Foremost Insurance Group Pegram Racing Team Rides Again into the 2012 Season

February 4th, 2012 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in News

Grand Rapids, MI (PRWEB) February 02, 2012

Professional, hard working, and passionate are just a few words to define the Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing race team.

For the third year in a row, Foremost? will maintain the title sponsorship for the Pegram racing team in the 2012 AMA American Superbike Series. Larry Pegram is a professional road racer who not only champions wins on his bike, but also is owner and manager of his own team.

We are honored to be involved with such a motivated and passionate team, says Randy Slotten, director of marketing. Being involved in professional racing is an important aspect to Foremost and weve had a successful relationship with the Pegram racing team and Larry. We value our sponsorship and look forward to the 2012 season.

Slotten says that the team is very professional, competitive and they get results. The Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing team experienced challenges on a new bike last year, but has made many improvements to the bike and learned how to successfully maneuever the bike for the 2012 season.

After our 2011 season with a brand new BMW bike under our belts, we are feeling excited about the 2012 season, Pegram says. Last year was a building year for the team and through preseason testing, the bike has shown big improvements and we are looking forward to getting back to winning.

The Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing team will take to the track for the AMA American Superbike season opener at Daytona International Speedway March 15-17.

Foremost is proud to sponsor the Pegram Road Racing team for the 2012 season. To learn more about Foremost Pegram racing team and to see the AMA American Superbike Series schedule go to, http://www.foremostracing.com or http://www.pegramracing.com.

Foremost wants you to be safe in whatever adventure you choose. To learn more about Foremost products or to share feedback, visit http://www.Foremost.com, our blog at blog.foremost.com, our Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/ForemostInsurance or our Twitter account at http://www.Twitter.com/Foremost.

A part of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies?, Foremost Insurance Group (“Foremost”) has been a leader in personal lines insurance since 1952. Foremost is headquartered in Caledonia, Michigan. Farmers is a trade name and may refer to Farmers Group, Inc. or the Farmers Exchanges, as the case may be. Farmers Group, Inc., a management and holding company, along with its subsidiaries, is wholly owned by the Zurich Financial Services Group. The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange), including their subsidiaries and affiliates, owned by their policyholders, and managed by Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information about Farmers, visit http://www.Farmers.com, or http://www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

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Wites & Kapetan Announces Investigation of Complaints About “Force-Placed” Homeowner’s Insurance

January 19th, 2012 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Loans

Lighthouse Point, FL (PRWEB) January 12, 2012

Wites & Kapetan recommends that homeowners review their homeowners insurance policies to avoid “force-placed” insurance. Most home mortgages obligate the homeowner to maintain a homeowners policy that names the bank as an additional insured.

As explained by Marc A. Wites of Wites & Kapetan, P.A., Many homeowners may not know or may have never reviewed this very important clause in their mortgage which provides that, if the homeowners policy lapses for any reason even accidental oversight the bank can take out a policy in its own name only, and charge the homeowner for the premium. These policies are called force-placed policies. They do not cover the homeowners interest in the property or their possessions, and usually do not protect the homeowner against other claims for which they could be sued such as those by people injured on their property.”

“Because these policies cover a more limited risk the banks interest in the property one would assume that they would be less expensive than the lapsed homeowners policy. In the vast majority of cases, however, that would not only be incorrect, but the limited force-placed policy could be several times more expensive than the homeowners policy which just lapsed. Furthermore, the homeowner often does not learn of the existence of this policy until the bank sends an invoice or escrow adjustment months later. By that time, several months of a staggeringly expensive policy will have been billed to their escrow account or added to the loan, said Alex Kapetan of Wites & Kapetan.

Explanations for These Unreasonable Costs

According to Mr. Wites research, the real reasons for these exorbitant charges vary somewhat depending on the bank and the applicable insurance company but, in many cases, arise because of their close affiliations or exclusive arrangements. Although one would assume that the bank would try to get the least expensive policy available, and not add to your debt. Unfortunately, the opposite is true for several reasons which can include:

1.???? First, the bank knows that it will pass the cost on to the homeowner, so it has little motivation to shop for the best-available rate.

