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Woolworths Limited (Woolworths) continues its push into the financial services sector with the launch of Woolworths Life Insurance (WLI).

Along with Woolworths Pet Insurance, WLI is the first of many financial services set to be introduced, according to the company announcement.

All Australian residents aged between 18 and 65 are eligible to apply for WLI, which provides cover from $100, 000 to $1.5 million depending on age and income.

Members also have the option to pay their premiums either fortnightly, monthly or annually.

As part of the announcement, Woolworths will partner with Swiss Re and The Hollard Group (Hollard) to provide what Woolworths described as a cost effective, flexible and easy to understand alternative to many existing options providing financial protection.

 Woolworths will be responsible for the overall value proposition of WLI, while Swiss Re will act as the underwriter, and Hollard as the distributor and administrator, Woolworths stated.

Woolworths Head of Insurance George Hughes said the alliance will provide a solid backing to an effective, low-risk model that represents the first step in entering the insurance sector.

“We intend to have long term presence in the insurance sector, with the ability to cater for all our customers’ insurance needs,” said Woolworths head of insurance George Hughes.

“Our research tells us that many everyday Australians find insurance difficult to understand and access, to the extent that 95 per cent of families do not have adequate levels of life cover.”

Hughes’ stated figure came from the ‘The Life/NATSEM Underinsurance Report’ released in February 2010.

According to Hollard managing director Richard Enthoven, the cover offered by Woolworths represents a substantial opportunity.

“Based on our extensive international experience distributing insurance in partnership with large retailers, we are confident that the Woolworths Insurance initiative is the single largest untapped insurance opportunity in Australia,” Enthoven said.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A key legislative committee approved a bill Thursday to give state regulators the power to reject proposed health insurance rate increases, but the measure faces a stiff fight on the California Senate floor.

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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill with a 6-3 party-line vote, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed.

While GOP lawmakers have been solidly against AB52, some Democrats also have voiced concerns about aspects of the bill, which was narrowly approved by the Assembly in June.

Even if it’s passed by the Senate, the bill’s fate with Gov. Jerry Brown is uncertain. His administration has warned about the potential for millions of dollars in new costs that could be incurred through hearings and appeals.

The bill has drawn national attention because California’s insurance market is so large. The state is home to one in eight Americans, and makes up 11 percent of the national market for those with health insurance through an employer and 15 percent with individual coverage.

Its author, Democratic Assemblyman Mike Feuer of Los Angeles, said he’s been working with Senate Democrats on amendments that could help the bill win passage.

“There are very few issues more important to California families than whether they can afford to go to the doctor,” Feuer said after the vote Thursday.

Groups representing insurers, doctors and hospitals oppose the bill, as do some broader business lobbies such as the California Chamber of Commerce. They’ve maintained a heavy drumbeat of lobbying, contending the bill would add to bureaucracy, delay decisions and regulate rates without addressing the rapid inflation of medical costs that drives rate increases.

New opposition has emerged in the past few weeks.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest public pension fund, voted last week to oppose AB52 because it could increase complexity and interfere in the giant fund’s ability to negotiate health benefits. Brown’s finance department told senators this month that the additional rate review would require more than 180 additional employees and could boost costs in 2012-13 by $57.7 million.

“Although AB52 has moved to the floor of the Senate, it is clear that the wheels on this misguided proposal are coming off in the closing weeks of this legislative session,” Patrick Johnston, president of insurance industry group the California Association of Health Plans, said in a statement.

Backers of the bill include organized labor, advocates for low-income Californians and state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, a Democrat, who would gain regulatory oversight of rates along with the state Department of Managed Health Care. Proponents say dozens of other states allow regulatory oversight of health rates to protect consumers.

“With health insurance costs increasing almost 10 percent a year for the past 10 years, consumers can’t afford to wait any longer for a real check on rate hikes,” said Pedro Morillas, legislative director for the California Public Interest Research Group, in a statement.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A few preparations in the days before a hurricane can save money, protect property and ease the process of filing an insurance claim.

Hurricane Irene is churning up the East Coast with a scheduled landfall Sunday in Connecticut. Now is the time to secure property, get supplies, check your insurance coverage and take inventory of your belongings before the storm hits, according to insurance and public safety experts.

Connecticut has $479.9 billion worth of property insured on its coastline, according to the Connecticut Insurance Department. Irene is expected to cause $1.9 billion in damage to insured property in the state, according to an estimate Thursday by Kinetic Analysis Corp. of Silver Spring, Md., which models catastrophes for insurers.

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If the storm wrecks your home, you’ll have an easier time filing an insurance claim if you know what you had before it was destroyed.

“An up-to-date home inventory is one of four key steps that everyone should take to financially protect themselves against a disaster,” said Jeanne M. Salvatore, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute. “The other steps are contacting your agent or insurance company representative to make sure that you have the right amount and type of insurance, protecting your property, and knowing where to go and what to take with you if you need to evacuate.”

For suggestions on how to make a home inventory with photos, go to the insurance institute’s KnowYourStuff.org. You could make an inventory with your smartphone, too. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ MyHome Scr.APP.book application is available on iTunes. The application allows people to take photos, write descriptions and even record bar codes and serial numbers for safekeeping.

