A new study shows Americans are increasingly preferring to purchase their life insurance directly from the company either on the Internet, through the mail or over the phone. Two-thirds of Americans still prefer to buy life insurance from an insurance or financial professional, but a growing number like the idea of buying it directly.

Now more than one in four prefer this method. “‘Obviously, the Internet has fundamentally changed consumers’ buying practices over the past 15 years,” said Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, RFC, president and CEO of the LIFE Foundation in a news release. “Recognizing the growing consumer interest to use the Internet to conduct research and buy life insurance, life insurance companies and agents have developed and implemented innovative strategies to engage and serve consumers through their websites and social media platforms that are more convenient for the customer.”

The study found that younger consumers have the most interest in making life insurance purchases directly from the company. Roughly one in three in the 25-44 age bracket say they would prefer to buy direct, with most saying the Internet was their vehicle of choice. This information was recently released in a new LIFE Foundation/LIMRA study called “The 2011 Insurance Barometer Study.” But no matter how they purchase it, most people agree that life insurance is a necessity, with 86% saying that most people need it.

Residents in Kansas can now sign up for child-only health insurance. The legislation, signed into law in early June allows children  under the age of 19 to be included in insurance plans provided there is no similar, child-only coverage available at the county level. Many Kansas insurance providers stopped selling insurance to those under the age of 19 and this new law fills a void.

Any minor unable to purchase or obtain individual health insurance can now be included in the state’s high risk pool which is handled by the Kansas Health Insurance Association, or KHIA. “Now, those families that need a child-only policy can seek coverage through the KHIA plan if they meet the new eligibility requirements,” Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance, said in a news release. “It provides a starting point for a Kansas-based solution to a coverage problem. We appreciate the understanding of Gov. Brownback and the Kansas Legislature in supporting this change.”

In New York, parents with children under the age of 19 who need health insurance can not be denied health coverage due to pre-existing conditions thanks to a new law signed in late April. If a parent applies for insurance and is approved, then the child will also be approved.

If a parent is not applying for coverage, the application is known as a “child-only plan.” SB-11-128 mandates that child-only plans will be sold only during two open enrollment periods during the year — the month of August for this year. Starting in 2012, it will be the month of January and July. If a parent is not signing up, then the best time to sign up for “child-only” policies in New York is during August which is the open enrollment period. The situation is similar to Kansas and other states looking for a temporary solution until health care reform takes full effect. “The new law provides a temporary solution until 2014, when all health plans are required by law to provide coverage without consideration of health status,” Praeger said.

Strong tornadoes lumbered through Missouri last week, doing millions in damage to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and other structures. The airport received a $10 million insurance check to cover the costs of the damages from the storms. Airport officials say they’re still finalizing estimates for repairs, but $10 million is a good start. “They know it will be quite a bit when all is said and done,” Susan Kopinski, Lambert’s deputy director of finance and administration told the Post Dispatch.

The $10 million check shows just how extensive the storm was, but airport officials say they’re adequately insured for situations like this. The airport’s deductible is $100,000 and officials believed all of the damage would be covered, according to the newspaper. Flights were disrupted for a full day following the storm so the airport rushed to bring in contractors to make necessary repairs. Officials say the worst of the damage occurred in the C Concourse in Terminal 1. Several windows were blown out and a jet fuel tank farm was damaged.

The airport was just one of many buildings damaged. In fact Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co and Allied Insurance set up a temporary aid station to distribute humanitarian aid to victims. “Our hearts go out to victims of this terrible storm,” said Terrance Williams, regional vice president of Nationwide’s Central Plains Region. “We’re pleased to assist the community with humanitarian relief and would encourage anyone who needs emergency supplies to visit our mobile catastrophe unit. We’re also committed to providing timely service to Nationwide and Allied Insurance customers who may have experienced damage to their homes.”

Most days, you do not have to think about car insurance. It is just something you have for those “just in case” times. When you do need it, though, you don’t want to wonder what type of policy you have. Insurance is complex. Many people have misconceptions about what it is and how it works. Keeping this in mind, realize that you should know everything about your policy to avoid situations when you thought you were protected and really were not.
The following are the five most common misconceptions about car insurance.

