Auto Insurance

Related Articles from Auto Insurance

Insurance Cost To Homeowner Climbs Sharply

Across the country, the cost of insuring a home is climbing sharply and is expected to continue doing so for several years. Prices are rising at more than twice the 3 percent average of recent years, and by more than 10 percent in many states. Allstate, the second-largest home insurer, has been leading the way, with increases of 10 percent to 25 percent in several states. State Farm, the largest home insurer, has been more reluctant to raise prices, lifting premiums 6 percent to 10 percent in a handful of states. Safeco, the eighth largest, says it expects increases to

Need a tow? Watch your insurance bill

Imagine you're having a really bad week: Monday, your tire blows out. Tuesday, you lock your keys in the car and Friday, your car battery dies. Lucky for you, you added an emergency roadside assistance extension to your insurance policy. Think your problems are solved? Think again. Using an insurance policy's roadside assistance program may seem like an ideal, inexpensive way for consumers to protect themselves against unexpected breakdowns and embarrassing lock-outs. But buyer beware: insurers keep track of your roadside assistance claims and in some cases, you may find yourself paying a higher premium if your car blows a tire one

Wind damage covered by most insurance policies

Home and auto insurance claims began flooding in Friday as storm-battered residents began picking up the pieces and assessing property damage. The total damage cost to the region may top $181 million, which is the adjusted-for-inflation sum of the damage caused by a similar storm that wreaked havoc in 1993. The "mother of all wind storms" on Columbus Day in 1962 cost the region $1.6 billion in today's dollars, plus another $5 billion in downed timber. The three top insurers in the state -- State Farm, Farmers and Safeco -- began making catastrophe preparations in advance of the windstorm. Farmers flew in about

Giving Drivers Tailor-Made Data on Car Insurance

Some people call Peter B. Lewis, president and chief executive of the Progressive Corporation of Cleveland, a maverick and an eccentric. And Mr. Lewis, who favors black Stetson hats and has a passion for contemporary art, does not dispute the labels. After all, he is a committed Democrat, "which really makes me an eccentric in the insurance business." Politics aside, Mr. Lewis, 58 years old, has indeed built a track record of foraging into risky businesses -- like insuring motorcycle riders -- that make most competitors wince. And his pioneering reputation will surely be reinforced by his latest venture, one

Facing Big Rise in Car Insurance, Albany Scrambles for a Solution

With New York on track to overtake New Jersey as the most expensive state in the nation for auto insurance, politicians in Albany are scrambling to find legislative remedies that would defuse what could become an explosive issue in next year's elections. Many of the state's insurance companies are seeking large rate increases, which they say they need to cover the costs of extensive fraud by swindlers in major cities taking advantage of holes in the insurance laws. But part of the reason behind the requests, says the acting state insurance commissioner, is a poor decision by the insurers themselves,