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Monday, July 30, 2018

Lemonade for Surviving the Insurance Industry Scam; Biggest Scam Artist Since Madoff


 

Poor Man Survival

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ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 



Consumer alert:  Allstate owns Progressive, esurance, the general and others AND therefore, much of what they state in their TV advertising is verisimilitude or the appearance of truth or in my opininion, a lot of crap.  There should be a large banner across the bottom of such ads warning the public.  The FTC has failed in its duty to protect the public from such shams. 

[The same applies to travel booking services:  Surprise: Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia + 20 Others All Jointly Owned]

We just spend a big chunk of change renewing our auto, health, homeowners [on two properties] and other insurance policies through the same carrier and each year we get hit with higher premiums and the same song and dance…premiums are higher because you live in MI and because you have a bad credit score.

Our so-called bad score is based on the fact that we pay cash for everything and we do finance anything including our homes, autos, etc.  Although, to combat this nonsense, we finally obtained a credit card to “build” our credit score.

As far as auto insurance, MI has the worst auto insurance in the nation and I have been waging a losing battle against the political elite here for a year who are in the pockets of the legal establishment and the medical industry to maintain the status quo which enjoy the sky high rates in order to fleece the pockets of the disabled, the poor and seniors who must pay sky high rates [even those who already pay for other policies including Medicare are FORCED to pay for unlimited medical insurance policies on their auto policies in MI – the only state in the nation to do so]!

Lemonade is a new face on the homeowners and renters insurance scene, but it’s already receiving tremendous feedback from consumers. Lemonade breaks the traditional insurance mold with low rates, a mutual insurance model, high-tech solutions, and transparency that is a welcome change from the norm…

Lemonade is stirring up a lot of commotion “reversing the traditional insurance model.” Its homeowners’ insurance model really does something revolutionary with its services. Shifting the focus from revenue to benefits, it’s a combination of innovative technology, flexible policies, and modern thinking. Not sure what that all means? Let me show you what Lemonade is all about.

Pros

  • Affordable homeowners and renters insurance
  • Tremendous online rankings
  • Transparent policies
  • Fast, easy claims processing

Cons


 

How Does Lemonade Peer-To-Peer Insurance Work?


Lemonade is a peer-to-peer insurance provider. That means people pay their premiums into a communal pot, and claims are covered by the money that’s in the jar.

The peer-to-peer model has recently expanded to several areas throughout the industry,  with companies like Prosper and LendingClub offering specialized social loans. This P2P model is certainly a refreshing twist to the gray and outdated insurance industry.

That’s already vastly different than the standard every-man-for-himself model, but Lemonade goes further. Traditionally, insurance companies tried to lure you to pay the highest premiums possible because that meant more money in their pockets. Then, they’d use red tape and hidden terms to deny your claims because the less money paid out in claims, the more revenue the company gets to keep.

The most amazing feature of Lemonade’s business model is this: After covering expenses, updating technology, and paying employees, Lemonade will donate leftover money to charity.

This is a really unique, innovative way to make sure that you and your insurer are not on opposite ends of a battlefield.

If you have a claim, a traditional insurer is incentivized to fight you, because if it doesn’t pay that claim, it will pocket that money as profit. Lemonade won’t get that money in any case because it will be earmarked for charity. We’ll dig deeper into this Giveback Program later in the article.

A Millennial Approach


Lemonade embraces technology unlike other insurers. Whereas traditional insurance companies offer plans that I might liken to a dial-up modem, Lemonade services are more like high-speed mobile internet. You can sign up for everything via the mobile app or online, make claims, and receive reimbursements without ever leaving the couch.

Claims are also automated for faster turnaround. You just upload a video of the damage, and Lemonade reviews the claim instantly. After approval, you’ll have the money transferred to your account so you can replace the item or have the property damage repaired. What people really love about Lemonade is the speed with which claims are processed. In fact, a quarter of claims are paid out in under 3 seconds!


What Does Lemonade Cover?


Lemonade coverage is pretty exhaustive, especially for the price. Generally, Lemonade can cover everyone in your home (all relatives included for no additional cost) excluding roommates who are not related to you, and all of your belongings even if they’re not in the house at the time of damage. Here’s what you can expect to be covered with a Lemonade homeowners/renters insurance policy:

Reconstruction Costs


If damage is done to your home, insurance covers the cost to repair those covered damages.

Personal Property Damage


Lemonade also covers damage or destruction of any personal items.

Personal Property Theft


You’ll be reimbursed if your personal property is stolen, and what’s even more impressive is that items are covered regardless of where the item is (in your home, outdoors, in France!).

Other Person Liability


Lemonade covers medical expenses and legal fees when another person is injured and you are held responsible. This also refers to injuries sustained on your property for which you are held liable.

Loss of Use


Finally, Lemonade will cover any living expenses you incur if forced to leave your home for covered reasons.

Is Lemonade Worth the Cost?


