Live Insurance News

Mortgage insurance risk advice offered by Canadian watchdog

April 18, 2014April 15, 2014 H. Cutner

The financial regulator in Canada has come up with a guideline draft for mitigating insurers risks. Canada’s financial regulator has now come up with a draft for certain mortgage insurance company guidelines that could help to decrease the risk that is currently present within the housing market. Analysts have cautioned that it could make it slightly harder for borrowers to obtain a home loan. The guidelines were created by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), and they would apply to that country’s three major mortgage insurance companies:…

Homeowners insurance settlement of $300 million to be paid by Chase

March 7, 2014March 4, 2014 G. Turner

Allegations over the force placed policies and the practices surrounding them have led to the payout. A federal judge recently signed off on a JPMorgan Chase settlement that will have the lender paying out a minimum of $300,000 to approximately 750,000 mortgage customers who had expensive homeowners insurance forced upon them. Force placed insurance is commonly applied to mortgage borrowers who let their coverage lapse, breaching their contract. When the required homeowners insurance is allowed to lapse by the mortgage borrower, or if they simply stop paying it, the lender…

Insurance jobs change focus with improvements in U.S. housing market

January 20, 2014January 21, 2014 G. Turner

The state of real estate across the country is causing brokers and agents to change gears. The insurance industry and the housing market are very closely related and individuals in insurance jobs, such as brokers and agents, must keep on top of the latest movements in that marketplace in order to ensure that they are spending their time and energy on the products that will be most beneficial to their customers and that will generate the greatest revenues at the same time. Good or bad, the sale of homes has…

How to sleep at night after you choose your mortgage provider

November 23, 2013April 17, 2014 Kirk Chivas

Many people believe interest rate/closing costs will determine which mortgage provider is best for them…if it were only that easy. Today’s home buying process can be exciting as new listings require attention quickly, and negotiating offers can fill up a weekend schedule without notice. Confidence in your Loan Officer and open communication can make a substantial difference in your ability to make decisions to keep the process moving forward. Reviews or client satisfaction surveys are fantastic resources to help understand all aspects of the process, some of which you may…

Force placed insurance regulations to be altered in the United States

November 8, 2013November 5, 2013 G. Turner

The FHFA now intends to ban mortgage lenders from being able to receive payments. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is now working to ban mortgage companies from being able to receive lucrative payments in order to arrange for forced placed insurance on behalf of homeowners in certain situations, such as when an existing policy has been allowed to lapse or has gone unpaid, against the agreement of the loan. The U.S. housing regulator is working to stop this controversial payments practice from continuing. Government officials have revealed that force…

Insurance news shows the mis-selling complaints in the U.K. continue

October 25, 2013October 22, 2013 G. Turner

UK cyber Insurance industry News united kingdom

A recent report issued by the watchdog organization has revealed that banks will need to provide more in payouts. The Financial Ombudsman Service in the United Kingdom has now stated that the number of complaints that it has received with regards to the insurance news of the mis-selling scandal in the country have skyrocketed within the six months that ended in September. This has increased the odds that banks will be required to pay a higher amount for compensations. The Financial Ombudsman Service is the official watchdog that steps in…

Can personal property be included in the Purchase Agreement?

October 5, 2013April 17, 2014 Kirk Chivas

Underwriters are always blamed for being picky but when they see personal property listed on the first page of a Purchase Agreement, they get super crabby. The underwriter will claim that that the loan will not be insured if there is personal property included in the sale. Here is an example: The agreed upon Purchase Price of a home is $200,000. In that $200,000 agreement, the Seller has included an outdoor play set in the backyard. The Play set is not considered “real property” but is considered “chattel” which is…