Allstate Auto Coverage Guide

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by Brandon Nguyen January 05, 2012 in Insurance Quotes

This is a great online tool. Allstate, a prominent leading insurer, has provided a free Allstate Auto Coverage Guide. This real-time guide will ask you questions about your lifestyle to determine your insurance needs.

After you have completed the survey, the guide will produce a customized table that will give you an idea of what coverages you have to have by law in your state, and what coverages will be right for you. You can use the resource without worrying about Allstate contacting you or asking for any personal information. Try it and see what home or car insurance coverages you are missing!

Allstate Insurance Offers Auto Customers Money-Back Guarantee

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by Danielle Bailey January 05, 2012 in Insurance News

Allstate Insurance, in an effort to find an edge over its competition, is promising its customers a money-back guarantee if they’re not satisfied with their auto insurance claims service. This enticing refund option was successfully tested in four states last year and now has been expanded to dozens throughout the country.

Allstate Tested Money-Back Guarantee Last Year

In an effort to gauge the potential of its money-back guarantee, Allstate tested its concept last year in four states—Georgia, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It provided customers who were dissatisfied with the service on a paid auto insurance claim a credit to their premium if they complained in writing within 180 days of the incident that caused the claim.

The company said during its test run that very few customers requested refunds, making its test run a successful one.

Kevin Smith, an Allstate spokesperson, told Fox News, “We had very few applicants for the satisfaction guarantee in those states, which led us to believe: one, this would be successful for us and two, our processes continue to be performing very well.”

Now the insurer says it is prepared to expand the money-back guarantee to nearly two dozen states with more to come in following months.

Allstate Customers Won’t Pay Higher Premiums

Allstate Insurance included in its announcement that customers who purchase personal auto insurance policies under the new money-back guarantee will not be charged higher premiums. Further, the com

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SEC issues two alerts over risks posed by advisors using social media

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by Nicholas Rogers January 05, 2012 in Home Insurance Topics

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued two alerts pointing out risks investors and advisory firms face when using social media like LinkedIn and Facebook.

“Fraudsters are quick to adapt to new technologies to exploit them for unlawful purposes,” said Robert B. Kaplan, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, in a statement. “Social media is no exception, and today’s enforcement action reflects our determination to pursue fraudulent activity on new and evolving platforms.”

The alerts were issued in conjunction with an administrative proceeding initiated against an Illinois-based advisor who allegedly used LinkedIn to sell fictitious securities.

Broker-dealers, financial service professionals, and insurance agents and brokers have been struggling to determine how to effectively use social media without running afoul regulatory requirements, and some have avoided social media entirely out of fear.

The guidance is among the first official guidance for how best to handle these emerging media.

One of the SEC alerts – a National Examination Risk Alert titled “Investment Adviser Use of Social Media” – provides staff observations based on a review of investment advisers of varying sizes and strategies that use social media. In growing numbers,

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Is Your Permanent Life Policy in Danger?

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by Danielle Bailey January 03, 2012 in Insurance News

There are many people out there today who own permanent (cash value) life insurance for many different reasons. Some people use permanent life insurance to protect their family from a tragic loss, estate planning strategies, or buy/sell agreements within their businesses. While it is our belief that for straight death benefit protection, term insurance is most often a better solution, there are situations where permanent insurance can make sense in an individual’s financial plan. The question that owners of these policies should be asking is, “Will my policy be there when I need it?”

Insurance products, and more specifically permanent life insurance, are extremely complex products with several key characteristics. Just because you bought a “permanent policy”, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will last forever. While whole life often offers a guaranteed death benefit, many people make the mistake of assuming they own whole life. There are several types of permanent insurance and hundreds of variations of whole life.

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