Warning to Drivers
Friday, December 09, 2005
Motorists are being warned not to leave their cars unattended with engines running while they defrost the windscreen or they could be left out in the cold with their insurance companies. While the recent freezing temperatures may have tempted many motorists to go back indoors as the car de-ices, online insurance broker screentrade.co.uk says most car insurance policies will not pay out if a vehicle is stolen while left unattended with keys in the ignition. Simon Hargreaves, direct business director at screentrade.co.uk, said:...

 Maynard Enraged at Ruling: ; In Dissent, Judge Calls It 'Hogwash' to Favor Woman Who Paid Nothing for Insurance
Friday, December 09, 2005
The state Supreme Court says a woman who bounced a check for her car insurance still deserved coverage after a crash. The court, by a 4-1 vote, upheld a Cabell Circuit Court ruling that faults West Virginia National Auto Insurance Company for not giving Stephanie Michelle Conley at least 10 days' notice before canceling her coverage.Conley sent West Virginia National a worthless check just days before she was involved in an Aug. 31, 2001, accident....

 Massachusetts Attorney General Calls for Auto Insurance Rates Cuts
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Dec. 7--LOWELL, Mass. -- If Attorney General Tom Reilly has his way, Massachusetts drivers will save $200 next year on their auto-insurance premiums. But Reilly first will have to convince state Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler that the state's 19 auto-insurance providers can afford to trim $750 million in annual charges next year. Reilly made a stop at City Hall yesterday afternoon on a three-day, five-city tour of the state, pushing his proposal to cut insurance rates by 18 percent in 2006....

 Car Firm's Booster
Thursday, December 08, 2005
MIDLAND car swop operator Accident Exchange Group today unveiled a 150 per cent half-year profits boost - and gave an upbeat forecast for the year. The Coleshill-based firm, which arranges rental cars for insurance companies dealing with car crash claimants, saw pre-tax earnings soar from pounds 2.1 million to pounds 5.6 million as revenues swelled pounds 13 million to pounds 20.7 million. Chairman Lord Young said much higher rental volumes were expected in the second half of the year compared to the firs...

 Cell-Phone Services Don't Ring Our Chimes
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Cell-phone companies rank below even HMOs, digital cable TV companies and auto insurers when it comes to service satisfaction among American customers - and Bostonians seem to be the most disgruntled.Consumer Reports released a new survey yesterday showing that only 47 percent of customers said they were completely or very satisfied with their cell-phone service, one of the lowest showings for any type of service in the United States.Verizon Wireless consistently won the most praise nationwide and in Boston, with generally good service credited to the wireless company....

 Sheilas' Wheels Appoints Carat
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Sheilas' Wheels, the women's car insurance brand run by Esure, has handed its media account, worth an estimated 8m, to Carat.Carat was responsible for the launch activity for Sheilas' Wheels, which started last month, and has now been appointed to handle the longer-term media brief. Sheilas' Wheels' advertising focuses on the idea of Australian men wishing they were women in order to get cheaper car insurance....

 Study: Drivers Living Near Church Safest
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO - Living by a church does wonders for a person's driving record, but motorists who reside near a restaurant might want to say an extra prayer before hitting the road, according to the findings of an insurance industry study.The study from Quality Planning Corp., a risk assessment firm owned by the influential Insurance Services Office, calculates the risk of having a serious auto accident.The bottom line: Drivers living within a mile of a church are the safest - 10 percent less likely to crash than their fellow drivers, the report found....

 Court OKs Mass Trial in Tobacco Cases
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that a mass trial can be held in two phases on more than 1,000 complaints against five tobacco companies and a public relations firm.But the court said its decision was not a judgment on whether such a trial is the best way to handle the cases.The unanimous unsigned ruling answered a certified question on whether a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevented Ohio County Circuit Judge Arthur Recht from holding a mass trial in two phases, as had been under development since 2000....