2.???? The bank may have an insurance agency subsidiary who receives a payment from the insurance company based the issuing of the policy. In other words, a company related to the bank receives a payment, usually named a commission, based on the cost of the insurance. As a result, not only does the bank have no incentive to seek out the most economical policy but it has an incentive to generate a large commission for its related company.

3.???? In addition, some banks have exclusive or near-exclusive relationships with insurance companies. They place virtually all of the force-placed policies with that insurance company who, in turn, pays the commission to the banks insurance subsidiary, although the insurance subsidiary does little or nothing to earn the commission because of the assumption that the policy will be placed with the insurer in question.

and

4.???? In some cases, the relationship between the bank and the insurance company is so cozy, that the bank outsources the administrative job of monitoring whether its borrowers have homeowners insurance to the insurance company. The insurance company has access to the banks mortgage records and, rather than wait for the bank to contact them for a policy, the insurance company determines when lapses occur and issues the policies to the bank at the same time, or before, it informs the bank of the lapse.

Worthy of Complaint?

Banks have an obligation to seek out force-placed policies on the open market, which will be closer to the rate of the homeowners policy that lapsed. In many cases, Marc A. Wites found that banks could step in and pay the premium for the homeowners policy which would result in greater coverage for everyone involved at a much more beneficial cost.

In addition, in many cases, the amount charged to the homeowner for a force-placed policy is not the banks real cost of the policy because (a) its related company gets a commission based on the policys cost without doing much, if any, work, and (b) in cases where it outsources the monitoring function, it often receives these services for free, or for far less than it would cost them to handle the operations in house. Yet, Wites discovered Federal laws prevent banks from accepting any fee, kickback, or thing of value based to any agreement or understanding, oral or otherwise, for the referral of any business incident to or a part of a real estate settlement service involving a federally related mortgage loan.

Wites & Kapetan further explained the situation like this: the homeowner agreed to accept and pay the debt incurred through your mortgage, but almost certainly did not agree to pay excessive rates for inadequate homeowners insurance.

About Wites & Kapetan, P.A.

Wites & Kapetan, P.A. is a law firm that represents injured persons and their families in personal injury and wrongful death actions, investment disputes and class actions, as well as in consumer debt litigation and bankruptcy and immigration matters. The firms main office is in Lighthouse Point, Florida. For additional information, contact: Marc Wites, of Wites & Kapetan, P.A. at 954-570-8989 or please visit http://www.wklawyers.com

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Fusion of Insurance and Technology Realized with Rental Guardian

January 3rd, 2012 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in News

Irvine, CA (PRWEB) December 30, 2011

Leaders in property management insurance, web-based insurance software, and customer and asset management systems, today jointly announced their creation of Rental Guardian, LLC. The new company unifies the unique and extensive experience and expertise of its co-founders and will serve the property management and vacation rentals markets with its web-based insurance applications and unique line of insurance products that include travel insurance, accidental damage insurance, bed bug insurance and renter insurance.

Combining our strong relationships with vacation rental software providers and insurance underwriters with the robust technology acumen and insurance relationships of our co-founders will provide a valuable set of solutions for our vacation rentals management clients, said Brady Stump, co-founder.

With our years of experience in web-based software development and our extensive knowledge of customer service delivery and support systems, Rental Guardian is a true synergy of best-of-breed expertise that will help make our clients successful and very satisfied, said Donn Gore, co-founder.

Sean Miller, co-founder, added with offices on both the East and West coasts, and in the Mountain West, we are uniquely positioned to fulfill the travel insurance and damage insurance needs of the vacation rentals industry nationwide. Added Stump, With these core solutions coupled with our new bed bug coverage and renters insurance, our value proposition to property managers is a very compelling one.

About Rental Guardian

Unifying the expertise of over one hundred years of experience of its founders, Rental Guardian serves vacation rental property managers with a unique portfolio of insurance products on an innovative web-based service platform. Its product line include travel insurance, accidental damage insurance, renters insurance, bed bug insurance and other products. Rental Guardians insurance products are underwritten by (A) rated underwriters (as determined by AM Best Insurance Ratings). Its web-based service platform has been created so that property managers, vacation rental software providers, and travel portals can easily integrate these insurance products into their service and management processes and platforms.

