Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. Supreme Court Upholds Auto Assigned Risk Plan
Aug 23 2006 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has unanimously ruled that the state insurance commissioner has the authority to create an assigned risk plan to replace the existing reinsurance plan for insuring high-risk...
Mass. Regulator Looks Ahead After Court Ruling Clears Way for Assigned Risk Plan
Aug 23 2006 // “We’re one step closer to operating like a normal market.” That’s how Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler greeted the news that the state Supreme Judicial Court had upheld her...
The Hartford Offering 12-Month Policies to Dimensions Insureds
Aug 22 2006 // Many auto insurance policies are offered on a 6-month basis, and the rates for those policies can sometimes change when the policy is renewed. To give its customers the advantage of having one policy rate for an entire...
In Maine, Wrongful Death Suit Blames Forklift Design
Aug 22 2006 // The family of a Sanford man killed in an industrial accident blames the manufacturer of a forklift for a design that allowed the man to become pinned when he backed up under a shelving unit. An inexpensive adaptation could...
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Safer cars, not better drivers, behind fewer roadway deaths
Aug 21 2006 // The designs of passenger vehicles have been improving for years, becoming more protective of their occupants in crashes. Without those improvements, the motor vehicle death rate per registered vehicle would have stopped...
Judge denies California insurers’ lawsuit to stop auto rate regs
Aug 21 2006 // A Sacramento Superior Court judge has rejected the insurance industry’s request for an injunction against auto insurance rate regulation reforms in California, but the legal challenges will not end...
Motor sports coverage: garage risks on speed
Aug 21 2006 // The high-value of even the lowest-priced racing cars and the likelihood of calamity drive up overall insurance costs and make liability coverage for motor sports particularly difficult to find, according to motor sports...
Motor sports coverage: garage risks on speed
Aug 21 2006 // The high-value of even the lowest-priced racing cars and the likelihood of calamity drive up overall insurance costs and make liability coverage for motor sports particularly difficult to find, according to motor sports...
Golf Course Risks and Greek Mythology
Aug 21 2006 // In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a deceitful king who was condemned to spend eternity pushing a giant boulder up a mountain. As Sisyphus approached the peak of the mountain, the rock would elude him and roll back down to...
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Safeco Launches Instant Auto Endorsement Processing
Aug 18 2006 // Seattle-based Safeco has introduced online technology that allows independent agents to make instant changes to clients’ commercial auto policies. The real-time capability cuts a one-week process into a two-minute...
State Farm Files for Rate Reduction
Aug 18 2006 // State Farm Insurance, California’s largest auto insurer, has applied for an 8 percent average reduction for its policyholders while simultaneously implementing new auto rate regulations, according to the Department...
Calif. Commissioner Calls Court Ruling on Auto Regs a Victory
Aug 17 2006 // On Wednesday afternoon, the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, Calif., refused to overturn a Superior Court ruling that required insurers to comply with the new auto rating regulations. “Once again the...
Mass. Largest Auto Insurer Dropped from High Risk Board
Aug 16 2006 // Massachusett’s largest, locally-based auto insurer, which has frequently locked horns with the Romney administration, has been dropped from the board that oversees how high-risk drivers are apportioned among...
Researchers Find Many Commercial Drivers Impaired by Lack of Sleep
Aug 15 2006 // Truck drivers who routinely get too little sleep or suffer from sleep apnea show signs of fatigue and impaired performance that can make them a hazard on the road, according to a major new study by researchers at the...
Minn. Police Defend Jailing Insurance Scofflaw Killed by Inmate
Aug 14 2006 // The police chief in Elk River said an insurance violation was a good enough reason for his officers to lock up a man who was later beaten to death in the Sherburne County jail. A story in the Associated Press last week...
Mass. Regulator Rules Auto Rates Must Be Set By State Again
Aug 14 2006 // As expected, Massachusetts officials have confirmed that the insurance commissioner, not competition, will set auto insurance rates for 2007. In a four-page decision handed down Aug. 10, Insurance Commissioner Julianne...
Agents Association Accuses Garamendi of Using Office to Win Votes
Aug 14 2006 // The Western Insurance Agents Association, Rancho Cordova, Calif., has issued a statement responding to California Insurance Commissioner Garamendi’s auto rate regulations. It reads: Americans would be hard pressed to...
Fla. Charges Agency with ‘Sliding’ Ancillary Costs onto Auto Policies
Aug 14 2006 // Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial officer, said he has filed administrative charges against 12 agents and customer representatives of Direct General Insurance Agency for “sliding” ancillary...
