auto insurance

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How Insurance Companies Can See Every Drive You Take

Data from driver-monitoring features is often shared without drivers' knowledge: 'NYT'

(Newser) - Your vehicle may be sharing data on your driving habits with third parties, affecting your insurance rate, according to a New York Times investigation. For some time, insurance companies have offered incentives for drivers who authorize devices that monitor their driving. But as the Times reports, data is also taken...

Yet Another Insurer Ditches the Sunshine State

Farmers is dropping home, auto, and umbrella policies in Florida, citing 'risk exposure'

(Newser) - More homeowners in Florida received some bad news this week, with yet another insurance company pulling out of the state due to too much possible liability. The Miami Herald reports that Farmers Insurance will no longer be offering home, auto, or umbrella policies in the Sunshine State, the fourth carrier...

Auto Insurance Is Up Way More Than Inflation
Auto Insurance Is Up
Way More Than Inflation
THE RUNDOWN

Auto Insurance Is Up Way More Than Inflation

Rates rose almost 15% year-on-year

(Newser) - With rates surging far ahead of the overall inflation rate, car insurance is eating up a bigger slice of Americans' incomes, and it's not clear if the trend is going to turn around any time soon. According to the latest report from Bankrate.com , the average annual cost of...

TikTok Trend Leads to More Bad News for Kia, Hyundai Owners

State Farm, Progressive drop new policies for some models

(Newser) - Following the TikTok challenge involving joyrides in Kias and Hyundais that are shockingly easy to steal , State Farm and Progressive will no longer be issuing new auto insurance policies for certain Kia and Hyundai models. The model years involved are 2011 to 2021, and the vehicles involved don't have...

Moment of Passion Leads to Odd Car Insurance Claim
Unusual STD Case Takes
a Turn in Geico's Favor
UPDATED

Unusual STD Case Takes a Turn in Geico's Favor

For now, ruling that insurer owes woman $5.2M is overturned

(Newser) - Geico is at least temporarily off the hook in a bizarre case involving an STD. A woman in Missouri sued the company after she contracted HPV, human papillomavirus, in the car of a man who was insured by the company. This week, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned a lower court'...

Michigan Drivers, Your $400 Checks Are Coming

State to refund residents for every vehicle they insure

(Newser) - Michigan drivers have typically paid some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation for years, but they're about to get a little payback. Drivers will soon get $400 for every insured vehicle they own, reports NPR . The money is part of an insurance overhaul in the state,...

Car Insurers Are Giving Americans Their Money Back

Driving is down by up to 50% in most states

(Newser) - "Less driving means fewer accidents," says Allstate CEO Tom Wilson, whose company is giving refunds to millions of American drivers with nowhere to go. Allstate says it is giving $600 million back to customers after a steep drop in car accidents amid coronavirus prevention lockdowns, the BBC reports....

Wells Fargo Takes 'Important Step in Making Things Right'

Company will pay at least $385M to settle class-action suit on auto loans, car insurance

(Newser) - Wells Fargo has agreed to pay at least $385 million to settle a California lawsuit alleging it signed up thousands of auto loan customers for costly car insurance without their consent, resulting in many having their vehicles repossessed. The bank filed the agreement Thursday in a federal court in Santa...

He Wanted a New Car. Insurance Was Steep. He Had a Plan.

Canadian driver applied for gender status change on paperwork to cut his premium rates

(Newser) - "I'm a man, 100%. Legally, I'm a woman," a Canadian man boasts to the CBC in explaining how he "beat the system" to save $900 a year on his car insurance. How "David" of Alberta (who requested anonymity) did it: He got a doctor'...

Wells Fargo Forced Insurance on Thousands, Is Out $80M

At least 570K customers affected in latest problem for beleaguered bank

(Newser) - First Wells Fargo opened millions of accounts that customers didn't want. Now, in what one consumer advocate calls a "colossal failure of management," the company has admitted it signed up hundreds of thousands of customers for auto insurance they didn't need, NPR reports. And that unrequested...

