An Insurance Coverage Resource Guide Providing Tips, Insights and other Valuable Notes

Wondering if people are pleased with their auto insurance coverage? There is a survey going on at onlineinsurancemarketplace.com’s facebook page (click here) gauging what people think.  Should be interesting to see the results as maybe they will give insight on how companies are doing with service and premiums.  Carriers may want to pay attention.

In California a wealthy insurance chairman throws his support behind an upcoming vote on a ballot issue.  Its about consumers having continuous coverage.  See the story at californiawatch.org by clicking here.  There are arguments for an against the issue.  Will it lead to lower premiums or higher auto insurance rates?   Will it cause there to be more competition or will it give carriers an excuse to bump up what they will charage for coverage?

With current state of the ecomony being what it is it seems like scammers are focusing on defrauding auto insurance companies.  Check out the story on cbsnews.com by clicking his link.  They give examples on how people in Florida are actually setting up accidents on purpose in order to get money out of carriers.  The situation in Florida with no fault has gotten way out of control and I see so many stories about it coming out.  Lawmakers there really need to think and act quickly to reform the rules because letting these type of shenanigans continue will hurt the insurance businesses in the state and ultimately the consumers.

The auto insurance no-fault saga continues (you may have noticed I’ve mentioned it in Florida a couple of times recently) this time in Michigan. There is a group suing to have information made available to the public concerning a non-profit organization that charges a fee to car insurance policy holders to fund related health and loss of income payments. It appears the groups feels that they don’t like changes being proposed by law makers. Read the story by The Detroit News by going here.  This no fault program seems quite expensive and I’m not sure what the issue with releasing this info might be.  Is it a question that releasing it will hold up reform?  In any case seems like law makers may have a hard time getting done what needs to be with no fault.

Over in Texas there is a woman that tried to get her automobile out of impound by furnishing a counterfeit car insurance card.  Hmmm not sure how she thought she would get away with doing this especially because of the reason the car was in there in the first place which can be seen at valleycentral.com by navigation here.

A vehicle that drives itself?  Apparently this idea is being explored seriously and could appear on roads in the next 15 years.  Check the story by CNET over here.  Wonder how auto insurance companies might react to this.  One might think that if it improves safety as human error risks could be cut down (excessive speeding and road rage) it would feasibly lead to lower premiums.  In any case it should be interesting how the concept will be developed in the future.

Most would agree that car insurance rules in Florida needs to be changed but it looks like law makers can’t figure out how to go about getting concensus on what should be done.  The story is found on miamaherald.com and is available be going here.  Right now the no fault situation in the state of Florida is out of control with fraud ringing up in the 1 billion dollar range.  I wish them luck as fixing this problem as it will be anything but easy.  Maybe its not a bad thing that there are competing prosposals.  They have to find the right resolution to deal with the car insurance no fault problem that seems too fraudently tempting to many who are taking advantage of it.

Here is a scary thought:  Getting in an accident with a super expensive vehcicle.  This should be especially fearful for those that have low liability auto insurance protection limits.  Fox Business talks about the scenario of getting in an accident with a Bently and can be read by clicking here.  It should be an eye opener for most.

Are auto insurance companies lined up to start competing for people’s banking business?  Well that just might be the case as Allstate has jumped in the business of offering bank accounts.  Read more here from localizedusa.com.  Its seems like many people have become disillusioned with the banks in the past few years and want alternatives.  Competition could be welcomed because it benefits the consumer generally with less expensive or free services and perhaps reminds institutions that they aren’t the only one’s that serve people’s needs.  At the very least banks have the chance to learn what people want from this.  Will other insurers start entering into this business as well?  Could be worth keeping a close eye on to see what happens.

Could where you live actually drive up your auto insurance premiums?  Apparently the answer is yes as your zip code can have a bearing on how much you’ll pay to provide coverage for your vehicle.  The difference in what you pay for car insurance from one zip code to the next can actually be quite substantial.  Fox News has this story which can be seen by clicking here.  This seems unfair but probably won’t change as insurers may see certain areas more riskier to the health of a vehicle.  This could even be a consideration that people may want to consider when searching for a home as the wrong zip code may lead to a higher auto expense.

Law makers in some states think that their should be laws that give insurers less of a voice in where their policy holders take their vechicles after they’ve been in an accident.  The PCI  (Property Casualty Insurers Association of America) is opposed to such rules for good reasons which can be seen in the story here.  I would have to agree with the PCI as having auto insurance companies involved in helping customers in recommeding repair shops or being involved in keeping repair expenses down makes sense.  Ultimately having them involved should help keep premium costs down for their customer base.

Sometimes filing a claim can be a daunting task and with as many cars on the road today many people will go through this process.  With this in mind the Consumer Federation of America has published a detailed guide that should be quite useful and can be viewed here.  There is mountain of useful tips and pertinent info availabe in this document like how to get the auto “insurance company to address your concerns”.  In fact it may be worth printing out and keeping a copy handy.