Couples may be inspired to invest in wedding insurance after hearing how one pair allegedly had their big day ruined by an event planner.
The New York Daily News reports how Hector Santana and Wendylee Perez have brought a lawsuit against celebrity wedding specialist David Tutera.
Despite paying $30,000 (£19,127) for their nuptials, the bride and groom claim the US reality TV star was absent from their nuptials and failed to secure several key features for the celebration.
The lawsuit stated: “Due to the defendants arrogant and heartless actions, plaintiffs have been harmed personally and financially.”
According to the couple, Tutera failed to provide the invitations, wedding cake, a DJ and flowers for the occasion.
Elton John and Jennifer Lopez are said to have been among the planners previous clients.
The former wed his long-term partner David Furnish in an elaborate ceremony, while Lopez tied the knot with her now estranged husband Marc Anthony.
London-based insurer Markel International has acquired an initial 50% stake in the Munich-based Anglo Underwriting.
As per the terms of the joint venture agreement, Markel has an option to acquire the remaining 50% by 2017.
Markel said Anglo Underwriting’s Munich office, it’s first in Germany, will add to its growing European network.
Markel International president and COO William Stovin said that with premiums of more than €180 billion a year, Germany is one of the largest and most attractive markets in Europe. The agreement is a first step in building a much stronger presence in Germany and is part of their overall plan for European expansion.
Anglo Underwriting was founded in 2005 and now works with 2,500 brokerage firms in Germany and Austria and has 8,000 individual clients.
Anglo’s business is split into six lines, which include industrial, commercial, private, errors and omissions, professional indemnity and specialties.
Markel has recently been expanding its presence in Europe and opened an office in Rotterdam in 2011.
WASHINGTON, DC – On January 12, CVS Caremark agreed to pay $5 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the retail pharmacy and healthcare corporation had misrepresented the price of certain prescription drugs in one of its Medicare drug plans, causing many seniors to pay significantly higher prices than advertised. The settlement came more than two years of investigation by the FTC.
The settlement comes at a time of intensive government scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers such as CVS Caremark, which manage prescription drug plans for employers and insurers. The FTC is also reviewing the proposed merger of the two main competitors to CVS Caremark: Express Scripts and Medco Health. In that case, the FTC is evaluating whether the combination would create an entity with too large of a market share.
In regard to CVS Caremark, FTC examined whether the merger of one of the largest drugstore chains with one of the largest pharmacy benefits managers had given the company an unfair market advantage in steering garnering customers as well as information about competing pharmacies. CVS Caremark works with a network of about 65,000 pharmacies, including more than 7,300 of its own drugstores.
The CVS lawsuit was prompted by concerns raised in 2009 by some legislators, labor unions, pharmacies and consumer groups regarding potentially anticompetitive and anticonsumer business practices by the company. Together with the January 12 settlement, the FTC dismissed the more serious allegations of anticompetitive behavior. The agency found only one violation: one of the company’s Medicare drug plans, then called RxAmerica, misled some consumers regarding pharmaceutical prices. I
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One individual may be saved from having to claim on their camera insurance thanks to a newspaper appeal.
The Eastern Daily Press has published details of footage found on a memory card discovered in Norwich in a bid to track down the devices owner.
A member of the public sent in the SD 2GB card and it is hoped videos discovered on it may sound familiar to some readers.
As well as clips of a baby named James playing with his Mr Watsit toy, there is a wedding that appears to be held in Scotland.
The bride and groom seen in the film are referred to as Mary and Andrew, while two bridesmaids called Donna and Eve also feature.
Other details which may sound familiar include men dressed in kilts and banners advertising Old Pulteney whisky decorating the reception venue.
Elsewhere, the BBC recently reported how Australian Paula Noack was reunited with her camera thanks to a Facebook appeal established in the UK.
Insurance House (IH), a Abu Dhabi-based insurance company, has opened a new branch in Sharjah.
IH chairman Mohammed Alqubaisi said that their decision to open a branch of Insurance House in Sharjah reflects their commitment to serve the entire UAE population in a befitting manner.
“The newly opened branch will meet the growing demand of insurance products in this Emirate, and provide its customers with the most innovative and tailored insurance products to ensure ultimate satisfaction,” added Alqubaisi.
IH general manager Mohammed Othman said that the UAE`s strong and resilient economy has boosted the local insurance market significantly, and Insurance House is also keeping a pace with this growth.
“We are committed to always providing best-in-class services and developing our portfolio of products to cater to the widest spectrum of clients. We promise to open more branches in 2012,” added Othman.
In November 2011, IH has opened a new branch in Dubai.
Washington, DC – In the past, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not have adequate time available to investigate suspicions of prescription fraud, as they only have 14 days in which to make payments to providers. But now, Vice President Biden and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have taken steps to stop payments to suspicious pharmacies in a move that will not only detect fraud, but will also save billions in healthcare dollars.
Previously, under a scenario known as “pay and chase,” Medicare would reimburse an operation posing as a pharmacy for prescriptions such as painkillers. Later, officials would learn of the fraudulent claims, but the pharmacy would disappear or the Medicare recipient would not have the money to repay CMS.
Over the past year, the Justice Department has recovered $2.9 billion in health care fraud. Most of it is recovered only because officials detect the fraud before the bills were paid. In many cases, patients travel several hundred miles from their homes to use pharmacies to fill prescription drugs or receive duplicate prescriptions from different physicians.
“We have the Government Accountability Office telling us that 170,000 Medicare beneficiaries had received prescriptions from five or more doctors for frequently-abused drugs like Oxycontin and Percocet,” Sebelius said. “Not all of the cases are fraudulent, but some of them certainly are.” In 2008, for example, one patient received 3,655 Oxycodone pills from 58 different prescribers.
Another way to prevent excessive prescription filings is to improve communication between Medicare and private insurers. Some
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