Do you know anyone, other than an accountant, who really enjoys filing their tax returns? As if it isn’t stressful enough assembling all the documents, trying to decipher the forms and double checking the math, there is a new concern – tax fraud and identity theft. The IRS has noted a 400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents this year, and the Treasury Inspector General estimates fraudulent returns will add up to $21 billion dollars in 2016.
Once again the IRS is warning that thousands of us are at risk. Most won’t find out until they file their taxes and get notified that someone has already used their Social Security number to claim a false refund. This will result in all kinds of headaches and delay their legitimate return.
Here are the top three of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams:
Aggressive phone callers saying they are from the IRS threatening immediate arrest, deportation or license revocation unless you settle an outstanding balance via wire transfer or preloaded debit card
Fake emails purporting to be from the IRS (or TurboTax) asking for “missing” personal information to secure your refund, or directing you to links that contain malware
Fraudulent tax return preparers who use your personal information to perpetrate refund fraud, identity theft and other scams
Keep computers protected with strong passwords and strong virus/malware protection
Avoid phishing scams: don’t respond to emails, tweets or phone calls asking for personal information or payment – the agency never initiates contact via phone, email, text or electronic media
Don’t open attachments in emails unless you’re sure who sent it and why
File returns early and do so electronically
Choose your tax preparer carefully and ask if they have an IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number
Never carry your Social Security card in your purse or wallet
If you receive a suspicious email message, the IRS asks that you forward it to them at phishing@irs.gov. They ask that you report IRS-impersonation calls at www.tigta.gov
While the IRS has instituted new programs and resources to try and prevent tax ID theft, they warn that crooks continue to find new, more sophisticated ways to capitalize on our money. That’s why they have a comprehensive list of information about tax-time identity theft and helpful links at https://www.irs.gov/uac/Identity-Protection.
These are signs that you could be a victim of tax-related identity theft:
More than one tax return was filed using your SSN
You are notified you owe additional tax, have a refund offset or had collection actions taken against you for a year you did not file a tax return
IRS records indicate you received wages or other income from an employer you never worked for
And, if it happens to you it can be costly in both time and money. A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey found the average loss per ID theft victim was $1,343, and most spent at least a full day to clear up the issue, however some didn’t see a resolution for months.
Nobody has time for that. That’s why California Casualty provides free ID theft protection with every auto and home insurance policy. Through our partners at IDT911, not only is your identity and personal information protected, but you’ll work with a resolution specialist in case of:
Tax Fraud
Social Media Compromise
Email Compromise
Child Identity Theft
Break-in Recovery
Travel Identity Theft
Much More
Contact a California Casualty advisor today for a free auto and home insurance policy review and learn about our free ID theft protection at 1.800.800.9410 or visit www.calcas.com/identity-theft.
It’s one of those days: you woke up late and you are running behind. As you head outside to start the car, you find it’s covered in ice. The extra 15 minutes it will take to scrape and warm it up are going to make you late for work or school. While it may not help today, these essential winter hacks might make your life a little easier the next time another cold front sends temperatures plunging across the country.
Autos:
Spray a mixture of two parts rubbing alcohol and one part water on a windshield to instantly de-ice it (and also unstick frozen windshield wipers)
Use WD 40 in to prevent frozen key holes
Thaw frozen car door locks and handles with hand sanitizer
Park your vehicle with the windshield facing east to help defrost it when the sun rises
Use kitty litter or car mats to provide traction if you get stuck
Put plastic bags over unheated side mirrors overnight to keep them ice free
Place a blanket or sheet on the windshield to keep it ice free overnight
Cover wiper blades overnight with old socks so they will be ice and snow free in the morning
Around the House:
Coat snow shovels with non-stick cooking sprays – the snow will slide off easier (this also worked on the plastic sleds my daughter and I used for sliding down hills faster)
Slip old bread bags or sandwich bags over socks to make them water proof
Use closet shoe organizers for gloves and scarves
Take lukewarm showers to battle dry skin
Place tin foil on walls behind radiators and space heaters to reflect more of the heat back into the room
Leave the oven door open after cooking – the residual heat will add warmth to the house
Run ceiling fans clockwise to push warm air down to living areas
Open curtains and blinds on sunny days to let the sun warm your home
Put hot water bottles or warm pans on cold sheets to warm them before you hop in bed
Place a tray with pebbles inside the doorway to drain icy, wet shoes and boots to keep floors cleaner and drier
Use a solution of two parts rubbing alcohol and one part hot water to safely remove ice from outside steps and sidewalks
Oh, and for those of you living in more temperate climates, keep these handy in case Mother Nature throws one of her occasional frozen curve balls and you’re stuck in a personal scene from the movie Frozen.
What winter weather hacks do you use? Share them with us so we can pass them along too.
You don’t need any hacks to make sure you have insurance to protect your auto and home; just call a California Casualty advisor today for a policy review or comparison at 1.800.800.9410 or visit www.calcas.com.
