| * To lower funding to insurance unit under restructuring
N) said it may reduce a planned $1 billion investment in a spin-off insurance unit based on the outcome of talks with government-controlled housing companies, sending its shares down as much as 6 percent. MGIC said the ongoing talks with government controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) could end in a move to have the original company continue to write some new business. Under a previous restructuring proposal that won a positive reception from investors, MGIC had proposed shifting all new businesses to the spun-off unit. Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N), Freddie Mac (FRE.N) partner with insurers like MGIC to help shield them from losses. A home buyer who cannot offer a 20 percent down payment, for instance, will often turn to mortgage insurers.
Towns work to lessen impact of FEMA maps
Thousands of Bayshore residents are still on track to pay hundreds of dollars for flood insurance come Sept. 25, despite the efforts of local, state and federal leaders. A lawsuit from Monmouth County, a congressional bill from U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th District), and appeals from affected municipalities have yet to stop or even delay the planned Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Map. The map, which was drawn up by FEMA engineers in February 2008, marks what areas of the region have at least a 1 percent chance of flooding each year, commonly called "a 100-year flood." The government mandates that federally regulated lenders require mortgaged homes in these areas to have flood insurance, according to floodsmart.gov, the website to FEMA's flood insurance program.
Life insurance can give you peace of mind
Amazingly, the list goes on and on: mortgage payments, credit card bills, property taxes and insurance, car payments, electric bill, water bill and on and on. This is just my wife. What if we had kids still at home? If we currently survive on two incomes, could she survive on her own without my income? She would probably have to sell the house and a car and move to another home or apartment. Until something like this happens, nobody wants to think about death, let alone talk about it. But as we get older, it is the one truth that we cannot escape: We will all die. The question we need to ask and the answer we have to face is, "Are we prepared to die?" .
Borrowers face increases in mortgage protection cover
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners with mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) face sharp increases in their premiums over the next year. Insurance brokers have warned borrowers to brace themselves for regular price rises after the latest Labour Force Survey from the Office for National Statistics showed that unemployment jumped by 220,000 to 2.44 million in the three months to June. Policyholders have already endured a series of punishing increases since the beginning of the downturn, with prices rising by between 20 per cent and 100 per cent, according to Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website. Stephen Clowes, of Millennium Insurance Brokers, says that insurers are reviewing premiums at least every three months as unemployment rises. MPPI covers the cost of home loan repayments if a borrower loses his or her job or cannot work because of an accident or illness.
|
