Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Allstate Agents Return to Massachusetts After 25 Years
Oct 22 2012 // Allstate Insurance Co. is reopening brick-and-mortar offices in Massachusetts after a quarter century of absence. Back in 1987, the Northbrook, Ill.-headquartered Allstate closed its offices in Massachusetts and pulled out...
Travelers Will Continue to Seek Improved Pricing: CEO Fishman
Oct 19 2012 // The Travelers Companies Inc. said its Business Insurance segment pricing continued to rise in the third quarter — led by workers’ compensation and commercial auto. Rates also continued to climb in the Personal...
Nissan Unveils Electronic Steering, Automatic Parking Car Safety Features
Oct 18 2012 // Electronically managed steering that completely bypasses the mechanical link of a clutch is among the new safety technology from Japanese automaker Nissan. Other vehicles are smart enough to park themselves. And some...
Consumers Learn High Cost of Being Poor in New Jersey
Oct 15 2012 // More than a decade ago, Joanne Jubert made six figures as an art director for a New York advertising agency. She pursued her passion of scuba diving. She joined film societies. She bought a modest home in upscale Little...
San Francisco’s Car-Sharing Taxi Services Flourish Despite Regulators
Oct 12 2012 // Two San Francisco-based car-sharing services, including one founded by Zynga Inc. director Sunil Paul, are operating in defiance of California authorities, highlighting how regulators are struggling with a wave of...
Deadly Year for Motorcyclists in Wisconsin
Oct 10 2012 // Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials say 2012 will be one of the deadliest years on record for motorcyclists. So far, 102 people have died in motorcycle crashes this year, compared to 85 for all of 2011. The...
Allstate: Overweight Drivers, Passengers Hurt Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Oct 9 2012 // It’s not just the gas-guzzling SUVs that are hurting the driving fuel efficiency. The growing average weight of Americans is responsible for millions of gallons of additional gasoline used in the country every year,...
Ala. Regulator OKs New Insurance Certification Form for Auto Dealers
Oct 9 2012 // Alabama Insurance Commissioner Jim L. Ridling issued a bulletin last week approving the use of a new “insurance certification form,” MVD-1, that is designed for licensed motor vehicle dealers and others. The...
U.S. Insurers Say Fraud Costs on the Rise: Survey
Oct 9 2012 // Forty-five percent of insurers estimated that insurance fraud costs represent 5-10 percent of their claims volume, while 32 percent said the ratio is as high as 20 percent. This is according to a survey of U.S. insurers...
State Auto Estimates $6.5 – $7.5Mn Q3 Cat Losses; RED Reserves Increased
Oct 9 2012 // State Auto Financial Corporation (STFC) estimates the impact of catastrophe losses in the third quarter of 2012 at between $6.5 million and $7.5 million in pre-tax net. It noted that during the quarter six catastrophe...
California’s Prop. 33 Latest Battle Between Adversaries Joseph, Rosenfield
Oct 8 2012 // Billionaire insurance executive George Joseph has been fighting with consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield for two decades over California’s landmark automobile insurance law. This November, the two are squaring off...
Met P&C to Pay $345K in Restitution
Oct 8 2012 // An auto insurance company will pay close to $345,000 in restitution to Massachusetts consumers and an additional $50,000 to the state as the result of an investigation alleging that policyholders with clean driving records...
Rental Firms Agree Not to Rent Recalled Cars
Oct 8 2012 // Leading U.S. car rental companies have agreed to back Senate legislation to pull vehicles from the road when recalled for safety defects. The legislation brings car rental companies in line with auto dealers, who are...
Bundlers of Joy: Satisfaction with Home Insurers at 12-Year High
Oct 8 2012 // Overall customer satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies is the highest in the 12 years J.D. Power and Associates has measured it, driven in part by the bundling auto and homeowners policies. Overall satisfaction...
Allstate Agents Returning to Massachusetts After 25 Years
Oct 5 2012 // Allstate Insurance Co. is reopening brick-and-mortar offices in Massachusetts after a quarter century of absence. Back in 1987, the Northbrook, Ill.-headquartered Allstate closed its offices in Massachusetts and pulled out...
Florida PIP Reforms Reduce Hikes But Not Many Premiums Thus Far
Oct 5 2012 // Florida regulators are optimistic that the state’s no-fault auto reforms are having a positive effect on the market and will eventually cut premiums for drivers. But for now they are telling the public that the...
Insurance Institute Names 4 Car Models Top Safety Picks
Oct 4 2012 // The Dodge Dart, the model Chrysler is betting on becoming a top-selling small car, was among four new vehicles on the U.S. market to receive a top crash-test rating by an influential safety group on Wednesday. The 2013...
Calif.’s Brown Record ‘Solid’ on Insurance Legislation
Sep 28 2012 // Gov. Jerry Brown saw over a dozen bills related in some way to insurance come across his desk, with a bill to approve driverless cars, a bill to overhaul California’s workers’ compensation system among...
Newsflash: Consumers Prefer Free Auto Insurance (And Other Stuff Too)
Sep 28 2012 // Our friends at the Consumer Federation of America have issued yet another shocking new study. This one shows something that’s truly nefarious: that auto insurers use things like credit score, employment, and coverage...
Rental Firms Agree Not to Rent Recalled Cars
Sep 28 2012 // Leading U.S. car rental companies have agreed to back Senate legislation to pull vehicles from the road when recalled for safety defects, lawmakers and the firms said on Thursday. The legislation brings car rental...
