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Property&Casualty Rates Down Again

U.S. property/casualty insurance rates dropped an average of 4% in May compared with the same period last year, Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange MarketScout said. Property/casualty rates also fell 4% in April and March. There has been debate about how recent catastrophes—including the March 11 earthquake in Japan and floods in Australia—will affect insurance pricing, experts say. “Financial and economic metrics may support a market turn, but real-life situations have a considerable influence on the actual pricing,” MarketScout CEO Richard Kerr said Sunday in a statement. MarketScout said general liability insurance rates decreased an average of 3% in May compared with… Read More »Property&Casualty Rates Down Again

Economic Changes Affecting Your Car Insurance

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) survey found the most common car-related, money-saving lifestyle changes consumers made in the last 12 months that could impact their insurance costs were: Nearly 40 percent of respondents are driving less overall and/or taking public transportation more frequently. Close to 20 percent of car owners traded in a vehicle for a lower-priced model or got rid of a second vehicle entirely. Almost 20 percent of drivers have reduced or cancelled their car insurance coverage for immediate financial relief. Many consumers relocated over the past year. The survey identifies five trends and their effects… Read More »Economic Changes Affecting Your Car Insurance

Lights Out – State Fund is Coming

alifornia State Compensation Insurance Fund is pursuing legislation to allow it to offer coverage to California employers who have out of state employees. Currently, California-based businesses insured with State fund must obtain a separate workers’ compensation policy to cover employees who work out of state. State Fund hopes to amend the California insurance code to allow it to offer workers’ comp insurance that will cover a California employer’s out of state employees, instead of having to work with two or more insurance companies. “In speaking with brokers across the state, we have clearly heard that this would benefit them by… Read More »Lights Out – State Fund is Coming

Persistency Discount on Auto Insurance

The American Agents Alliance announced it has submitted for title and summary an automobile insurance discount initiative that would allow consumers to receive a discount for having continuous automobile insurance, regardless of the insurance company with whom the are insured. Presently, the law allows only the company where you are already insured to offer a “persistency” discount. The Agents’ Alliance’s initiative is similar to Proposition 17, which lost by 2 percentage points in the 2010 election, in allowing consumers to take their “persistency” discount with them and shop for better coverage and lower rates with other insurers. “The way the law… Read More »Persistency Discount on Auto Insurance

Crash Tax Approved in Riverside County

The Riverside County, Calif., Board of Supervisors has voted 4 – 0 to charge at-fault drivers in auto accidents a fee for emergency response services. The ordinance backed by the Riverside County Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services, and approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, will charge the at-fault driver a flat fee of 13 percent of the cost for emergency response. It is unclear if the county will utilize a vendor to collect these fees. “Crash tax” ordinances and costs charged in other communities vary, with fees ranging  from $100 to more than $2,000 for response… Read More »Crash Tax Approved in Riverside County

Who is Safer Behind the Wheel: Men or Women?

If knowing the rules of the road is any indication of safe driving habits, then men are the safer drivers. That’s according to the 7th Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test. This year, men had a test score that was slightly higher than 80%. That is significantly higher than females, who averaged just above 74%. What is more telling is that 27.2% of the women who took the test, failed. Compare that to the 13.6% of men who failed the National Drivers Test and we get a real sense of who knows the rules of the road better when it… Read More »Who is Safer Behind the Wheel: Men or Women?

1 Sentence News Kaleidoscop

– License Plates Proposed for NYC Bike Messengers – The bill is being proposed by Councilman of Brooklyn, who says license plates would help to quickly identify those cyclists who break traffic rules. – Use of Credit-based Insurance Scores Upheld in Texas – TX Supreme Court has made it clear Texas law requires that factors used in credit scoring to price insurance be race neutral, or not based on race. – Driver of Car Hit by Train is Billed for Damage – Metro-North plans to bill a 40-year-old woman for the damage one of its trains suffered when it struck… Read More »1 Sentence News Kaleidoscop

Sierra Club Member? Save big $!

Have you heard of Costco Ameriprise Insurance Program for Costco members? It allows qualified members to save on auto insurance. Now, The Hartford now provide the Sierra Club’s 1.4 million members and supporters with access to its auto and home insurance through a program that will offer discounted rates in most states.

OSHA’s Cry for Safety in NV

The Nevada Occupational Health & Safety Section (OSHA) of the Division of Industrial Relations is hoping to stop one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. That’s why it is encouraging employers to protect employees on the road for work by banning texting while driving. In Nevada, in 2010, 181 collisions and 232 incidences of property damage occurred because of distractions due to the use of cell phones, including telephone calls and texting, and electronic equipment, OSHA said. Three people died in 2010 as a result of cell phone usage while driving. The agency believes employers are pivotal to… Read More »OSHA’s Cry for Safety in NV

NC Senate Reviews Workers Comp Reform Bills

A comprehensive workers compensation reform package is headed to North Carolina’s Senate after receiving final approval in the state House. The House’s adoption Wednesday of H.B. 709 is “a huge win for the business community,” the Raleigh-based North Carolina Chamber said in a statement. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. R. Dale Folwell, R-Winston-Salem, resulted from extensive negotiations involving labor, employer groups and claimant attorneys. Among other measures, the legislation limits the duration of temporary total disability benefits to 500 weeks, but allows workers to appeal that cap under certain conditions, according to the chamber. North Carolina currently does not… Read More »NC Senate Reviews Workers Comp Reform Bills