Insurance Blog, Home Insurance Blog, Life Insurance, InsWeb Insurance Blog

1. Buy when you're young
Many people may feel they don't need life insurance when they are young. While your financial needs may be lower at a younger age, the rates are also substantially cheaper when you're young. Remember, the goal is to cover your primary assets (like your salary and house) so that if something were to happen to you, your beneficiaries would be able to persevere financially. The best advice is to lock in as much protection at a young age while your health and prices are still good.

2. Your “half” birthday could be costly
While some companies raise their prices based on your actual age, most companies increase the price of their policies six months before your birthday. It's a term called “Age Nearest” in the industry, and that half-year price increase could really add up over a 20-year term policy. As above, the quicker you purchase your policy the better.

3. Select the right length of coverage
Everyone has different needs, and not one size fits all when it comes to term life insurance. While it may make sense for people in their 30s and 40s to secure a 20-year term length, a 10-year term might be more appropriate for someone nearing retirement.People who are trying to quit smoking, for example, might be best suited purchasing a shorter term (and then replacing it with a longer term policy when they qualify for non-tobacco prices). Lastly, individuals who have 30-year mortgages might want to consider a 30-year term to ensure that the house is protected throughout the period of the loan.

4. Check for price breaks
Companies often offer “price breaks” at certain coverage amounts (e.g., $250,000 vs. $225,000). The truth is that many people can actually pay less money for more coverage. Check how little your prices increase when you increase coverage to $250,000, $500,000, or $1,000,000.

5. Buy the right amount of coverage
Many agents may try to sell you more coverage than you need. The purpose of life insurance is to “indemnify” (replace financial loss), and what most people should be looking for is income replacement for their beneficiaries. Independent financial planners recommend the following rule of thumb: purchase an amount of coverage equal to 6-10 times your annual gross income.

6. The right hobby with the wrong company could cost you
People who participate in high-risk sports or activities (such as hang-gliding, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, and racing), or even those who like to have an occasional cigar could very well pay more money if they don't pick the right company. Every company looks at risk factors differently and some are more liberal in certain areas than others. Speak with a licensed insurance expert and make sure they have all the underwriting criteria at their disposal and match you with the right company.

7. Work policies aren't always the best deal
While purchasing a life insurance policy through your employer is convenient, it may not be the best deal available to you. Work policies are often based on a composite profile of the employees you work with, many of whom may be less healthy than you, or have other underwriting factors that might drive up rates. These type of policies also expire if/when you leave the company. Inexpensive term life insurance polices that cover your dependents until they can live comfortably on their own are often a better alternative.

8. Check out your payment/billing options
Many life insurance companies offer discounts to consumers who pay their premiums annually, or who pay monthly by electronic funds transfer (EFT).

9. Review your policy often
Do a review of your life insurance policy a minimum of every three years, if not more often. Rates may be lower, and your circumstances may have changed, necessitating more or less protection. If you are replacing a policy, make sure you allow enough time to get your new policy in place so coverages won't overlap or lapse.

10. Don't overspend on protection
Term life insurance is the most affordable and cost-effective pure protection available, and it is typically much less expensive than a comparable whole life policy. The old axiom still rings true: “Buy Term and invest the difference.”

Posted by Inszo at 1:56 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) came out with an interesting report earlier in the year which addressed the increasing usage of cell phones in cars. The report states that driver cell phone usage increased in 2005, with 6% of drivers on hand-held phones in 2005 nationwide, compared to 5% in 2004.

The 2005 rate translates into 974,000 vehicles on the road at any given daylight moment being driven by someone on a hand-held phone. It also translates into an estimated 10% of vehicles in the typical daylight moment whose driver is using some type of phone, whether hand-held or hands-free.

The 2005 survey also reported:

• Hand-held cell phone use increased in a number of driver categories, including female drivers (from 6% in 2004 to 8% in 2005), and drivers age 16-24 (8% 2004 to 10% in 2005).

• The incidence of drivers speaking with headsets on while driving also increased in 2005, from 0.4% of drivers in 2004 to 0.7% in 2005.

