that a fire in your apartment may cause damage to other units.

People have also been under the misconception that if they are in an apartment that they do not need renters insurance because it will be provided by the landlord. This is not true. The landlords policy will only cover the building and not your personal property.

Please contact our office to answer all of your renters insurance questions. A policy can be started with a phone call 248-888-1134 or you can visit our website State Farm Agent Jay for more information or to get a quote online.