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Monday, December 28, 2015
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Watch First Hand Footage Of The Massive Gas Explosion in Tianjin, China now. Also, surf around Break to find the funniest videos, pictures and ...
When Jonathan G. Stein became unhappy with his long-time car insurance carrier earlier this year, the 41-year-old lawyer from Elk Grove, California switched to a new company.
How was he rewarded for his disloyalty after nine years? With savings of about $300 a year and a boost in his under-insured motorist coverage.
Despite discounts for long-term customers, studies show that you can get lower premiums on car insurance by shopping around rather than sticking with one company, and the savings can be significant.
The Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel did a study showing that a consumer who has stuck with the same auto insurer for eight years could reduce the premium by 19 percent by switching.
"It is disappointing to think your loyalty to a company can hurt you," says Carol Lachnit, features editor for automotive website Edmunds.com.
Even when rewarding loyalty with a percentage off, insurers may use a practice called price optimization that considers a number of factors beyond risk, including what price tag they think you will tolerate.
"They're sort of measuring how likely you are to resist a price increase to your premium," Lachnit says.
Still, many consumers stick it out. Jonathan Stein, for one, has only had three car insurers in his adult life.
"I did get a loyalty discount, but each time I switched, it was because I received better coverage for less money," he says.
Others take a different view.
Linda Carlson has stuck with USAA for more than 10 years because of what she considers exemplary customer service.
The Seattle resident ticked off a series of accidents and other problems over the years, including a crash, and how pleased she was with the way USAA handled them. Her husband has used the company since 1970.
Other customers are simply lulled into staying.
A recent survey by customer satisfaction measurement company J.D. Power and Associates found that even though auto insurance rates increased by 2.1 percent last year and 2.5 percent in 2013, a relatively small percentage of customers switched carriers.
About 39 percent of those surveyed said they did check on other insurers' prices, but just over a quarter of those who price-shopped actually switched.
"You have to look at your own pocketbook and your own budget and decide," Edmunds.com's Lachnit says.
SHOP AROUND
Lachnit says it makes sense to shop around every few years. It is important, though, to keep a list of your coverage in front of you to be sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Also keep in mind that not every insurer offers the same level of service or enjoys the same reputation. It is worth checking on the complaint history of a particular company through your state's insurance commission, she says. A list is available (www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm) through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
If someone offers you a better rate and you would rather not switch, Jeanne Salvatore, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, says it will not hurt to go back to your insurer and let them know about the lower quote. Auto insurance it not the same as a lot of industries that routinely haggle with customers, but there is no harm in trying, she says.
The only consumers who might not benefit from comparison shopping are those with bad driving records because they will have fewer choices, Salvatore says.
She recommends asking for every available discount, whether you are staying or going. These include such things as bundling multiple policies, good driving records, certain vehicle-safety features, paying in a lump sum, being a student with good grades, and belonging to certain membership or affinity groups.
(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own)
(Editing by Beth Pinsker and Lisa Von Ahn)
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
- 1:13 PM
- bool3ez
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SEFFNER, Fla. – Sometime after the sun came up Wednesday, a woman walking her dog past a fenced-off area in a sleepy suburban neighborhood near Tampa heard a loud rumble. She quickly dialed 911.
The earth had opened, again.
By Wednesday afternoon, a 17-foot wide and 20-foot deep sinkhole had formed in exactly the same place where a man was swallowed by the earth in while sleeping 2013. Hillsborough County officials said it's likely the hole opened because of all the recent rains and that such activity isn't uncommon.
In March 2013, Jeffrey Bush was asleep in his bedroom on the property when the floor collapsed and he fell in. His body was never recovered. His brother, Jeremy Bush, was in the house and tried to rescue him, even jumping into the hole. He was rescued by authorities as the ground crumbled around him. Jeremy Bush was seen at the site Wednesday.
After the tragedy, officials razed the Bush home and two adjacent homes. A sinkhole remediation company filled the hole with gravel, and county officials said the company will study the reopening.
"It's not uncommon for this type of settlement to occur when voids like this happen," said Michelle Van Dyke, a county spokeswoman.
Wednesday's sinkhole is on a vacant lot that's now surrounded by a metal fence and landscaped with trees and shrubs. The sinkhole wasn't visible from ground level, but aerial photos showed a tidy crater in the ground.
The new sinkhole has led to no reports of injuries and no nearby homes have been evacuated, said Ronnie Rivera of Hillsborough Fire Rescue.
Residents were painfully reminded of the tragedy that befell their quiet neighborhood two years ago. TV news trucks and reporters' cars clogged the narrow street. And folks said the fact that the ground opened again made them nervous.
"Well, it's, um, not expected and you live your life one day at a time," said 51-year-old Lisa Robinson, who lives a half-dozen houses away from the site and had lived in a different home in the area when the original sinkhole happened.
Robinson said that she's only renting in the neighborhood and they're not planning to stay. She added that she felt it odd that her dog, a beagle named Muppet, refused to go in the backyard the previous night and Wednesday morning.
"I'm pretty certain Muppet knew something was going on," she said.
Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's rare for them to swallow a person.
Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.
Monday, August 17, 2015
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