Easily one of its most prominent features is the low-cost of having Lemonade insurance. When compared to the competition, Lemonade wins hands down in the rates department. No matter which policy and competitor I compared it to, Lemonade was at least $10 cheaper, and more often than not it was $200, $300 or even $400 less. In short, Lemonade offers tremendous value for your money. If you aren’t looking for a bundled insurance policy, this is easily your cheapest bet. Where you live, what you want insured, and deductibles will factor into your premium cost, but a lot of people can get Lemonade insurance for just $5/month.

Not only does it boast the lowest rates, but you can adjust your deductible at any time to increase or decrease your premiums. They’re inversely proportional, so if you pay more of a deductible, you’ll pay less premium. What’s more, Lemonade offers some of the highest coverage limits in the industry. That means you’ll get more money for your losses than you would from competitors.

Lemonade also offers discounts for good credit or owning an alarm system, smoke detectors, or home monitoring system. Don’t have a fire alarm or security system? Lemonade will give you a discount on your premiums even if you live within close proximity to one of the major defense departments like a fire station or police department.


Coolest Lemonade Features


Zero Everything


Lemonade’s Zero Everything policy is great for people who have a lot of smaller items they want insured. This policy waves the deductible for claims made in exchange for a slightly higher premium. Let’s say your $350 tablet breaks. With a $100 deductible, you’ll get $250 to have it replaced. With Zero Everything, you’ll get the full $350 (after paying a higher premium). And unlike many insurers, Lemonade won’t increase your rate if you make two claims or less annually.

Extra Coverage and Add-Ons


Lemonade allows you to increase your coverage limit for more valuable items. For example, standard coverage limit for jewelry insurance is $1,500. However, you can expand your coverage, so the limit for that same item rises to an impressive $50,000. Such high limits for expanded coverage is a unique feature that you won’t easily find with Lemonade’s competitors. Coverage also applies to belongings stored in an outdoor unit. Items eligible for additional coverage include artwork, jewelry, bikes, musical instruments, and more.

Mobile App


With the sleek Lemonade app, you can request a quote, sign up and even file claims on the mobile app, making the entire process streamlined and so much faster than anything I’ve ever seen in the insurance industry (not to mention convenience you won’t find anywhere else). You can also tailor your coverage options and immediately apply changes via the app.

Transparency


Lemonade is straight-forward and easy to work with. It tells you everything you’ll need to know, doesn’t hide behind complicated jargon, and explains policy rules and caveats.


What’s This About Charity?


Anyone who likes the idea of big corporations giving back will appreciate Lemonade’s Giveback Program. This initiative lets Lemonade customers pick charities to donate their premiums to. Here’s how it works:

  • Lemonade takes a flat rate percentage (20% to be exact) to cover salaries, costs, etc.
  • Another percentage goes back to purchasing reinsurance coverage
  • The rest goes towards claims

Now, here is where the charitable donations come in. If there is money left over in the claims pool, that remainder will go to charity. In the first year of the program, Lemonade gave away an unbelievable 10.2% of its annual revenue to charity through the Giveback Program.


Drawbacks


Sounds too good to be true? Well, you can stop pinching yourself because Lemonade is the real deal. So, what’s the downside to this up and coming insurance model? For one thing, Lemonade isn’t available everywhere, yet. Coverage is an option only if you live in the following states:

  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Texas
  • Wisconsin
  • Washington DC

Live anywhere else, and you’re out of luck. Lemonade has promised to roll out several more coverage states within the year, though. Another downside to Lemonade’s coverage is that it only includes homeowners and renters insurance. You can’t bundle your auto insurance into a package deal to minimize your insurance expenses, for example. If that’s your goal, you should look elsewhere.


Summary


Lemonade Peer-to-peer insurance is a refreshing take on the more stagnant insurance model. The company has found a really unique way to make sure it’s not incentivized to cheat you (the money it has leftover goes to charity instead of to its own pocket). It offers a quality service that makes homeowners insurance affordable to everyone. Strong financial health and outstanding customer feedback give new customers all the encouragement they need to trust in this company.

Lemonade’s Giveback Program, smart mobile app, and easy claims process are just more reasons to support this service. What’s more, with excellent rates, a wide range of coverage, and useful add-ons, the company has definitely turned lemons into lemonade. Check out how easy it is to sign up for Lemonade now.
 

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Most people pay just about every expense they have using a credit or debit card – so why not rent? UrbanR allows you to do just that. It’s not an arrangement for everyone, but it is certainly worth investigating if you've ever experienced difficulties or inconveniences with paying or receiving payment for rent.


Taking a road trip can definitely be more budget-friendly than flying, and it allows you to experience all sorts of areas and landmarks along the way. However, if you’re not careful, you can easily overspend on your cross-country adventure.

 

Final Notes…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.


