Dear Bruce: My wife and I recently bought a home for $500,000. Our insurance agent suggested that we should get a liability policy for twice the value. Is this going to be enough? We are worth a lot more than $1 million and can certainly afford a higher premium. I just want to make sure that we are adequately protected. — Y.P. in Nevada

Dear Y.P.: First and foremost, $1 million is not an adequate amount of coverage at all. You should have a standard liability policy in your homeowners and add at least $2 million to $3 million with an umbrella policy. You might say that it would be difficult to get into circumstances where the liability would go that high, but trust me, it happens every day. The difference in the price of a couple million dollars' worth of insurance is not enough to get excited about. The difference in coverage, though, can be enormous.

Dear Bruce: Recently, my credit-card bill showed a charge of $74.34 for items that I did not order. These items had been sent to my home, and I sent them back registered mail so I would have a record that the company received them. It has been two months, and the firm still has not credited me with my money. I keep calling, but am not getting any satisfaction. Is there anything else I can do? — M.S. in Pennsylvania

Dear M.S.: You are going to have to contact the credit-card company. Once you provide the required information, it will probably take another two months to fix the problem. Just make sure that you're persistent, and it will get resolved.

Dear Bruce: A telephone-company rep persuaded us to switch our long-distance service. Unfortunately, the program he discussed turned out to be unavailable. Of course, we didn't find this out until we got the bill. Now the company will not honor the original offer.

I have filed a complaint with the firm. Is this legal? What can we do? — N.K. in Michigan

Dear N.K.: The basic weakness here is that you talked to someone over the telephone.

You have nothing in writing to substantiate the offer.

It is possible, though not necessarily likely, that you misunderstood. It is also possible that the representative exaggerated to make the sale. In any event, I don't believe there is anything you can do other than to switch back to your original carrier or to a third carrier if you find one that better meets your needs.

— Send your questions to Smart Money, P.O. Box 2095, Elfers, FL 34680. E-mail to bruce@brucewilliams.com.