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Filed under: Ask WalletPop, College, Debt

Isn’t it time you started reaping the benefits of your local congressman’s clout? Not yet ready to ask for a letter of recommendation for West Point? Have no fear because if you are the bearer of student loans and your loan company is shafting you, your congressman may be the key to a happy ending.

Getting some satisfaction with the help of your congressman or woman is so easy anybody can do it. Granted, like all problems and lending issues, it helps if you are in the right and have been paying your lender what the terms state. But this strategy may work even if you are close to being handed off to a collection agency.

As a little background: My wife had all of her student loans through Sallie Mae, affectionately referred to around our house as the devil. Several of these private loans which Ms. Mae was holding on to were pulling in 13.25% interest! We had included some of these loans in an initial federal consolidation which never worked out. Apparently the incoming fax line at Sallie Mae was hooked right up to a paper shredder because they never received our requests to consolidate. We tried again to consolidate my wife’s private loans with Wells Fargo, who, just like our federal consolidator, never received a response from Sallie Mae. Fed up with the problems we were having, I did what any rational person would, I called my local news stations call for…

WalletPop:

Filed under: Home, Insurance, Real Estate

After a 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook southern Illinois this morning, I wondered what would happen if my home were caught in a strong tremor. Like most people, my home insurance doesn’t cover such an eventuality. Ohio is in blue on the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program map of earthquake risk, so I probably won’t go shopping for coverage.

Earthquake insurance is available, though. Usually sold with a large deductible, the coverage might be a good investment for those in highly vulnerable areas. Of course, the higher the risk, the higher the premium. Californians are assured that coverage is available thanks to the creation of the California Earthquake Authority The CERA points out that there is no part of the state that is immune from earthquakes.

“For many California homeowners, their home is their biggest financial asset,” The CERA says on its Web site. “Without earthquake insurance, how do you plan to protect that asset from the costs of earthquake damage?”

But earthquakes aren’t just a California problem. The Insurance Information Institute (III) points out that since 1900 these geological events have occurred in 39 states and been felt in all 50.

“Earthquake insurance carries a deductible, generally in the form of a percentage rather than a dollar amount. Deductibles can range anywhere from 2 percent to 20 percent of the replacement value of the structure,” The III says on its Web site. “Insurers in states like Washington, Nevada and Utah, with higher than average risk of…