If you are wondering about the methodology of this research, the report states that trained observers sampled intersections controlled by a stop sign or stoplight, where motorists are observed from the roadside. Data was collected between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

NHTSA: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Survey: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2005/809967.pdf

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Considered the greatest life saving improvement since the safety belt, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) announced a new proposal to require auto manufacturers to install electronic stability control (ESC) as a standard feature on all new passenger vehicles by 2012.

ESC systems use automatic computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help the driver maintain control in situations where a vehicle without ESC would skid out of control and likely leave the road. According to the NHTSA, nearly all rollover crashes occur after a vehicle leaves the road. The NHTSA estimates that ESC reduces fatalities in single-vehicle crashes by 30% for passenger cars and 63% for SUVs. Accordingly, the agency estimates that ESC will save between 5,300 and 10,300 lives annually and prevent between 168,000 and 252,000 injuries. ESC will prevent between 4,200 and 5,400 of the more than 10,000 deaths that occur each year as a result of rollover crashes.

Auto manufacturers are on board with this direction in safety. In fact, since 2004, the NHTSA has urged manufacturers to voluntarily add ESC as standard equipment on vehicles. As a result, almost 29% of all 2006 models (57% of SUVs) are already equipped with ESC.

For those concerned with the added cost to already expensive vehicles, ESC-enabling of cars is estimated to be only an additional $111 per vehicle, on vehicles that already include ABS brakes.

Source: NHTSA: http://www.nhtsa.gov/

Posted by at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

With New York and a few other states already having similar laws in effect, many experts predict that the rest of the nation will soon follow.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the key provisions of the law, effective July 1, 2008, are:
• Violators can be fined $20 for the first offense and $50 for further infractions.
• Tickets will not be reflected on a driver's record, protecting insurance rates.
• Emergency calls are exempt.
• Drivers of commercial vehicles can use handheld walkie-talkie style radio phones until July 1, 2011.
• Existing laws that limit cell phone use while driving school or public transit buses still apply.

You can read the full article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20060916-9999-1n16cell.html

What I want to know is this: What do you as drivers think of this new law?

Posted by at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Fundamentally, the cost of a teen driver’s insurance comes down to earning good grades, maintaining a good driving record, managing deductibles appropriately, selecting the right car, and most of all: simply shopping around for the best policy.

1) Bs or Better = Discounted Rates
Most insurers will offer discounts (often from 10-25%) for teen drivers that maintain a B average or better. This could be seen as an incentive to your teenager to keep those grades up; tell them that if they dip below that B average, their driving privileges will be revoked!

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2) Clean Record = Level Prices
Unfortunately, the statistics don’t lie. According to experts, the crash rates for 16 year olds are approximately three times higher than those for 19 year olds, and nearly 6 times higher than for drivers aged 20-24. Many parents find that their new teen drivers are very cautious in the beginning, but then quickly become overconfident and start ignoring basic traffic rules and/or driving recklessly.

Your rates are going to go up when you add your teen driver; but that rate hike will pale in comparison to what they could be if your teen driver gets in an accident, or even gets just one traffic violation (such as for speeding or running a red light). Make sure you impart to your children the importance of driving safely, and remind them that driving is a privilege that can be easily taken away if they cause an accident or ignore traffic laws. Not only will a clean driving record help keep your insurance costs at bay, but it will also give you some peace of mind when your child is behind the wheel.

3) Higher Deductibles = Lower Premiums
Many people may know that raising their deductibles on their insurance policy can save them money, but most don’t feel the need to do this until they realize how much their insurance premiums are going to increase once they add their teen driver to their policy. InsWeb has always advised our consumers that they can achieve significant savings by raising their deductibles. However, all drivers on the policy must be careful not to get into accidents with that higher deductible, as this is the amount that will come out of your pocket before your insurance company starts paying for the rest of the covered damage. If you’ve raised your deductibles (for example from $250 to $1000), make sure to convey to your teen driver that accidents are now double whammies; you will have to pay a lot out of pocket and your insurance costs will then go up (usually significantly). However, if you can avoid any accidents, higher deductibles can afford you considerable savings.

