Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study: Insurers’ Customer Retention Critical in Hard Economic Times
Apr 22 2009 // As millions of U.S. households face financial hardship in the current U.S. recession, retaining existing customers has never been more important. For insurance carriers in terms of long-term profitability, customer...
S&P Sees AIU Holdings Vehicle as Boost to Insurer’s Financial Flexibility
Apr 22 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that its ratings on American International Group Inc. (AIG; A-/Negative/A-1) and its insurance subsidiaries (A+/Negative/–) are not affected by AIG’s...
Montana Implements New Motor Vehicle Title and Registration System
Apr 21 2009 // Acting Motor Vehicle Division Administrator Brenda Nordlund said that barring any unforeseen technical difficulties, a new title and registration system for the Motor Vehicle Division will be brought up throughout the...
A.M. Best Calls AIU Vehicle ‘Positive First Step’ in AIG Insurance Rebranding
Apr 21 2009 // Rating organization A.M. Best Co. reported that its ratings and outlook of the property/ casualty subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) remain unchanged following the company’s announcement of the...
Texas High Court Rules Against Insurer in Fleeing Truck Case
Apr 20 2009 // The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that an insurance company must pay a family’s claim over a child critically injured by a truck that was fleeing from police. The child’s parents, Greg and Maribel Tanner, sued...
California Low-Cost Auto Program Available in Palm Springs
Apr 20 2009 // In light of skyrocketing unemployment rates and harsh economic conditions, California Insurance Commissioner Poizner offered struggling Palm Springs residents an affordable automobile insurance option through the...
Crime Warp: Recession Driving a Rise in Vehicle Give-Ups
Apr 20 2009 // As America’s economy slogs through this once-in-a-generation recession, stressed-out consumers are literally being driven to desperation. Growing numbers of drivers around the U.S. are illegally dumping their...
Special Delivery: Added Value with Cargo Insurance
Apr 20 2009 // As Cargo Theft Rises, Carriers’ Special Investigative Units Offer Relief A driver pulls into a truck stop, heads inside to shower and eat — and then discovers his fully loaded trailer gone when he returns. A...
The Carlet Letter? New Jersey Tags New Drivers with Decal
Apr 17 2009 // Would you drive any differently if you knew there was a teenager behind the wheel of the car in front of you? You might find out soon. A first-in-the-nation law in New Jersey will require new drivers ages 21 and younger to...
AIG May Sell U.S. Auto Unit to Zurich
Apr 16 2009 // American International Group is close to a deal to sell its U.S. auto insurance business to Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services for roughly $1.5 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. A deal...
Farmers To Acquire AIG’s Personal Auto Group for $1.9 Billion
Apr 16 2009 // Los Angeles-based the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies has announced it will acquire American International Group’s (AIG’s) Personal Auto Group, which includes 21st Century Insurance Co. The acquisition...
South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Area Still Popular with Car Thieves
Apr 15 2009 // The Grand Strand again ranks first in the Southeast in vehicles stolen per capita, with the Myrtle Beach area among seven of South Carolina’s metro areas posting higher rankings, according to a report. The Myrtle...
Las Vegas Police Say Task Force Curbing Car Thefts
Apr 15 2009 // Las Vegas police say a push to curb auto thefts is behind a big drop in the number of vehicles stolen in southern Nevada. A report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau said that Clark County had the seventh-most cars...
Overall Thefts Cool, But California Remains Top Spot for Vehicle Thefts
Apr 13 2009 // The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported that 2008 marked the nation’s fifth consecutive year of declining vehicle thefts in the United States. Although most areas experienced a reduction in vehicle theft,...
Direct Writers Reconsidering Massachusetts
Apr 6 2009 // As Managed Competition Marks Anniversary, Agency-Distributed Auto Insurance Faces New Rival It’s finally happened: Geico is entering the auto insurance market in Massachusetts. Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes...
Auto Loan Delinquency Rate on the Rise
Apr 6 2009 // The percentage of auto loans past due 60 days or more rose 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the prior-year period, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. The numbers point to auto...
North Carolina Challenges 1.4% Auto Hike
Apr 6 2009 // A 1.4 perent rate hike requested by North Carolina auto insurance companies is being contested by state officials. Insurance department actuaries have concluded that the increase is not warranted in part because it...
Auto Club Insurance Association Acquires MEEMIC Insurance Co.
Apr 3 2009 // Auto Club Insurance Association, a Dearborn, Mich.-based insurer (ACIA), has acquired MEEMIC Insurance Company (MEEMIC) and its insurance agency affiliate, MEEMIC Insurance Services Corporation. ACIA offers a full range of...
Michigan Auto Insurance Fee for Serious Injuries to Rise
Apr 1 2009 // Michigan motorists will pay $20.31 more this year to a fund helping support seriously injured accident victims. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association this week raised the annual assessment to $124.89 per...
Massachusetts Enters Second Year of Car Insurance Experiment
Apr 1 2009 // For decades, Massachusetts had some of the nation’s highest automobile insurance premiums and was the last state to have rates determined by the government, not the open market. That changed one year ago this week,...