About the Co-Founders

Rental Guardians Founding members are Sean Miller, Brady Stump, Donn Gore, Peter Djokovich and David Hays. The founders combine extensive personal and business experience in insurance sales, insurance product development and delivery, property reservation systems, customer relationship and service management systems, e-marketing, PCI-compliant data centers, banking/finance asset/liability management systems, regulatory compliance, and enterprise performance management systems. For additional information visit online at RentalGuardian.com or call 1.888.885.5550.

Contacts:

Brady Stump – bstump(at)rentalguardian(dot)com

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John Fries Joins North American Title Insurance Company (NATIC) as EVP and Chief Underwriting Counsel.

December 29th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Bank

Miami, Florida (PRWEB) November 18, 2011

North American Title Insurance Company (NATIC), a leading national title insurance underwriter today announced the appointment of John Fries to its executive leadership team as EVP and Chief Underwriting Counsel. In this role, Mr. Fries will manage the Miami Corporate office, establish sound national underwriting guidelines and streamline the companys policies and procedures. As Chief Underwriting Counsel, he is responsible for providing direction to the regional underwriting counsels across the country to create a cohesive underwriting team. Mr. Fries will be a key corporate leader in developing title production solutions, exceptional pricing programs and agent-centric service solutions to support existing and new agent partners. Mr. Fries will create the framework in which NATIC will employ vanguard closing and title software technology to enhance the companys internal operations and make it easier for agents to interact with the company. Mr. Fries brings to North American Title Insurance Company more than 33 years of national underwriting and title insurance operations experience.

“The measure of success in this economic environment is changing rapidly and underwriters such As North American Title Insurance Company must continue to innovate and offer value through differentiated solutions,” said Emilio Fernandez, President, NATIC. “John is a proven leader in national title insurance underwriter operations, the implementation of performance efficiencies and ultimately business initiatives that deliver. We are thrilled to welcome him to our team.”

Prior to joining NATIC, Mr. Fries spent 3 years as Vice President, Business Control Manager for the title services division of a major national bank. There, he managed a team providing operational and transactional title underwriting guidance for the companys title operations. Mr. Fries has been an underwriting counsel for over 20 years and has held the position of Senior Vice President, Underwriting Counsel for a leading national title insurance underwriter for over 15 years. As Chief Underwriting Counsel, Mr. Fries led the national title insurance operations and established and implemented the general underwriting policy for the company. He was also instrumental in developing an automated, rules-based underwriting system that emulated the decision making analysis of a human examiner. Mr. Fries spent the first 16 years of his career providing legal and underwriting support in private practice and for various banks and title insurance companies.

About North American Title Insurance Company

North American Title Insurance Company (NATIC) is a seasoned title insurance underwriter, helping customers achieve the American dream of home ownership for over 50 years. The company provides title services through its coast-to-coast operations in over 28 states. NATIC, through its affiliated agency NATC, and vast network of independent agents, conducts real estate settlement services throughout the country. NATIC earned the reputation as the underwriter next door, because their associates are always easy to reach and their processes are, at all times, quick and straightforward. The NATIC agency application process is fast and transparent for qualified agents. NATIC has a one-hour underwriting response guarantee that is unparalleled in the industry.

NATIC is the largest capitalized company in Pier Group 2, which groups companies with capitalization between $ 25,000,000 and $ 100,000,000. NATIC is ranked 8th by The Performance of the Title Insurance Underwriters? in terms of cash or cash equivalents. North American Title Insurance Company maintains over $ 67,000,000.00 in cash or cash equivalents. This represents over 92% of the companys assets and is characteristic of the most important attribute to Title Protection, namely, Financial Responsibility.

Demotech, Inc. awarded NATIC a rating of: A (A Prime) Unsurpassed. NATIC is headquartered in Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.natic.com


To Contact Mr. Fries

John A. Fries

EVP and Chief Underwriting Counsel,

North American Title Insurance Company

730 N.W. 107th Avenue, Suite 301

Miami, Florida 33172

Main Number: 1-800-374-8475

Fax 305-229-6540

jfries(a)natic(dot)com

http://www.natic.com

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National Mortgage Complaint Center Wants To Hear From US Homeowners If Their Bank Or Loan Servicer Stuck Them With Forced Placed Insurance