Protecting our children is a concern for every parent. For many of us, how to keep our kids safe once they get a driver’s license is a real dilemma; we want the safest vehicle that we can afford but often our budgets are limited. Thanks to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, finding a safe vehicle at a reasonable price is a little easier.
Using crash test data, the IIHS has released their latest list of recommended vehicles for teen drivers. There are about 150 vehicles on this year’s list with the majority of them costing under $10,000. All of the “Best Choice” vehicles have good ratings in the Institute’s moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, and if they were rated by the National Highway Safety Administration they had 4 or 5 stars. For the first time this year’s list also included pickups.
The Best Choices were broken down by size, model year and price. The following are the top three in each category (except pickups which only had two):
Large cars:
Volvo S80, 2007 and newer (price $5,800)
Ford Taurus, 2010 and newer (price $10,900
Buick LaCrosse, 2010 and newer (price $11,300)
Midsize cars:
VW Jetta Sedan and Wagon, 2009 and newer (price $5,600)
Volvo C30, 2008 and newer (price $7,000)
VW Passat Sedan, 2009 and newer (price $7,300)
Small SUVs
Honda Element, 2007-11 (price $6,700)
VW Tiguan, 2009 and newer (price $7,900)
Subaru Forester, 2009 and newer (price $9,000)
Midsize SUVs
Volvo XC90, 2005 and newer (price $4,600
Subaru Tribeca/B9 Tribeca, 2006 and newer (price $6,000)
Dodge Journey, 2010 and newer (price $8,700)
Large SUVs
Chevrolet Traverse, 2011 and newer (price $13,500)
GMC Arcadia, 2011 and newer (price $15, 400)
Buick Enclave, 2011 and newer (price $16,100)
Minivans
Dodge Grand Caravan, 2012 and newer (price $11,600)
VW Routan, 2012 and newer (price $11,800)
Toyota Siena, 2011 and newer (price $13,200)
Pickups
Toyota Tundra Crew Cab (double cab), 2007 and newer (price $12,200)
Ford F-150 Crew Cab (super crew), 2011 and newer (price $16,800)
The list has a secondary tier of “Good Choices” priced under $10,000 that have less than perfect crash test ratings.
*See the entire list of recommended used vehicles for teen drivers here.
The IIHS also urges parents who don’t find a suitable vehicle from the list to seek a midsize or larger car, SUV or minivan with the most safety features they can afford. They also recommend:
Young drivers should stay away from vehicles with high horsepower
Bigger, heavier vehicles protect better in a crash (no minicars are small cars made their list)
ESC traction control is a must
Keep in mind, adding a teen driver will increase your auto insurance rates, in some instances more than doubling them. Here are some tips to help manage those insurance costs for teen drivers:
Purchase cars that have modern safety features
Take advantage of good student discounts
Enroll in a defensive driving course
Try to cut their driving miles by carpooling or using mass transit
Stick to lower horsepower vehicles
Find an insurer who treats teens as responsible drivers
California Casualty also understands what it is like to have a new driver. Like parents, we have a commitment to the safety of teen drivers. We’ve partnered with law enforcement agencies, safety groups, educators and concerned parents to create and fund Impact Teen Drivers, an intensive campaign to inform young drivers about the dangers of distracted or reckless driving. The nonprofit provides training and powerful tools to help engage teen drivers and change their attitudes behind the wheel.
Every young driver should have the best insurance possible. California Casualty offers some of the best teen driver rates in the industry, along with good student discounts. Make sure your student driver is fully protected by calling a California Casualty advisor today and talking through your options at 1.800.800.9410 or by visiting www.calcas.com.
“It came out of nowhere!” That’s what a friend said after he hit a deer as he drove to our house last year. The impact tore off his grill and front bumper; who knows if the animal survived. My friend was lucky; he was shaken up after the accident but unhurt. Little did he know that he was one of hundreds of thousands who have an unfortunate meeting with deer every year.
Deer-vehicle collisions can happen any time of year but fall is particularly bad. Crashes with them spike October through December as they seek new habitats to breed and forage for food.
Be especially careful if you live in a rural area or one that is near deer habitat; the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates more than 1.5 million deer collisions take place every year in the U.S., causing over $1 billion in vehicle damage. The top five states for deer-auto crashes are:
West Virginia
Montana
Iowa
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
These are things you can do to reduce your risk of hitting deer or other wildlife while driving:
Don’t drive distracted
Slow down
Use high beams at night when there is no oncoming traffic
Stay especially alert at dusk and dawn when deer tend to be most active
Watch for road signs warning about wildlife
Honk your horn to scare any deer you encounter off the road
Break firmly and don’t swerve
If all these fail and you collide with a deer:
Attempt to move your vehicle to the side of the road and use your hazard lights
Call local law enforcement or the state patrol
Don’t attempt to move injured animals
Take photos of the animal, the damage to your vehicle, and the roadway where the crash occurred
Contact your insurance company as soon as possible
Damage from striking deer and other wildlife is one of the things comprehensive auto insurance coverage helps pay for. Make sure you have adequate protection if you encounter a deer, contact a California Casualty advisor today for a free policy comparison and review at 1.800.800.9410, or visit www.calcas.com.
