Latest Insurance News

Learners Charged L of a Lot

By SONYA McLEAN LEARNER drivers are charged 70 per cent more for car insurance than fully qualified drivers, it emerged yesterday. And even those with experience are still being charged higher premiums. A survey of Ireland's top insurance companies asked how much a 28- year-old Dublin man's premium would be if he had three years experience, had never made a claim and had no penalty points. The applicant, a bank assistant, was insuring an Opel Corsa worth EUR14,000. FBD quoted EUR565...

Money People: To Buy Car Insurance

By Simon Read Q: IS it best to buy car insurance through a price comparison site? A: Confused.com, gocompare, moneysupermarket and tescocompare are brilliant but not all include big name firms such as Direct Line and Churchill. Call a few insurers too to get a good comparison of quotes. (c) 2007 People, The; London. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

As Auto Insurance Changes Approach, Massachusetts Insurers Add Perks

By Sarah Shemkus, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass. Nov. 2--With managed competition in auto insurance just weeks away from becoming a reality in Massachusetts, some companies have already started adding new services to their policies to help attract and retain customers. "We are already seeing competition; we are already seeing new products," state insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes said this week at a meeting of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America in Boston. "It's a w...

Execs Strike Gold ; Commerce Severance Hiked Before $2.2B Sale

By JAY FITZGERALD Commerce Group's top executives and directors are sitting on a goldmine worth more than $400 million as a result of Madrid-based Mapfre SA's surprise announcement that it's buying Massachusetts' largest auto and home insurance company for $2.2 billion. Mapfre's offer to purchase Commerce shares for $36.70, an 18 percent premium over Tuesday's closing price, comes less than two months after Commerce directors' approved new severance packages, according to company filings....

EDITORIAL ; Politics Driving Debate

Ah yes, now the truth REALLY comes out! Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, but it turns out lawmakers who want to block the Patrick administration's plan to introduce competition into the auto insurance market are at least as concerned about their chances for re-election as they are the merits of the plan. In an e-mail this week, Sen. Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) and Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral (D-New Bedford) waved around the prospect of auto insurance "rate shock" to scare their colleagues ...

Risk Factor in Auto Policies: Companies Won't Deny Coverage to Illegal Immigrants, but Premium Could Double, Group Says

By James M. Odato, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Nov. 2--ALBANY -- Undocumented immigrants in New York seeking auto insurance may not be turned down for coverage, but they may get priced out of the market. "Some people will present a risk that is outside the guidelines of what an insurer is willing to accept," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group for New York's auto insurers. "Having an auto insurance policy is not a right, just like having a dri...

ARRESTS MADE IN CRASH SCAM ; Police Swoop in Insurance Fraud Inquiry

By LUKE TRAYNOR DETECTIVES arrested four people in connection with an alleged "crash for cash" car insurance scam. Officers from the force crime operations unit swooped on three addresses in Waterloo, Halewood and Tuebrook in the early hours yesterday. Three men, aged 36, 38 and 27, and a woman, 44, were quizzed by detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. They were later released on police bail pending further inquiries. It brings the total number of people quizzed as part ...

Zurich Acquires Real Garant Versicherung

Zurich Financial Services Group has announced that its subsidiary Zurich Beteiligungs has signed an agreement to acquire car warranty insurer Real Garant Versicherung. Zurich will buy Real Garant from ADAC-Schutzbrief Versicherungs with retroactive effect as of January 1, 2007. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2007. The German financial supervi...

Drivers Who Don't Read Policies Before Buying

By ALAN SHERRY FOUR out of five Irish motorists don't bother fully reading their insurance policy before signing on the dotted line, according to a survey published yesterday. Consumer advocates have expressed concern at the worrying revelation that drivers may not have the cover they assume they have. The survey of 747 motorists conducted by Behaviour and Attitudes on behalf of Chubb Ireland found motorists are led by price and not the fine details of the policy. Only 22 per cent act...

EDITORIAL: Driver's Licenses Bring Illegals into the Open

By The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. Oct. 31--New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is the latest public servant to get sucked into the quicksand that envelopes illegal immigration. How many must be engulfed before Congress musters the courage to acknowledge that this issue will not be solved at the extremes of political discourse or piecemeal by localities or the states? Politicians and talk-show hosts (read: CNN's Lou Dobbs) who line up with one side or the other in the debate, and ignore or be...