4) Older Cars = Cheaper Insurance
While you might be tempted to buy your teenager a new car with all the latest safety features, remember that newer cars are more expensive to insure. If your insurance company lets you assign drivers to your cars, assign your teen (and have them drive) the oldest car on your policy. And to keep your costs down until you teen driver is older and therefore not costing you as much to insure, you and other drivers on your policy should consider not buying new cars. That way you can keep your premiums down for all the cars covered on your policy.

5) Up-To-Date Information And Shopping Around = Insurance Savings
Lastly, make sure you review your policy at least once a year to make sure all the information is up-to-date. For example, your rates could go down once your teen graduates from high school or turns 18. Or, if your college student does not have a car at college with them (and doesn’t drive when home on holidays), you could take them off your policy. Just make sure they are really not driving, because if your uninsured teen gets in an accident without insurance, that could really cost you.

Most importantly, before you add your teen driver to your existing policy, be sure to compare rates from several companies at InsWeb. Different companies will charge you different rates for adding the new driver, and your existing policy may not offer you the best deal.

Click here for more information about auto insurance

Good (And Bad) News: Your Teenager Is Now A Teen Driver

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As previously mentioned, most people do not think of preparing for fires in their homes, or if they do, it’s to ensure safety measures are planned out. While a well-thought-out safety plan is definitely the most critical thing to do, it’s also very important to make sure you can get reimbursed for your personal possessions from your homeowners or renters insurance company as quickly and easily as possible. Think about it; can you accurately list from memory everything in your house? Most people cannot, and that is why it’s important to have a list, and, if possible, receipts and purchase information.

A Basic Home Inventory
If you don’t yet have a home inventory, thinking of starting one can seem like a monumental task, especially if you’ve been living in your home for a long time. While the best time to start your list is when you’re just starting out in your first home or apartment, or have just moved to a new home, it can still be an achievable task in that home you’ve lived in for several years. Just start one room at a time. Remember, a partial inventory is better than no inventory at all.

Go room to room and note down every item you see in that room. Try to get serial numbers for the big ticket items, and write down when, where, and for what price you purchased each item. Make sure you remember to go into closets, cupboards, and storage areas and write down the items in these as well.

While some items you own have depreciated in replacement price (televisions, electronics, furniture, etc.), some items may have increased in value (such as art, jewelry, and collectibles). You may need to insure these items separately; check with your insurance agent and find out if your current policy adequately covers these valuables.

Take Pictures Or A Video
It is a good idea to take pictures or make a video of the items in your home. If you take pictures, write on the back the details of the items in the pictures. If you take a video, narrate as you walk from room to room (what items are in the room, when and where you bought them and for how much). Photographing or videotaping your home’s inventory can be especially helpful if items are hard to describe on paper or for items you do not have receipts for.

Store Your List In A Safe Spot
Make sure you store your list, pictures, and/or DVD or video tape in a safe spot. While it’s a good idea to have a copy at home, make sure you have at least one additional copy outside your home. If you only have one copy inside your home (or on your home computer) and your home burns down, that list won’t do you any good. Store extra copies at a friend or family member’s house, in a safe deposit box, or at work. If your inventory is on your computer, make a disk or CD and store it elsewhere, and/or send your list to yourself at work or to your web-based email account so you can access it in places other than your home.

Keep Those Receipts!
Many of us are not great at keeping our receipts for purchases. Now that you’ve read this article, make sure you keep receipts from now on, especially for those big ticket items. These receipts will help you settle your homeowners or renters insurance claim as quickly as possible. And remember, keep receipts (or copies of them) in a place besides your home, along with a copy of your home inventory.

InsWeb Homeowners Insurance Learning Center
How to compare homeowners insurance quotes from top insurance companies.

Posted by at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

According to U.S. Census data, there are nearly 300 million people in the U.S. If 68 million of them lack any form of life insurance, that means that approximately 23% of people in this country are uninsured. And of the approximately 77% of people that do have life insurance, most of them do not have adequate coverage.

