Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ABI Says Reducing Whiplash Costs Key to Lower Auto Premiums
Aug 11 2014 // “Tackling the cost of whiplash claims is essential to ensure UK motorists continue to benefit from lower average motor insurance premiums,” The Association of British Insurers said in a bulletin. According to...
Cornell Named State Auto Western Region Financial Officer
Aug 6 2014 // Thornton Cornell has been named regional financial officer for State Auto’s Western Region. Cornell, a CPA, will be based in Austin, Texas. Cornell brings to this new role a vast knowledge and experience working in...
Mississippi City Eyes Ice Cream Truck Regulations
Aug 6 2014 // Aldermen in Ocean Springs, Mississippi are considering writing laws to regulate ice cream trucks. Officials told The Sun Herald that a mother recently watched her child, along with the others, leave a birthday party in a...
State Auto: Net Income Down, Written Premium Up for Q2 1014
Aug 5 2014 // State Auto Financial Corp. reported net income for the second quarter 2014 that was nearly 50 percent less than its net income for the same period in 2012, while net written premium increased in Q2 2014 compared with Q2...
China Car Parts Plant Explosion Kills 69, 187 Injured
Aug 4 2014 // A suspected dust explosion at an automotive parts factory in eastern China that supplies General Motors killed at least 69 people and injured more than 180 others, most with severe burns, state media reported Sunday. It...
10 Things to Know About Auto
Aug 4 2014 // State Farm, the largest private auto insurer in the U.S., reported $33.6 billion in direct premiums written for private passenger auto in 2013, representing 18.5 percent of the market share. —The National Association of...
Study Tracks Rise in Attorney Involvement in Auto Claims
Aug 4 2014 // Attorney involvement in auto insurance claims is on the rise and varies significantly by state, according to an insurance industry study. The percentage of auto injury claimants represented by attorneys jumped to 36...
Penn. Family Awarded $18M in Suit Against Nationwide
Aug 4 2014 // An insurance company that was tongue-lashed in a decision by a Pennsylvania judge is contesting his ruling that it pay $18 million in punitive damages after a long court battle over faulty repairs to a family’s...
Former New York Cop Sentenced for Inflating Auto Claim
Aug 1 2014 // A retired Buffalo, New York, police officer will avoid jail but must pay back $6,400 after inflating a car insurance claim. U.S. Attorney William Hochul says 49-year-old Johnnie Fritz was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months...
SCI Underwriting Management Launches Four New Products for Aging Service Industry
Jul 31 2014 // SCI Underwriting Management, LLC, a managing insurance agency with a focus on the aging service industry, has launched four new products for the segment: property (ultimate cover); nursing home auto coverage; crime...
Arguing With Wife, Texas Man Drives Car Into Home
Jul 30 2014 // Police in North Texas say they’ve arrested a man who became upset with his wife and drove his car into their home, trapping the woman in the rubble. Firefighters in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill worked early on...
Most Electric and Small Cars Come Up Short in IIHS Safety Ratings
Jul 30 2014 // The Mini Cooper Countryman is the only small car to earn a good rating among the latest group of 12 cars subjected to the insurance industry’s small overlap front crash test. Two electric models and a hybrid also are...
Mass. Auto Insurance Rates Climb Back Up Despite Deregulation
Jul 29 2014 // Auto insurance rates that fell sharply after deregulation in Massachusetts are climbing again. The Boston Globe reports that five years after Massachusetts began to allow insurers to set their own rates, the average...
Florida Drunk Driver Run Over By Own Vehicle
Jul 25 2014 // Police said an intoxicated man was run over by his own pickup truck after he got into a road rage incident during a rainstorm. The incident happened Tuesday evening in Gainesville, Florida. The Gainesville Sun reported...
Markel Ventures Acquires Georgia Auto Transport Equipment Firm
Jul 24 2014 // Markel Ventures Inc. has acquired a majority interest in Cottrell Inc. of Gainesville, Georgia, a firm that designs and manufactures over-the-road automobile transport equipment. Terms of the transaction were not...
Hanover Offers Insurance Advice for Parents Sending Kids to College
Jul 22 2014 // The Hanover Insurance Group advises that as new high school graduates get ready to head off to college, parents would be wise to prepare for potential risks and liabilities, and to consider the insurance...
GM Backs Ban on Renting Recalled Cars
Jul 21 2014 // General Motors Co. is the first big automaker to support legislation barring rental-car companies from renting or selling vehicles subject to a recall. GM’s support was announced by bill author Sen. Charles Schumer,...
Rebates, Referrals and Rewards in Texas – What’s OK and What’s Not?
Jul 21 2014 // What are the rules governing insurance agents in Texas on rebates, referrals and rewards, and why do they matter? For starters, at a minimum, an agent could lose their license for violating rules regarding such activities....
Unlicensed Auto Insurance Robo-Caller Fined $191K by Minnesota Regulators
Jul 21 2014 // An unlicensed commercial entity has been ordered by Minnesota commerce regulators to pay $191,185 in civil penalties for making fraudulent and unlicensed auto insurance solicitations to consumers in that state. The...
Despite Increases Ohio Auto, Home Insurance Rates Still Among the Lowest
Jul 21 2014 // Lieutenant Governor and Department of Insurance Director Mary Taylor says Ohio’s average auto and homeowner’s rate remain among the lowest in the country despite increases taken in the past two years. In 2013,...
