Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Bills Filed to Roll Back Texas 2003 Insurance Reforms
Mar 16 2009 // Reforms to the Texas insurance regulatory system put in place by Senate Bill 14 in 2003 are under attack by a coalition of state lawmakers who have filed bills to, among other things, return the rate setting process for...
North Dakota Rental Car Insurance Change Fails
Mar 13 2009 // The North Dakota House has defeated a change in how the state’s insurance laws affect people who rent cars. North Dakota law now says if someone has an accident in a rental car, the rental company’s insurance...
Arizona House Committee Considers Mandatory Auto Insurance Amendment
Mar 12 2009 // The Arizona House Banking and Insurance Committee is evaluating a bill that would make changes to the state’s mandatory vehicle insurance requirements. According to bill text, in November 1997, Arizona began allowing...
Michigan Denies Auto Insurance Rate Hikes Because of Credit Scoring
Mar 11 2009 // Michigan’s regulator has reignited a debate over credit scoring by denying auto insurance companies requested rate increases because their proposed rate schemes include discounts for good credit scores. Commissioner...
Japanese Officials Hear About Auto Insurance From Michigan Chief
Mar 10 2009 // Last week, Michigan Insurance Commissioner Ken Ross met with Japanese officials to discuss how the agency regulates automobile insurance in Michigan. The Michigan officials met with Kunio Nakajima, director of Government...
Montana Legislators To Evaluate Auto Repair, Bad Faith Bills
Mar 10 2009 // The Montana legislature will hear bills this week related to auto body repair and what the insurance industry is calling bad faith legislation that could drastically affect the state’s insurance market and insurance...
UK’s Admiral Auto Insurance to Open Virginia Operations Center
Mar 9 2009 // The American subsidiary of a United Kingdom-based auto insurer says it’s going to open an operations center and bring 40 to 50 jobs to the Richmond area. Admiral Americas and the Greater Richmond Partnership...
New Jersey Teen Hurt in Stolen Auto Denied Medical Benefits
Mar 9 2009 // New Jersey’s Supreme Court said a passenger in a stolen vehicle can’t collect medical benefits under an auto insurance policy, even if the person doesn’t know the vehicle was stolen. Last week’s 5-2...
Union Pacific Freight Car Carrying Molten Sulfur Derails in Louisiana
Mar 9 2009 // Louisiana State Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order resulting from the derailing of a freight train car carrying molten sulfur near Placquemine, La., on Mar. 7. The derailed freight car sprang a leak and dribbled...
Illinois, Michigan Among States Showing Declines in Auto Deaths
Mar 9 2009 // Automobile fatalities declined in 40 states in 2008, a sign that traffic deaths could dip to their lowest levels in four decades. The Governors Highway Safety Association said that vehicle deaths dropped in 40 states and...
Industry Questions Wisconsin Gov.’s Hike in Auto Limits
Mar 9 2009 // A proposal in Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle’s budget to increase mandatory auto insurance limits would drive up costs for many drivers as much as 40 percent, according to the insurance industry. The governor would raise...
It Figures
Mar 9 2009 // $500 Million The financial toll from the January 2009 ice storm in north Arkansas is estimated at $500 million, with most of the cost for restoring electric utilities, the Associated Press reported. Three major utilities...
Wyoming Representatives Reject Bill to Raise Vehicle Liability Coverage Limits
Mar 9 2009 // The Wyoming House of Representatives has defeated a bill that would have increased the financial minimum limits on personal automobile liability coverage. If it had passed, HB 160, the Motor Vehicle Financial...
Recession Gives Agents New Opportunity with Car Lovers
Mar 9 2009 // Agents can offer collector-vehicle coverage to customers as a money-saving opportunity that also will provide broader coverage more tailored to a collector’s needs. Last month, firefighters saved a 1964 Ford Mustang...
Don’t Emulate How the Big Auto Insurers Sell
Mar 9 2009 // Market Auto Discounts Differently It’s pretty safe to say that money isn’t everything. Your health, happiness and, of course, golf are all more important. A lot more important, right? Well, maybe not if you...
Mass. AG Questions Insurer’s High Risk Insurance Auto Rates
Mar 6 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants a public hearing to review the auto insurance rates of a new company entering the market in Massachusetts. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina is...
Former New Jersey Police Officer Sentenced for Insurance Fraud
Mar 6 2009 // A former Camden City, New Jersey police officer has been sentenced for insurance fraud for falsely claiming that vans used by his patient transportation business were only being driven for personal use, according to state...
A.M. Best: Positive Impact on MEEMIC of Sale to Michigan Auto Club
Mar 6 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” of MEEMIC Insurance Co. in Michigan under review with positive implications. These rating...
Auto Club Insurance to Buy GMAC Affiliate MEEMIC in Michigan
Mar 5 2009 // Auto Club Insurance Association, a Dearborn, Michigan-based insurer, reported it has agreed to acquire MEEMIC Insurance Co. and its insurance agency affiliate, MEEMIC Insurance Services Corp. ACIA is the second largest...
Wyoming House Passes In-Car Breathalyzer Bill
Mar 5 2009 // The Wyoming House of Representatives approved a bill to mandate in-car breathalyzers for some convicted drunken drivers. Senate File 88 was one of three DUI bills proposed during the session, but the only one to make it...
