Texas secures $15.7 million settlement against insurance firms

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has reached a settlement with two auto credit insurance companies his office claims did not provide required refunds to policyholders who had paid off their car loans in advance.

Under the terms of the settlement, more than 46,000 Texas vehicle owners who bought credit insurance from Service Life and Casualty Insurance Co. in Austin will receive refunds totaling $14.4 million from the company.

In addition, another 6,500 vehicle owners will receive $1.3 million in refunds from Old United Life Insurance Cos. in Mission, Kan.

Officials with Service Life and Old United could not immediately be reached for comment on the settlement.

The refunds apply to vehicle owners whose loans terminated between 2002 and 2006.

These policies were sold to cover vehicle payments in the event the borrower died or became disabled.

According to the Attorney General's Office, the companies' customers bought single-premium policies that were paid in a lump sum, usually when the customers bought the vehicles. The full cost of the credit insurance was then bundled into the buyer's vehicle loan, which in some cases was as long as six years.

Under state law, Service Life and Old United were obligated to refund unearned portions of the insurance premiums to those customers who paid off their loans ahead of schedule. However, the state claimed the companies never refunded the unearned portion.

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Debt consolidation for saving money

Riding on their strong economic condition the modern day youth often ignore the necessity to save money. The increase in the real income of young adults has therefore led to a dangerous trend, which often leads to an increase in debt burdens on youth. Therefore, it makes sense to adopt several money saving techniques to avoid such untoward situations.

In case you are facing a similar situation as described above do not panic. Instead, simply adopt debt consolidation techniques to save your hard-earned money. You can easily augment your savings by taking the debt consolidation loans. You can take the help of some web browsing tools in order to find the appropriate debt consolidation program.

The debt consolidation loan will help you to get rid of all niggling financial worries in no time at all. To get the best debt consolidation loan rate all you need to do is go through the websites containing different quotes from lenders only to find out which one suits your interest best.

Make sure that the lender you are dealing with discloses all the information regarding fees, charges incurred and other associated costs. By acting with a little bit of precision you can easily consolidate your debts and save thousands of dollars in no time at all. It is also very important to select the right debt consolidation rate. The apparent nominal differences in rate can actually help you to save a lot of money. A recent media report, which reflected how debt consolidation loans helped people to save a lot of money in no time at all, bears testimony to the fact.

For people who have the habit of overspending debt consolidation settlement program is the best bet. Debt consolidation loans are the safest way of getting rid of your financial woes when you are in a state of bankruptcy. Incase you are not being able to decide about what suits you best go for credit counselling. Debt consolidation programmes claims a much lower rate of interest than other relief programs. There are also numerous debt brokers present who help to negotiate the total debt balance on behalf of the consumers.

A very popular mode to obtain debt relief is to post a collateral, which may be a home or a vehicle to lower the lender's risk. This will automatically lower the rate of interest and in the process help to relief debt at a much faster pace.

Debt consolidation can easily turn out to be an effective money saving technique for the young generation. However, when opting for debt consolidation loans pick the secured ones, which offer a much lower rate of interest than the unsecured ones.

So, if you are facing a credit crunch opt for debt consolidation loans to save some your money and restore your financial prowess in no time at all. But as a safety measure before obtaining the loan make it a point to properly calculate the debt and interest amounts so that you can land up with the best deal possible.

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Garware Polyester accepts IDBI settlement package

CHENNAI: Garware Polyester Ltd has informed the BSE that the board of directors of the company has approved the one-time settlement (OTS) package offered by IDBI vide a circular resolution dated September 28.

The package was sanctioned by IDBI vide its letter dated March 15. Subsequently, IDBI modified the said package vide letter dated August 2.

The main package entails cash payment of Rs 84.24 crore toward principal outstanding of NCDs, corporate loan, zero coupon bonds and negotiated settlement amount (Rs 83.24 crore) and deferred interest (Rs 1 crore) and conversion of Rs 6 crore out of defer red interest into equity as per SEBI guidelines.

It also stipulates conversion of remaining Rs 49.54 crore of deferred interest on NCDs/corporate loan into 0.01 per cent cumulative redeemable preference shares, which would be redeemable in three equal annual instalments between April 1, 2014 and April 1, 2016.

The package provides for waiver of Rs 27.95 lakh payable towards further interest and other charges (liquidated damages).

The board has also approved a plan to increase the authorised share capital of the company and make a preferential issue to IDBI. - Our Bureau

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Information About Homeowner Loans

A homeowner loan is generally of two kinds: a secured homeowner loan and an unsecured homeowner loan. A home owner loan is sanctioned on the equity of your home; if you have a 100% equity it goes without saying then, that the principal amount of the loan will naturally be a huge one corresponding to the present value of your home. Remember that the value of property is on the rise year after year. Today, your property is much more valuable than its original price that you had paid for.

A secured homeowner loan is given on the equity of your home on relatively simple and uncomplicated terms. This means that you are getting the loan upon the security of your home. Although you will be given a comfortable period of time to pay your loan, which will make your monthly payments within the reach of your budget, yet all the same a loan is a loan so be calculative enough and decide the exact amount of money that you are in need of. A secured homeowner loan has a nominal low rate of interest.

It could be that you are a cautious person and you don't feel secure to mortgage your home, because you don't want to jeopardize your family and kids by taking a risk, don't worry, you can always apply for an unsecured homeowner loan. The decision to take any of these alternatives entirely depends on you. An unsecured homeowner loan will have a slight higher rate of interest than a secured loan because you have not put up any asset as collateral, against your loan to your lender.

