Toyota Recalls 3.37 million Vehicles for Defects

Toyota announced on Wednesday that they will be recalling 3.37 million vehicles worldwide to fix defects, this is the latest troubles for a Japanese auto industry hit by fuel-efficiency scandals and an exploding airbag crisis.

The affected models in the latest recall includes Prius hybrid, Corolla sedan, and luxury Lexus brand, those vehicles were mostly sold in Japan, North America and Europe.

Vehicles that were manufactured between 2008 and 2012 has been found that most have problem with passenger and driver-side air bags that could see the safety device partially deploy and risk injury, the company said. They also said that it is not part of the massive recalls of Takata air bags, which is involve in an airbag defect scandal linked to at least 13 deaths and scores of injuries globally.

Toyota Motor Corp. said it does not know of any fatalities or injuries related to the latest recalls.

Another defect besides the airbags is with the vehicle's fuel emission control unit that could lead to cracks developing in the unit. They said that because of this the cracks could expand over time and, eventually, fuel may leak from these cracks when the vehicle has a full tank of gas. No accidents or injuries have been reported in this defect.

About 2.87 million Toyota and Lexus brand cars are being recalled over the fuel tank defect, Toyota said, noting that some vehicles are subject to both recalls.

If you want to know if your vehicle is included in the recall go to, you'll need to Enter a 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN):
http://www.toyota.com/recall

Millennials Prefer to Rent but Pass on Renters Insurance

According to a survey published on insuranceQuotes, Millennials prefer to rent homes, and most of them don't like to get renters insurance. Even though that coverage is not expensive, and having non could cause a huge financial hardship.

Based on the April 2016 survey for insuranceQuotes.com done by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, 66% of 18 to 29 years old are renting their home, compared with just 37% of consumers overall. What is alarming is that less than 33% of Millennial renters have renters insurance.

When questioned about not having renters policy, 59% of renters in the 18 to 29 age group said that cost is not the primary reason. Instead, they believe it’s unnecessary because they live in a very secure property (61%), or they don’t own enough personal property to insure (43%). And 41% of them said they’re avoiding renters insurance because they don’t understand how the product works.

A lot of the consumers are foregoing the benefits of renters insurance because they underestimate the benefits and overestimate its cost. The average annual premium is $188 (or $15.67 per month); however, 25% of 18- to 29-year-old respondents believe they’d have to pay $1,000 or more. People need to be educated since it is an affordable financial safety net that every renter should have.

Other report highlights include:

    Renters who don’t have renters insurance because they don’t understand the product increased from 27% in 2015 to 33% this year.
    Renters who don’t have insurance because they don’t know where to get it also increased from 20% in 2015 to 26% this year.
    College graduates are more likely to have renters insurance compared to high school graduates or those with a lesser education – 64% to 24% respectively.
    35% of respondents mistakenly said a renters policy does not cover personal property damaged in a natural disaster or property stolen from you outside of your rental home (60%).

The full report is available here: http://www.insurancequotes.com/home/millennials-and-renters-insurance-051916.

The survey was done by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) through telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults living in the continental United States.


Here is why Renters Insurance is important for me personally:

1. If my stuff is stolen like my iPhone, iPad or laptop, furniture or bicycles could cost thousands of dollars. Renters insurance covers more than just theft it also covers fire, water problems and vandalism.

2. If you burned your dinner and it resulted to smoke damage. Your landlord will bill you for that damage even if none of your property was damaged since his property has been.

3. Renters insurance is about $12 to $30 a month for $30,000 worth of coverage a small cost with big pay off.

Homeowners Needs to Take Another Look At their Insurance Coverage As Hurricane Season Starts

Homeowners needs to reexamine their insurance coverage annually, specially those who live in places that are heavily affected by tropical storms. They need to know if the cost of their premiums are shooting up, or if their deductibles have changed, or if they are entitled to new discounts.

This year it's really important to do that because it is expected that hurricane will be most active this year since 2012, according to forecasts released by The Weather Company.
These storms are already affecting the southeast United States. Tropical storm Bonnie battered the Carolinas over Memorial Day weekend, and Colin, which made landfall Monday and resulted in state of emergency declared.

Colin which packed a 50 mile-per-hour winds produces heavy rain, tornadoes and hail that battered residents along Florida's Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. The residents protect their property using sandbags. Officials distributed 13,000 sandbags to residents of Tampa, which has a history of flooding. Some residents have evacuated the area.

This why it is important to reevaluate their homeowners insurance policy. Let's assume that the replacement cost value of the property is correct, a homeowners policy will cover any wind damage caused by a hurricane. However, it will not cover damage due to flooding and homeowners need to be aware of whether they have a hurricane deductible.

Insurance companies sell policies with a hurricane deductible to limit their exposure to devastating storms. Usually, these hurricane deductible is much higher than the standard one for homeowners insurance policies. A total of 19 states have hurricane deductibles, and most of them don't have a set dollar amount but a percentage of the replacement cost value of a home. That can be huge depending on the damage incurred. 

Insurers don't choose to have a hurricane deductible. This deductibles are incorporated in homeowners insurance at the discretion of the insurance company and are activated under the terms of the policy, usually when the National Hurricane Center issues a warning or names a tropical storm.

The Insurance Information Institute issue this different hurricane deductibles across the 19 states that have and it is posted on their website, or consumers can refer to their respective state's department of insurance for details on them.

The states with special storm deductibles include: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.