NLIC.org

Rosemary Said:

how do you sue your homeowners insurance?

We Answered:

Hire a lawyer, and file the suit! What are you suing them for? Anyone can sue anyone for anything - the question is, will you win?? If a lawyer thinks you have a strong case, they'll take the case on contingency - ie, you assign them 30% of whatever they get for you. No win, no pay. If a lawyer thinks you don't have a strong case, or that the payout won't be very much, you'll have to pay the lawyer up front.


You can sue in the county you live in, or the county the agent is in, or the county the company has the regional office in. It's up to you. Your lawyer will probably look at all three locations, and see which one would be most favorable to a judgement in your favor.

As far as what you can get - usually for Unfair Claims Practices, you're looking at 3X damages. However, it sounds like you're really suing the agent, under Professional Liability coverage - he didn't sell you a coverage you need. Your attorney can give you an idea about how much the case is worth.

In order for you to win, you have to both prove that 1. the coverage WAS AVAILABLE, and the agent didn't offer it to you, 2. if the coverage was offered, you would have purchased it, 3. the coverage would have covered the claim, and 4. establish the value of the damages.

What kind of claim is it? Flood? Earthquake? (never mind, if there was an earthquake in NY, we would have heard about it!) What kind of damage do you have to the house? How much is it going to cost to fix?

Anna Said:

I have an interview at New York Life Insurance today, does anyone think this is a good company to work for?

We Answered:

I used to work for them as an agent a little over 8 years ago for about 3 months. I can tell you about my experience with them, but remember this was about 8 years ago and some things may have changed.

It was my first insurance agent job and my second job since graduating college. The job I had before was in retail sales, so I was fairly green to insurance.

To answer your first question "is this a good company to work for?" The answer is: sure. They are a financially strong insurance company. They treat their employees with respect (at least this was my experience). And they have some of the best insurance products out there. BUT, the agency position at New York Life is completely what you make of it.

You should know that the burnout rate is extremely high in this industry. Only 11% of agents that enter this business will be there after the first year. And of the 11% that make it past the first year, only about 25% are still there after 3 years. Make no mistake about it, New York Life is a production driven company. They expect their agents to produce business for them. After you sign a contract, they give you about 6 months to produce a sizeable amount of business. If you don't produce, then you get asked to leave.

They had a great training program when I went through it (sales, insurance product knowledge, etc.). But don't expect them to give you leads. You are completely on your own. The catch line when I was with them was "Be in business for yourself, but not by yourself." They practice what they preach with this line too. They offer you training, they will give you their programs, etc. But they do not help much when it comes to soliciting business. Also it is a 100% commission position.

When I started there, the first project was to come up with a list of 200 people who you could call on to solicit insurance. If you accept a contract with them, they will be expecting you to call on your friends and family to sell them life insurance. Then after you sell to friends and family, they expect you to call them for referrals. So after you go through your list of friends and family expect to do some cold calling.

Keep in mind when you sell your friends and family you ask them very personal questions (i.e. How much money to you make? Where are you placing your assets?) Many people don't feel comfortable asking these types of questions to their friends and family members. (I didn't.) But you have to do this in order to succeed at New York Life.

Will you have to go door to door or phone soliciting? No and Yes. They don't require you to go door-to-door, but I knew some agents that did this. As far as phone soliciting, yes you would be. But you would not be soliciting the product, only soliciting people for appointments where you can sell the product. When I was there, they required us to make 30-50 phone calls a day.

If you are a sales oriented, enjoy meeting people, good at handling rejection (and there is a lot of it), don't mind soliciting family and friends and asking personal questions, and all ready have an extensive network of family and friends, then financial services can be a good business. There are people in that business making well over 6 figures a year. But for every person making 6 figures there are about a hundred agents barely making $30,000.

Not that it's relevant, but I left the business because I wasn't comfortable asking my friends and family detailed financial information. I also recently moved into a new city, so I did not have an extensive network. I eventually started working in a P&C insurance agency with a family member who was able to train, teach and show me how to get referrals and sell. This worked out a lot better for me.

Good luck with the interview. Let us know how it goes.

Clara Said:

Now that the state of New York is legislating to recognize gay marriage, is federal recognition not far behind

We Answered:

No. It is very clear that just because one State passes laws recognising marriages contracted within that State, Congress is not going to change the Federal laws. Although marriages, and the form they take, can be contracted within a given State, it is Federal legisalation which allows those marriages to be recognised federally, and in every state of the Union.

The Federal Govrenment, - the Administraltion in Washington - and Congress has bipartisanly dcelared that marriage is between a man and a woman and that the Deferal Govt is NOT going to change its Marriage Act to recognise gay marriages, so they are accepted nationally throughout the Union.

The only option is for all 50 states to individually legislate...and considering SOME of the states and their political and social climates, this is not something that is going to happen soon.

How does someone from Australia know what's happening with a Federal system? We have one ourselves...and both major political parties dupported a change to our 1961 Marriage Axct (Federal) to change the deginition of marriage to a 'union between a man and a woman' back in 2004, instead of the previous 'union between two persons' which would have led to recognition, not only of gay marriages if State or Territory legislatures passed such laws, but barred recognition of gay marriages contracted overseas.

This is the same reason the US Administration will not change its laws. It's not just individual States it is concerned about, but people wanting their marriages recognised, that were contracted in other countries...like Canada.

Here, our Federal capital, canberra, is in a self-governing territory, the Australian Capital Territory, with its own Parliament. Howvere, the Federal Government can veto or annul any laws made by territorial parliaments (not State ones...in the State-Federal relationship though if there is a conflict between State and Federal law, Gederal takes precedence. This means States cannot enact gay marriage legislation...but civil unions are another thing. The ACT tried for a gay marriages, and had it quashed. They tried for civil unions...and it has been quashed too.

Meanwhile, our Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission identified 57 Federal laws which discriminate against gays and gay couples. On closer inspection, to implement the recommendations of their report, it was found 98 laws were discriminatory, and are being removed.

Marriage is not one of them, though.

And things will not change in the foreseeable future, for either of our countries.

Jo Said:

Career Car Salesman vs Insurance Salesman?

We Answered:

Neither of your choices are enticing to me. How many car salesmen or insurance salesmen have years of employment with the same company. Each is a career many young people choose until they find it really doesn't have a good future. I'd get into Real Estate for a more permanent and stable career.