Insurance coverage varies widely — even in policies sold by the same company. It’s best to take a look at your policy or call your agent to know your deductibles, or any limitations on special items such as jewelry or art. Check your policy’s “declarations” page to find out about different deductibles that apply if the storm is a hurricane or some lesser tropical storm. The “declarations” page also will have information about whether the insurer plans to pay a replacement cost or an actual cash value for various items.

Homeowners’ insurance will cover damage from rain, wind or wind-blown objects like fallen trees. A typical homeowners’ policy does not include flooding. Flood insurance is offered through the National Flood Insurance Program, managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has a 30-day waiting period to prevent people from signing up days before a storm hits.

Homeowners’ coverage, put simply, covers water that falls from the sky. Flood insurance covers water that seeps up from the ground or pours into the house.

Insurers recommend securing your property by putting cars and motorcycles in a garage and hauling boats to a dry dock. Boats that can’t be taken out of the water should be tightly moored, said Steve Jones, assistant vice president in personal lines at The Harford Financial Services Group.

“The best thing to do for your automobile is to ensure that it’s garaged,” Jones said. “If that’s not possible, what The Hartford recommends is to be certain that it’s parked in a place that is clear of trees or outdoor basketball hoops or other things that could become airborne.”

Jones added, “For your home, what we recommend, if you have installed storm shutters, obviously use them. If not, you want to be certain that your lawn and the surrounding area is free from items that may become airborne.”

The Insurance Institute for Business Home Safety, an insurer-funded research group, recommends checking the caulking around windows and doors to make sure that it isn’t cracked or broken. Fill any holes or gaps around pipes or wires that enter the house, the institute said. Roll up rugs and get them off the floor to keep them from getting wet and moldy, and check sump pumps to make sure they’re working properly and have a battery backup, the institute said in a note.

“Any time a hurricane is on its way, people in the potential path of that strong combination of wind and water should prepare themselves as much as possible ahead of time to reduce their risk of personal injury and property damage,” said Julie Rochman, president of the Insurance Institute for Business Home Safety.

Homeowners and business owners should keep a copy of important documents in a waterproof place.

“With a business, they want to make sure they’re backing up any of their important documents, you know, payroll, orders . . . and storing it somewhere other than the premises,” said Ray Stone, vice president of catastrophe operations at The Travelers Cos.

Travelers recommends planning an evacuation route before the storm, boarding up windows, stocking up on drinking water and nonperishable food. Get batteries ready for flashlights and have a portable radio that is in good working condition. Travelers also recommends that all family members learn how to shut off electricity and other utilities in case of an emergency, like toppled power lines or broken gas pipes.

Stone suggests filling the gas tanks in your vehicles before the storm hits, and paying attention to emergency evacuation orders. Gas stations can have long lines right before a storm, and hurricanes often knock down power lines, making it difficult to find a place to refuel.

“From a homeowner’s standpoint, to facilitate … the claim process afterward, they want to make sure that they’ve taken those important documents with them — their insurance policy, who their agent is, contact numbers so that they can report the claim just as quick as they can,” Stone said.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an insurance trade organization, recommends keeping all receipts for repairs so that your insurer can reimburse you.

For information about preparing for a storm, or filing a claim afterward, check the Connecticut Insurance Department’s website, http://www.ct.gov/cid, or call its consumer help line at 800-203-3447.

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Hurricane insurance has a unique place in the world of insurance. Just as hurricanes can do all sorts of damage to a house – from wind, flood, and rain – so hurricane insurance requires a multifaceted approach beyond typical homeowners insurance. Some hurricane damage is covered by homeowners insurance. Then there’s a government-run program for flooding. As hurricane Irene heads for the East Coast, here are answers to six key questions:

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Mary Helen Miller, Correspondent

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A man walks where a wave sprays the street as the outer bands of hurricane Irene lash Baracoa, Cuba, Wednesday. In the US, hurricane insurance comes in two parts: private homeowners policies, which cover wind damage, and federal flood insurance. (Javier Galeano / AP )

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Do I have insurance for hurricane damage?

Hurricane insurance is a little tricky. Private homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, but it should cover any damage caused by hurricane winds. Even so, many homeowner policies have special deductibles for hurricane damage that are separate from the general deductible for other damages. While the general deductible is likely set at a dollar amount, the deductible for hurricane damage is often set as a percent of the hurricane costs. It’s usually around 3 percent, says Ernst Csiszar, a professor of finance at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, although it can run as high as 5 percent of the damage costs.

Any hurricane damage from water, not wind, is covered by flood insurance, which must be purchased separately through the federally run National Flood Insurance Program.

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PORTSMOUTH — A local insurance broker accused of defrauding a Nevada couple out of $2.4 million through a life insurance scheme is scheduled for mediation toward “a potential settlement,” according to federal court records.

A seven-count lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Nevada alleges James Archibald of Portsmouth perpetrated the fraud with recently-indicted former financial adviser Karl Hahn. The suit alleges Archibald and Hahn committed fraud and misrepresentation, fraud based on concealment and omission, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, professional misconduct, unjust enrichment and violated Nevada’s consumer protection laws.