How to Build a DIY Air Conditioner in Minutes for Less Than $10

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/how-make-8-air-conditioner/

 

Meet the World's Greatest Scammer

 

 


Over decades, psychic Maria Duval (or those acting under her name) stole over $200 million from Americans and Canadians, scamming 60 times the number of people that Bernie Madoff did. In this in-depth CNN investigation and new book, reporters track her down in France, and get a number of surprises.

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Additional Resources

 
Your Free Middle Class Survival Kit

SAVE & MAKE Money

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How to Survive the War on the Middle Class

14 of the best reports I’ve assembled on protecting your freedom-Download link.


 

Rosefield is a classic traditional cabin, which can be built for less than $6,000. The cabin is open plan, which has the advantage of making it far easier, cheaper and quicker to build than more intricate cabins with separate rooms. This particular plan also includes a detailed cabin assembly diagram and step-by-step instructions which includes a foundation guide.  [282sf’]


 

 



 


 

 

 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production

Monday, July 23, 2018

Amazon Sets Sales Record While Average American Digs Deeper Into Debt


Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…


ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 


Amazon just held its big July Sale & Reaped Tons of Free PR

 

Despite near record debt levels, Americans set new spending levels for Amazon, making Jeff Bezos the richest man on the plant!

 91 percent of all retail sales still take place in brick-and-mortar stores, and that means that online retailers only account for about 9 percent of all retail sales.  Sadly, there is a much bigger reason why thousands of retail stores are closing down and millions upon millions of square feet of retail space is now sitting empty all over America.  The mighty U.S. consumer base was once primarily made up of middle class Americans, but the middle class in America has been on a slow, steady death spiral for many years.

So now the experts tell us that retailers that cater to high income and low income Americans are thriving, and those that once did so well selling to the middle class are fading away

The middle is disappearing — low and middle-income customers increasingly shop at discounters and dollar stores, forcing retailers that once served these customers, like Bon-Ton and its subsidiary brands, to close shop,” analysts from intelligence firm Gartner L2 wrote in a recent report on department stores.

The slow decline of the middle class in America has had an impact on retailers that haven’t adapted to the change. Increasingly, the most successful businesses in the sector have become more distinctly split into two sections: luxury and budget stores.

When I was growing up, it seemed like almost everyone that I knew was “middle class”, and the mall was the place to go on the weekends.

But now shopping malls are dying all over the country.  In fact, one new report says that shopping malls have not been this empty in the U.S. since we were coming out of the last recession

Not  long ago, I shared with you some absolutely shocking numbers about the decline of the middle class, and I would like to share them with you again now…1 78 million Americans are participating in the “gig economy” because full-time jobs just don’t pay enough to make ends meet these days.

> In 2011, the average home price was 3.56 times the average yearly salary in the United States.  But by the time 2017 was finished, the average home price was 4.73 times the average yearly salary in the United States.

>In 1980, the average American worker’s debt was 1.96 times larger than his or her monthly salary.  Today, that number has ballooned to 5.00.

> In the United States today, 66 percent of all jobs pay less than 20 dollars an hour.

Pundits still point out that many Americans at the bottom of the financial ladders still find they are better off NOT working as they are likely [depending on which state they live in] to take in more in health care benefits, food stamps, cash, housing assistance, etc. from the welfare system as opposed to finding a job and its related commuting expenses…[in Michigan, for example, the cost of auto insurance in Detroit is so expensive that 20% of its residents go without it as their low-wage jobs do not generate enough income to pay for food, shelter AND insurance].
 
 

>102 million working age Americans do not have a job right now.  That number is higher than it was at any point during the last recession.

>>Earnings for low-skill jobs have stayed very flat for the last 40 years.

> >Americans have been spending more money than they make for 28 months in a row.

>>At this point, the average American household is nearly $140,000 in debt.

>> Almost 51 million U.S. households “can’t afford basics like rent and food”.

>22 percent of all Americans cannot pay all of their bills in a typical month.

Today, U.S. households are collectively 13.15 trillion dollars in debt.  That is a new all-time record.

This is why so many U.S. retailers are failing.

The once mighty U.S. consumer base is being hollowed out because the middle class in America is being eviscerated…Costs of supporting the government, especially at state levels, continue to erode the incomes of Americans.

Inflation number crunchers rarely take into account the never-ending rise in the cost of government at local levels to average Americans.  These “hidden” costs take place in jumps in government mandated utility fees, automobile registration fees, various user fees, park entrance fees, water and sewer price hikes, etc.

Yes, the wealthy are doing quite well for the moment, but an increasing number of signs indicate that things are about to take a negative turn for them as well.

The middle class will continue to die, retailers all over the country will continue to go out of business, and shopping malls will continue to turn into ghost towns.



Bruce the Poor Man & Contrarian

 

 Find more ways to earn extra bucks with our FREE guide!

 

 
Your Free Middle Class Survival Kit

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A Final Note…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

 


Support our efforts by shopping my storefront…


 

 

 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production