This year’s Life Insurance Awareness Month spokesperson is world renowned ice skater Scott Hamilton. Here is part of his moving story from LIFE’s August 28, 2006 Press Release:

Scott was only 19 when he lost his mother to cancer. On a personal level, Scott took the loss very hard but his mother’s death also strained the family’s finances. Without his mother’s income, there wasn’t enough money to continue to pay for Scott’s training. Had it not been for the generosity of an anonymous donor, Scott would have given up the sport he loved right before his skating career was about to take off. As it turned out, the experience strengthened his resolve to achieve skating greatness and he went on to become one of the most successful skaters in the history of the sport, eventually winning gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Thirteen years later, Scott achieved an even more important victory when he successfully completed treatments for testicular cancer.

"Losing my mother and fighting my own battle with cancer taught me that unexpected events can rock your family at any time," said Scott Hamilton. "When my mom died, the emotional challenges that my family and I faced were compounded by financial struggles because she didn't have any life insurance. Because of that experience, I've owned life insurance since I was a young adult. Now that I'm married and have a son who’s almost three, I value the financial security life insurance provides more than ever."

Scott’s story illustrates why it is so important to have life insurance to protect your loved ones. Many people that do not own life insurance may not realize how affordable it can be, especially inexpensive term life insurance, which you can tailor to your personal needs.

Current rates on InsWeb for a 40 year old male of average build with good health are as low as $34.56/month for a 20-year, $500,000 policy (a comparable female’s rates are even lower; as low as $26.69/month). Policy lengths can be as short as ten years, and coverage amounts as low as $100,000, although a good rule of thumb is to take your annual gross income and multiply it by a factor of 10, 15 or even 20 (depending on your age) to make sure your family could continue in their current lifestyle.

Also, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III): “Premium rates for individual life insurance – both term life and “permanent” insurance – are expected to drop by 3% in 2006, driven largely by significant mortality improvements and increased competition.” The time to shop for life insurance couldn’t be better! And since rates vary widely from company to company, you should compare multiple rates before purchasing a policy.

InsWeb Life Insurance Learning Center
InsWeb's quick and easy way to find affordable term life insurance.

Posted by Inszo at 12:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I have friends who are avid motorcyclists, and they tell me the craziest stories about how people simply do not understand the consequences of their driving actions on the road — especially as it relates to motorcycles. For example, traffic jams make many drivers block and cut off lanes; and you wouldn’t believe it that people actually do open their doors!

My friend Ken P. recently directed me the Motorcycle Safety Foundation site, where they address a lot of these challenges. However, as I don’t think that people who drive cars actively visit motorcycle safety websites, I thought it would be appropriate to share the site’s list of 10 things that all drivers should know about motorcycles.

1. There are a lot more cars and trucks than motorcycles on the road, and some drivers don't "recognize" a motorcycle; they ignore it (usually unintentionally). Look for motorcycles, especially when checking traffic at an intersection.

2. Because of its small size, a motorcycle may look farther away than it is. It may also be difficult to judge a motorcycle’s speed. When checking traffic to turn at an intersection or into (or out of) a driveway, predict a motorcycle is closer than it looks.

3. Because of its small size, a motorcycle can be easily hidden in a car’s blind spots (door/roof pillars) or masked by objects or backgrounds outside a car (bushes, fences, bridges, etc). Take an extra moment to thoroughly check traffic, whether you're changing lanes or turning at intersections.

4. Because of its small size a motorcycle may seem to be moving faster than it really is. Don't assume all motorcyclists are speed demons.

5. Motorcyclists often slow by downshifting or merely rolling off the throttle, thus not activating the brake light. Allow more following distance, say 3 or 4 seconds. At intersections, predict a motorcyclist may slow down without visual warning.

6. Turn signals on a motorcycle usually are not self-canceling, thus some riders, (especially beginners) sometimes forget to turn them off after a turn or lane change. Make sure a motorcycle's signal is for real.

7. Motorcyclists often adjust position within a lane to be seen more easily and to minimize the effects of road debris, passing vehicles, and wind. Understand that motorcyclists adjust lane position for a purpose, not to be reckless or show off or to allow you to share the lane with them.

8. Maneuverability is one of a motorcycle's better characteristics, especially at slower speeds and with good road conditions, but don't expect a motorcyclist to always be able to dodge out of the way.

9. Stopping distance for motorcycles is nearly the same as for cars, but slippery pavement makes stopping quickly difficult. Allow more following distance behind a motorcycle because it can't always stop "on a dime."

