Auto Insurance
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The state of Florida and insurance companies are in a standoff about how insurance companies determine what to charge you for auto or homeowners insurance. The fight is coming to a head this summer. The question is whether insurance companies can continue to use credit scores – a measure of how well a consumer handles debt – to help set insurance premiums or decide who gets a policy. Insurers say credit scores show them how much risk they take on with each new customer. The state wants to make sure that using credit scores doesn’t amount to a smokescreen that covers up discrimination against minorities and other groups. Florida has a little-known law in place to limit insurers’ use of credit scores in insurance decisions, but it has been battling the industry in court over a proposed rule under the…
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Insurers, state duel over role of credit scores in auto and home insurance rates.
The state of Florida and insurance companies are in a standoff about how insurance companies determine what to charge you for auto or homeowners insurance. The fight is coming to a head this summer. The question is whether insurance companies can continue to use credit scores – a measure of how well a consumer handles debt – to help set insurance premiums or decide who gets a policy. Insurers say credit scores show them how much risk they take on with each new customer. The state wants to make sure that using credit scores doesn’t amount to a smokescreen that covers up discrimination against minorities and other groups. Florida has a little-known law in place to limit insurers’ use of credit scores in insurance decisions, but it has been battling the industry in court over a proposed rule under the law. The law is in effect despite the court challenge. More than a dozen other states have tried…
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Detroit, Flint insurance could cost less: firms interested in state’s group plan.
In what may be the best chance in years to lower sky-high insurance rates in Detroit and Flint, four insurance companies have told state officials they want details on bidding to represent a pool of up to 200,000 good drivers and responsible homeowners in the two cities.
The companies, among more than 65 the state contacted, showed interest in a plan state officials initiated with help from churches and community groups to end territorial rates insurance companies have charged in Michigan since 1979.
Insurance in Detroit often costs twice as much as a comparable policy in a nearby suburb and – along with high taxes – is a key reason people cite for leaving the city.
“We know it’s a problem,” said Linda Watters, director of the state’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services. “We’re squarely focused on trying to help consumers reduce their insurance…
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Florida battles car insurance fraud: Arrests, convictions have climbed over past 2 years.
Florida’s political leaders collided this spring over what to do about auto-insurance fraud.
Legislative proposals fell by the wayside or were vetoed by the governor. A few small measures await his signature. Meanwhile, a survey released this week indicates the problem here is as bad as ever.
Six cities in Florida – more than from any other state – made the latest ranking of the 25 cities with the most questionable auto-insurance claims last year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, an insurance-industry group based in New York.
With 244 suspect cases in 2005 and early 2006, Orlando came in sixth, up two spots in this year’s study, which is conducted annually. Miami came in third, with 588 cases. Tampa, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville also made the top 25 metro areas.
Industry officials say Florida has done a much better job recently of prosecuting auto fraud – its conviction…
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Geico’s rating practice raises claims of bias: A driver’s job and education are legitimate criteria, it says.
When auto insurance giant Geico came back to New Jersey in August 2004 after a more than a quarter-century absence, state leaders cheered. To many, the industry heavyweight’s return was proof positive that reform efforts were working and that the state’s auto insurance market – which over the years had seen dozens of carriers flee and premiums skyrocket – was on the mend. Geico, officials happily predicted at the time, would boost competition and help drive down rates. But two years later, some are warning that the company may not be as good for New Jersey drivers as everyone once thought.
In recent months, Geico has found itself at the center of a growing firestorm with the revelation that it uses a driver’s education and occupation to help determine its risk – and customers’ rates. Internal Geico underwriting documents show the company ranks college-educated drivers in white-collar jobs as “more favorable,” and unskilled blue-collar workers are among those considered “least favorable.” Company officials contend their use of the criteria – just two…
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The Sacramento Bee, Calif., Dan Walters column: Smoldering auto insurance dispute erupts in campaign arena.
A long-simmering conflict over how insurance premiums are calculated for millions of California motorists burst into the campaign arena Monday when insurers launched a $2 million media blitz four weeks before Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi faces voters as a candidate for lieutenant governor. Garamendi, who’s involved in a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination, characterized the industry media campaign - opposing his plan to downgrade geography as a factor in setting auto insurance rates - as “blackmail and extortion” and said he would seek an investigation by federal and state authorities. But a spokesman for the campaign, Rick Claussen, said…
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Residents may see dip in car insurance rates.
Some drivers may see their auto insurance rates drop twice this year. On Tuesday, companies selling auto insurance in North Carolina agreed to lower rates by 2.9 percent on Nov. 15. This follows an earlier agreement in February to lower rates 2.5 percent in…
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Kitzman chosen to run agency AH: Drivers Choice founder named insurance chief.
COPYRIGHT 2005 The Post and Courier. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Evening Post Publishing Company by the Gale Group, Inc.
Byline: JONATHAN MAZE
Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday picked insurance industry veteran Eleanor Kitzman to serve as South Carolina’s next insurance commissioner.
Although not a household name, Kitzman may look familiar to some: She appeared in numerous television commercials for the small auto insurance company she founded in 1999, Drivers Choice Insurance Services.
Kitzman sold the company in 2002 but continued to run it afterward and appeared on its ads. Her contract with Drivers Choice ended in October.
“What I’ve always looked for in this process are people who bring a business approach to government, and who look out for the taxpayers’ bottom line,” Sanford said. “That’s…
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New rules change auto insurance pricing in California.
Michigan’s auto insurance rates are the 10th highest in the nation, but the state also mandates the highest benefits, including unlimited medical coverage. The state’s generous no-fault system is a noble tradition that Michigan may no longer be able to sustain as urban insurance rates become unaffordable.
Shelling out $4,000 a year or more for auto insurance in Detroit is not unusual. Half the drivers in some neighborhoods are uninsured, while others are pushed into the suburbs, where they may pay 50% less for coverage….
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Low cost auto insurance in S.J. County gets the OK.
By summer, eligible San Joaquin County residents will be able to purchase the minimum auto insurance required by the state for less than $400 a year. State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi determined Tuesday that San Joaquin, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties met the…
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