Latest Insurance News

Uninsured Driving Not Easy to Curb

By LEIGH BELL Oklahoma is tackling uninsured drivers with a new insurance- verification program scheduled for next summer, but the system doesn't address an obvious contributor to the problem -- illegal immigrants. The real-time verification system allows law enforcement to immediately determine if a driver has car insurance. Right now, officers on traffic stops can't determine if proof of insurance is valid. The verification system aims to reduce the problem of uninsured drivers that...

The Ticker

** Hopkinton-based EMC Corp.'s second-quarter profit rose nearly 20 percent as the data storage vendor recorded double-digit sales gains at its biggest businesses and posted its largest revenue gain in more than two years. ** Biogen Idec Inc. swung to a second-quarter profit on strong sales of two key drugs. The biotechnology firm raised its financial expectations for the year. ** The U.S. Senate voted 95-0 to require colleges and student- loan providers to follow ethical guidelines, toug...

No-Fault's Demise Could Mean Higher Rates, Risk

By Russell Ray, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Jul. 26--Come Oct. 1, auto insurance will no longer be required in Florida. It's the consequence of the Legislature allowing Florida's no-fault auto insurance law to expire. The aim of ending no-fault, which requires drivers to buy $10,000 of personal injury protection to cover the cost of medical care, was to reduce the widespread fraud created by the program and to lower insurance rates. But PIP is linked to the state's other type of mandatory auto ...

FTC Backs Use of Credit Scores By Auto Insurers

By Bruce Mohl, The Boston Globe Jul. 25--The Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that credit scores are valid predictors of future auto insurance claims, but they tend to penalize African-Americans and Hispanics more than whites and Asians. The five-person commission voted 4-1 to release the report, with member Pamela J. Harbour dissenting. Harbour said the data underlying the report were essentially from an incomplete and unreliable insurance industry handout, resulting in flawed c...

The Essentials: TWO in Five Motorists

TWO in five motorists would pay more for a "green" car but want tax breaks and cheaper insurance in return. A total of 41% said they would be willing to fork out more for a low-emission vehicle, a survey from Virgin Money Car Insurance found. Around 6%would be willing to pay between 11%and 30%more, but asked what factors would make them go green, most picked cuts in road tax and lower insurance premiums. But 35% said they would not be willing to pay anything extra to have a more environ...

OPINION: Douglas C. Lyons Column, July 20, 2007

By Douglas C. Lyons, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Jul. 21--There's a conflict brewing in the Sunshine State that, if the combatants on both sides aren't careful, could blow up into a full-scale war. It's nothing approaching, say, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although the issues are arguably just as complicated. This political skirmish, though, could leave state government with some very deep scars and many state residents with even higher premiums. Call it the War Between the Rates. ...

New Insurance Chief Goes Beyond Expectations

By Bruce Mohl, The Boston Globe Jul. 23--When Nonnie S. Burnes was appointed insurance commissioner in February, the industry group pushing for auto insurance competition in Massachusetts thought all was lost. The assumption was that Burnes, a Superior Court judge who knew nothing about the Byzantine world of auto insurance, would take a long time just to get up to speed. The fact that she was a Democrat and a liberal -- the opposite of her pro-competition predecessor -- made many insuran...

PUT BRAKES ON 'RIP-OFF' ; Probe into Young Drivers' Insurance

By CLAIRE O'BOYLE THE high cost of car insurance for young drivers is to be investigated by the state, it emerged yesterday. Department of Transport officials want to find out if decreases in overall car insurance in the past three years have been matched in premiums for drivers under 24. The decision to investigate the industry came after allegations young Irish people were targeted by major companies for their massive premium potential. An independent consultant, commissioned by the...

Wheely Friendly

SCOTLAND is home to the UK's most car-friendly town. Dundee beat Aberdeen and Ipswich in a survey for Virgin Car Insurance thanks to its easy parking, few speed cameras, petrol prices and low crime levels. (c) 2007 Sunday Mail; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Insurance Department Told to Pay

By TED GRIGGS Former Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown's lax oversight of a failed insurer's assets cost one former owner around $2.4 million, including interest, according to a state appeals court. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal found in a ruling Wednesday that in the early 1990s, Brown breached his fiduciary duty in liquidating American National Agents Insurance Group of New Orleans. The appeals court upheld a state district court's ruling that the Insurance Department owed Barbara M. P...