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Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services Insurance Division has published the 2007 Annual Complaint Statistics, ranking major insurers based on their complaint records in six common lines of insurance: personal auto, health, homeowner, life, annuities, and long-term care. This report ranks major insurers by their complaint records, which are based on the number of confirmed consumer complaints closed by the Insurance Division and the amount of premium dollars written by the insurers. According to DCBS, the report allows consumers to see at a glance how a company compares with its competitors; the information should help consumer to make sound… Read More »Annual Insurance Complaint Statistics Published in Oregon

A congressional report found two out of three work-related illnesses and injuries may be going unreported, and called into question federal regulators’ claims that workplace problems are declining. The House Committee on Education and Labor, which released the report in Washington, D.C., plans a hearing Tuesday, June 24, 2008, focusing on whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is adequately enforcing construction safety rules. The committee is expected to hear questions about recent construction deaths in New York and on the Las Vegas Strip, where officials say 12 workers have died in resort projects since January 2007. The committee chairman,… Read More »Workplace Injuries Unreported

Employers must show that there was a reason other than age discrimination in cases where lay-offs appear to target older workers, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The case—Clifford B. Meacham et al. vs. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory—involved a companywide staff reduction in which 30 of 31 salaried employees fired were 40 years of age or older. In 2000, a jury found that the bias was unintentional, but that the older workers were disproportionately affected by the lay-offs and granted monetary awards to 17 former employees of the lab, which is a unit of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. A panel… Read More »Court Rules for Employees in Age Bias Case

Owners of nearly 90 percent of the structures destroyed in last month’s wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains did not properly clear flammable brush from the property, state fire officials say. California law requires property owners in forested areas to remove or reduce most vegetation within 100 feet of a building. But a state report found that most of the 132 structures destroyed by the fire had “poor defensible space quality.” That figure includes 63 homes and 69 outbuildings destroyed in the mountains above Watsonville. Fire officials say it’s likely that fewer homes would have been destroyed if homeowners had… Read More »Homeowners Aren’t Protecting Homes from Fires

The disc, called “Prepare, Survive, Recover,” contains articles, videos and Web links that can be viewed on both PC and Macintosh computers. It also includes free home inventory software called “Know Your Stuff.” The software walks homeowners through the home inventory process. Once complete, an inventory not only helps homeowners buy the right amount of insurance, but also serves as a recovery tool in the event of a loss.IINC is non-profit, non-lobbying insurance communications association dedicated to helping the public understand insurance and risk management issues. For more information, visit www.iinc.org.

California’s Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee approved two bills — one allowing insurance cmpanies to require spyware to be installed in vehicles, and the other clarifying the duties of an agent versus those of a broker. AB 2956 would provide that an insurance agent is a person who transacts insurance other than life, disability or health insurance on behalf of an admitted insurance company. The bill “would establish a rebuttable presumption, subject to exception, that a person is acting as an insurance broker if the application shows that the person is acting as an insurance broker and is licensed… Read More »Agent-Broker, Spyware Bills Approved in California

Do you drive one of these cars?1991 Honda Accord1995 Honda Civic1989 Toyota Camry1994 Dodge Caravan1994 Nissan Sentra1997 Ford F150 Series1990 Acura Integra1986 Toyota Pickup1993 Saturn SL 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup If so, you drive one of the top ten most stolen vehicles in the U.S, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). The NICB estimates that a car is stolen every 25.5 seconds.People can do more to prevent theft, according to a recent release from the Insurance Information Institute. “All too often, consumer attitudes about preventing vehicle thefts are based on misconceptions, which can lead to expensive consequences for… Read More »What You Should Know About Car Theft

Employers do not have the right to read the contents of employees’ text messages that are obtained from a third-party provider, says a federal appellate court decision. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco also held in its decision Wednesday in Quon vs. Arch Wireless Operating Co. Inc. that the city of Ontario, Calif., had violated the constitutional privacy rights of a policeman and the recipients of his text messages when it obtained copies of the messages from Arch Wireless Operating, a unit of Westborough, Mass.-based Arch Wireless Inc. Arch provided two-way… Read More »Employers do not have the right to read the contents of employees’ text messages

There’s trouble in Toyland, but there are ways to find safe products By Herb Weisbaum ‘Tis the season for toy giving. This year, however, is like no other. The fear of buying tainted toys is creating enormous anxiety for parents. “It’s reasonable for parents to be concerned about what they’re bringing home for their kids,” says toy expert Stephanie Oppenheim. “This is not a normal toy season.” So far this year, a record 23 million toys have been recalled. And the numbers keep growing. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has indicated there may be more dangerous toys pulled off… Read More »How to Buy Toys Without a Lot of Worry

Tech savvy UK teens are using Google Earth’s aerial shots to create the latest summertime craze – pool crashing. The Register Hardware site confirmed several pool trespassing cases with local UK police.Google Earth is used to locate suitable pools and then Facebook is used to organize the pool crash parties.Teens begin by surfing Google Earth’s satellite images to find houses with swimming pools. Once a target has been identified, teens then use Facebook to arrange an organized, but uninvited, pool-crash.A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police has already told the Daily Mail that owners of swimming pools should be on… Read More »Is Homeowner Liable For Accident in Pool?