Tesla May Bring Big Change to Car Insurance

It plans to bundle it, and maintenance, into total price of car

(Newser) - If cars are becoming safer as they incorporate self-driving features—the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month confirmed Tesla's first-gen Autopilot reduced Tesla vehicles' crash rate by 40%—consumers and experts alike are wondering when auto insurers will slash rates to reflect the minimized risk. Tesla CEO Elon...

Surgeons Are the Most Accident-Prone Drivers
Surgeons Are the Most Accident-Prone Drivers
STUDY SAYS

Surgeons Are the Most Accident-Prone Drivers

Medical workers are involved in a lot of wrecks, study suggests

(Newser) - People who spend much of their working lives stitching up accident victims are among those most likely to cause car accidents, according to a startling new study from Britain. The analysis commissioned by financial services firm Moneysupermarket.com found that surgeons were the most likely to file an at-fault claim—...

Car Insurers Like Rich People Better

Study: Good drivers who are poor often pay higher premiums

(Newser) - A meticulous driving record isn't enough to keep your insurance premiums down—it helps to be rich, reports AOL Autos . A new study by the Consumer Federation of America found that insurers often charge good drivers with low incomes more than lousy drivers with high incomes. The study sought...

Progressive Faces Backlash Over Car Crash Case

Critics blast the group for fighting payment after fatal crash

(Newser) - The Progressive insurance group is defending itself against an onslaught of negative publicity after it tried to avoid paying $75,000 to the family of a client killed in a car crash and tried to blame the wreck on her. The criticism began Monday with a blog post from 33-year-old...

EU to Women: Sorry, No More Cheaper Car Insurance

Insurance firms ordered to stop sex discrimination

(Newser) - European women will no longer enjoy cheaper car insurance because of their sex's safer driving habits. A European Union court has made it illegal for insurance companies to base premiums on gender-based risk assessment, CNN reports. Millions of women drivers, who previously enjoyed car insurance up to 50% cheaper than...

Insurer Uses Koran to Deny Car Crash Claim

Now the company's 'sorry'

(Newser) - A German insurance company found itself in hot water after one of its executives refused to cover maid costs for an Algerian immigrant injured in a car crash after interpreting the Koran as saying that Muslim husbands "don't run a household." His relationship with his wife "can't...

Straighten Out Your Finances in 2010
 Straighten Out 
 Your Finances 
 in 2010 
resolutions

Straighten Out Your Finances in 2010

Some simple moves can net $1K or more

(Newser) - On the eve of the first serious workday of the New Year, take a hard look at your finances and see where you can cut back in 2010. A relatively small investment in time can result in some serious savings, Kathy Kristof writes for the Los Angeles Times :
  • Save automatically:
...

SI Website Ad on Chris Henry Story Goes Too Far

Image of cracked windshield superimposed over truck accident victim

(Newser) - An unfortunate juxtaposition has the sports blogosphere abuzz: As Sports Illustrated was reporting the death of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry this morning, the website's advertising apparatus was employing a special effect on behalf of Liberty Mutual's car insurance offerings. The effect? A shattered windshield. "The cracked windshield...

Recession Drives Boom in Auto Fraud

(Newser) - Car-insurance fraud spurred by the recession is continuing unabated, Newsweek reports. “Give-ups”—feigning theft or arson to collect insurance money on an unwanted vehicle—are up 24% this year over last, according to an industry group. And claims stemming from suspicious car fires are up 27%. “Normally...

Insurer Sees Games as Boost for Old Brains

'Mental fitness' software improves reaction time, peripheral vision

(Newser) - An experiment by Allstate Insurance and a San Francisco software startup that aims to use computer games to improve the mental health of all ages is getting good reviews, the Chronicle reports, including from one local who says improved reaction time and peripheral vision saved him from an accident. “...

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