When this happens, the insurance companies that are in trouble will count on state guarantee funds to cover them. This is one reason to make sure your homeowners insurance company is a so-called 'admitted' carrier; nonadmitted carriers are not covered by state guarantee funds.

However, because these losses are usually clustered in geographic areas, there is a risk that regional insurance companies will be hurt so bad financially that they won't be able to pay all the claims at once.

We had a clear idea of what needed improving and what could stay the same.

They have done impossible things in impossible places. I think it's a great use of that altruism that is built into the Peace Corps. These are people who want to give of themselves.

Nowadays, the producer does everything, right down to telling the engineer what mics to use. Spector was more hands-on with the music side, but didn't touch the desk [recording console]. He'd tell the bass player what to do, the drummer what beats to hit. We'd put six months into it already, and the reason we were working with him was to make it sound good.

Even if you have a good, proactive company, you have obligations, ... Get Your Claim Paid.

Crooks move into disaster areas almost as quickly as relief workers do, ... These scammers will run every kind of rip-off, from conning people into signing over emergency benefits to signing usurious loans to fronting construction work that's never begun.

The first week was extremely enjoyable, inspirational.

Under those circumstances, most major companies won't require that you sign anything other than endorsing the check.