10. When a motorcycle is in motion, don't think of it as motorcycle; think of it as a person.

Source of list: Motorcycle Safety Foundation
Motorcycle Insurance Quotes

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If you have a homeowners or renters policy, your personal computer would be covered, in the home, against all of the basic disasters listed in the policy. For example, if your computer is stolen or destroyed in a fire, you would be covered.

Be aware that some insurance carriers, however, have dollar limits for electronic equipment. This means your computer equiptment would be covered only for the amount (generally $5,000) listed in your policy. If you need additional coverage, you can usually raise the dollar amount by paying a little more.

Replacement Cost Versus Actual Cash Value
Consider getting a replacement cost rather than an actual cash value policy for your personal belongings. Replacement cost insurance would reimburse you for the current cost of your computer and other personal possessions, while an actual cash value policy would pay the depreciated cost. Replacement cost insurance is approximately 10% more expensive than an actual cash value policy, but since most items depreciate quickly this can be a very smart investment.

Coverage for Your Computer Away from Home
If you plan to regularly take your laptop or portable computer out of your home, find out how much coverage you have on your homeowners or renters policy for your personal possessions away from home. In fact, some insurers offer complete coverage for possessions away from home. Other companies have a dollar limit for personal possessions that are stolen away from home. In most instances it would be 10% of your personal possessions coverage. This means that if you have $40,000 worth of coverage for your personal belongings, you would have $4,000 worth of theft protection away from home.

Policy Floaters
Consider getting a floater on your homeowners or renters policy, for your portable computer. This policy would cover your computer for its full value anywhere in the world on an all-risk basis.

Special Computer Insurance Policy
Believe it or not, there are a number of companies that offer individual insurance policies for computers. They have a number of different insurance plans and you would not need an underlying homeowners/renters policy.

When you purchase a computer, it is very important to keep the receipt. Also, remember to keep receipts for related items including software, additional memory and other the other peripheral items that computer aficionado's buy over time. This information should be kept in a safe place, along with your inventory of personal items and insurance papers.

Related InsWeb Blog Postings:
- Homeowner Commonsense: Obvious Ways to Protect Against Theft
- Protecting Possessions in College
- Dorm Rooms and Homeowners Insurance

Posted by Inszo at 9:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Life insurance needs may not be as high as they are at other stages (i.e. having a baby, getting married) in life for those that are newly retired. But, it is also true that most new retirees do need to think about maintaining an adequate level of coverage.

Simply consider your children or spouse you may leave behind. Even though your children may be grown and on their own, and your spouse may be able to live comfortably on his or her retirement savings, there are many special circumstances in which they may find themselves in financial trouble if you were to pass, or vice versa, you if they were to.

If you are very ill before you pass away, you will incur many health costs, many of which may be passed on to your spouse or children if you pass away. Many seniors may have to live with a child if they are on their own and need help, and this may put a financial burden on the affected family members. There are also funeral costs to consider. It is important to ensure that your family members can recoup any financial losses after you pass away.

- Life Insurance: Different Needs For Different Stages of Life
- InsWeb Life Insurance Learning Center
- A Quick and Easy Way to Find Affordable Term Life Insurance

Posted by at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Originally, ROP term life insurance was designed only to refund the policyholder at the end of the chosen term (for example, 20 or 30 years) if the policyholder outlived the term. As the product has matured, there are now several variations which allow policyholders to receive partial refunds by canceling the policy several years into the term. For example, if a policyholder chose a 20-year ROP product, they may be able to receive a 50% refund of paid premiums at the end of the 15th policy year. Graduated refunds may be able to be received down to the sixth policy year; no refunds will be returned if the policy is cancelled before the end of the fifth policy year.

ROP term life insurance offers consumers options. Price-wise, it usually falls in the middle of less expensive pure term life insurance products, and more expensive (and often confusing) permanent or whole life insurance products. It offers the same benefits as traditional term life insurance, while offering consumers the added bonus of getting their paid premiums returned to them if they outlive their policies; or receiving partial returns if they find they have a greater need for the money partially through the policy’s term.

