Latest Insurance News

Who Says 'Cavemen' is Too Low-Brow?

By Joel Stein Yes, the TV pilot I wrote this year was rejected while a sitcom version of the Geico caveman commercials made the fall schedule. I get how that's embarrassing. And I understand why every sitcom writer I know, entertainment journalist I've read, and George Lopez (who said, upon being canceled by ABC, "A Chicano can't be on TV but a caveman can?") has focused so much of their dismay about last week's "upfronts" - when networks unveiled their fall lineups - on "Cavemen." They'r...

Pay-Per-Mile Insurance Rate Unfair to Drivers

I read the article regarding pay-by-mile car insurance ("Pay-by- mile car insurance gets hearing," April 9.) It would affect everyone who is in business for themselves, as well as people who have to drive long distances to work. Today, people need their vehicles to go places. Freedom is a basic (law) or right to all who go anywhere in the U.S. Pay-by-mile auto insurance is unfair to many, and it could hurt our economy. This pay as you go is not the way to encourage people to drive less. Pub...

Canceling Insurance Debt

By Peter Hull, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. May 23--There's light at the end of the tunnel for tens of thousands of South Carolina motorists who together are charged an extra $12 million a year for their automobile insurance. Because of a state overhaul of the industry eight years ago, about one in 10 South Carolina drivers who had points on their licenses during the mid- to late-1990s are still paying for their road violations, and some might not even know it. In all, about 3...

Risky Drivers' Tab Would Be on Bills: Insurers Back Measures in Legislature

By David Ranii, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. May 23--RALEIGH -- Bills advanced Tuesday that call for auto insurers to disclose to consumers that policy holders are paying a surcharge to subsidize coverage for drivers deemed too risky to insure. Critics of the bills contend -- and supporters deny -- that the companion measures in the House and Senate are part of a broader push to overhaul the way auto insurance rates are set in the state. The bills, which are backed by auto insurer...

EDITORIAL: Don't Encourage Uninsured Drivers: OUR OPINION: AUTO-INSURANCE LAW SHOULD BE EXTENDED FOR A YEAR

By The Miami Herald May 23--Legislators intent on sunsetting Florida's no-fault auto-insurance law got more than they bargained for: They eliminated mandated auto insurance altogether. The unintended consequences could raise auto-insurance costs -- not necessarily lower costs, as some legislators suggested. Floridians also will pay the price when emergency rooms see a spike in accident victims who lack health coverage of any kind. This isn't good policy, nor is it fair to drivers who re...

Insurers Can Help!

By GUY ANKER BRITAIN'S largest general insurer, Norwich Union, will not charge drivers convicted of minor speeding offences any more on their car insurance than someone with a clean licence. Last week the Mail revealed how broker Swinton said it would be treating motorists who had collected speeding points with more leniency. And Esure, which is owned by Halifax, now says it will take a similar tack. Their move could lead to hundreds of pounds worth of savings a year for the estimated 4...

Pension Victims Do Deserve a Little Credit Too ; LAST WORD

By TONY HAZELL THIS Government has consistently argued that it cannot afford the full cost of compensating victims of the pension windup scandal. But it seems that affordability is a relative thing. The gap between what is being offered and what is needed to provide full compensation is around Pounds 600 million. Yet we now learn that the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, is set to write off Pounds 5billion wrongly paid out in tax credits over the past four years. I have every sy...

Proposition 103 Finally Near to the End of a Long Road

By SUE DOYLE It's been a 20-year battle fraught with court challenges and millions in legal bills, but California drivers should emerge victorious in a contentious battle for fair auto insurance rates by August 2008. By then, insurance companies have to be in compliance with state rules that say your driving history matters more than where you live when determining rates. We're nearing the conclusion of the long, drawn-out battle over Proposition 103, which was approved by voters in 198...

Google Setback for Moneysupermarket

By SIMON FLUENDY INTERNET search giant Google has dealt a huge blow to Pounds 1 billion flotation candidate moneysupermarket.com. The financial services website, which brings together products from hundreds of financial services firms, in part relies on internet surfers searching key words such as 'loans' or 'car insurance' on Google and seeing the Moneysupermarket link in the search list. But Google has suddenly made key searches point to different sites, wiping out traffic. Moneysuper...

US TV at Its Most Pointless ; EDITORIAL & OPINION

By Thomas Sutcliffe Most British coverage of the Fall Up-fronts - at which American networks unveil their new schedules to advertisers - concentrates on spotting the hot shows that might be heading our way. But I find myself more tanta-lised by the Monkey Tennis no-hopers. I don't suppose we will ever see Fat March, in which obese contestants are challenged to walk 500 miles for a cash prize, and I'll be astonished if Cavemen crosses the Atlantic. Cavemen, left, is based on a series of ad...