Insurance

Although most of the articles at Insurance.com deal with insurance (go figure), we did touch on some of the larger topics as well. Money and the economy dominated the headlines for most of 2008, with other topics scattered here and there. Some other notable stories included high gas prices, the election, and the collapse of the financial sector. In chronological order, here are our top 10 articles from 2008.

1. Can You Really Save Money On Gas?
"You might be able to save money on gas by combining multiple trips, or walking and biking more often. Reducing your annual mileage to below 10,000 miles could also reduce your car insurance rate by letting you qualify for a low-mileage discount (if available)."

Remember in April and May of 2008, when gas prices started to soar, and no one knew where (or if) they would stop? Well, they peaked at over $4 a gallon in July, and then started falling along with the world economy. Where they will go in 2009 and beyond is anyone's guess, although a strong worldwide green energy push could keep them low.

2. Insurance.com's Tips for Hurricane Homeowners and Car Insurance Claims.
"As Dostoyevsky said, 'You are wise to provide yourself with what you need, for it will all come in handy in the future.'"

We hope you didn't have to use this article, but it has good information about preparing for and making claims related to hurricanes and other natural disasters. The worst hurricane to hit the U.S. in 2008 was Hurricane Ike, although Hurricanes Dolly, Gustav, Hanna and Omar also affected many Americans.

3. Look Before You Peep: A Leafer's Guide
"Even though leaf-peeping sounds rather naughty, it actually involves looking at trees."

Ah, trees. As Ronald Reagan said, "I mean, if you've looked at a hundred thousand acres or so of trees—you know, a tree is a tree, how many more do you need to look at?" Obviously many people feel otherwise, which is why so many of them go leafing. This article also contains an interesting literary exercise that, like many of the best leaves, is hard to spot.

4. Usage-Based Car Insurance: The Freedom to Choose in California - and Elsewhere
"So, are the potential savings worth it? Would you voluntarily place a tracking device in your vehicle for auto insurance savings?"

Proposed insurance regulation in California stirred controversy because one of its mileage-verification options is a device installed in your car to track your mileage. Many consumer advocacy groups argue that visual verification is sufficient. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to see how putting an electronic device in your car that can communicate with your car insurance company via cell phone conjures up images of Big Brother, regardless of what it's actually used for.

5. National Drive Safely Work Week: Save Lives and Money
"Insurance.com's data supports the relationship between safe driving and lower premiums."

This article answers the often-asked question of how much a ticket or accident increases your car insurance. It turns out that it can be quite a lot: as much as $200–$400. If your safety and everyone else's wasn't enough to get you excited about safe driving, maybe the opportunity for significant savings will be.

6. Nitrogen in Tires: Hot Air or a Cool Breeze?
"If you can get your tires filled with nitrogen for free (as part of a deal with new tires, for example) it's probably not a bad idea—the advantages are minor, but a free advantage is always a good one."

Unfortunately, filling your tires with nitrogen is not a substitute for regularly checking their pressure. Still, the debate is interesting, and some people adamantly insist that they get better gas mileage and improved handling.

7. Racing to Find Car Insurance
"Driving well above the street-legal speed limit was simply not what your insurance company expected when you said you drive your car "primarily for pleasure"—and your rates are based on expected driving—not racing."

If you like to race or are a performance enthusiast, you need to read this article. In the past, car insurance may have covered driving improvement classes where you were able to safely exceed normal street speeds. Now, however, most insurance companies have closed loopholes in their standard policies that allowed it, leaving you without coverage.

8. How Did Your Vote Affect the Future of Driving?
"Energy issues were high profile while gas prices were sky-rocketing, but will this administration remain focused on this issue for the long-haul?"

The 2008 election was historic and important. The country needs leadership that will guide us out of our current situation. Will the energy and environmental promises of the campaign trail take a backseat to the economic recovery, or will the Obama administration find a way to link the two?

9. How Bankruptcy Affects Car Insurance Rates
"We believe that insurance companies can and should evaluate their risk criteria based on insurance risk scores and determine ways to help consumers retain their insurance coverage."