December 3rd, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Loans

(PRWEB) June 06, 2011

The National Mortgage Complaint Center is one of the premier advocates, and watchdog’s for the US mortgage lending industry. The group is now beginning a new initiative designed to identify any US homeowner, who is needlessly paying for forced placed insurance to their bank, or loan servicing company. The National Mortgage Complaint Center says, “We believe there are 10,000′s of US homeowners, who are paying an insurance premium three, four, or five times what it should cost, because their bank, or loan servicing company signed them up for a forced place insurance policy. We have recently talked to numerous homeowners, who actually have a standard homeowners policy with one of the major US property casualty carriers like State Farm, or Allstate insurance, and the horrified homeowner has just discovered their bank, or loan serving company also has a forced placed insurance policy on the same home. The only reason the homeowner even noticed was they thought their payments into reserves were way too high. We want to hear from any homeowner, who has been victimized by this practice.” For more information please contact the National Mortgage Complaint Center via its web site at http://NationalMortageComplaintCenter.Com

The National Mortgage Complaint Center says, “In other instances of the forced place insurance scam, the bank, or loan servicing company has told the homeowner, quote unquote forced placed insurance will be required on your home.” They say, “Unless the house has been abandoned, it is vacant, or the homeowner has stopped making mortgage payments, forced placed insurance should never be arbitrarily forced down the throat of an innocent homeowner. We do not think, we know the number of victims is in the 10,000′s, or higher, its wrong, and we want to identify every US homeowner, who is a recent victim of the forced placed insurance outrage.” The National Mortgage Complaint Center is encouraging homeowners victimized by the forced place insurance scam to contact them via the web site at http://NationalMortgageComplaintCenter.Com

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Nichols Kaster, PLLP Files Nationwide Class Action Against U.S. Bank for Charging Mortgage Borrowers for Worthless Flood Insurance Coverage

November 15th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Bank

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) November 02, 2011

On November 2, 2011, Plaintiff Matthew Lacroix filed a class action lawsuit against U.S. Bank, N.A. and U.S. Bank Home Mortgage in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit alleges that U.S. Bank unlawfully billed Lacroix?s mortgage escrow account for ?force-placed? flood insurance coverage in excess of his loan balance, even though the policy that it purchased did not actually provide coverage in excess of his loan balance. According to Plaintiff?s attorney, Kai Richter, ?This insurance was not only unnecessary — it was worthless.?

The Complaint alleges that U.S. Bank was not authorized to require Lacroix to maintain flood insurance coverage in excess of his loan balance because this amount of coverage is not required under the National Flood Insurance Act and was not required under Lacroix?s mortgage. Moreover, the lawsuit further alleges that this excessive ?force-placed? flood insurance coverage was worthless because the policy that U.S. Bank purchased explicitly stated: ?THIS INSURANCE WILL NOT PROVIDE AN AMOUNT OF COVERAGE GREATER THAN THE NET AMOUNT YOU OWE ON THE MORTGAGE.? According to the Complaint, Lacroix had to increase his mortgage payment to make up the resulting ?shortage? in his escrow account, imposing a significant hardship on him.

?In today?s economic environment, many homeowners are struggling to make their mortgage payments, and it is wrong for any bank to add to their burden by demanding excessive amounts of flood insurance coverage and by purchasing worthless insurance at their expense,? said Richter. ?It is particularly egregious that U.S. Bank purchases this insurance out of borrowers? escrow accounts, since these escrow funds are supposed to be held in trust by U.S. Bank,? continued Richter.

In his class action Complaint, Lacroix seeks relief on behalf of himself and other borrowers across the country who have been similarly affected by U.S. Bank?s alleged conduct. Based on this alleged conduct, Lacroix?s Complaint asserts claims against U.S. Bank for breach of contract, breach of its duty of good faith and fair dealing, breach of its fiduciary duty to borrowers in connection with the handling of escrow accounts, and unjust enrichment.

The case is entitled Lacroix v. U.S. Bank, N.A., et al., No. 11-cv-3236 (D. Minn.). Plaintiff is represented by Kai Richter and Michelle Drake from Nichols Kaster, PLLP. Nichols Kaster has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Francisco, California, and is currently pursuing similar cases against several other major banks, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Bank of America, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and RBS Citizens, N.A. (also known as Citizens Bank). Additional information is located at http://www.nka.com or may be obtained by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP toll free at (877) 448-0492.

