Posts Tagged ‘insurance’

It’s official, the U.S. taxpayer is now buying bad debt by the billion. The Fed just decided to give insurance giant AIG an $85 billion loan to keep it solvent. Can governments declare bankruptcy?
U.S. Plans Rescue of AIG to Halt Crisis; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up | Wall Street Journal

If anyone were still in doubt as to whether or not the United States economy is in recession, the FDIC’s problem list now includes 90 banks at risk of failure. This is not a large number, since there are about 8,500 banks in the country, but it is up from 76 last year.
Historically, only about [...]

“Why play fair when you can use nunchucks?”

Insurance Insider Tells How To Appeal Coverage Denial | Consumerist

Insurers would love to assess your risk based your genes. That is, if you were high risk for cancer, your insurer would prefer to charge you a higher premium, since there would be a good chance it will be paying for expensive cancer treatment at some point.
Of course, everyone has some genetic predispositions. But many [...]

Speaking of screwing consumers, California consumer lawyer Jonathan Stein has an instructive story on what happens when corporations and debt collectors try to bully consumers into paying debts—even debts they do not owe.
His client sold a car that was later involved in an auto accident. Because the buyer did not register the title or obtain [...]