Consumer Tips

By signing a contract and paying an annual fee, you can rent a safe-deposit box to protect things you don’t want—or can’t afford—to lose.

• Keep essentials in the box. Use a safe-deposit box to protect a home inventory, or family records such as birth, death and marriage certificates. Store original papers, such as insurance policies, stocks, bonds and deeds, in the box. You also may choose to store valuable heirlooms or cash in the box.
• Items you may need quickly, need another home. Banks aren’t open 24/7, so a safe-deposit box may not be your best option when you need an item on short notice. You may want to consider your attorney for certain legal documents, rather than store those in the safe-deposit box.
• Consider giving another person access. If you name another person as the co-renter, either of you can access the box. You also could name an agent, who must be appointed when a bank employee and the box renter are present. Note: An agent is guaranteed immediate access to your box; a power of attorney is not.
• Assume the contents are unprotected. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures the money you have in the bank—but typically not the contents of your safe-deposit box.
• Protect your items. Often you can insure the value of items in your safe-deposit box through your homeowners or renters coverage. Talk to your MetLife Auto & Home® representative about your options.
• Remember what’s in your box. Take photos or update a list of the contents whenever you add or remove items.
• Keep track of your keys. Drilling a new lock and replacing keys can be expensive. Designate a spot for your keys—and be sure your spouse, agent or family member knows where they are.

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Smartphones, tablets, laptops and other electronics are expensive to replace. Stretch your dollars by protecting these devices from theft and common mishaps that lead to early destruction.

Prevent Theft

Keep a low profile to help deter thieves from snatching your expensive electronics. Take these precautions:

• Use caution in public places. Keep your device out of sight when you’re not using it, and always be aware of your surroundings.
• Never leave devices unattended — even when they’re under lock and key. Thieves smash the windows of locked cars to retrieve laptops, smartphones and GPS navigation devices in plain sight.
• Carry devices in a nondescript bag or case. This may help prevent a thief from stealing the electronic.

If you plan to travel with electronics in tow, play it safe with this advice from MetLife.

Prevent Water Damage

Avoid using electronics around water, and store your device in a water-resistant case for good measure. If an accident happens and your device isn’t protected, act quickly to avoid a total loss:

1. Shut off and unplug the device. This keeps it from short-circuiting.
2. Remove any obstructions. Prevent water from reaching all components by removing the battery, headphones, and the SIM and memory cards.
3. Drain the water. Get as much water out of the device as possible by tilting it, shaking it or sucking out the moisture with a vacuum cleaner attachment.
4. Take it apart. Follow the operating manual’s instructions for disassembling the device.
5. Let it dry. Store the device in an area with excellent air circulation, and use a fan to help speed up the process.
6. Wait. Give the device a few days to dry out, then reassemble it and turn it back on.

Prevent Wear and Tear

Take care of your device to maximize its lifespan. Some pointers:

• Invest in a protective case. You can choose from a variety of materials, such as hard plastic or rubber, which offer different levels of protection. Clear plastic protectors help prevent fragile screens from cracking or shattering.
• Be careful in extreme temperatures. If your device has been in extreme cold or heat for an extended period, let it warm or cool to room temperature before using it.
• Keep computers in well-ventilated areas. If your desktop or laptop computer feels hot, there may be dust inside the machine. Clean the fans regularly with compressed air, and use a laptop cooling pad to allow for proper air flow.

And remember, MetLife Auto & Home’s Homeowners and Renters Insurance covers your belongings inside your house or apartment.

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Nearly 400,000 burglaries take place in the United States during the short span from November to December, according to the FBI. Keep your holidays merry and bright by taking precautions to deter thieves.

While You’re Away

A quiet house is a prime target for thieves. Be careful to avoid advertising when you’re away from home — even just for a few hours. Never leave a note on the door announcing when you plan to return, or post your travel plans on social media. If you expect packages to arrive while you’re gone, have a trusted neighbor collect them for safekeeping. Or ask the courier to deliver the boxes straight to the neighbor’s house.

While You’re Home

Leaving expensive gifts or evidence of big purchases in plain sight can tip off thieves about the valuables inside your home. Close your window shades or remove valuable items — wrapped and unwrapped — from an outsider’s view. Also, break down boxes for big-ticket gifts, and on garbage day place them inside your trash can or recycle bin rather than on the curb.

While You’re Shopping

You’re also at risk for theft when you shop for holiday gifts. Follow these safety tips to help keep yourself and your belongings safe from thieves:

• Always keep your wallet or purse close to your body.
• Wait to pull out your credit card until you absolutely need it — someone could easily steal your information from over your shoulder.
• Avoid carrying large amounts of cash or more than one credit card.
• Lock purchases in your vehicle’s trunk rather than stowing them in the back seat.
• Evaluate a website’s security before making online purchases. (Look for a URL beginning with “https”). Always use a credit card rather than a debit card when shopping online because your debit card is linked to your bank account.

