Online Financial Tips

Archive for October, 2011

The History Of Prepaid Legal Services:

Prepaid Legal Services, Inc. is a network marketing company that focuses on marketing legal membership plans to middle America. The plans provide for legal service benefits, including unlimited attorney consultation, letter writing, document preparation and review, will preparation, traffic violation defense, automobile-related criminal charges defense and a general trial defense. Basically, they allow customers to have access to legal representation and attornies for a FRACTION of what it would cost outside of the membership.

Prepaid Legal Services, Inc. started in 1973 by Harland Stonecipher. The flagship product is the Life Events Plan and currently there are more than 1.5 million members in North America. A few years ago, the Identity Theft feature was added to the membership giving the membership more benefits. The strength of the Prepaid Legal concept is that it is marketing a unique service that people from every economic status can benefit from. It virtually doesn’t have any real competition in the traditional business arena or the network marketing industry.

Leadership And Training

Prepaid Legal Services is led by some of the most dynamic and documented leaders in the network marketing industry. Besides founder Harland Stonecipher, the corporate team contains many seasoned MLM veterans like Jeff Olson and co-CEOs Randy Harp and Mark Brown. On top of that, there are many seasoned veterans that sit on the Board of Directors. One example is current Board member, Stephen R. Hague, A 35-year veteran of the insurance industry, Hague has served as Chairman and CEO of several insurance companies. Hague replaced former Board member, John Addison, co-CEO of Primerica, when Addison resigned in 2003.

Prepaid Legal mainly focuses on building a business using offline building methods like contacting your warm market and handing out company DVDs to sharp people you come across. This “DVD-Exposure” technique has exploded it’s recruiting numbers across North America. With that said, they have recently instituted online presentation, lead capture pages and webinars for reps that want to leverage the internet to build their business.

What Are The Pros And Cons?

Prepaid Legal has many attractive features if you’re looking for a network marketing company to partner with. It’s leaders are great at teaching and promoting the fundamentals of building a network marketing business. The techniques that are taught are pretty simple and effective, assuming you don’t mind approaching your warm market. Another attractive feature is, if you are uncomfortable at giving presentations, there are a ton of tools, resources and systems you can use to recruit people into your business. Another feature that might interest you if you are looking at Prepaid Legal as a business opportunity is that there is a significant income you can generate just from marketing the service and acquiring customers. In short, Prepaid Legal is a great vehicle for the average person to come on board and see some success.

One disadvantage (if you want to call it that) that Prepaid Legal has is the potential for a rep to receive a chargeback. This means that if a customer cancels their membership within the first 12 months, the rep will incur a commission chargeback, due to the customer falling off the books. Personally, I don’t really see this as a disadvantage because all businesses, traditional or MLM, have some sort of chargeback feature when commission is paid on a customer that cancels, ex. life insurance.

In closing, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc. is an established company that is marketing a service in a groundfloor industry. Besides having a quality service and a strong pay plan, the fact that people who have no interest in MLM will still buy and keep the service is a major factor you need to be aware of if you want to build a large customer base that will pay you residuals for decades to come.

Making the most out of car loans

Getting a car loan seems a difficult task if you are in the list of people with bad credit history. If you are tired of rejected car loan applications because of your bad credit then you need to seriously think about car loans specially prepared for people with poor credit. You may wonder how are these specialized car loans are different from those normal car loans? And exactly what they do offer? How do such loans work? Read on to get the answers and more.

Specialized loans for people with bad credit

Traditional money lending institutions approve car loans according to a good credit rating. If a person has bad credit then he/she cannot qualify for a car loan from a local bank, credit organizations like USAA or AAA or financing companies such as Toyota motor credit or Ford Motor Credit. Now everyone needs a vehicle but not everyone can have a perfect credit report. In that case many specialized car loans are designed for people who are facing the problem of bad credit, bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossession, marginal credit or no credit. Most of the time auto dealers lend initial auto loans which are later transferred or sold to a financing company.

Basic requirements to qualify

Applying for such specialized car loans is easy unlike normal car loans which require a high credit score as first eligibility criteria. On the contrary anyone with bad credit can apply for car loans prepared for persons with poor credit. To obtain a car loan all you will need to do is to furnish necessary papers. Your lender will ask to show your valid driver’s license in U.S.A. and your identification proof. You will also need to show proof of your employment with minimum income of $2000 per month. You should be able to obtain car insurance and provide proof of residence and a valid phone number.

Apply with quick and simple online application form

Obtaining a car loan is fairly simple with short application form available online. With the help of the Internet you can work out your car loan process from the comfort of your own home. Simply go online, fill out a short form which is totally free and one hundred percent secure. Your personal data is protected with industry standard security levels and it will be delivered only to leading car loan lenders in your area. Your application for the loan will be approved within minutes and more than one car loan lenders will contact you with personalized quotes for car loans as per your requirements. Compare these quotes and choose a right loan for you.

Do your homework before you apply

Applying for a car loan is easy; but planning for a car loan is as important especially if you have bad credit. First of all, check your credit report and find out problems. Second, determine the budget for your car. Calculate final numbers of car price and monthly payments. Use an online car loan calculator to plan your budget for the car loan. Research online for different options and find out which loan will best fit your needs.

One of the areas of greatest confusion is the difference between Professional Indemnity, General Liability and Product Liability Insurance. Professional Indemnity Insurance provides coverage for professionals (corporate or individual) for any negligent act, error or omission alleged to have occurred while in the performance of their professional activities and duties. It differs from General Liability and Product Liability Coverage in that the acts covered are those acts performed by an engineer, architect, doctor or attorney in rendering professional services to their clients. To better understand this coverage we will have a brief discussion below of Product Liability, Professional Indemnity and the application of the latter and how it functions.