Usually, things like bankruptcy and foreclosure hurt your credit score and can also raise the car insurance rates you receive. Because the economic crisis is reaching well into the middle class, more people than ever before are declaring bankruptcy. We hope that when insurance companies set rates, they consider that a poor financial situation may not mean what it used to.

10. Will Insurance Companies Weather the Financial Storm?
"Because of the strict state regulation of insurance companies, your insurance policy is one of the safer financial products available, and your insurance company is probably safe as well."

There's some good news about your finances after all! If you're confused about why your insurance policies are still good even though you've heard so much about insurance companies failing, this article is for you.

Looking Forward to 2009
2008 was an unforgettable year in many ways, not all of them good. Insurance.com's articles focus on insurance, but also address current events and other interesting topics. Did you like one of our articles this year? What would you like us to write about in 2009? Let us know today! http://www.insurance.com

Mesothelioma Attorney:

Questions to ask when selecting a mesothelioma attorney.

These pages provide consumer tips for how to deal with the financial aspects of selecting a mesothelioma attorney. They do not provide any information regarding the medical aspects of this serious disease.

Since so much is at stake, selecting the right mesothelioma lawyer is very important. According the Wall Street Journal, lawyers say a typical mesothelioma award in a mesothelioma settlement is $1 million, and attorneys get 40% of this amount. If the case actually goes to trial, the average award was $6 million in 2001, which was triple the amount awarded just two years earlier.

So, mesothelioma attorneys are very eager to find mesothelioma patients. And it's vital that patients select the mesothelioma attorneys that are best for them.

A Brief Background on Your Legal Rights Regarding Mesothelioma

Companies that manufacture products that contain asbestos have known for over 60 years that asbestos can cause serious diseases.

Unfortunately, because many of these companies wanted to increase their profits, they kept this information quiet, thereby seriously endangering their workers.

There are now laws that help protect the workers who have been harmed by their exposure to these asbestos-related products.

However, since representing mesothelioma can be so profitable to attorneys, it is important that people who have mesothelioma be especially careful selecting attorneys who are really qualified to represent them. Therefore, we have created a list of...

Important Questions to Ask When Selecting a Mesothelioma Attorney

Question #1 to Ask When Selecting a Mesothelioma Attorney:

What is your personal experience in representing mesothelioma patients? Your goal is to find out how many cases the attorney has actually handled.

You also want to know: how many of these were settled, and how many of these went to trial? What were the results of each case?

You should ask the same questions about his or her law firm. You're goal is to find out about the firm -- is this an area the firm specializes in?

Question #2 to Ask When Selecting a Mesothelioma Attorney:

Next, you want to ask if the lawyer intends to actually handle your case him or herself. Many attorneys simply refer these cases to another law firm and receive part of the fee in exchange. This may not be in your best interest.
Click here for more questions to ask when selecting a mesothelioma lawyer
http://www.scambusters.org/mesothelioma-attorney.html


Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Mesothelioma lawsuits require Mesothelioma attorneys experienced in this special type of case. Mesothelioma attorneys are ready and available to assist you with your mesothelioma lawsuit claim. If you have ever been exposed to asbestos and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be eligible for a mesothelioma lawsuit claim. Contact a LawInfo Lead Counsel qualified mesothelioma attorney today.

As the U.S. Senate considers a bill to protect companies from lawsuits brought by hundreds of thousands of Americans harmed by asbestos, the first-ever analysis of federal mortality records finds that 10,000 Americans die each year from asbestos exposure, and projects that up to ten times that many will die in the next decade.

Although many Americans believe that asbestos has already been banned and its victims have been compensated by the courts, the EWG Action Fund study reports that 30 million pounds of asbestos are used in the U.S. each year, lists dozens of widely-used consumer products that still contain it, and says more than one million workers are exposed every year. Are you one of them?

