Latest Insurance News

Op-Ed ; Coakley's Free-Market Fears

By MICHAEL GRAHAM The truth? Sorry, Massachusetts, you can't handle the truth. So says Attorney General Martha Coakley. She thinks you're just not ready. The truth about how much your car insurance really costs? "We have concerns about whether the market in Massachusetts is prepared for rates to be set by competitive pricing at this time," Coakley said, invoking the Royal "We." Queen Martha is particularly concerned about urban drivers. Given the massive subsidies they currently rec...

Fee on Drivers' Coverage Will Fall: Rate Cut Goes into Effect Oct. 1

By David Ranii, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Jul. 20--An annual fee that is added to the auto liability insurance bill of every North Carolina driver is being cut substantially, partly because of fewer reported accidents. The surcharge will be lowered from 9.8 percent to 2.76 percent -- or from $39 a year to $11 for the average liability policy, according to Ray Evans, general manager of the N.C. Reinsurance Facility. The state Reinsurance Facility administers insurance coverage f...

Confused.Com Could Add Pounds 700m to Admiral's Coffers If Sale Goes Ahead

By Aled Blake MOTOR insurance group Admiral yesterday confirmed it is considering selling off its successful price comparison website Confused.com for pounds 700m. Shares in the company were buoyed by the news of the possible sale, which follows the announcement of record profits for Admiral in March 2006. Confused.com has been a key driver in Admiral's growth and analysts think the internet company could be worth more than pounds 600m. But it is believed that Admiral's bankers at Mer...

EDITORIAL: Insurance Unsettlement

By The Boston Globe Jul. 18--Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes made some auto insurers happy this week by dismantling the decades-old "fixed and established" system by which the state sets the annual maximum rate used by insurers to calculate premiums. No such joyous sounds, however, are coming from consumer organizations concerned about what these changes could mean for young and urban drivers. Next year, insurers will begin proposing their own rates. Burnes says she is confident th...

Car Insurers: Competition Should Work

By Bruce Mohl, The Boston Globe Jul. 18--Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes's decision to introduce "managed" auto insurance competition next year won strong industry support yesterday, even from companies that have opposed competition in the past. Attorney General Martha Coakley , several state senators, and consumer activists voiced concerns, but they adopted a wait-and-see attitude on the changes. National insurers that have shunned the state for years because of its heavily reg...

Editorial ; Insurance Reform a Long Time Comin'

For months we've been encouraging the Patrick administration to surprise us and on auto insurance, they've finally managed to do it. Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes, hand-picked by Gov. Deval Patrick, announced yesterday that she plans to move the state's auto insurance system gradually but firmly in the direction of the free market, partially freeing insurers from the stranglehold of government rate-setting. Burnes is calling it "managed competition." Beginning next year, like every...

State Gives Auto Insurers a Green Light to Compete

By Hillary Chabot, The Sun, Lowell, Mass. Jul. 17--BOSTON -- Drivers could have more choice when it comes to insuring their car after state Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes announced a slow introduction of competition into the auto-insurance market yesterday. The decision means companies can set their own rates within certain parameters that Burnes will establish within the next few months. Before Burnes' decision, Massachusetts was the only state in the nation that set auto-insurance...

State to Let Drivers Shop for Best Rates

By Bruce Mohl, The Boston Globe Jul. 17--Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes yesterday said she plans to give the 4 million drivers in Massachusetts a taste of auto insurance competition next year, letting them shop around for the best deal for the first time in 30 years. Instead of approving one set of rates that every company must charge, which has been past practice, Burnes said she plans to let companies set their own rates for 2008, under close supervision from the Division of In...

Premiums to Fall 7% for Riskiest Drivers

By Jonathan D. Epstein The state's highest-risk drivers will see their auto insurance premiums fall by an average of 7 percent under the state's assigned- risk plan, state insurance regulators said Monday. The state Insurance Department said the rate cut for the Automobile Insurance Plan -- which is the insurer of last resort for those who can't get insurance otherwise -- will save nearly $20 million statewide for new drivers and others in the plan. The new premiums will go into effect ...

Detroit Free Press Brian Dickerson Column: GMAC Will Make It Pay to Drive Less

By Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press Jul. 18--No one would ever mistake me for a technophile. Mention any quantum leap in digital technology and I'll give you a list of ways it has ruined my life. But even a Luddite like me has to marvel at the speed with which technological innovations designed for one purpose morph to meet needs their inventers never anticipated. And so it is that OnStar, a 21st-Century option conceived to promote the sale and safe use of automobiles, soon may provi...