A. Product Liability

Product Liability is the legal responsibility of a manufacturer to a consumer of its’ product. Liability arises out of the negligent manufacture of a product including defective or faulty workmanship, materials or components. It is a liability that arises from the failure of a manufacturer to properly manufacture, test or warn about its product and occurs when the product departs in a negligent manner from its intended function.

Product Hazards includes bodily injury or property damage arising out of the named insured’s products, but only if the bodily injury or property damage occurs away from the premises owned or leased by the named insured and after physical possession of the products have been relinquished to others and is in the stream of commerce.

Completed Operations includes bodily injury and property damage arising out of operations or reliance upon a representation or warranty made at any time with respect thereto, but only if the bodily injury or property damage occurs after such operations have been completed or abandoned and occurs away from premises owned by or rented to the Named Assured.

Excluded from General Liability and Product Liability Coverage is that negligence attributable to Professional Liability, which includes the services or consultations rendered negligently by architects, engineers, or other professionals.

B. Professional Indemnity

The Professional Indemnity Policy is designed to answer the professional services exclusion in the CGL/ Product Liability Policy. The Professional Indemnity Policy covers the negligent services of a professional to its client and covers an act of negligence, error or omission on the part of an assured in the execution of his professional activities. These professional activities usually include design, the drafting of specification, feasibility studies, calculations, maps and supervision of same by the insured professional.

Professional Indemnity, or Errors & Omissions, Insurance protects an insured, its employees and directors against liability arising from their professional negligence. It covers the Legal Liability to compensate a third party who has sustained injury, loss or damage created by the existence of a duty of care owed to third parties as a result of a negligent act, error or omission in the rendering of professional services by the assured.

In light of today’s increasingly litigious society, Professional Indemnity Insurance provides important protection for the professional assured.

Coverage attaches under the Professional Indemnity Policy as soon as the design for the products begins and provides protection for any professional negligent act, error or omission which would result in a claim by third parties.

C. Applicability of Professional Indemnity Coverage

In discussing the applicability of Professional Indemnity coverage, certain basics should be kept in mind.

Firstly, Professional Indemnity is a third-party coverage that is a liability cover, not a property cover, which is provided to the assured for the claims against the insured from third party claimants.

Secondly, while coverage attaches from the beginning of the design phase of the project, a claim will not be until after delivery of the product and the product has left the premises of the assured.

Coverage for liability which occurs in the assureds’ workplace must be found elsewhere, such as the General Liability, Builder’s or Contractor’s All Risk or Protection and Indemnity policies.

Thirdly, of course the claim must arise out of a failure in the professional services provided. There is some limited coverage afforded under the Professional Liability for faulty workmanship, materials and/or components. Also, included in the Product Liability cover would be any claim for defective materials or components, defect in manufacturing, or workmanship.

Fourthly, any inadvertent, non-intentional breach of a patent or copyright infringement is also covered under this policy.

If you are currently looking for a new home, make sure you look into government tax-foreclosures. Foreclosed real estate is a great chance to find a new home for a fraction of what you might normally pay, foreclosures often sell for as much as 20 – 60% less than their regular market value. Check out some online listings and you will be pleasantly surprised at home many homes are available.

Government and Tax Foreclosures

Government foreclosures occur when a homeowner is significantly in debt to the government and is unable to repay them. This debt is usually tax related, be it income tax, property tax, or otherwise. When this happens, the government will take possession of the home and sell it either through traditional means or by public auction.

Either way, a government foreclosed home can present an amazing deal for you!

Foreclosure Listings without Membership Fees

Nearly all of these properties are listed on online foreclosure listings. These websites require that users pay a monthly membership fee which can be discouraging to anyone new to foreclosures. Luckily, most of the larger websites offer a free 7 day trial membership, which allows full access to all homes and their details (addresses, prices, photos, etc) for a trial period of seven days.

This is the best way to get started with foreclosures, hands down. After browsing online listings for 7 days, you will be more informed about what is available in your area, and able to decide if a paid monthly membership is right for you.

A foreclosure home listing is not the same as a traditional listing showing a property for sale. Often times people don’t know the difference. Once you know the difference you will certainly want to consider purchasing a foreclosed home rather than taking the traditional route.

A traditional listing is simply when the property is being put up for sale. When looking at a foreclosure home listing you are seeing the aftermath of a situation where the owner could not make the payments, thus defaulting on the loan. Most often, foreclosed properties are put up for public auction.

Choosing the purchase a foreclosed property can be a profitable choice as the lender who had to take back possession of the property is simply trying to make back the lost money and not necessarily turn a profit. After all, they aren’t in the real estate business and just want to be rid of the property.

To learn more about a foreclosure home listing, you can start by looking in the classified section of your newspaper. All lenders who must sell a property they had to repossess are required by law to make the sale of that property public information by publishing in the paper.

Your County Recorder’s Office is also a place to get educated in the process as that is where you find the public records pertaining to foreclosed properties as well as information in the requirements and process of how to bid on a property you may find interest in.

Local real estate agents and banks can also be a good place to find a foreclosure home listing of interest as they will work in conjunction with each other. They most often list current foreclosures on their websites as well.

Taking the time to learn the process of purchasing a foreclosed property may possibly be the smartest financial move you can make in the world of real estate.