BRIEF: Missouri Officials Ban Chicago Auto Insurer
Posted 12:19 PM Jun-13-2009
Jun. 13--The Missouri Insurance Department is forbidding the Universal Casualty Company from writing new insurance policies in the state, following a rash of consumer complaints. The Chicago-based company writes auto insurance and collects $5.9 million in premiums a year in Missouri. The Insurance Department reports receiving 63 complaints against the firm this year, 13 times the number it would expect from a company its size....

 Appeal Court Upholds Alberta's $4,000 Cap on Payouts for Minor Injuries
Posted 8:19 PM Jun-12-2009
EDMONTON - Alberta's $4,000 cap on insurance payouts for whiplash injuries was revived Friday by an Appeal Court decision overturning a ruling last year that found the cap was discriminatory.All sides agree the case will likely end up in the Supreme Court of Canada and the outcome could have a major impact on auto insurance rates, which got cheaper for most Alberta drivers when the cap was imposed five years ago.The government plans to put the judgment into effect immediately by reinstating the cap at a higher rate of $4,504 to adjust for inflation, Justice Minister Alison Redford said....

 Canadian Bar Association Disappointed in Court of Appeal Insurance Cap Ruling
Posted 5:19 PM Jun-12-2009
EDMONTON, June 12 /CNW/ - The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) is disappointed with the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision to overturn the Court of Queen's Bench ruling against provincial legislation capping injury compensation. The appeal was requested by the Alberta Government and the insurance industry. "A compensation cap denies the right of Albertans to access justice," said Tom W. Achtymichuk of the CBA's Alberta Branch....

 BRIEF: Two Convicted of Insurance Scam
Posted 12:19 PM Jun-12-2009
Jun. 12--SACRAMENTO -- A federal jury has convicted two people, including a woman from Lodi, of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in connection with an insurance scam, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday. Prosecutors said Donna Jean Rowe, 58, of Lodi and James S. Kalfsbeek, 71, of Arbuckle ran a bogus car insurance company, called Puget's Sound Agricultural Society Ltd., from 1994 to 2002. Rowe and Kalfsbeek, a former Colusa County supervisor, claimed they were "sovereign citizens" and that U.S. and state governments were "alien corporations" with no authority over "organic, Christian people," prosecutors said....

 BREAKING NEWS: Daily Mail Moves into Shopping Comparison
Posted 12:19 PM Jun-12-2009
The Daily Mail has become the latest publisher to launch a shopping comparison site. MailCompare allows users to search for and compare prices of financial products including car insurance, credit cards and mortgages. The publisher provides a cashback reward when changing car insurance or utility providers....

 Auto Insurance: 8 Secret Savings Your Company May Not Suggest
Posted 12:19 PM Jun-12-2009
SOLON, Ohio, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- There's something your auto insurance company or agent isn't telling you that might save you money. And it could be one of these 8 things:Shop around for lower rates: A State Farm agent only quotes State...

 California DUI Facts and Figures
Posted 4:19 AM Jun-12-2009
From the Office of Traffic Safety. Additionally, 30,642 people were injured in alcohol-related crashes in 2007, down from 31,099 in 2006. In California, 203,866 people were arrested for DUI in 2007, up from 197,248 in 2006....

 Progressive Announces Election of Lawton W. Fitt to Board of Directors and Share Repurchase Authorization
Posted 6:18 PM Jun-11-2009
The Board of Directors of The Progressive Corporation today electedLawton W. Fitt, 55, to fill a vacancy on the Company's Board for a termending on the date of the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in April 2010.Ms. Fitt is a retired partner of Goldman Sachs & Co., where she workeduntil 2002. She currently serves onthe Boards of Directors of Ciena Corporation, Thomson Reuters, FrontierCommunications, and Overture Acquisition Corporation, and is a trusteeof several not-for-profit organizations....

 UK Car Insurers Must Boost Value Proposition
Posted 11:18 AM Jun-11-2009
According to research conducted for Datamonitor's global Recession & Recovery research program, a staggering 89% of UK consumers believe that paying higher car insurance premiums does not necessarily mean a better product or service from insurance providers. It is therefore important in this economic climate that insurers look to reinforce their value proposition with consumers.The findings of the Datamonitor study are extremely worrying for UK insurers, as they show that UK consumers do not see any point of differentiation among providers, and essentially believe that car insurance is a price-based commodity....

 Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation to Present at the Fox- Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller Small & Mid-Cap Bank and Insurance Conference
Posted 11:18 AM Jun-11-2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation (Nasdaq: IPCC), today announced Mr. James R. Gober, Chairman, President and CEO will speak at the Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller Small & Mid-Cap Bank and Insurance Conference in New York on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 11:25 a.m. (ET). A live webcast will be available at http:// ir.ipacc.com. Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation is a national provider of personal automobile insurance with a concentration on nonstandard auto insurance....

 City School Board OKs New Positions: Four Posts to Be Paid for With Stimulus Funds, Might Exist for Only Two Years
Posted 5:16 PM Jun-09-2009
Jun. 9--Federal stimulus money will fund either entirely or in part four new positions in the Bowling Green Independent School District. The city school board Monday approved the creation of new positions, which include a special education teacher at Eleventh Street Alternative School fully funded with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stimulus money, a teacher at Parker-Bennett-Curry Elementary School funded entirely with Title I stimulus funds, an intervention coordinator at Bowling Green Junior High School funded by Title I and IDEA stimulus funds and an assistant principal for instruction at BGJHS funded with a proportion of 80 percent of Title I stimulus money and 20 percent Support Education Excellence in Kentucky funding from the state. City schools Superintendent Joe Tinius said the economic assistance is expected to fund these positions for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years....

 Inspiring Customers on Their Terms: New Allstate Insurance Agency Open for Business in Mississauga
Posted 5:16 PM Jun-09-2009
Strengthening relationships with consumers, one customer at a time MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 9 /CNW/ - Today, Christianne Dostie, Executive Vice President, Allstate Canada, was on hand for the official grand opening of a new Allstate Insurance Agency in Mississauga, Ontario. Tomorrow, Dostie will be in Markham and Vaughan, Ontario, opening two more agencies....

 ICW Group Insurance Companies Working With Valen Technologies on Predictive Analytics Solution
Posted 11:16 AM Jun-09-2009
ICW Group, an innovative auto, work comp, catastrophe, and suretyinsurance carrier, has selected Valen Technologies to develop a proof ofconcept using its UnderRight ® predictive analyticsunderwriting solution for their workers' compensation line of business.ICW Group believes Valen'sUnderRight solution will help advance this goal.Additionally, the Valen solutionshould help ICW Group streamline operations through improvedunderwriting automation....

 Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ Recognized As Winner of the Business Category for Clean Ocean Action's 'Flip Your Lid' Contest
Posted 11:16 AM Jun-09-2009
RED BANK, N.J., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ was recently recognized by Clean Ocean Action, a leading national and regional voice working to protect waterways using science, law, research, education, and citizen action, as the winner of the business category for the organization's "Flip Your Lid" contest. According to Clean Ocean Action, over 40,000 people from 200 organizations, businesses and families participated in the region-wide effort, collecting 2,238,053 plastic bottle caps to be recycled by Aveda, a global leader in corporate environmental sustainability."We are pleased to have been recognized by Clean Ocean Action as the winner of the business category for this important contest," stated Marc Buro, President of Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey....

 SafeAuto Insurance Modernizes Claims Communications With Thunderhead NOW
Posted 9:15 AM Jun-08-2009
Thunderhead, recognized innovators in document automation andmulti-channel communications solutions, today announced that SafeAuto®Insurance Company has selected the Thunderhead NOW platform tostreamline the creation and delivery of customer communications acrossthe enterprise.SafeAuto selected Thunderhead NOW to replace its legacy system in partdue to the NOW platform's XML-based design and support for a modernservice-oriented architecture (SOA), which will enable rapid andflexible integration with the company's existing infrastructure.Thunderhead NOW will be integrated with SafeAuto's new claims solutionprovided by InnovationGroup (LSE:TIG.L)....

 Colorado Drivers Can Now Save Big Bucks Based on How They Drive As Progressive Launches One-of-a-Kind Car Insurance Program
Posted 9:15 AM Jun-08-2009
Are you the poster child for safe driving, always leaving plenty ofspace between you and the car ahead? If so, your caris probably less likely to be involved in a crash, so shouldn't you payless for carinsurance?"MyRate is designed for consistent and safe drivers," said RichardHutchinson, Progressive's MyRate general manager....

 A Cross-National Study of Government Social Insurance As an Alternative to Tort Liability Compensation
Posted 4:14 AM Jun-07-2009
INTRODUCTION As Browne and Schmit (2008) state in their recent article, "Indisputably, U.S. society is viewed throughout the world as excessively litigious." In fact, Reimann (2003) points out that liability costs in the United States are so much higher than elsewhere that commentators often refer to two global liability systems: the United States and "the rest of the world." He suggests that in Europe there is a greater disincentive to sue because "there are no damages, or only minimal damages" due to the availability of national health insurance and government-sponsored plans that protect against lost earnings.1 Galanter (1996) also suggests that the United States' "greater reliance on tort reflects not greater generosity to victims, but less reliance on administrative controls and social insurance."...

