If you have a terrible disaster and you lose your home, do you have enough homeowner’s insurance to cover the damage? Many people are finding out that they don’t. It’s happening because insurance companies have quietly cut back on what they cover with homeowner’s insurance. About five years ago, companies decided that they didn’t want to be in the “guaranteed replacement” business anymore. Insurers used to guarantee that they would rebuild your home from scratch if you lost it. But the wording has changed. The disclaimers you get in the mail now say the company will honor an “extended replacement” instead of “guaranteed replacement.” Extended replacement policies say that company will pay the amount you are covered plus 25 percent or 30 percent more. It sounds great. But if the damage is more than that limit, you have to pay the rest. You have to consider that the cost of construction goes up every year. So, if you’ve been in a home three or more years, the odds are that you’re underinsured. Just be sure that you call your company every year and increase the amount of coverage on your home. It’s going to cost you a bit more in premium money. But that’s better than paying a $50,000 out-of-pocket expense. It’s fairly easy to do. Insurers will usually just increase the coverage limit over the phone. Sometimes insurers choose to send out an appraiser before they increase the coverage. But calling each anniversary of your policy will usually do the trick. The other key is to raise deductibles on your insurance to the highest level. Homeowner’s insurance should only be used for major, catastrophic events. So, it’s okay to raise the deductibles as high as you can. That will reduce your premiums a bit, saving you more money.
Have you ever been pushed to buy an extended service contract or warranty in an electronics or appliance store? Most likely you have. These people are usually very pushy. That’s because they are on commission and they make far more money selling you the warranty than they do selling the product itself. Some salespeople use mind games, pressure and guilt to convince you to buy. So, when is it a good time to buy extended warranties? Never! Extended warranties are complete ripoffs. Consumer Reports conducted research on how often items break in their first year of ownership. The only item at all likely to break in that time frame is a computer. Everything else will most likely have no problems for the first five years. Why would you buy an insurance policy on something that is not likely to break? The only warranty Clark is even neutral on is a manufacturer’s extended warranty for a car. And even that isn’t necessary. But to buy a warranty on a TV that is not likely to break is just not smart.
Gasoline has become an ugly word in today’s economy. That includes jet fuel for planes, diesel fuel for trucks and gas prices at the pump for everyday consumers. In fact, oil prices have gone up so high that wholesale prices are at $50 a gallon. Economists predicted prices would reach $30 a gallon at most this summer. Even worse, we tend to buy more fuel than we’re used to because of the cars we drive. Oil prices have also been driven by terrorism fears. So, we’re really getting hurt in the wallet. The good news is that the terrorism quotient is going down. And, based on the drop in the price per barrel, you will see a drop in price come late September or early October. Clark is predicting a drop of about 13 or 14 cents at that time, which is great news for companies and consumers alike. Another positive note is that people are starting to buy “crossover vehicles” that use less fuel than typical trendy trucks and sport utility vechicles. Because of rising gas prices, people are buying cars that look like SUV but have the fuel economy of passenger cars. On the other hand, if you’re not worried about driving a gas guzzler, you can get a great deal on an SUV these days.
Caller ID is pretty standard on cell phones these days, and many people pay to have the service on their home phones. We’ve gotten in a habit of “phone screening” based on whose number appears, and it’s a great convenience. One of the added benefits of Caller ID is avoiding the call if we see “Out of Area,” “Caller Unknown” or other non-descript information. Usually, these mean a telemarketer is calling. But a new service is on the market that allows telemarketers to circumvent your Caller ID and disguise themselves as someone you know. In other words, you subscribe to the service and you punch in the Caller ID number that you would like to appear on the recipient’s phone. Businesses will likely pay the fee and call you by pretending to be someone else. Bill collectors and solicitors are likely to take advantage of this. Sound illegal? It should be in Clark’s opinion. It’s a perversion of the purpose of Caller ID and of the law that says collection agencies must identify themselves when they call you. We’ll keep you posted on what happens.
You may have heard recent news reports about the danger of full body scans. These are the CAT scans can detect cancer and other discrepancies in the body, but they’ve been used more often recently as “full body scanning” caught on. The recent news hit Clark like a ton of breaks because, not so long ago, Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton had one of these scans. It showed cancer cells in his body and Sutton was able to catch cancer before it spread in his body. But now the news about these scans is not so great, according to Columbia University. In fact, the reports state that the scans actually cause cancer. Unfortunately, something that you thought could help might actually hurt. So, what happens if you’ve already had one. The good news is that if you only had one scan, you are going to be fine. If you’ve had them year after year, you may want to see a doctor for advice. One in 50 of these people could develop a tumor.
The real estate industry is going through some massive changes lately. Information is becoming more available to the public, and consumers are able to look at listings with or without the help of an agent. It’s leading to more blended sales, where FSBOs and a la carte pricing are involved. Traditional real estate agents are very unhappy with this new pricing model, and some are striking back. The New Hampshire Association of Realtors is going after an organization that helps people get discounts called “I Sold My House.” Realtors are claiming that the group is acting as an unlicensed realtor. But in doing so, the realtors are helping spread publicity about this organization. Real estate agents are simply scared of new technologies and changes. In a free market, you should have the choice of doing business with who you want the way you want.