The motive was large sales commissions, according to federal prosecutors.

An order filed with the Nevada court states Archibauld and an attorney for his alleged victims are scheduled to meet in Chicago on Sept. 13 with “at least one other party associated with this dispute.” The purpose of the meeting, according to court records, is to engage in mediation in front of a retired judge.

Both sides “wish to avoid unnecessarily expending substantial additional sums” of money pursing the legal case, a court order states. The mediation plan was approved July 21 by Judge Robert McQuaid Jr.

Archibald’s Boston attorney, Louis Ciavarra, told the Herald in June that his client is not guilty, but was “swept up in the Karl Hahn saga.”

Once a wealthy investment adviser who lived in a Portsmouth mansion, Hahn was arraigned in June in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire on federal charges alleging he “devised a scheme to defraud” a Portsmouth man out of $1.9 million. He’s scheduled for a Nov. 1 trial.

The Nevada suit alleges Archibald agreed to “associate” with Hahn to sell a wealthy couple “large life insurance policies through premium financing.” Former neighbors, Archibald and Hahn are alleged to have traveled to Nevada in April 2008, when they sold life insurance to the couple by “misrepresenting” the deal, saying it would come at no risk or cost to them, while protecting their assets in life and after death.

“Both Hahn and Archibald stated that life insurance plans were ‘complex,’ but promoted themselves as experts in the packages upon whom (the couple) could rely,” according to the suit.

“Jim (Archibald) and Hahn are not and never were partners or joined in any way,” Ciavarra previously told the Herald. “The plaintiffs are two wealthy people with buyer’s remorse, and blamed everyone else for their decision.”

The couple allege Archibald, his Portsmouth employer Port Capital and Hahn “secretly” obtained life insurance for them for several million dollars more than what was represented “in order to generate large commissions to themselves,” while “using the borrowing power” of the alleged victims.

Ciavarra said Hahn “made certain misrepresentations” to the couple, but Archibald was unaware of them until months later when he brought them to the couple’s attention.

In the summer of 2009, Hahn left Deutsche Bank for a job at Oppenheimer in Portsmouth and asked the couple to move their insurance business with him, the Nevada suit alleges. When Hahn transferred the business, it “triggered” a default of the insurance loan and demand notices were sent to the couple totaling $2.4 million.

“The transfer was for the purpose of allowing Archibald, Port Capital and Hahn to continue to carry out the fraudulent life insurance premium financing scheme,” the suit alleges.

The couple “found themselves relying on Archibald, Hahn and Port Capital to extricate themselves from the situation created by Archibald, Hahn and Port Capital in the first place,” the suit alleges.

Ciavarra cited Archibald’s “years of experience selling life insurance” for “some of the country’s largest insurers,” while noting a trustee for the alleged victims stated Archibald “did absolutely nothing wrong.”

The alleged victims previously asked the Nevada federal court for a jury trial and triple damages.

California attorney David Thomas is representing the alleged victims and told the Herald Hahn was, but is no longer, a defendant in the federal lawsuit because Hahn’s former employer, Deutsche Bank, argued the Nevada court didn’t have jurisdiction. Thomas said he then “voluntarily dismissed” the allegations against Hahn, which he believes now belong with FINRA, the largest independent securities regulator in the United States.

On March 2, the N.H. secretary of state suspended Hahn’s broker-dealer agent license, ordered him to show cause why it shouldn’t be revoked, and to pay yet-to-be determined penalties and fines. According to court records, Hahn promised the Portsmouth man his $1.9 million would be used for an investment and yield a profit, but “there was no investment and instead Hahn simply intended to, and did, take the victim’s money for his own personal use.”

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How Health Reform Helps The Unemployed and Uninsured

The report finds that some early health reform provisions, including allowing young adults up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance, and the creation of pre-existing condition insurance plans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, are already helping some of the unemployed and uninsured. However, the reforms that will have the most significant impact will take effect in 2014 when Medicaid is substantially expanded to cover single adults earning up to $14,484 a year and families of four making up to $29,726 a year. In addition sliding scale premium tax credits will be available for single adults earning up to $43,560 and families of four making up to $89,400 to purchase private policies through new state insurance exchanges. People who buy health insurance through the exchanges will enjoy new consumer protections that will assure they won’t have to pay high premiums or be denied insurance because of their health status.

Despite the new protections, the report authors say that there will still be a role for COBRA in 2014, to reduce the burden switching insurance plans places on families, and to curb federal and state administrative costs associated with changing plans to fill short gaps in coverage.

Between now and 2014, the report authors recommend that policy makers continue the current protections in place for unemployed Americans, including extending jobless benefits and re-establishing the COBRA subsidies that helped millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the recession keep their health insurance coverage.

“It’s clear from this report that losing a job and health insurance simultaneously is a serious threat to a family’s health and financial stability,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. “The Affordable Care Act will assure that families already struggling with the devastation of unemployment will still be able to get the health care they need and will be protected if they become seriously ill.”

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation supporting independent research on health policy reform and a high performance health system.

Source: Commonwealth Fund