With communication at your finger tips, take some time from the luxury of your home or the comfort of your office and surf the internet for more knowledge on a homeowner loan. After having a broad idea, and weighing all the pros and cons of the loan, you should start searching for a reputed and an upright lender who will further guide you on this subject. Of course by now you must already have realized how many financing company exists thus making the finance field extremely competitive and aggressive. If you have unpaid credit and charge cards, or a pile pf unpaid bills, or any previous bad credit that yet hasn't been settled, you must give all this information to your lender, so that they can run a quick routine check on your bad debts.

Applications are easily available on line. They are short and brief and quick to fill and ask for just basic personal and at work details. You could save some money by negotiating on these issues with your lender:

∑ Lowest rate of interest that you can squeeze from your lender.

∑ A long time frame to pay up the loan.

∑ Work out a monthly payment that does not exert financial pressure on you, but on the contrary fix an amount that you can pay comfortably throughout the year.

To avoid any misunderstandings or squabbles with your lender inquire and settle any payments that you have to make to the lender regarding these areas:

∑ Find out the cost of the quote or if it doesn't have a cost.

∑ The fees that are charged for your home appraisal.

∑ The cost of all kinds of services that your lender has offered you.

∑ The fees for the legal paperwork and all kinds of documentations.

∑ Closure fees.

∑ Find out if there is a penalty on early settlement of the loan.

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Bank to set up unsecured divorce-settlement loans

GIFU, Ogaki -- The Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank will from Monday begin providing unsecured loans to cover the costs incurred in divorce settlements, bank officials said.

It is reportedly the first time that a bank has designed a loan especially for divorces. The bank reportedly came up with the idea after receiving feedback from its customers.

The bank will provide loans of between 100,000 yen and 5 million yen to cover compensation payments, distribution of property and legal fees.

Officials said that in fiscal 2006, there were about 20,000 divorces across three prefectures in the Tokai region.

A legal office familiar with divorce cases said that it was normal for legal fees in divorces to reach several hundred thousand yen, and for compensation to average about 4 million yen. However, since there were no loans designed especially for divorce settlements until now, people without money had no option but to use card loans and other loans with high interest rates.

The bank's divorce loans will be open to customers aged between 20 and 65 who had an income during the previous fiscal year of 2 million yen or more. The maximum loan period will be seven years. It will be a floating-rate loan with 3.45 percent added to the short-term prime lending rate. As of Tuesday, the rate stood at 5.825 percent. (Mainichi)

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Student loan settlement

Hartford (WTNH) _ College presidents from 17-schools in Connecticut came together to say there is no loan scandal going on in the state.

The presidents of the colleges agreed today to a 'Financial Aid Code of Conduct' that would prohibit schools and financial aid staff from accepting gifts from lending institutions.

Three Connecticut colleges, Trinity College, Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University, also announced today they had agreed to donate a total of about $75,000 to scholarship funds to settle allegations they received benefits in exchange for giving preferred lender status to the student loan company, The College Board, Inc.

Like thousands of other parents, John Westman was helping his daughter Carly move in to a college dormitory this week. At Trinity, with tuition and board hovering around $50,000 a year, financial guidance from the school is a necessity for most parents.

"We shared our financial information. They were able to do an analysis and then offered some help for us in terms of loan, grants and work study," said Westman.

"The preferred lender list is of huge practical importance as are these loans to the students that they serve," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

No one at Trinity received a bribe or a personal benefit.

"In the case of Trinity, a very slight reduction in software that we got from The College Board," said Trinity College president, James Jones.

One person at Fairfield University got a trip to Amelia Island, Florida.

"That person was invited to a conference on the financial aid topic that were often sponsored by some of the lenders. Obviously that is not something that will continue," said Fairfield University president, Reverend Jeffrey von Arx.

Representatives at all three schools say that students were not financially harmed in any way.

"What we found is that The College Board offered our students at least as good a deal as anybody else, and in most cases, a better deal," said Sacred Heart University president, Anthony Cernera.

The code of conduct will require that schools develop documents listing preferred lenders and how those lenders were selected. The documents will also let parents and students know that they have the right to select a lender of their choice.

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BP explosion trial ends in settlement

GALVESTON, Texas -- BP PLC announced a settlement Tuesday with four workers who had sued the oil company over injuries in the deadly Texas City refinery explosion, abruptly ending the first civil trial stemming from the blast. The trial over the 2005 accident, which killed 15 people and injured 170, began Sept. 5. It was the only one of hundreds of lawsuits from the blast to reach the courtroom. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Lehman net falls less than expected

NEW YORK -- Lehman Brothers Holdings said Tuesday quarterly earnings fell 3.2 percent as it wrote down mortgage and high-yield loan assets, but its shares surged as results beat expectations and the investment bank said the worst of the credit correction was over. Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also post earnings later this week.

J&J's Prezista challenges Abbott

NEW YORK -- Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday its drug Prezista was at least as effective in a late-stage trial as Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra in cutting HIV to undetectable levels among patients not previously treated with HIV drugs. J&J said HIV levels dropped to undetectable levels after 48 weeks among 84 percent of patients taking experimental 800-milligram doses of Prezista, compared with undetectable virus levels in 78 percent of those receiving Kaletra.

Oil prices rise to new records

NEW YORK -- Oil futures rose to new records Tuesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, raising market hopes that economic growth will accelerate and lift demand even as crude oil and gasoline inventories are tight. A barrel of crude surged to a new trading high of $81.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the moments immediately after the Fed's decision. While light, sweet crude for October delivery settled at $81.51 a barrel, up 94 cents, prices continued to rise after the exchange closed, hitting $82.38 in afternoon electronic trading.

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