1. I thought my policy covered all damage! If you do not have comprehensive auto insurance coverage, you could be paying for more than you think. If you have just basic coverage to keep you legal, your policy will not cover your damage, but just the costs associated with the other driver.
2. Don’t I get a rental car? If you do have comprehensive coverage, know what your policy includes and what it does not. Rental car reimbursement is not always a part of the plan. In many cases, this is a special add on to an insurance policy, not a given.
3. If I wreck the car, I’ll get my money back. Don’t plan to wreck your car and don’t plan on getting all of your money back in terms of what you paid for the vehicle. Depreciation plays a big factor in car insurance. Fair market value of the vehicle at the time of the accident determines what you will receive in the case of a covered accident in which the vehicle is totaled.
4. It was not my fault! Fault is not something that insurance companies or the police decide on too quickly. It is something that needs careful consideration. The determining factors over fault involve the facts and evidence in the case. Your insurance company will determine fault based on these details.
5. My insurance company doesn’t want to help me. Most insurance agents are more than willing to help you to get the money you are owed if you are involved in an accident. They are not trying to downgrade the value of the accident, in most cases. Rather, these agents know the most important factor is keeping you as a client long term.

Car insurance does not have to be expensive, either. You can buy an affordable policy just by comparing the options available to you and choosing a policy that fits your actual needs. Most importantly, spend some extra time reading through that policy before you agree to it!

Fidelity Investments announced that they are seeing significant growth in their Health Savings Account business. They’ve added 14 new HSA clients which marks a 52% increase over the previous year. In a news release the company explained how customers using Fidelity HSA are taking advantage of tax benefits of having this medical account.

On average, participants contributed $2,620 in 2010 which included both personal additions and employee contributions. “The continuing rise of health care costs combined with health care reform really drove the adoption of HSA-qualified health plans  by employers last year and thus the growth of HSAs,” said William Applegate, vice president, HSA products, Fidelity Investments in a company news release.  “As for participants, it is clear that many are using the health-savings product to help manage not only their current medical expenses but also plan for future expenses, with nearly all participants carrying some balance over to the following year.”

Currently Fidelity has 74,000 HSA participant accounts. One in five of those participants contributed more than $5,000 to their account in 2010. About half added around $2,500 in 2010. By law, in 2011 the maximum an individual can contribute is $3,050 and for families that number is $6,150. HSA’s allow consumers to make pre-tax contributions, realize tax-free growth and make withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.

Health care records for millions of Americans is missing according to a report by ABC News. The missing data also includes Social Security numbers for about two million of Health Net Inc.’s past and current customers. The company announced this week that it’s missing several hard drives from its data center which is located in the Sacramento area.

The California Department of Managed Health Care issued a news release saying that nine server drives are unaccounted for and that it’s investigating the missing information. The department believes about 1.9 million people could be impacted. Of those, more than 622,000 have insurance products regulated by the state Department of Managed Health Care, more than 223,000 are currently enrolled in California Department of Insurance products and another portion are Medicare clients.  “Obviously something went wrong, but we don’t know,” department spokeswoman Denise Schmidt said according to ABC News.

Health Net has about six million customers and this is not their first experience with data loss, according to reports. Back in January the company paid about $55,000 in a settlement over the loss of similar information of 1.5 million people. The incident happened in Vermont and customers were not told about the potential security breech for six months. ABC says IBM handles the company’s information technology.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says new crash tests prove the need for the federal government to require stronger guards on tractor-trailers. Even low-speed crashes can have deadly consequences according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Officials believe that requiring rear guards would reduce deaths and injuries when a passenger vehicle crashes into the back of a tractor trailer. According to a news release issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2009, 70% of the 3,163 people who died in large truck crashes were occupants of cars or passenger vehicles. “Cars’ front-end structures are designed to manage a tremendous amount of crash energy in a way that minimizes injuries for their occupants,” Adrian Lund, Institute president, said in a news release. “Hitting the back of a large truck is a game changer. You might be riding in a vehicle that earns top marks in frontal crash tests, but if the truck’s underride guard fails — or isn’t there at all — your chances of walking away from even a relatively low-speed crash aren’t good.”

According to estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 423 people in passenger vehicles die every year when their vehicles hit the backs of large trucks. More than 5,000 are injured according to research. New tests used a highly-rated Chevrolet Malibu to investigate accidents involving parked trailers. In three of the crash tests the heads of the dummies made contact with the trailer or the car’s hood. “The aim was to see if some underride guards perform better than others and to identify what crash speeds and configurations produce different types of failure,” Lund said in a news release. “Damage to the cars in some of these tests was so devastating that it’s hard to watch the footage without wincing. If these had been real-world crashes there would be no survivors.”