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Research Reveals Huge Increase in Veterinary Fees and Growing Importance of Pet Insurance

November 5th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in News

(PRWEB) November 04, 2011

Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance has revealed that between 2009 and 2010, the average value of a pet insurance claim it received for veterinary fees increased by 34%(1).

Last year, the average claim it received for veterinary fees for crossbreed dogs and cats was ?416.35 and ?327.54 respectively. This compares to ?469.20 for pedigree dogs and ?419.92 for pedigree cats, which are 12.7% and 28.2% higher.

Helen Williams, Head of Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance, comments: “Advances in veterinary medicine mean that our pets are better cared for than ever before but with claims for vet bills around a third higher than they were a few years ago, it’s all the more important to have good pet insurance to cover your cat or dog’s veterinary treatment.

?Those with pedigree pets can often face even higher veterinary bills because these animals often suffer more from hereditary health problems.?

Despite the rising cost of veterinary treatment, research(2) from Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance reveals that 17% of policies for cats and 16% for dogs only offer ?1,500 or less for vet fees per condition. Similarly, 16% of policies for cats and 14% of those aimed at dogs, will only provide ?2,000 or less towards vets? fees per year.

Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance provides cover for up to ?7,500 per condition for veterinary treatments. However, its research(2) reveals that the average level of vet fee cover for cats is ?3,860, and for dogs it is ?3,899.

Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance research(1) reveals that the average claim it received last year for a Deerhound was ?1,323, and ?887 for an Affen Pinscher. Some of the most expensive veterinary insurance related claims for cats last year were for Bengal and Domestic Semi-Longhair breeds, where the average was ?658 and ?631 respectively.

Helen continued “It’s alarming that so many policies are still offering such low levels of vet fee cover. Pet owners could end up with a nasty shock to the tune of many hundreds of pounds if their pet develops a chronic illness that requires regular treatment or requires a joint operation and on going physiotherapy for example.”

Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance warns dog and cat owners against delaying taking out cover for their pets, because if they suffer from a condition and don?t have insurance, it is unlikely that they will subsequently find a policy to cover them for that condition. Its research(3) reveals that only 32% of people who own or have owned a cat or dog bought pet insurance immediately after purchasing their pet. Nearly one in 10 waited at least six months before buying cover.

Quality pet insurance does not need to be expensive; good cover at a competitive price can be found by shopping around for the best deal, and it is essential to compare policies on a like-for-like basis ? comparing on price alone could be disastrous. Sainsbury?s Pet Insurance offers an extensive range of benefits at a competitive price. For further information call 0800 434 6359, log on to http://www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk or pick up a leaflet in a Sainsbury?s supermarket.

Notes to Editors:

(1) Sainsbury?s Finance analysis of its pet insurance claims in 2010 and 2009.

(2) Sainsbury?s Finance commissioned Defaqto to carry out this research on 10th March 2011.

(3) ICM interviewed a random sample of 2003 adults aged 18+. The interviews were conducted via an online omnibus survey between 11th – 13th March 2011. Surveys were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information available at http://www.icmresearch.co.uk Figures include those people who previously owned a cat and dog.

Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance is underwritten by AXA Insurance UK plc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Sainsbury?s Finance:

To view our latest press releases and product information, please visit the Sainsbury’s Finance online media centre at http://www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/media.

Sainsbury?s was the first major British supermarket to open a bank, commencing trading in February 1997. Benefiting from a fantastic, trusted brand that enables us to combine the shopping experience with personal finance, Sainsbury?s Finance provides a range of quality products including insurances, credit cards, savings and loans. Our proposition is to make shopping more rewarding by offering customers great products at fair prices, while consistently rewarding shoppers for their loyalty and being easy to do business with at all times. Our products consistently top Best Buy tables and regularly win awards for quality, price and service.

Sainsbury?s Finance recent awards include Best Overall Online Provider, Best Online Pet Insurance Provider, Best Online Personal Loan Provider and Best Direct Home Insurance Provider at the Your Money Awards 2011.

Sainsbury’s Finance is a joint venture between J.Sainsbury plc and Lloyds Banking Group.

