Articles Posted in Group Legal Services

It Makes Medical Care Decisions Easier

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Employees will plan their healthcare for the coming year. They will look at the calendar and determine when they will make medical appointments, and when certain procedures will be scheduled. This is often to manage better the deductibles that they must pay. It all makes sense, but there’s one thing that many of these people are forgetting. What is going to happen if something truly drastic occurs?

Tragedy Comes Unexpectedly

Accidents can happen, and chronic seizures strike without warning. These can leave a person in a coma, unable to tell doctors what type of treatment is preferred. Drastic situations may include a person being on life-support with no chance of revival. Hospitals are required to keep a person alive as long as possible. Living wills can help provide guidance, and good group legal plans have them. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services include drafting of a living will in the group legal plan benefit options. Continue reading

It is a Sensible New Goal 

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The New Year is approaching and now is when many people create New Year’s resolutions. Some of these goals for 2018 include matters such as clearing up credit card debt, getting a better handle on student loan payments, and finding ways to work with medical debt. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services believe that financial wellness is one of the best New Year’s resolutions a person can have. We offer a benefit that organizations can provide for employees that address this.

Financial Wellness Varies

People have distinct needs. One person may want to have information about how to buy a house properly and another needs assistance with medical bills. Someone else might want to know more about what assets he or she might have, and another person may only need a personal budget analysis. Unfortunately, some people are in such financial despair that only a debt management plan will get them out of trouble. Countrywide offers all kinds of services. It could be as simple as a budget analysis or as complex as how to best deal with credit cards. It depends on the person. Continue reading

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Service is rapidly becoming automated. Consumers deal with automated telephone service, Q&A pages, and Amazon Alexa. These can be very efficient but cold. Group legal plans that offer pre-paid legal services must remember the human side of member service

The Law Is Filled with Emotion

Those who face legal problems can endure emotional roller coaster rides. Legal issues, such as writing simple wills, are filled with personal feelings. Anger or fear are not always calmed by taped messages on answering services.

The law can be confusing. The language is unique to the profession and questions need answers that address the circumstances. This kind of service is not always possible with automated systems. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offers group legal plan benefits to all sorts of organizations. We believe service with a human touch matters. Continue reading

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Financial planning is not for the living alone. You should think about how you will disburse your assets during your life, but you also need to consider how money and property will be divided after you are gone. Too many people forget that and put off writing a will for some later day. The day finally arrives, however. Your estate may be forced into a situation where there is trouble for your survivors. A group legal plan can help prevent a financial tragedy.

The Court May Have to Decide

The state law is intended to protect the beneficiaries and survivors. The courts try to guarantee people get what they justifiably deserve. Regrettably, estate without a will is in the hands of the court and an appointed court administrator. Final disbursement could take months or even years. It creates a financial difficulty for survivors. A group legal plan must provide an option for drafting a simple will. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has such a benefit as an integral part of its group legal plan format. Continue reading

It Can End Employee Worry

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You may think of financial wellness is not important, but MetLife disagrees. A survey conducted a few months ago by this company indicates that employees are increasingly more concerned about financial wellness. It is a benefit trend that may be picking up speed in 2018. Employers must look at this as more than just a boutique benefit. Their employees certainly consider it essential.

Employees Will Worry About Finances

Financial anxiety peaks in January. The reasons are quite simple: 1. The six-month grace period on college loans is over for the new graduates, and they face having to pay back on the loans. 2. Credit card balances from Christmas holidays show up. It’s enough to drive anybody off the wall. A New Year’s resolution for fiscal austerity may go out the window rather quickly. Continue reading

Countrywide Offers Proactive Strategies

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College students often live in a ramen noodle atmosphere where money is scarce. It comes as a pleasant shock when the same people land their first real job and start getting paychecks. Flush with cash, they start spending, and the spending can get out-of-control. Reality hits when the six-month grace period ends, and it is time to start paying down the college debt.

Financial wellness can be stressed because spending habits have settled in just as the loan repayment cycles begin. Millennials who have used credit cards in the past to buy groceries are now using them for other purchases, and that simply drives the debt higher. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services wants to help a person get out of what is turning into a financial sinkhole. We have a financial wellness program that can do a lot to correct the situation. Countrywide has a nationwide network of certified financial counselors. These professionals work with plan members to sturdy the boat. A budget analysis is the first part of the service. The results might not be encouraging. Continue reading

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Employees generally like the employer-sponsored group health insurance. They appreciate the assistance given with medical expenses, particularly catastrophic bills. Employees grumble, however, about the deductibles. The deductibles in most employer-sponsored group health insurance policies have been rising steadily over the last few years. They’re at a point where the deductible can be a threat to financial wellness.

Deductibles Can Grow Medical Debt

An employee must use all the deductible before the full health benefit can be utilized. It is why those who file for bankruptcy due to medical debt ordinarily have health insurance; the deductible stands in the way of the health benefit. Continue reading

Our Assistance Makes Dealing with Government Easy

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The government can confuse people. Bureaucracies are both national, state, and local. You may have to deal with one and not the other two or, all three at the same time. The average employee is going to find all this frustrating. Many group legal plans do not bother with helping but Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services does. Our group legal plan benefits include assistance with government agencies.

Your tax dollars fund various services through public agencies. These organizations require certain types of information. What can get confusing is what is needed by a federal agency, may be entirely different than what is requested by a local municipality. On top of everything else, some deadlines need to be met. The wrong information will probably result in an application returned to the individual for corrections. It creates an administrative delay that might end up with a missed deadline. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offer group legal plan benefits for organizations. Our attorneys provide help with those public agencies. Continue reading

Expert Advice Makes It Easy

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College loans have a time trap. Certain loan programs allow for a fixed period of time to get a degree. If a student’s time in school is accidentally prolonged due to being closed out of a class, it doesn’t matter. Loan programs also have a short grace period of perhaps no more than six months. After that, payments are expected on a routine basis. It is a situation where the overall cost can grow, and a student has very little control over that.

Recent college graduates who are in their first full-time job feel the pressure and the mounting anxiety. Their college loans must be paid, but the same is true for the rent and utilities. Financial wellness is under serious threat, and the person may be looking at possible bankruptcy. Organizations can help fix the problem if they look at the Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services program.

Some of the Special Deals Aren’t That Great

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Black Friday will soon be here, and the Merry mayhem of holiday shopping begins. People love to go out to the stores or go online to buy things at this time of year. The increased sales activity, however, brings with it a challenge. Consumer protection is something people don’t think about until they have to deal with a defective product. A group legal plan which assists in consumer protection activity is providing very worthwhile pre-paid legal services for the holidays.

Product Mistakes Will Happen

Selling defective products is not always intentional. Mistakes happen on the assembly line or in the delivery of goods. Nevertheless, no one needs to deal with a defective product. Some merchants are a little hesitant to reimburse customers. Perhaps it is because the defective product is expensive such as a washing machine or refrigerator. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services appreciates the frustration over defective merchandise in the holiday season. We have been providing group legal plan benefits for organizations since 1987, and consumer protection advice is one of the options we allow. Continue reading