One of the oddities of California politics is the way different factions use the initiative process to try to sneak into law programs and policies that, given full attention and airing, would die an inglorious death. Add Proposition 17, the bizarrely named “Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage,” to the list of propositions-as-shell games.
The Maryland Senate voted this morning to raise the minimum liability limits for vehicle owners’ auto insurance for the first time in 38 years. The final vote was 27-20, sending the bill to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature.
The bill was approved after a stiff fight led by the Senate’s Republicans, joined by a handful of Democrats.
Auto insurance is a requirement that you can not afford to be without. If you doubt that, just turn on the news and see what sort of troubled Toyota’s been getting into lately. Regardless of whose fault it is, cars have a tendency to malfunction and break down. Unfortunately, getting the right car insurance coverage can be difficult. The cost of insurance ranges from person to person and state to state.
What’s being done in Michigan, you ask, to attract and retain insurance companies and jobs?
Sadly, in a batch of so-called auto insurance reform bills kicking around Lansing, some politicians are playing the tired old game of demonizing insurance companies as villains out to gouge the people in pursuit of nasty profits. The bills propose new layers of regulatory red tape and further government intrusion into rate-setting, hardly the message Michigan should be sending to foster new business and job creation.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has asked the state Division of Insurance to initiate an administrative rate proceeding to review the new auto insurance rates of Premier Insurance Company.
Premier, a subsidiary of Travelers Insurance, filed new rates with the Division of Insurance, which allegedly discriminate against consumers based on homeownership, in violation of Massachusetts regulations. Premier’s new rating system, which went into effect on November 1, 2008, takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining what an individual consumer will pay for insurance.
AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court must decide if an insurance company should pay in the case of a boy injured by a driver who was speeding away from police.
Richard Gibbons was evading San Marcos police in 1999 when his pickup truck smashed into Greg and Maribel Tanner’s car at an intersection. The wreck left 7-year-old Roney Tanner in a coma for a week, hospitalized for a month, and in physical therapy for five years.
DENVER — If you are about to renew your automobile insurance you may want to look closely at your next bill.
A new law goes into effect Jan. 1, that will require you to opt-out if you do not want extra coverage for medical care.
“It was in response to the huge crisis in trauma care and funding,” said Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Jefferson County.
The bill’s main sponsor, Sen. John Morse, D-El Paso County, told 7NEWS, “That after Colorado switched from ‘no fault’ insurance to ‘tort’, many medical providers were finding that they weren’t getting paid.”
COLUMBUS: The Ohio Department of Insurance is warning about a telephone scam targeting auto insurance customers.
Department Director Mary Jo Hudson said today that victims are receiving calls saying their insurance payment can’t be processed and that they’ll need to provide their bank account number as well as other personal information to resolve the problem.
Hudson said in today’s economy, phone scams are becoming more prevalent, and consumers need to be on guard or risk falling prey to identity thieves.
Insurance Basics
Motorists are required to carry liability protection which will pay for damages you cause to another person or their property. But other coverages are optional, such as collision: which will repair or replace your car if you are in an accident; and comprehensive coverage, which will reimburse you if your car is stolen. Both collision and comprehensive coverage are sold with a deductible — the amount of money you pay out-of-pocket, before your insurance kicks in.
5 Tips on How to Save
Michigan’s insurance consumer advocate is asking the state to hold hearings on Allstate Insurance Co.’s auto insurance rates.
Melvin Butch Hollowell wants insurance commissioner Ken Ross to look into Allstate raising auto insurance rates after saying that Michigan’s drivers were among the safest in the country and had reduced accidents for several years in a row.
The newest rates the insurance company filed with the state — which went into effect July 28 — included increases of 5% to 7%.