Latest Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Motorists Mutual Adds Employment Liability to Commercial Auto Policies

Feb 5 2008 // Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. will automatically include $100,000 of employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) in most commercial policies starting in April. This change gives agents an additional selling tool,...

Arbella, Premier Get Green Light for 2008 Mass. Auto Rates

Feb 4 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes has upheld the 2008 auto insurance rate filings of Arbella Mutal, which proposed an overall rate decrease of 7.7 percent, and Premier (Travelers), which filed for an...

Spaniard Suing for Own Car Damage from Hitting, Killing Bicyclist

Feb 1 2008 // A motorist who struck and killed a 17-year-old cyclist in northern Spain — and then sued the boy’s parents over the damage to his Audi — has dropped the lawsuit, the family said Wednesday. Businessman Tomas...

General Star Offers Automated Quotes on Excess Auto Liability

Jan 31 2008 // General Star Management Co. has introduced the Excess Auto Quick Quote Program, a new product that will be available to all its existing excess liability clients as of Feb. 4, 2008. The program will provide capacity for...

Allstate 4Q Profit Falls 37% as Calif. Wildfire Losses Top $300M

Jan 31 2008 // Hit by an increase in catastrophe losses, Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer Allstate Corp. saw its profit drop by more than 37 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. The fourth quarter net...

Mass. AG Loses Another as Hanover’s Auto Insurance Filing is Cleared

Jan 30 2008 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has lost another skirmish in the battle over regulation of 2008 auto insurance rates. Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes has upheld the rate filing of Hanover Insurance,...

Nev. Auto Theft-Fraud Panel Formed

Jan 30 2008 // Gov. Jim Gibbons said this week he’s forming a task force that will focus on organized insurance fraud and auto theft in Nevada. The panel will try to determine the statewide scope of such problems and their affect...

10 Tips for Mass. Insurance Agents Moving into Competitive Market

Jan 29 2008 // Massachusetts independent agents are facing a challenge to hang onto their whopping 86 percent market share in personal lines as the state embarks upon a new competitive auto insurance system that will bring some of the...

Mass. Allows Rates and Commissions of 2 Largest Auto Insurers

Jan 28 2008 // The two largest auto insurance writers in Massachusetts have been given the green light to use the rates they filed for 2008 in rulings that characterize the state attorney general’s objections as...

U.S. Proposes Stronger Car Roofs to Withstand Rollovers

Jan 28 2008 // Addressing rollover safety, the government last week proposed that new cars and trucks undergo new tests to measure the strength of their roofs. With more than 10,000 people dying every year in rollovers, transportation...

California AG Approves Uninsured Motorist Ballot Initiative

Jan 27 2008 // Commissioner Poizner says measure needed to protect public safety, insurance costs A proposed measure that would require California state and local law enforcement officers to remove the license plates of any vehicle...

Consumer Group Claims Insurers Overcharge, Underpay Policyholders

Jan 27 2008 // Insurers defend recent years’ profits, deny allegations and call national consumer group’s report ‘fatally flawed’ A national consumer organization has charged that property casualty insurers are...

Bills Filed in Okla. to Reduce Smoking, Protect Minors From Smoke

Jan 24 2008 // Oklahoma legislators seem to have smoking on their minds. Recently filed bills aimed at smoking issues would require the sales of “fire safe” cigarettes, require insurance companies to provide coverage for...

Hawaii Gov. Pushes Insurance Reforms

Jan 24 2008 // In her State of the State address to state legislators this week, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle outlined 180 proposals she is urging lawmakers to support, including a number of measures that would affect the insurance industry...

Markel American to Sell Collector Car Coverage

Jan 23 2008 // Markel American Insurance Co. introduced a new Collector Vehicle Insurance program. This program joins its other specialty personal lines, such as motorcycle and various boat products. The program provides coverage for a...

AI Risk’s LexExpress Delivers Excess Auto Liability for Truckers

Jan 22 2008 // AI Risk Specialists Insurance, Inc., a brokerage subsidiary of American International Group, Inc., has unveiled LexExpress, excess auto liability insurance for small to medium sized fleets in the trucking industry. It is...

California AG Approves Uninsured Motorist Ballot Initiative

Jan 22 2008 // A proposed measure that would require California state and local law enforcement officers to remove the license plates of any vehicle lacking proof of insurance and current valid registration is one step closer to reaching...

State Auto Middle Market Open House to Celebrate Move to Texas

Jan 22 2008 // Announcing plans for major growth in the Texas marketplace, State Auto Middle Market Insurance (SAMMI), said it will host an open house Jan. 28 in its new office in Austin to celebrate the unit’s entrance into the...

Kan. Firefighter, Wife Charged with Arson, Insurance Fraud

Jan 18 2008 // A Kansas firefighter and his wife are charged with multiple felonies in an alleged insurance fraud-arson scheme. Shawnee Heights Fire District firefighter Laramie McPherson and his wife Christine McPherson are accused of...

N.C. Legislative Committee Examining Auto Insurance Rate Methods

Jan 18 2008 // North Carolina’s automobile insurance rates are among the country’s lowest, but a special pool covering motorists for hundreds of thousands of vehicles doesn’t work very well, industry officials told...