Once the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, take time to evaluate your gifts and determine whether you’re adequately insured. 

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Keeping an eye on what you’re cooking is important when preparing everything from weekday dinners to holiday meals. “Cooking fires — particularly those caused by unattended cooking — are the leading cause of home fires and fire injuries, so it’s really important to pay attention,” says Lorraine Carli, spokesperson for the National Fire Protection Association.

A simple grease fire can escalate quickly, spreading to surrounding cabinets and other combustible materials and engulfing the kitchen or the entire house. Help protect your home, your loved ones and your belongings with these tips for putting out a grease fire:

• Never use water to extinguish a grease or oil fire. Instead, use a multipurpose fire extinguisher.
• If grease or cooking oil catches fire, immediately slide a lid over the pan to smother the flame, Carli says. Be sure to wear an oven mitt when handling the pan.
• Next, turn off the heat and slide the pan off the burner. Keep the pan covered until the contents cool to prevent the fire from restarting.
• If the pan overflows and the contents ignite, get everyone out of the house and call the fire department once you’re safely outside.

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More home fires occur during the winter than any other season, according to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The most common culprits are kitchen implements, heating equipment and electrical issues.

Learn how to prevent fire hazards in each of these areas with the following tips:

The Kitchen

• Never leave the kitchen while the stovetop is on.
• Always use a timer. Turn off the heating element before turning off the timer.
• Secure loose clothing and hair while cooking.
• Keep flammable items — such as oven mitts, wooden utensils, dishcloths, food packaging and paper products — away from the stove.
• Be cautious when cooking with oil. If you smell smoke, turn off the burner.
• Keep a lid beside your stove to help smother small grease fires. 
• Wipe off your stove after every use to avoid grease buildup, which can fuel fires.

Heating Equipment

• Have a professional inspect and clean your heating equipment annually.
• Keep kids and flammable objects at least 3 feet away from heating sources.
• Place space heaters on a level, nonflammable surface. Never power the appliance with extension cords or power strips.
• Turn off space heaters before leaving rooms that have them.
• Regularly inspect the walls near the furnace or chimney — if the wall is hot or discolored, you may need additional insulation.
• Always use a glass or metal screen in front of a wood-burning fireplace.

Electrical Issues

• Review your home for signs of faulty or failing wiring.
• Replace missing or broken wall plates on outlets.
• Inspect cords on all appliances — replace any with frayed or damaged wires.
• Only buy electrical products approved by a nationally recognized safety laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
• Never force a plug into an outlet or remove a prong.
• Use extension cords only temporarily.
• Check that lightbulbs meet each fixture’s requirements.
• Make sure Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) are installed in rooms with water hookups — such as the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and basement — and test them monthly.

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Married couples don't have joint credit histories. Your partner's credit history will not be merged with yours. Only joint accounts will be reflected on both of your credit reports.  If you don't add your spouse to your accounts, or vice versa, and you don't open any new accounts together, your credit reports will remain completely separate.

If you want to purchase a home with your partner, and you are relying on their income to qualify for a loan, you may need to include them on the mortgage. The lender will look at complete credit reports for both of you. However, if you earn enough income to qualify for a mortgage on your own, you do not have to include your spouse on the loan. 

Both of you will be responsible for any joint accounts until they are paid off and closed. Many divorced individuals are surprised to learn that even if their joint debts are assigned to their ex in the divorce decree, that they are still on the hook for the debt until the account is paid. Late payments made on joint accounts can hurt both credit histories.

Creditors cannot come after you for debts your spouse incurred on their own before marriage. If you live in a community property state: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, or Washington, debts incurred after you got married are considered "community property" and both of you will likely be responsible for them.

It would be beneficial for you and your partner to review your credit reports before marriage, to address any different approaches to debt and credit.  You should keep copies of both credit reports should any debts become an issue later. Two good books for you to read together are Debt Proof Your Marriage by Mary Hunt and Money Harmony by Olivia Mellan. Both are available from Powell's, a unionized bookstore.

You will have only one monthly payment to those creditors that choose to participate in the DMP, which will help greatly toward shrinking your debt.  

Better yet, a DMP offered by a credit counseling agency is not likely to hurt your credit. The majority of lenders will not report that you are repaying your account through a DMP. If you stick with your counseling program for at least three months, some creditors will even update your credit report and remove late payments that occurred right before you began the program.

When determining your credit score, FICO does not take into account credit counseling notations when calculating your score. However, make sure you work with a reputable counseling agency. If not, you may run the risk of the counseling agency paying creditors late, which will further damage your credit history. 

Get Credit Counseling and Debt Management Support

Get more information on the Union Plus Credit Counseling and Debt Management programs.  