 Decision Expands Coverage ; Insurance Policy Applies to Fetus
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
The then unborn son of a motorist murdered in a 1996 traffic dispute is entitled to payment from his grandparents' uninsured motorist policy, the State Appeals Court has ruled. Brian Salazar Jr. was a fourweek-old fetus in November 1996 when his father, Brian Sr., was shot after fighting with occupants of a blue truck he encountered while driving on West Central Avenue in Albuquerque. Young Salazar's mother, Naomi Luebbers, was living with her mother and stepfather, Kathleen and Edward O'Brien, at the time of the murder....

 Calm Down, Dear - It's Only My Greetings Card...
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
YOU have to admire the chutzpah of Michael Winner. For once condescending to share the spotlight on his personal Christmas card, he has chosen to do so with the Queen. Quite what Her Majesty will make of this unlikely double act, Buckingham Palace is not saying....

 STATISTIC OF THE DAY: Pounds 1.6bn
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
the amount spent by British drivers on parking fees each year, in addition to pounds 524m in parking fines Survey by car insurer, esure.co...

 Why People Who Live Close to Restaurants Are More Likely to Have an Accident and Pay More for Auto Insurance
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- If you live within a mile of a church, you're far less likely to have a car accident than drivers who live more than a mile from a church. Those are among the key findings of a study released today by a leading predictive analytics company -- Quality Planning Corporation -- a firm that helps insurance companies price insurance more accurately and fairly.Quality Planning Corporation (QPC) examined the relationship between where a vehicle owner lives and the likelihood that he will be involved in an auto accident, and concluded that the riskiest place to live is within one mile of a restaurant....

 Drive Your Way to Safety and Savings
Monday, December 05, 2005
Crash test ratings tell us which cars best protect against injuries and which cars may incur the greatest amount of damage. That's because certain cars that suffer damage in minor collisions could cost more to repair -- the cost of a bumper on a Mercedes is more expensive than a bumper on a KIA, for example. Safety features such as air bags, anti-lockbrakes, anti-theft systems, and daytime running lights mightmerit a lower premium with your auto insurer....

 Alberta Family Speaks About Groundbreaking Law on Injuries to Unborn
Saturday, December 03, 2005
EDMONTON (CP) - Doctors told Lisa Rewega that her five-month pregnancy saved her life when she was thrown from her car after hitting a patch of black ice.This week the Alberta legislature granted her wish by closing a legal loophole that had allowed Rewega's insurance company to avoid paying a claim for Brooklynn's injuries because they occurred before she was born.Rewega and her husband Doug have been to court repeatedly and lobbied the government for two years, but they still describe their experience as a journey of love and determination....

 21st Century Insurance Group Announces Quarterly Dividend Dec 02, 07:04 AM
Friday, December 02, 2005
About 21st: Good people to callFounded in 1958, 21st Century Insurance Group is a direct-to-consumer provider of personal auto insurance. 21st Century Insurance Company and 21st Century Casualty Company are rated A+ by Standard & Poor's....

 Birmingham Magistrates
Friday, December 02, 2005
CASES dealt with by Birmingham magistrates on Friday, November 25 included: Gary Daniels, of Chatham Road, Northfield, Birmingham, aged 36, assault causing actual bodily harm, a community service order imposed to be completed in 18 months. Also ordered to pay costs of pounds 175; Mark Malone, of Bryant Street, Winson Green, Birmingham, aged 29, assault, ordered to do community service to be completed in 12 months and to pay costs of pounds 115; Ikram Ali, of no fixed address, aged 29, had on his person a craft knife and was sent to prison for two months; Michael Harrison, of no fixed abode, begging, fined pounds 100; Janusz Lubiak, of Hitton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, aged 39, stole meat to the value of pounds 14.92 from Asda supermarket. Was fined pounds 100 and ordered to pay pounds 100 costs; Tomasz Stozek, of York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, aged 28, stole a bottle of Calvin Klein perfume worth pounds 42.50 from Beatties department store....

 Car Rental Companies Shielded From Suits
Thursday, December 01, 2005
WASHINGTON - A New York court's $21 million award last month to a young Wall Street trader paralyzed in an accident involving a Budget Rent-a-Car vehicle may be one of the last of its kind.Inserted among the thousands of road projects in a massive highway bill Congress passed last summer was language annulling state "vicarious liability" laws that hold vehicle rental and leasing companies liable when a driver without sufficient insurance causes a serious accident.The industry had been pushing for years to get rid of vicarious liability, which generally holds an employer responsible for the acts of an employee....

 Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. Announces Agreement to Acquire Pan American Acceptance Corporation
Thursday, December 01, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. today announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Pan American Acceptance Corporation ("PAAC"). Closing conditions include, among other things, obtaining consent to the transaction from the Texas Department of Insurance and the prior or contemporaneous closing of Hallmark's acquisition of TGA and TGASRI. Hallmark has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Current Report on Form 8-K containing additional information concerning the PAAC purchase agreement....

 U.S. Overfriendly to 'Illegals'
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Reading John Florez's column Nov. 28 brought back a lot of memories. We visited Nogales, Mexico, quite often but never even thought about taking our car across the border. The Mexicans put up big billboards saying, "You had better buy our car insurance or you will be given a very big fine if you do anything to be stopped by our law enforcement."...

 The Players
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
The top 10 auto insurers in the state, based on market share.Safety Insurance 10.8 percentArbella Mutual 10.0 percent...

 Weekly Recap
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
JOHNSON & JOHNSON DEAL TO BUY GUIDANT FINALLY GETS MADEAlthough the deal looked as though it would fall apart, an agreement that would unite two Boston Scientific Corp. rivals finally came together this week. The price was about 15 percent below Johnson & Johnson's original offer because Guidant's value took a hit in recent months amid regulatory investigations. The museum has raised nearly $320 million for the project, making it the largest fund-raising campaign for any museum in Boston's history....

 When It Comes to Car Crashes, It's ''About Time;'' Managing the Accident Claims Process Yourself Can Take Days - Now It Takes About 15 Minutes, Thanks to a New Level of Service From Progressive Available to Cincinnati Drivers
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
With the opening of a Sharonville Service Center, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies (Progressive) (NYSE:PGR), the third largest auto insurance group in the country and second largest in Ohio, is offering drivers the choice of using a re-engineered accident claims repair process that takes only minutes - not days - of their time.With the new "concierge" level of service, the driver simply drops off the damaged car at one of Progressive's 24 Service Centers in the U.S. and, in about 15 minutes, can leave the center in a rental car assured that a claims representative will handle the repair process from beginning to end. Today, Progressive demonstrated how its innovative, one-stop claims service works - complete with a live car crash - at its new Sharonville Service Center at 2669 E. Kemper Road....

 The Annual Ritual of Setting Auto Insurance Rates
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
In Massachusetts, an insurance commissioner appointed by the governor sets auto insurance rates in a system that is unlike anything in any other state: The auto insurance industry submits a rate proposal to the commissioner in August. This year, Attorney General Thomas Reilly sought an 18 percent cut from present rates. Around the same time, the State Rating Bureau, an arm of the state Division of Insurance, submits its rate proposal....

 It's a Wrap -- and a Win for the Golden Gecko Competition
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The film awards season got off to an early start today, when GEICO, the nation's fourth largest private passenger auto insurer, unveiled the winners of its Golden Gecko Competition. The competition opened in September as a national contest for budding filmmakers to create 15-second movie trailers starring the GEICO Gecko, recently voted America's Favorite Icon.Top overall honors went to Steve Rosolio for his animation video, The Fury of the Gecko....

 Mississippi to Raise Minimum Motor Vehicle Insurance Liability Limits; What Drivers Need to Know; The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies Helps Drivers Understand Increase in Limits; Offers Tips for Navigating Through the Change and How to Shop
Monday, November 28, 2005
Mississippi, currently the state with the lowest minimum vehicle insurance liability limits in the country, will soon raise those limits, and therefore the cost, of insurance. The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, the third largest auto insurance group in the U.S. and in Mississippi, understands the new state law may cause confusion and wants to help drivers better understand what this change means to them.Bodily Injury and Property Damage liability (BI/PD) covers your legal liability, up to the dollar limits you select when you buy a policy, for an accident in which there is damage or injury to someone else....