Auto Insurance

Related Articles from Auto Insurance

Should Insurance Be Mandatory?

With the debate over the nation's health-care system heating up -- and getting stoked by Michael Moore's "Sicko" -- a contentious question has emerged: Should everyone be required to have health insurance, as drivers are compelled to have auto insurance? Massachusetts's answer: yes. Under the Bay State's sweeping health-overhaul law, pressed by Republican former Gov. Mitt Romney, most adults are required to have health insurance by tomorrow. While Massachusetts was the first state to pose an "individual mandate," it's unlikely to be the last. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing an individual-insurance requirement as part of a health-care overhaul; ... Source :

California Moves to Force Insurers To Pay $2.5 Billion in Policy Rebates

The California Insurance Department acted today to force the insurance industry to pay $2.5 billion in rebates to consumers. A spokesman for the industry said it would almost certainly fight the move in court. In the latest effort to impose the rate-cutting provisions of an insurance-overhaul initiative passed by the voters nearly three years ago, State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi outlined new regulations that he said would result in rebates to holders of 20 million automobile, homeowner and fire policies in effect during 1989. Mr. Garamendi said the rebates for auto insurance would average more than $100 a car for

Insurance Reform in a Deadlock

Despite widespread agreement that the auto insurance system is in dire need of reform in many states, most revamping efforts remain stalled or ineffective, forcing drivers to pay ever-higher rates and insurers to grapple with escalating legal, medical and car-repair costs. The announcement last week by the Allstate Insurance Company that it planned to stop doing business in New Jersey, where it is the largest auto insurer, was the latest example of the confusion and frustration building around the issue in some populous states. Allstate said New Jersey officials were unreasonably denying it rate increases despite years of losses and

New Jersey Legislators Vote To Overhaul Auto Insurance

Prodded by voter anger over paying the nation's highest automobile insurance rates, the New Jersey Legislature gave final approval today to a bill that would guarantee a 15 percent reduction in rates for most drivers. The measure ends months of legislative wrangling over how to lower premiums and appease voters whose frustration with the state's automobile insurance system nearly cost Gov. Christine Todd Whitman election to a second term last fall. Mrs. Whitman is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday. The bill seeks to reduce costs by limiting frivolous lawsuits and reducing fraudulent claims. It was approved

The Boston Globe Consumer Beat Column.

The question is taking on new urgency now as state officials begin efforts to revamp the Massachusetts auto insurance system. One of the chief reasons the average premium in Massachusetts costs more than $1,000 a year is the fact that drivers here file more auto insurance claims than anyone else in the country. Getting to the root of the problem -- the key to finding a way to improve the situation -- is not so easy. Based on interviews with highway safety, insurance, and law enforcement officials, there is no single cause for the high level of accidents here. It