Homeowners with an FHA loan will have to fork over about $30 more a month according to federal officials. That’s because the annual mortgage insurance premium, which is broken into monthly payments will increase by one-fourth of a percent. The increase begins on April 18 on new loans, according to reports.

FHA or Federal Housing Administration loans are the most popular type of mortgages. The increase will vary depending on the amount of the loan and the term of the mortgage, but experts estimate the average impact to be about $30 a month. The reason for the increase is to boost capital reserves for the FHA which are currently below the set minimum due to the increase in foreclosures and defaulted loans. Last year the reserves were supposed to be at $18.5 billion, but in reality were only at $4.4 billion, according to a spokesperson for the FHA.

With the monthly increase the agency expects to add an extra $3 billion to its reserves each year. “After careful consideration and analysis, we determined it was necessary to increase the annual mortgage insurance premium at this time in order to bolster the FHA’s capital reserves and help private capital return to the housing market,” FHA Commissioner David Stevens told reporters. “This quarter point increase in the annual MIP is a responsible step toward meeting the congressionally-mandated two percent reserve threshold, while allowing FHA to remain the most cost effective mortgage insurance option for borrowers with lower incomes and lower down payments.”

ABC News may have helped the wife of a Vietnam War vet avoid getting her insurance coverage axed over a two-cent error. ABC News says when the cancer patient made a payment to Ceridian, the company that distributes the couple’s COBRA insurance, they made a two-cent mistake. The check was made out for $328.67, when it should have been $328.69. That mistake prompted the insurance company to cancel coverage.

When the company found that the couple had not made their full payment they issued this statement, “We did not receive a full and timely payment and [the insured] was provided several notices of the shortage and a grace period reminder notice on the last invoice, along with extended grace dates as provided for under COBRA regulations,” the company said according to reports. “Since the payment was not full, it fit into the definition in the regulations of an ‘insufficient payment.’ … Ceridian understands nothing is more important than one’s health. … Unfortunately, we simply do not have the capacity to be able to personally call continuants and remind them of the status of their Cobra benefits.”

Once ABC News got involved, however, the insurance company had a chance to rethink their decision. “We’ve reviewed the situation thoroughly,” a rep for the company told the news agency. “And we’re pleased to say… [the policyholder's] insurance coverage was reinstated.” However, Ceridian did not feel that it needed to apologize for the error.

According to new research, insurance prices vary drastically between drivers with a good driving record and those with a tarnished one. The cost difference can be as much as $3,000 a year depending on which auto insurance company you’re using. A Chicago-based insurance resource company did the research to find out how much a bad driving record will really cost you.

The company says they created three driver profiles using made up people. All of them were 21-years-old, driving 2009 Mustangs and living in Palatine, Illinois. Each of the fictitious drivers had the same five to six year history. The only difference between them was their driving record. “Everything else about the drivers’ profiles was as identical as possible using the various online applications of six major auto insurance companies,” David Thompson, President and CEO of E-Insure Services, said in a news release. “Good Driver had no moving violations and no accidents, Bad Driver reported a couple of accidents, and Drunk Driver had a DUI conviction.”

The best driver of the bunch was able to get insurance rates as low as about $90 a month. The bad driver received quotes ranging from $166.22 to $238.05. And finally, a drunk driver was given a wide range of quotes. “One carrier wouldn’t insure Drunk Driver at all. Another wanted $347.86 per month. And a third gave Drunk Driver the low quote of $95 a month, almost as low as Good Driver’s lowest car insurance quote ,” said Thompson in the news release.

Even the company conducting the research says the broad range in quotes is surprising. “Car insurance companies look at a number of factors besides driving records to determine premiums. The miles you drive, your vehicle and its safety rating, even your credit score come into play. That’s why it really pays to get at least three competitive auto insurance quotes before you commit,” said Thompson in the news release. Thompson says most drivers can expect to pay about six percent more this year for author insurance compared to last year.

In order to save money, experts say it’s important to take advantage of anti-theft discounts, multi-car policies, and enlisting the same company for multiple insurance products. Thompson offered up other options for cutting costs, “Pay annually instead of monthly. Pay online at the insurer’s website. You should also review your auto insurance at least once a year and review your coverage options.”