For further information and general Sainsbury?s Finance enquiries customers can call the freephone number on 0500 40 50 60 or visit http://www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk

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Low Credit Score May Hurt Car Insurance Rates, But Consumers Have Options

October 13th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Loans

Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) July 6, 2007

MortgageCreditProblems.com, a primary source of mortgage lending information and bad credit mortgage loans for people with poor credit, can help people who are hurt by a bad credit rating (http://www.mortgagecreditproblems.com). Consumers are hurt by low credit scores in many ways–including, surprisingly, the cost of auto insurance — so it’s important to have the best credit rating possible.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Potential lenders use your credit score to help predict whether you are a good risk to repay a loan and make payments on time.” People seeking a home or car loan who have a low credit score will have difficulty finding a lender. The reasoning seems logical — although about half of all credit reports contain errors.

But a low credit score can unexpectedly affect other areas of life, too. The insurance industry has found a surprising — but, it believes, solid — statistical correlation between credit ratings and auto mishaps. Auto insurance companies use credit scores to determine whether to charge higher or lower rates for auto insurance. People with low credit scores pay more for auto insurance than people with higher scores because statistics suggest they may be bigger insurance risks.

Whether or not the sanctions against low credit scores are logical or fair, MortgageCreditProblems.com reminds consumers that they do have options.


????The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives consumers the right to learn their credit rating, find out how much the rating affects their insurance rates and then shop for the best loan and insurance deals.
????A number of top lenders are willing to give credit to borrowers with low credit scores.
????There are many ways for consumers to improve their credit and clean up credit scores. (http://www.mortgagecreditproblems.com/mortgages_badcredit/mortgages_badcredit1.htm)

MortgageCreditProblems.com links borrowers to willing lenders and credit counselors, and offers articles on ways to improve credit scores.

MortgageCreditProblems.com is a primary source of mortgage lending information for people with poor credit history or a low credit score. MortgageCreditProblems.com connects borrowers with bad credit to lenders that are willing to give them credit despite their credit history and also offers articles on improving credit scores, refinancing with bad credit and debt consolidation.

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Bank Life Insurance Sales Continue Steady Growth: Kehrer-LIMRA

August 13th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Bank

Windsor, CT (Vocus) January 17, 2007

The typical bank in the latest Kehrer-LIMRA Bank Life Insurance Sales Study increased its new life sales revenue by an estimated 15 percent last year, on the heels of a similar increase the previous year.

“Banks are making steady progress in tapping their customer base for life sales, even though customer penetration remains low,” said Kenneth Kehrer, Ph.D., co-director of the study. “The typical bank selling life insurance produced only $ 1.33 in new life sales commissions per customer household of the bank.”

At the same time, the profit margin for banks’ life insurance sales programs was 42 percent on average, which compares favorably with other uses of bank sales staff. For example, the profit margin in the typical bank investment sales program was 24 percent last year.

“While banks seem to produce high profit margins from life insurance relative to other investment product sales, overall revenue penetration remains disproportionately low,” said Chris Bergeon, vice president, Great-West Life, a co-sponsor of the study. “In order to achieve more meaningful revenues and customer penetration levels, banks should work with carriers to increase their sales staff’s life insurance participation and productivity.”

While banks have a variety of ways to sell life insurance at their disposal, including financial consultants, licensed platform bankers, direct response methods, retail agents, advanced agents and referrals to outside agencies in the bank, most focus on only one or two.

“Fifty-three percent of banks reported using only one method of distribution for their life insurance programs, and 27 percent of banks use more than two methods, up from 20 percent in 2004,” said Joan H. Cleveland, senior vice president, Business Development, Individual Life Division of co-sponsor Prudential Financial. “But this research shows that the typical bank could increase its customer penetration by 135 percent just by selling life insurance through four compatible distribution channels – direct response, platform bankers, financial consultants and advanced agents – even if they achieved only average penetration from each method.”

“By banks utilizing multiple distribution channels, they are in fact giving their customers multiple access points and allowing consumers to buy coverage when and how they want. That indeed will increase customer penetration.”

Banks also continue to rely on part-time sales people, such as financial consultants (who primarily sell investment products) and licensed platform bankers, to sell their life and health insurance products. However, advanced agents, who focus on estate planning and business succession solutions, remain the most productive distribution channel, generating more than $ 344,000 in first-year life commission per agent.

