Latest Insurance News

New York Mulls Licenses for Illegals

By Gregory Lopes, The Washington Times Oct. 30--A new program designed to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens will actually lower the amount New York residents pay for auto insurance, state and industry officials say. Allowing illegal aliens access to a driver's license bucks the national trend. Forty-two states do not grant licenses to illegals, citing the need to curb identity theft and to increase airport security. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, is touting the policy ...

No-Fault Once Seen As Solution

By Beatrice E. Garcia, The Miami Herald Oct. 29--The Sunshine State wasn't always an attractive place to do auto insurance business. In the late 1960s, the auto insurance market in Florida was a wreck. Local courts were clogged with lawsuits from auto accidents, sometimes taking up to a year to resolve even minor claims. Accident victims had to wait months, even years for compensation. Some insurers did settle rather than go to court. But settlements also were fraught with problems. T...

Feds Strike ID Deal Over NY Licenses

By DEVLIN BARRETT WASHINGTON - The Bush administration and New York agreed Saturday on a compromise creating a more secure driver's license for U.S. citizens and allowing illegal immigrants to get a version. New York is the fourth state to reach such an agreement, after Arizona, Vermont and Washington. The issue is pressing for border states, where new and tighter rules are soon to go into effect for crossings. The deal comes about one month after New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a...

EDITORIAL ; Senators Strangle Overdue Reforms

Sens. Dianne Wilkerson, Joan Menard and Frederick Berry this week insisted a bill they are aggressively pushing on Beacon Hill won't discourage competition in the auto insurance market. "Minor changes," Wilkerson said. Tell that to the insurers who took the Patrick administration's reform proposal to heart and are already ramping up their plans to compete for the first time in Massachusetts on both price and perks. Or to Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes, who crafted the long overdue r...

If You Borrow a Car, Be Sure It's Insured

By The Bellingham Herald, Wash. Oct. 25--Today's question: If a person has insurance on his own personal vehicle, but borrows a friend's car that is uninsured and gets pulled over, does the ticket go to the vehicle's owner or the person driving the car at the time? Traffic Guy's answer: An infraction for no insurance goes to the driver. State law says no person may operate a motor vehicle without liability insurance. The key word is "operate." You can own an uninsured vehicle as long as...

Shamed WPC in Crash Insurance Scam Escapes Jail

A POLICE woman who tried to pull off an elaborate car insurance scam has narrowly avoided a jail sentence. Linzi Sherry badly damaged her uninsured sports car after crashing in a field in January this year. But instead of reporting the accident, she drove to her fathers nearby farm and hid the vehicle under a tarpaulin. A week later, she took out cover on the car with insurance firm Diamond. She then waited for almost two months before again contacting the firm to make a claim. The 25...

Auto-Insurance Reductions for 2008 Not As Rosy As Projected

By Hillary Chabot, The Sun, Lowell, Mass. Oct. 25--BOSTON -- The first peek at reduced auto-insurance rates in the Bay State under new regulations meant to increase competition isn't pretty. Advisory rates, for companies making up less than 1 percent of the auto-insurance market, show an average 2.5 percent reduction in auto-insurance rates next year. The cut is far less than the 10 percent reduction some insurers were projecting for 2008. "When you see a 2.5 percent decrease, that's ef...

Irate Over Insurance Rate Plan (Photo Caption Only)

Sen. Dianne Wilkerson criticizes Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes' plan for a transition from a heavily regulated auto insurance rate-setting process to a `managed competition' model in front of the State House yesterday. HERALD PHOTO BY ETHAN BACKER (c) 2007 Boston Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

AAA Reduces Auto Insurance Rates

By Evangeline Mitchell AAA of Northern California announced an average 6.5 percent rate reduction on Wednesday for its auto insurance policy holders, effective Dec. 15. The rate reduction, which stems from lower claim costs and competition in the auto industry, will result in about a $106 annual savings for the average policyholder. AAA has close to 1 million automobile insurance policyholders in Northern California, including 519,000 in the Bay Area, said AAA spokeswoman Jenny Mack. ...

A Man for the Stone Ages

By Westhoff, Ben SPELUNKING Nick the Caveman, direct from Union Square It's been accused of crass commercialism, a lack of imagination, and even racism-and ABC's new show Cavemen hasn't even aired. But before the show's Cro-Magnon star left town last month to begin taping in Los Angeles, he gave a downright Neanderthal one- man performance at Chelsea's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. "What's up, you cock-ass bitches?" Nick Kroll asked the packed house, playing Fabrice Fabrice, a bis...