InsWeb’s ROP term life insurance offerings are most competitively priced at a 30-year term, where a healthy 35 year old male can get a $500,000 ROP policy from one of our top companies for as low as $68.72 a month (compared to $44.63 a month for a comparable traditional term life insurance policy). The difference between the 2 premiums is only $24.09 a month; however at the end of the 30-year ROP policy the owner could get back up to $24,739.20! And according to industry averages, this rate would still be significantly lower than purchasing a permanent life insurance policy, and again offers the consumers the benefit of choice offered by term life insurance.

InsWeb's Life Insurance Learning Center

Posted by Inszo at 9:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In 2004, I purchased a home built in 1989, and over the past two years I have learned some very hard lessons about what a home warranty policy actually covers when things go wrong. I started out with Fidelity Home Warranty and after a year of getting claims denied, I changed to American Home Shield, which turned out to be even worse.

Most recently, I realized my air conditioner was leaking water in my house. The first person who was sent by American Home Shield claimed the leak was from the air conditioning being overused. I complained to the company that I was 7 months pregnant and needed to be able to use my air conditioning without it freezing over, and that I was concerned that the leak would lead to mold in the house. It took three calls for them to send a new company out, and it was discovered that a pipe off the air conditioning had cracked. A few days later, the company that discovered the crack came to fix the problem, and when the wall was opened to get to the pipe, it was discovered that the true cause of the problem was a nail in the pipe. The nail had been hammered through the drywall into the pipe when the house was built 17 years ago and the suspicion is that it rusted over time. At that point, American Home Shield claimed it was a pre-existing condition and would not cover the damage.

I thought that a home warranty was supposed to offer protection for those unexpected little surprises that might come up when you buy a resale home, but instead there has always been some loophole or reason why the claim is not covered. Prior to this, my previous requests for help resulted in frustration, including:

- Right after moving into my home, I was told that my constantly clogged toilets were not covered because they happened to be the first generation low-flow toilets and they were never known to work very well.

- With each season change since moving into my house, I have had to call to repair my air conditioner in the summer and heater in the winter. They’ve always done the minimum necessary to get it hobbling along again, but it has clearly outlived its lifespan and doesn’t actually heat or cool the house efficiently (however, the increase in our electricity bills in the summer would make you think something was being cooled).

- When our pool filter was not doing its job and our pool was in a constant state of green sludge, we learned that the previous owners who had installed the pool chose to cut corners and install a pool filter that was underpowered for the size pool that was installed. However, the filter replacement was not covered by the home warranty company because they are not responsible for improper installations of underpowered equipment.

Posted by Inszo at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Bicycles are generally covered by homeowners or renters insurance policies. But you usually are required to pay a deductible that can be a few hundred dollars. Your best bet is to prevent theft in the first place.

1. Purchase a quality bike lock and use it correctly. Use the lock to secure both the wheels and the frame to an immovable object such as a pole or bike rack.

3. Keep the receipt for the bike and any accessories, along with a photo of the bike, in a safe place.

4. Register the bike’s make, model, color and serial number with your local police. It might seem silly, until the moment it gets stolen. You can also register it with the National Bike Registry, a database that helps recover stolen bikes.

5. If the bike is very expensive to replace, consider a “policy rider” to insure it adequately (additional pieces of coverage for specific valuable items).

National Bike Registry: http://www.nationalbikeregistry.com
InsWeb Homeowners Insurance Center

Posted by Inszo at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My family learned the hard way about theft. I was 10 years old, when my family sat down for a regular evening meal. It was 6 o’clock in the evening and still sunny outside. Our garage door was open. We suddenly heard noise coming from the garage. My dad opened the door to see a stranger walking off with our lawnmower. Naturally, he chased him down the street and got the lawnmower back. The thief got away. However, we learned a valuable lesson: if you’re not out front, close your garage.

Another time, my brother had his bike stolen from the front yard. This was after my parents “hid” the bike to make him think it had been stolen. I guess he never really learned. Years later, my brother left his snowboard, CDs and radio in his car overnight. Needless to say, they were gone the next day, and my brother was left to clean up the shattered glass.

Now at this point, you might ask, “Where in the world did I grow up?!” It was just an average suburban California city. In each example though, theft was virtually invited.