 Ensure You're Insured
Posted 5:14 AM Jun-06-2009
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being urged not to scrimp on adequate travel insurance this summer.Kwik Fit Insurance managing director Brendan Devine, said: "Most people take out holiday insurance if they're going to Torremolinos, but tend not to think about it if they are going to Torquay.The company's recent survey revealed that almost one in five admitted they had been on holiday without taking out travel insurance....

 New Car Insurance Device Rewards Good Drivers
Posted 10:14 PM Jun-05-2009
Jun. 5--Progressive Insurance on Friday became the first auto insurer in Colorado to offer policies that base driver's rates on how, when and how much they drive, earning them either discounts of up to 25 percent or surcharges of up to 9 percent. The company, the nation's fourth-largest auto insurer, introduced the system in 2004 in Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon and has expanded it to nine other states with plans to go nationwide within three years. "We are seeing that one out of four customers that are offered this system accept it and the majority of customers using it end up with discounts averaging between 10 and 15 percent," said Richard Hutchinson, Progressive's general manager for the MyRate program....

 State Farm to Raise Auto Rates in Illinois Again
Posted 6:46 PM Jun-03-2009
Jun. 3--BLOOMINGTON -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. will raise auto insurance rates in Illinois for the third time in less than a year. Company spokesman Angie Rinock said customers who receive a renewal notice June 29 will be the first to see the increase, which will average 2.5 percent. The most recent increase was necessary because liability claims are increasing, Rinock said....

 40% Insurance Premium Hike a "Manufactured Crisis"
Posted 4:46 PM Jun-03-2009
CALGARY, June 3 /CNW/ - The Insurance Bureau of Canada's request for a 40% insurance premium hike is nothing more than an attempt at manufacturing a crisis, according to the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers' Association (ACTLA). Association President Jamie Cuming stated that the latest request for a premium hike is a "standard tactic the insurance industry has used in Alberta before - create a crisis over insurance rates and then try to get governments to solve it". "The bottom line is that the winners in such a crisis are always insurance company profits, and not consumers or victims," he added....

 The Progressive Corporation Announces 2009 Investor Relations Meeting
Posted 10:46 AM Jun-03-2009
The Progressive Corporation announced today that it will host asimultaneous webcast of its 2009 Investor Relations Meeting on Thursday,June 11, 2009, beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. The meeting will also be availablesimultaneously, in a listen-only format, by phone. To attend the webcast or to receive the call-in instructions, visit ourWeb site at http://investors.progressive.com/events.aspx....

 First Mobile Auto Claims Reporting App for BlackBerry® Users From ACP Interactive
Posted 10:45 AM Jun-02-2009
San Francisco, California-based ACP Interactive announces the first BlackBerryauto accident reporting application for the Insurance Industry, theInsPost Auto Claims Reporting App. For peace of mind for the insuredand faster, lower-cost claims settlement for the insurance company, thismobile application begins the claims process instantly from the scene ofan auto accident.Theservice will be private labeled for insurance companies."InsPost's proprietary technology combines the BlackBerry's phone andcamera attributes into a smart application that speeds up the FirstNotice of Loss (FNOL) process for the Insurance Companies....

 Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ Awards $1,000 Scholarships to Two Top Lacey Township Students
Posted 10:45 AM Jun-02-2009
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ awarded two graduating seniors from Lacey Township High School $1,000 scholarships as part of the auto insurer's "Quotes for Cash" program, a unique school fundraising initiative championed by Teachers' Insurance Plan of NJ. Graduating seniors from participating Quotes for Cash districts are able to apply for the annual scholarships the company funds.Patrick Maguire and Stephanie Cooke each received the scholarship award from Teachers' Insurance. "On behalf of the entire company I want to congratulate both Patrick and Stephanie," stated Marc Buro, President of Teachers Auto Insurance Company of New Jersey....

 Insurance.Com Reports Car Insurance Rates at Lowest Point in 12 Months
Posted 10:45 AM Jun-02-2009
Money-Saving Opportunity for Drivers Buying New Cars, New PoliciesCLEVELAND, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Insurance.com's RateWatch for car insurance, average annual auto insurance rates held steady in May 2009 at $1871 - the lowest they have been in more than a year. This is good news for drivers who had been paying as much as $1950 in September 2008, and it's great news for drivers looking to buy a car....