Latest Auto Headlines

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

Ohio Auto and Homeowners’ Rates Decrease in 2006

Feb 15 2007 // The Ohio Department of Insurance recently announced that the average rates for the state’s top 10 auto and homeowners insurers – which represent 72 percent of both markets – decreased 1.2 percent and 0.8...

Patrick Administration Holds Hearing Today on Mass. Assigned Risk Plan

Feb 15 2007 // There is another public hearing today in Boston on a proposed assigned risk plan for the Massachusetts auto insurance system, a plan that has been in the works and the subject of multiple hearings since 2003. Last month,...

Agents Urge Mass. to Scrap Assigned Risk Plan

Feb 15 2007 // Massachusetts insurance agents today urged the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick to halt the implementation of a proposed auto insurance assigned risk plan begun by his predecessor, Mitt Romney. Implementation of the...

Motorcycle Helmet Bill Fails in Ark. Senate Committee

Feb 14 2007 // Helmetless motorcyclists need not fear arrest in Arkansas unless the sponsor of a measure to require helmets decides he can muster the votes in the state Senate to remove his proposal from a committee that declined to...

Car Airbags Can Cause Permanent Hearing Loss, Study Says

Feb 14 2007 // A researcher at a national hearing conference will present data that predicts 17 percent of people exposed to deployed airbags in American cars will suffer from permanent hearing loss. His data also shows, contrary to what...

Auto-Owners Stops Writing New Business in Florida

Feb 14 2007 // Auto-Owners Insurance has decided to discontinue writing new policies in Florida. The company said the decision is in response to recent Florida legislation created during a special legislative session on insurance costs...

Industry Defends Job, Education as Rating Factors in Fla. Inquiry

Feb 13 2007 // Insurers are defending the factors they use in pricing auto insurance, including the occupation and education levels of insureds, arguing that the criteria have been actuarially tested for their ability to predict...

Auto fraud crackdown benefits Mass. urban insureds

Feb 12 2007 // High-profile crackdowns on auto insurance fraud have resulted in dramatic savings for drivers in some Massachusetts communities. The statewide average premium is scheduled to drop by nearly 12 percent on April 1, but...

The Commissioners: David Rivera

Feb 12 2007 // Outgoing Colorado regulator comments on consumer choices, ethics In 2004 at the age of 34, David Rivera was appointed to be Colorado’s State Insurance Commissioner, the youngest insurance person to serve in that...

Auto fraud crackdown benefits Mass. urban insureds

Feb 11 2007 // High-profile crackdowns on auto insurance fraud have resulted in dramatic savings for drivers in some Massachusetts communities. The statewide average premium is scheduled to drop by nearly 12 percent on April 1, but...

People

Feb 11 2007 // William J. Mullaney was named president of MetLife’s Institutional Business segment. He succeeds Leland C. Launer Jr., who has decided to pursue other opportunities. Mullaney most recently served as president of...

David Rivera, Colorado, State Insurance Commissioner

Feb 11 2007 // In 2004 at the age of 34, David Rivera was appointed to be Colorado’s State Insurance Commissioner, the youngest insurance person to serve in that position. This January, newly elected Gov. Bill Ritter announced he...

Fla. Questioning Use of Education, Job Criteria in Rating Auto Policies

Feb 9 2007 // In Florida, it literally pays to have a high school diploma and a post secondary education – to the disapproval of Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. The use of occupation and education as underwriting factors by...

LA Jury Awards $10 Million in Suit over School Parking Lot Crash

Feb 9 2007 // A Los Angeles jury has awarded $10.3 million to the family of a 6-year-old girl who was struck by a van and killed two years ago in an elementary school parking lot, determining the school district was largely responsible...

Calif. To Expand Low Cost Auto Program to Merced and Tulare Counties

Feb 9 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has announced his final determination of the need for the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program in Merced and Tulare counties. The announcement follows recent town...

Ark. Court of Appeals Sides with Truck Driver in Workers’ Comp Case

Feb 9 2007 // A delivery truck driver injured on his route is entitled to disability benefits, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled on Feb. 6, 2007, overturning a state workers’ compensation commission decision. An opinion written...

Mass. Halts Insurer’s Auto Insurance Direct Mail Ads

Feb 8 2007 // Massachusetts officials ordered Liberty Mutual Group this week to halt a direct mail advertising campaign and pay back drivers who may have lost money from what the state attorney general called the company’s...

Ohio State Auto Offers Reimbursement when Anti-theft Devise Installed

Feb 8 2007 // The State Auto Insurance Cos., a regional property and casualty insurance group, has announced enhanced coverage for customers who have installed technology that can help quickly recover stolen vehicles or equipment. State...

Ariz. Senate Votes to Require Affidavits for Auto Theft Reports

Feb 7 2007 // Approving a measure aimed at helping to curb insurance fraud, the Arizona Senate voted to require that a person reporting an auto theft also present police with a signed affidavit. The Senate approved the bill (SB1043) on...

John Green, Farmers Actuary, Dies in Auto Accident

Feb 7 2007 // John Green, Farmers Insurance Group’s regional vice president of auto product management and chief auto actuary, died Thursday, Feb. 1, of injuries due to an auto accident. A respected leader in the industry and at...