As a homeowner, it is important to practice commonsense to protect yourself:

• Do not leave your garage door open when you’re not around
• Lock your front door even when you’re home
• Encourage your children to pick up their toys and bikes in the front yard
• Keep windows and sliding glass doors locked, especially at night
• Do not leave valuable items in your car

The list can go on and on. The bottom line is to use common sense when it comes to protecting your home and valuables.

Do you have a commonsense suggestion or tip?

InsWeb Homeowners Insurance Learning Center

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There are a lot of dishonest people out there who for whatever reason make decisions that compromise the safety and well-being of innocent people. A reflection of this is in the auto insurance scams that happen every day, under the guise of an everyday small fender bender. Imagine getting into a small accident that results in a small dent and then wrangled into an enormous and stressful insurance claim that could cost you thousands of dollars over the course of years. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF), “often these accidents are staged by organized crime rings that bilk dozens of unsuspecting drivers.”

Below are list of common scams classified by the CAIF:

Swoop and Squat
A suspect vehicle suddenly swoops in front of you and jams on the brakes, causing a rear-end collision. Often the suspect car has passengers who pretend to have painful back or neck injuries, even though the collision was at low speed. The driver and passengers then make large collision and injury claims against your auto policy.

Drive Down
You're trying to merge into traffic, and a dishonest driver slows down and waves you forward. He then crashes into your car, but denies waving you into traffic and blames the accident on you. Crooked drivers may also wave you out of a parking space with the same come-on.

Shady Helpers
A stranger may approach you at the crash site, or telephone you soon afterward. Maybe you just had an honest accident, or it was all a setup. Regardless, this stranger tries to convince you to get repairs at a specific auto-body shop, seek treatment from a certain doctor or chiropractor, or visit a lawyer he knows who can help you sue for injuries. Be careful — it may be a setup: That body shop may try to illegally pad your repair bill. The doctor or chiropractor may give you shoddy or no treatment, but bill the auto insurer thousands of dollars. The lawyer may encourage you to sue the auto insurer for thousands of dollars even if you have only minor or no injuries.

Not only can your life become incredibly stressful, but your driving record could become blemished with a costly claim, and your premiums may skyrocket accordingly. Perpetrators can also put your life in risk with their schemes. In fact, the CAIF sites that an entire family, including an infant daughter, died when their car was hit by a truck when a staged accident went wrong.

10 Tips to Protect Yourself Against Staged Auto Accident Fraud:

1. Just don’t tailgate. Allow plenty of space between your car and the car ahead of you. This will give you ample time to stop if the lead car suddenly jams on its brakes.

2. Look beyond the car in front of you while driving. Apply your brakes if you see traffic slowing.

3. Count how many passengers were in the other car if you're in a collision. Get their names, phone numbers and driver's license — more people may file claims than were in the car. Also get the car's license number.

4. Keep a pen and paper in your glove compartment so you're always ready.

5. Keep an eye on how the passengers of the other car behave? Did they stand around and joke, but suddenly act injured when the police arrived?

6. If you can, keep a disposable camera in your glovebox. Take pictures of the other car, the damage it received — and the passengers.

7. Call the police to the scene. Get a police report with the officer's name, even for minor damage. If the police report notes just a small dent or scratch, it'll be harder for crooks to later claim serious injuries or car damage.

8. Get involved if you're a witness. Watch for the warning signs of a scam, and help the honest victim with details.

9. Contact your state insurance fraud bureau if a stranger tries to steer you to an unknown body shop, doctor, chiropractor or lawyer. Give officials the names, addresses and phone numbers of these providers. Only see medical and legal providers you know and trust, or at least ones that are recommended by people you trust. Never let yourself be suckered by a stranger off the streets.

10. Keep careful records of your medical treatments — dates, treatments given, and diagnoses. Compare your records against the statements you receive to make sure the bill wasn't padded or treatments outright fabricated.

Call the National Insurance Crime Bureau if you suspect a scam.
The toll-free number is 1-800-835-6422. Give license plate number, location of the accident, people involved, why you think this was a fraud, and as many other details as possible.

Coalition Against Insurance Fraud: http://insurancefraud.org/

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