Sales force compensation consumes 40 percent of first year-revenue and 32 percent of total revenue in the typical bank life sales program. Median sales force compensation as a percent of commission revenue is much higher for advanced agents than financial consultants and licensed bankers. Advanced agents however had the greatest contribution to gross margin compared to other methods, followed by referrals to outside agencies, licensed bankers and financial consultants.

“Banks can do a lot to improve customer penetration for life insurance,” said Richard Hotham, vice president, Financial Institutions, Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, another co-sponsor. “The research shows that if a typical bank could achieve the best practices level of the four compatible distribution methods, it would achieve a ten-fold improvement in revenue penetration. Actions such as reevaluating their number of distribution channels, managing sales productivity by instituting sales objectives and developing partnering relationships with insurance carriers could go a long way to enhance not only revenue penetration improvement but also enhance profitability.”

The 2005-2006 Kehrer LIMRA Bank Life Insurance Sales Study benchmarks life and health insurance sales in financial institutions and identifies best industry practices. Seventy-three banks participated in the study, which is broadly representative of those that are actively marketing life and health insurance.

This seventh annual study examines revenue contribution and profitability of selling life and health insurance relative to the sizes of participating banks and the age of participating banks’ life-health insurance programs. It also examines the success banks are achieving with various ways of selling life insurance. The other sponsors of the study include MetLife, Nationwide, Transamerica Capital, and Vantis Life.

About Kehrer-LIMRA

Kehrer-LIMRA, a subsidiary of LIMRA Services, is the leading provider of information and consulting services on financial institutions as financial services stores. The firm’s studies of sales penetration, profitability, compensation, and compliance have helped many banks, savings associations, and credit unions benchmark their investment sales program performance and understand the key drivers of success. LIMRA International is a worldwide research, consulting and performance improvement organization that helps more than 800 insurance and financial services companies in 60 countries increase their marketing and distribution effectiveness.

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liberty life of boston richard hotham 2011

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Brookstone Law PC: Leaked Emails Show Bank of America May Have Hurt Homeowners with Insurance Sales

August 11th, 2011 by Bank Loan | No Comments | Filed in Bank

Newport Beach, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) March 18, 2011

Recent media coverage in the Washington Post of the release Monday of emails of a Bank of America unit in which employees discuss altering information in loan files may be another example of how Bank of America practices could have hurt homeowners during the mortgage foreclosure crisis, according to Vito Torchia, Jr. managing attorney of Brookstone Law, PC.

According to the Washington Post media coverage, the emails, which were released by a hacker group that calls itself Anonymous, were related to loans managed by Bank of America and concerned sales of insurance policies forced on mortgage borrowers who didn?t have their own policy on their homes, a controversial practice because when mortgage servicers own insurers, there can be a conflict of interest that may create incentives for the mortgage companies to inflate fees. The Washington Post report indicates that the data appear to contain internal emails from Balboa Insurance, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2008 when it purchased Countrywide Financial. In the correspondence, the employees discuss changing loan numbers and deleting them in their records. In one exchange, an employee said the changes may raise ?huge red flags? for auditors.

?It appears homeowners already having trouble affording toxic loans from Bank of America already subjected to the Bank?s shoddy administrative practices were also being sold insurance they did not need by the Bank, which owned the insurance company,? said Vito Torchia, Jr. ?This alleged behavior is potentially another example of the countless ways Bank of America has taken advantage of homeowners over the past several years.?

According to the Washington Post , WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange has promised to release documents this year that ?could take down a bank or two? and will show ?flagrant violations? of ?unethical practices? at the executive level of the banks in question. He has also said he is ?sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive’s hard drives.?

Brookstone Law, PC, is involved in active investigations of the banking crisis. There are cases throughout the nation where clients are taking the banks to task for, among other things, unlawful lending practices.

?The released emails include one from an employee who allegedly said, ?it just doesn’t seem right,? and like the homeowners who have tried to deal with Bank of America, we agree: what was being done was not right,? said Vito Torchia, Jr. ?Bank of America?s own employees mentioned red flags, knew it was wrong and pointed that out, but Bank of America executives apparently ignored them potentially harming homeowners who came to them for help.?

ABOUT BROOKSTONE LAW, PC

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