| Norristown insurance agent charged with fraud
State investigators have charged a 61-year-old Norristown insurance agent with bilking 14 clients out of $45,000 in premiums for policies he never bought. Attorney General Tom Corbett's office identified the agent yesterday as Brian Johnson of Congress Road. Johnson owns Valley Forge Insurance Group Inc., an agency formerly at 102-C W. Germantown Pike, Norristown. The business is now at 401 W. Johnson Highway in East Norriton Township. Johnson can continue doing business while his case is being heard, said Lauren C. Bozart, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office. According to a complaint, Johnson took money from the clients, ages 75 to 96, but never sent it to insurance carriers for life insurance and long-term care policies. Johnson is charged with 14 counts each of theft and related charges, plus one count of insurance fraud, Corbett said.
Title insurance demystified: do homeowners really need it?
I always recommend that buyers purchase an owner�s policy of title insurance. The problem is that most home buyers don�t know what title insurance is or what it covers, and only see it for the first time on the closing settlement statement. What Is Title Insurance? Title insurance is policy of indemnity protecting homeowners and lenders from financial loss in the event that certain problems develop regarding the rights to ownership of property. While closing attorneys check each title to real estate before a closing, there are often hidden title defects that even the most careful title search will not reveal. In addition to protection from financial loss, title insurance pays the cost of defending against any covered claim. There are two types of title insurance, lender�s and owner�s policies.
Insurance policy to pay some Petters lawyer fees
Court-appointed receiver Doug Kelley now has access to $7.5 million through an insurance policy covering Petters and his principal companies, Petters Group Worldwide (PGW) and Petters Company, Inc. (PCI) Money from a "directors and officers" policy, known as D&O insurance, will be used to reimburse the Petters estate for several million dollars in attorneys fees already paid and the likely several million more yet to be requested. "This will have a substantial beneficial affect on the estate," said Kelley, who will oversee the insurance claims. Kelley has controlled the Petters estate since October after Petters was arrested and then indicted on fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges for allegedly masterminding a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme.
Attorney General, Healthcare Advocate, Insurance Committee Co
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Healthcare Advocate Kevin P. Lembo and Insurance and Real Estate Committee Co-chairmen state Sen. Joe Crisco, D-Woodbridge, and state Rep. Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, today proposed sweeping reform of the state approval process for individual health insurance policy rates. .
IBC will halt two insurance programs to poor
The region's most fragile and impoverished elderly citizens will lose some of their health insurance in January when Independence Blue Cross stops offering two plans catering to the poor. Independence Blue Cross, the region's largest health insurer, began sending letters last week to the 36,000 subscribers in the two programs, Keystone 65 Complete and Keystone 65 Value. The company says that starting Jan. 1, it can no longer afford to offer these programs because of cutbacks in federal funding for Medicare. Advocates for the elderly are bracing themselves for an onslaught of calls as elderly subscribers receive the letters and begin to worry about access to their same doctors, drugs, hospitals, and pharmacists. "It's upsetting," said Alissa Eden Halperin, senior attorney and deputy director of policy advocacy for the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.
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