In 1991, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned what was commonly known as the "Asbestos Ban and Phaseout Rule of 1989." Consequently, scores of asbestos products remain on the market today. The 2001 Mineral Commodity Summary for Asbestos from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported 61% of the asbestos used in the United States (in 2000) was in roofing products, 19% in friction products, 13% in gaskets, and 7% was classified as "other."

Despite the court's actions, a short list of products still remain banned under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Clean Air Act. These include: corrugated paper, rollboard, commercial paper, specialty paper, flooring felt, sprayed-on materials containing more than one percent asbestos, and all new asbestos applications are banned.
Mesothelioma Attorneys

Because Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that can take up to 20 years to develop, Mesothelioma attorneys need specific training and experience when seeking compensation for clients. Mesothelioma attorneys have a specific team of medical professionals who interpret health records and testing documentation to prove the specific correlation between a patient's side-effects and the Mesothelioma diagnosis.

Once the illness has been properly identified, Mesothelima attorneys must prove that the cause of the illness is the particular exposure to the toxic chemical, at a duration and amount significant enough to cause the health-related symtoms. Often it can take up to 50 years for a person to show the type of dehabilitation necessary for Mesothelioma attorneys to obtain compensation.

Not everyone who works with or was exposed to asbestos can prove that they have suffered injuries related to asbestos contamination. With years of prosecuting the cases that have bankrupted hundreds of asbestos companies, Mesothelioma attorneys have intimate knowledge of the specific evidence necessary to prove the direct correlation between absestos and asbestos-related illnesses such as Mesothelioma and lung cancer. Most recently, WR Grace & Co and its seven executives were charged in conspiring to hide asbestos contamination at a mine in Libby, Montana, which prosecutors claim was responsible for the illnesses of 1200 people resulting in 200 deaths.
Mesothelioma Lawyers

Many Mesothelioma attorneys have asbestos cases based on the contamination of vermiculite, a hydrous silicate mineral, shipped by WR Grace to about 240 plants across the country. Federal authorities in 22 states are investigating 28 plants stretching across from North Dakota to Florida and Massachusetts to California, including one plant in Hawaii.

As Mesothelioma attorneys continue to prove the correlation between clients' illnesses and asbestos contimination, legislators struggle to approve a bill that will provide enough compensation for all victims who worked at mining plants and all neighboring residents who were exposed to the toxic chemicals. Currently legislators are having trouble determining how the funding will ensure compensation for victims who will continue to develop asbestos-related illnesses for years to come. The bill has yet to be approved. http://mesothelioma.lawinfo.com

Mesothelioma Lawyer:
More questions to ask when selecting a mesothelioma lawyer.

(Note: Below you'll find questions #3 and #4 for finding a mesothelioma lawyer. If you haven't yet seen questions #1 and #2, or the brief background description of why these questions are important, we suggest you click here for this page of questions for selecing a mesothelioma attorney first.)
Question #3 to Ask When Selecting a Mesothelioma Lawyer:

A very important question to ask is how expenses and attorney fees will be handled for the case. The process is not fast -- preparation for the trial and then the trial itself -- will take many months (or even years).

During this time, there will be thousands of dollars of initial costs associated with preparing for the trial, such as travel, hiring expert witnesses, depositions, etc. Ordinarily, the attorney who represents you advances these initial costs that are associated with the preparation and trial.

Most attorney fees in these cases are based on contingency fee contracts. This means that the lawyers receive a percentage of the amount the victim recovers if the suit is successful. If the suit is not successful, then the attorneys earn no fee.
Question #4 to Ask When Selecting a Mesothelioma Lawyer:

The next thing to ask is what is involved in this kind of lawsuit. You want to get an overview of the process, and what your role will be in it. You also want to get a sense of how good a communicator the attorney is.

Finally, a lot is at stake financially in these lawsuits. Therefore, it is ordinarily a good idea to interview a number of attorneys before you make a final decision about who will represent you. Consider trying to get at least two or three recommendations so you can make the best decision for you.. http://www.scambusters.org/mesothelioma-lawyer.html