I couldn’t believe it (well, then again nothing is that surprising these days) – the guy in the car ahead of me was shaving. It was early morning as we drove on a narrow two-lane road. He swerved numerous times as he continued grooming behind the wheel. It could have ended badly since there were school buses and elementary school children on the side of the road; luckily nobody was hit or hurt. The sad part is that he was oblivious to how dangerous his antics were.
Then, on a recent trip to visit our daughter, my wife and I witnessed drivers passing on the far right on the interstate, wildly veering across three lanes and then back to the left lane. Others were tailgating at such a high speed that there was no way they would avoid slamming into the car ahead if traffic suddenly came to a stop.
We’ve all seen it; people with angry faces, often gesturing, as the careen through our thoroughfares as if they were the only one who mattered. As we encounter the growing number of distracted and aggressive drivers, it got me thinking about how we all need to be hyper-aware and drive with extra precaution.
Don’t challenge them by speeding up or trying to block them
Follow the speed limit
Avoid eye contact
Report them to authorities providing vehicle description, license plate number, location and direction of travel
Gesturing back or making eye contact can often lead to road rage.
And here are some defensive driving tips that can help you avoid confrontations with aggressive drivers:
Keep scanning the area ahead and behind you
Drive with both hands on the wheel to better respond to dangers
Wear your seatbelt
Slow down in bad weather
Have an escape plan
Don’t follow too close
Avoid driving when tired or drowsy
Experts recommend that you take a defensive driving course to learn these techniques; besides it can also qualify you for a discount on your auto insurance.
California Casualty is dedicated to preventing this type of driving behavior. That’s why we are proud to be a major sponsor of Impact Teen Drivers, a nonprofit formed with the law enforcement and education groups that uses peer-to-peer tactics to educate teen and young adults about the dangers of distracted and reckless driving. Learn more at https://www.calcas.com/web/ccmc/impact-teen-drivers.
Before you hit the road, make sure you have adequate protection in case you encounter a distracted or aggressive driver. Call a California Casualty advisor today for an auto policy review or comparison at 1.800.800.9410 or visit www.calcas.com.
Nothing is more precious than our children. We try and protect them as long as possible, including when they get their first car.
When it comes time for that purchase we want the safest one possible at a good price, but buying solely on price could compromise their safety. Researching safety and price can be an arduous process but Consumer Reports has done the work for you. After looking at vehicles that have electronic stabilization control, good handling and stopping in emergency maneuver tests, and have blue tooth features to discourage using the phone while driving, they came up with this list of the 10 best used cars for teens under $10,000.
2009-2012 Chevy Malibu – described as solid, comfortable and safe, starting around $8,100
2009-2011 Ford Focus – which they call fun to drive with a good view of the road, starting around $6,000
2010-2012 Ford Fusion – bigger and more sophisticated than its smaller cousin with better handling, starting around $8,000
2006-2014 Hyundai Sonata – which they described as comfortable and almost luxurious with good gas mileage, starting around $5,200
2010-2011 Kia Soul – a boxy vehicle that has lots of room and is considered “hip,” starting around $8,600
2011-2013 Mazda3 – safe, fuel efficient and fun to drive, starting around $9,800
2009-2013 Mazda6 – a sporty midsized sedan that parents may want to borrow, starting around $8,300
2004-2012 Toyota Rav4 – plenty of cargo space and all-wheel drive for inclement weather, starting around $7,300
2009-2010 VW Jetta – a sophisticated small car that handles well with good stability, starting around $7,200
2009-2014 VW Rabbit/Golf – some of the best selling cars that are still catching on in America with great room and secure handling, starting around $7,700
Most of these vehicles come with a 4 cylinder option, which the Insurance Institute for Highway safety recommends for younger, less skilled drivers.
Here is why safety is such a concern: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury and death for U.S. teens. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found the risk of these crashes is highest among 16-to-19 year olds than any other age group.
California Casualty also has a commitment to the safety of teen drivers. We’ve partnered with law enforcement agencies, safety groups, educators and concerned parents to create and fund Impact Teen Drivers, an intensive campaign to inform young drivers about the dangers of distracted or reckless driving. The nonprofit provides training and powerful tools to help engage teen drivers and change their attitudes behind the wheel.
California Casualty can also make sure your teen drivers are protected with quality auto insurance. Contact an advisor today to learn about some of the best auto insurance rates for teen drivers, 1.800.800.9410 or visit www.calcas.com.