A Few Facts About Cosigned Accounts:

• When you cosign, you agree to be responsible for the entire loan as if it is your own. If the primary borrower (the person for whom you cosign) pays late, or doesn't pay at all, you are on the hook for the entire loan plus any fees.
• In most cases, the lender does not have to notify the cosigner of late payments on the account. If the bill goes unpaid, you may not find out about it until you get a call from a collection agency.
• If the lender reports your account to the credit reporting agencies, the account will be reported under both the primary borrower and cosigner's names. The account affects both the borrower and cosigner's credit scores equally. The credit score does not handle a cosigned or joint account differently than an individual account.
• Even if the bills are paid on time, the debt will be included when calculating the cosigner's credit score, and could affect the cosigner's ability to get a mortgage or other loan.
• Lenders almost never remove cosigners from joint accounts. The primary borrower can refinance the loan, but if they are having trouble making payments, it is unlikely they will be approved on their own. In most cases the account will have to be paid off in full and closed in order to separate the secondary borrower (you) from the primary borrower. 

Here are some recommendations to help you start over after bankruptcy: 

• Use some credit: While you may never want to use credit again, to rebuild your credit rating, you must use some credit.  However, there is no need to carry a balance from month to month. Having four opened credit accounts that have remained current on payments can help to rebuild your credit. 
  
  If you are still in a Chapter 13 plan, where you pay back some of your debts over time, do not open any new accounts without first consulting your attorney.
• Make payments on time: Make all of your payments on time! If you are in a Chapter 13 plan, and you are having difficulty, call your attorney immediately. If there are any debts you kept out of your bankruptcy, such as an auto loan or student loan, stay current on those payments.

It is important to understand how long negative items can be disclosed on your credit report:

• Bankruptcy: All bankruptcies can legally be reported ten years from the filing date (not the discharge date, which is the date when the bankruptcy is completed). With Chapter 13 bankruptcies, credit reporting agencies will voluntarily remove it seven years from the date of filing. 
• Collection or charge-off accounts: Seven and a half years from the date the original account became delinquent (whether it has been paid or not). 
• Civil suits or civil judgments: Seven years from the date of entry into the suit or judgment, or the current governing statute of limitations, whichever is longer.
• Unpaid tax liens: Indefinitely if the tax lien remains unpaid.
• Paid tax liens: Seven years from the date the lien is paid or settled.
• Any other negative information (including late payments): Seven years from the date the payment was late.

Get more information about
how to build a strong credit rating.  
 

Take a look at the chart below comparing the difference between making a minimum payment versus making a fixed payment above the minimum.  The example uses a $2,500 credit card balance, a 21% interest rate with a fixed payment of $100. 

Time to pay off:

Making additional payments, or paying more than the minimum, help you to avoid the trap of having credit card balances stretch out for years and years. You can use the Credit Card Calculator to determine how quickly you will pay off your credit card balance, and you can save even more money if you do the following:

• Lower your interest rate. 
  Call your issuer, request a lower interest rate and if they refuse state that you will take your business elsewhere. If they still won't budge, consider transferring your balance to another credit card with a better deal. For instance, an interest rate of 12% with a $2,500 balance and $100 monthly payment will save you an additional $470 in interest. You will also pay off your balance in just under two and a half years.
• Add more money. 
  Even if you can't get a lower interest rate and you continue to make payments at a rate of 21%, adding $20 a month to your $100 monthly payment will allow you to pay off the debt in two years and three months; you will pay just under $637 in interest. Another example, by making payments of $233 a month (at the 21% interest rate) the balance can be paid-off in one year. With a lower interest rate, the balance will be paid down even faster! 

Here are the three other effective ways to tackle credit card debt:

• Pay off the credit card with the lowest balance first.
  This advice is based on the notion that you will feel great about paying off credit cards with small balances, and will be so excited the momentum will carry over to paying off cards with larger balances. By having fewer bills you minimize the possibility of missing payment due dates that can result in late fees or higher penalty interest rates. 
• Pay off the card with the highest interest rate first, regardless of the size of the balance. 
  You will save the most money using this strategy--though your actual savings amount will depend on the interest rate for each account. Start by paying as much as you can toward the card with the highest interest rate, and when you have paid off that card, move on to the next card, and so on. 
• Strategically pay down your balances to improve your credit score. 
  With this method, you look at your available credit lines on each account and you work to reduce each of your balances to below 30% of your available credit, or even lower if you can afford it. This can boost your credit score, since a high balance relative to your credit limit is an important factor in determining your FICO credit score. If you have generous credit lines, you may not need to consider this approach.

It is important to note that you don't have to carry debt to build a strong credit score. When you pay off a card, don't close it (unless there is an annual fee and the issuer won't waive it). Keep it active by using it from time to time for purchases you would make anyway, and pay the balance in full.