College students and their families have substantial amounts of money invested in their college education. Unfortunately, sometimes a student has to drop classes and withdraw from school during a semester because of unforeseen injury or illness. In most circumstances, colleges and universities will not refund the tuition — or will only refund a portion of it — for the classes not completed.
Four families have something awful in common: Each lost a loved one to suicide. Those loved ones were all veterans who had recently separated from the service, and their families believe they all suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder when they died. The families were surprised when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Prudential denied the life insurance claims — they knew that the government carried life insurance for service members, so why would these claims fail?
We are continuing our discussion of a federal lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Prudential. The insureds in the suit were veterans of the Armed Forces who committed suicice. Their families believe their suicides were the result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They also believe that the VA and Prudential should have paid on the veterans’ life insurance policies. The VA and Prudential disagree.
We have been talking about life insurance and the Armed Forces. A group of four families has taken the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Prudential Financial Inc. to court over payment of life insurance benefits. The defendants say the deceased family members, all former active duty military, were not covered because they did not complete the appropriate paperwork.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, four families of military veterans claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs and Prudential Insurance owes them restitution. While we often — perhaps too often — come across complaints that an insurer has failed to pay a life insurance claim, there is more red tape to this case than to most. And there is red tape that Florida’s military families should know about.
Executives and board members of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. may not have gotten the reception they hoped for at a recent public hearing. Florida’s state-backed insurance company told the crowd at the Miami meeting that rates will go up again next year as the company struggles to address its shaky financial position. Citizens officials will meet with state regulators next week to finalize changes to homeowners, renters, condominium and mobile home rates.
In our last post, we were discussing a report about computer-based claims systems. The author alleges that the software allows insurers to underpay claims, especially auto and property insurance claims for bodily injury. Companies market the software as a tool to help insurance companies be more consistent in evaluating injury claims, according to the report. The more consistent the payouts are, the more consistent the rates will be. In the end, the theory goes, everyone will save money.
A consumer advocacy group published a report last month that provides some valuable insight into auto and property insurance companies and how they process claims. The author focused specifically on a brand of claim evaluation software that is widely used in the insurance industry. He maintains that the software saves money by ensuring that the insurance company underpays claims, especially bodily injury claims.
Congress has passed a National Flood Insurance Program renewal bill that will not expire in 90 days. The program was set to expire at the end of July. With this new measure, Florida residents will not have to worry about gaps in coverage until Sept. 30, 2017. The bill also included several reform measures long sought by insurance companies, brokers and agents.
From 1997 to 2010, Florida had more lightning strikes per square mile than any other state, according to the National Lightning Detection Network. That time span includes a few fierce hurricane seasons, of course. The property damage from those storms totaled somewhere in the billions, with each storm costing more than the last.
