Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: Deregulation Made Massachusetts Auto Insurance Market Worse
Dec 28 2009 // The deregulation of the Massachusetts auto insurance market has driven up prices, boosted insurer profits, reduced consumer protections and generally created confusion in the marketplace, according to a new report by the...
Michigan Auto Insurance Bills Stall As Senate Adjourns Without Acting
Dec 28 2009 // The Michigan Senate adjourned before Christmas without taking action on a property/casualty insurance bill package already passed by the House of Representatives. The package would, among other things, give the insurance...
Auto Warranty Firms Shut Down in Florida
Dec 22 2009 // Florida insurance officials have shut down four firms selling motor vehicle service warranties for being unlicensed. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced that the Office of Insurance Regulation has...
Study: Homeowner Insurance Claimants Less Satisfied Than Auto Claimants
Dec 22 2009 // Homeowners insurance customers who file a property claim are much less satisfied with their claims experience than auto claimants, according to a new study. The satisfaction level of homeowners claimants is significantly...
Washington Keeps Auto Rate Down $26 Million
Dec 22 2009 // Rate reviews by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s office reduced proposed automobile insurance rates by $26 million over the first 10 months of this year, a reduction of about 1 percent. In 2008, the rate...
Georgia Father, Son Agents Charged with Defrauding Goodwill, Insurer
Dec 21 2009 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine said two Macon insurance agents — a father and son– have been arrested after being charged with keeping premiums paid to them for auto and business liability...
Washington Auto Glass Installer Pleads to Insurance Fraud
Dec 21 2009 // A Battle Ground, Washington, auto glass installer who overbilled an insurance company for years has pleaded guilty to first-degree theft. Robert T. Wooster, 51, doing business as Dr. Bob’s Auto Glass and DRB...
2009 P/C Insurance Mergers, Acquisitions Large and Small
Dec 20 2009 // Large insurers AIG, Farmers and The Hartford made moves in 2009, as did large brokers Marsh, Aon, Willis, Gallagher, Brown & Brown, Hub and Wells Fargo. So, too, did, many regional insurers and Main Street agencies....
Insurance Does Not Cover Shootings by Drunk Pennsylvania Doctor
Dec 18 2009 // The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a man’s drunkenness did not render his attempted shootings of a woman accidental and therefore did not trigger coverage under either his homeowners policy or his...
Michigan House Passes Auto Insurance Reform Legislation
Dec 17 2009 // An insurance trade group says a bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives threatens to increase auto insurance costs and harm the state’s job market and economy. The Property Casualty Insurers Association...
Fireman’s Fund Offers Allianz Brand Personal Auto Insurance in 11 States
Dec 17 2009 // Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund is launching an Allianz Personal Auto Policy in 11 states, with plans to offer the coverage in more states by the end of 2010. The policy initially will be available in Arizona,...
Illinois Department of Insurance Warns of Possible Auto Insurance Scam
Dec 17 2009 // The Illinois Department of Insurance reports that some Illinois residents have received letters, printed on fake insurance department letterhead, advising recipients that their “automobile insurance policy is...
Allstate to Auction Recovered 1965 Volkswagen Van
Dec 16 2009 // Allstate announced today that it will sell a recovered 1965 Volkswagen bus at auction and donate the proceeds to Lydia Place, a nonprofit organization in Washington state serving homeless women and children impacted by...
Kansas Regulators: State’s Auto Insurance Rates Among Lowest in U.S.
Dec 15 2009 // The Kansas Insurance Department reports that Kansas ranks sixth lowest in the nation for average auto insurance expenditures, according to figures released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)....
Rhode Island Fines Allstate Over Consumer Choice in Car Repair
Dec 14 2009 // Rhode Island regulators have fined a major insurance company $5,000 for allegedly interfering with a driver’s right to choose his own garage for repair work. The Department of Business Regulation determined that...
Watchdog Criticizes Bailout Loans to Insurers The Hartford, Lincoln National
Dec 14 2009 // The participation of two big insurers in the $700 billion financial rescue contradicted the goals of the government program, according to a bailout watchdog. The inclusion of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and...
Fresno Agent Arrested for Auto Insurance Embezzlement
Dec 11 2009 // Fresno Insurance agent Ismael Flores Venegas, 34, has been arrested on felony counts of embezzlement by an agent and grand theft by embezzlement, the California Department of Insurance announced yesterday. If convicted,...
State-Owned Vehicle Accidents Cost West Virginia $17 Million
Dec 11 2009 // West Virginia has paid out $17.7 million to resolve more than 5,000 accident claims involving state vehicles during the past five budget years. That’s one finding from an audit delivered to legislators this week. The...
Filed in 1998, Nebraska Agency Case Not Over Yet
Dec 10 2009 // After more than a decade and four Nebraska Supreme Court rulings, a new trial may soon be scheduled in a multimillion-dollar insurance dispute between Florida and Countrywide Insurance Agency. Florida is still trying to...
Online Agency Says Auto Insurance Rates Fell 3.5% in 2009
Dec 8 2009 // Online insurance agency insurance.com said its records show that car insurance rates across the nation declined 3.5 percent in 2009 to $1,803 per year. The company said the decline followed a rate increase of 8 percent in...
