Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
USAA Auto Insurance Reduces Auto Rates 7% for Californians
Aug 4 2009 // USAA Auto Group announced it is reducing rates an average of 7 percent for auto policyholders in California. The 10th largest auto insurer in the state, USAA insures nearly 1 million vehicles in California, covering...
Unsafe Truck, Bus Operators Told to Shut Down Are Still on Roads
Aug 3 2009 // Hundreds of tractor-trailer and bus companies ordered to shut down because of federal safety violations ranging from suspended licenses to possible drug use have stayed on the road by using different names, investigators...
Police: Texting, Talking Trucker Hits Car, Pool in New York
Aug 3 2009 // Police say a tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool. Niagara County sheriff’s deputies say 25-year-old Nicholas Sparks...
Initiative to Change Calif. Auto Insurance Rating Factor Proposed, Faces Criticism
Aug 3 2009 // Californians for Fair Auto Insurance Rates is working on gaining support for a voter initiative aimed at the 2010 ballot that reward drivers who have had insurance for some time to be eligible for a “persistency...
U.S. Launches Auto ‘Clunker’ Program
Aug 3 2009 // In what may prove to be boon for the U.S. auto industry and, by extension, Midwest states that have been adversely affected by auto manufacturer bankruptcies, the U.S. government launched its $1 billion cash incentive...
North Carolina Caps Auto Rates
Aug 3 2009 // North Carolina is ordering auto insurers to roll back their rates to 2006 levels and send up to $50 million in refunds to about 1 million policyholders. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said the settlement does away...
21st Century Auto Insurance Reduces Rates 3.4% for Californians
Aug 3 2009 // 21st Century Auto Insurance Co. announced it will be implementing a $34 million rate reduction for policyholders in California, according to Shannon Kelly, senior vice president, West region. The reduction represents an...
Three Homeowners’ Policy Gaps That Sell
Aug 3 2009 // Skillful introduction and explanation of the following three “common” coverage gaps will likely result in the addition of a new homeowners’ client. Further, each of the three listed gaps is easily closed...
Arizona Passes Law to Verify Auto Insurance
Jul 30 2009 // Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law a bill designed to reduce the number of uninsured motorists on the road. HB2224 requires that a driver that has a third or subsequent violation within three years for not...
Ohio Auto and Homeowners Insurance Rates Increased in 2008
Jul 28 2009 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson announced that the average rates for the state’s top 10 private passenger auto insurers increased 0.8 percent in 2008. The average rates for the state’s top...
U.S. Launches Auto ‘Clunker’ Program
Jul 27 2009 // The U.S. government launched a $1 billion cash incentive program on Friday to stimulate auto sales by getting consumers to part with gas guzzling cars and trucks and buy more fuel efficient vehicles. The program, which...
Progressive Introduces Any Auto Commercial Liability Endorsement
Jul 23 2009 // Progressive introduced a new commercial auto endorsements that might limit an agent’s errors and omissions exposure, the insurer says. Imagine this scenario — a customer has commercial auto insurance for his...
21st Century Auto Insurance Reduces Rates 3.4% for Californians
Jul 22 2009 // Shannon Kelly, 21st Century senior vice president, West region, has announced a $34 million rate reduction for 21st Century Auto Insurance Co. policyholders in California. This represents an average decrease of 3.4...
The Hartford Rolls Out AARP Auto Product Through Independent Agents
Jul 21 2009 // The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is now offering AARP-branded auto insurance through select, authorized independent agents. Previously, the insurance was only available directly from The Hartford by phone,...
People
Jul 20 2009 // Illinois Governor Pat Quinn named Michael McRaith director of the newly created Department of Insurance (DOI), which separated from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) on June 1,...
Massachusetts Police Arrest 13 in Auto Insurance Fraud Case
Jul 20 2009 // Thirteen people have been charged with auto insurance fraud in connection with what Massachusetts police say was a staged accident that resulted in more than $76,000 in insurance payouts. Lawrence, Massachusetts Police...
Mini Reasons to Stay Sober
Jul 20 2009 // The survey showed a decline in the percentage of legally intoxicated drivers, but for the first time used screening techniques that detected other substances as well. My husband and I recently bought ourselves a new car...
Recession Increasing Insurance Fraud
Jul 20 2009 // Areas Where Agents Might See an Increase in Fraud Does a bad economy increase crime? According to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, it’s too soon for statistics to confirm...
Japanese Agents Tour U.S. Agencies to Learn Best Practices
Jul 20 2009 // Most of Japan’s 300,000 Agencies Are Small, But They Are Dreaming Big ‘I’-Like The owners and producers of Japan’s estimated 300,000 insurance agencies can only dream of the success and freedom that...
California Closer to Allowing Mileage-Based Auto Insurance
Jul 20 2009 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance). According to the Commissioner, “Insurers frequently rely on consumers to provide their own...