Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
1— FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, February 1,1988
— '
■State insurance agency helped recover $20,000 for county residents in 1997
By Alton Bridges
t Staff Writer
One of the most important ser
' vices that state government pro
* vides for the citizens of Georgia
. is provided by the Consumer
‘Services Division of the
Commissioner of
' Georgia.
“ The Consumer Services
Division is designed to help the
i| citizens of Georgia with almost
any problem they have with their
insurance.
“We might not be able to help,
/but we will try,” said John
, Oxendine, the Insurance
' Commissioner of Georgia. “We
hope people will call on us before
Milita
Conte takes part in desert exercise
Marine Sgt. Thomas N. Conte,
Avhose wife, Kristine, is the
daughter of Thomas and Virginia
Milley of Cumming recently par
ticipated ip a training exercise
while serving with the 13th
Marine Expeditionary unit
7MEU), currently on a six-month
deployment to the Western Pacific
Ocean and Arabian Gulf.
' Conte’s unit participated in
Exercise Eager Mace, a multina
tional exercise held in the Kuwait
desert 20 miles from the Iraqi
border. The exercise was designed
Jo increase the interoperability of
.participating nations and enhance
the special operations capability
jpfthe MEU.
‘ Conte’s unit is an expeditionary
intervention force with the ability
to rapidly organize for combat
.operations in virtually any envi
ronment. MEUs are composed of
A Uk
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they go to the expense of hiring a
lawyer.”
Since becoming commissioner,
Oxendine has revamped the
Consumer Services Division so it
will be more available and more
responsive to the people. The
most important changes have
been the upgrading of the com
puter system, hiring 40 people to
take calls from the public about
their insurance problems, plus
hiring enough field representa
tives to visit each county at least
once each month.
The commissioner provides a
WATS line, number (800) 656-
2298, so the public can discuss
problems with a representative of
more than 2,000 personnel and
are divided into an infantry battal
ion, an aircraft squadron, a sup
port group and a command ele
ment. With the combination of
these teams, Conte’s unit supplies
and sustains itself for either quick
mission accomplishmnet or clear
ing the way for follow-up forces.
The 1998 graduate of Utica free
Academy of Utica, N.Y., joined
the Marine Corps in August 1988.
CITIZENS sd
FDIC
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OF FORSYTH COUNTY
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Experienced Certificate of
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Over $39 Million in Assets AnnUal Percenta 8 e Yield
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I ‘Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. J
Come Experience
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Monday, February 2
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# Saturday, February 7 \
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GOVERNMENT
his office between the hours of 8
a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through
Friday. If anyone wants to visit
the office, the office hours are 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through
Friday.
Since many people do not want
to visit the offices in Atlanta or
call on the telephone, the field
representatives who visit the
counties obtain an office in one of
Plan for the future
New Year’s resolutions are
viewed as a means of affirming
new directions and re-defining
objectives designed to enhance
one’s well-being and quality of
life. Social Security certainly falls
into that category. Social Security
retirement, survivors and disabili
ty coverage provides a basis of
financial security for the nation’s
workers and their families.
However, people who fail to take
certain steps with regard to their
Social Security coverage may find
their benefits less than they
should be.
Following are suggested resolu
tions you may want to make to
ensure you get the most out of
your Social Security protection:
To ensure correct earnings
records, make sure the name and
the local government buildings
and the visit is announced in the
local papers.
The representative for Forsyth
County is Kelly Courington and
he visits the county on the first
Monday of each month and his
hours are 9-11:30 a.m., unless
someone has a problem that will
need extra attention.
In Forsyth County in 1997, 61
know your social security benefits
number on your Social Security
card matches the name and num
ber on your pay stub. If it
doesn’t, let your employer know
so a correction can be made.
Request a Personal Earnings and
Benefit Estimate Statement from
Social Security. This statement
gives you a year-by-year listing of
your earnings that have been
reported to Social Security, plus
an estimate of the Social Security
retirement and disability benefits
that might be payable to you, and
any survivors benefits that would
be due your family if you were to
die.
Find out more about Social
Security. Request the free pam
phlet, “Social Security—Basic
Facts.” The more you know the
more effective you’ll be in plan-
people filed complaints with the
commissioner and they were able
to recover $20,000.
In Georgia, 9,759 people com
plained and the Commissioner
recovered $3.6 million for con
sumers.
The major problems the citizens
of Forsyth and throughout
Georgia had with insurance com
panies included delays in pay-
ning for the future.
If you are nearing retirement
age, call Social Security about
three months before you turn age
62 to discuss when it’s best for
you to start getting benefits. If
you are past age 62 and still
working, you should contact
Social Security before the start of
the year you plan to retire. You
may be able to begin getting ben
efits in January, even though you
don’t plan to retire until later in
the year.
If you already receive benefits,
you should notify Social Security
if you change your name or
address, go to work, marry,
divorce, begin to receive a pen
sion from a job you had in the
government, or plan to leave the
United States for more than 30
ments of settlements after ’an
agreement had been reached,
unsatisfactory settlements and the
company would cancel the policy
for reasons the consumer Telt
were unjust or without reason. ’ *'
“Again, we encourage people 1o
call us with their complaints,”
said commissioner Oxendihe.
“We will do our best to be help
ful.” s
days.
Sing up for direct deposit of
your Social Security benefit if
you don’t already have it. Then
your check will go directT/ to
your bank account. You will save
the time you normally spent! at
the bank and know that your
check won’t be lost or stolen.
You can contact Social Security
and talk to a representative by
calling the toll-free number, (800)
772- 1213, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Monday through Friday. (You can
leave a message on a recorder
after hours). The lines are busiest
early in the week and month, so
it’s best to call at other tirrifes* if
your business is not urgent. Vou
can also get Social Security infor
mation from the Internet bn
http://www.ssa.gov.