Significant Auto Insurance

Homeowner’s insurance: Who’s going to pay the bills when you can’t go home?

Your home insurance policy typically covers the cost to replace personal property and make structural repairs to your home when disaster strikes. But who pays your expenses when your home is temporarily uninhabitable?

All kinds of disasters can strike your home. For instance, thousands of fires damage homes each year. The U.S. Fire Administration reports that in 2010, more than 362,000 residential fires were caused by such things as cooking mishaps and electrical malfunctions. These blazes resulted in more than $6.6 billion in property losses.

People dont think about what happens if, say, their house is by fire and it takes eight or nine months to rebuild, says David Walker, president of Hartland Insurance Agency in Hartland, Mich.

During that time, you have to live someplace else, but your mortgage company still will expect payments. Ditto for the electric company, the tax collector and so on.

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Tags: Can’t Home, Home

OFT call for evidence on car insurance

Acting on reports that comprehensive car insurance premiums have risen by as much as 40% in a year, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a call for evidence.

The watchdog wants to establish the background to accounts of soaring private motor premiums, so it can consider whether further work is needed to improve the way the market works.

Consumer and competition issues will be identified and as part of its work, the OFT says it is particularly interested in examining reports that car insurance premiums in Northern Ireland are significantly higher than in the rest of the UK.

Insurers and others can submit their views on: the role of price comparison sites; the provision of credit hire replacement vehicles to drivers who are involved in accidents that are not their fault; insurance companies use of panels of approved repairers, and ancillary products that are sold by insurance companies in addition to standard motor insurance cover.

In the meantime, the OFT will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Services Authority and other government departments in this area, and will published its findings in time for Christmas.

According to the AAs British Insurance Premium Index, the shoparound average for annual comprehensive car insurance cover rose by 40.1% for the 12 months ending 31st March 2011.

Meanwhile, Northern Irelands Consumer Council claims that premiums across the Province have shot up by almost 73% in the last two years, with younger drivers worst hit and typically paying more than double the price for being legally on the road than in 2009.

Tags: Car Insurance, Insurance

Report details which companies have the highest number of U.S-built models

Whether its due to a sense of patriotism or wanting to contribute to the countrys economy, when consumers are in the market to buy a new car, theyll often seek to buy American-made models. But as Consumers Reports indicates, a car doesnt necessarily have to be made by a domestic company to be considered American-built.Toyota is the maker of nine U.S.-built modelsFor instance, as the source indicates, Toyota produces nine models in the U.S., eight of which Consumer Reports recommends as good buys. Of all the companies that originate from another country, Toyota produces the highest number of U.S.-built models.Other foreign automakers with a high number of models built in the U.S. include Japans Honda, with eight, and Nissan with seven. Germanys Mercedes Benz is the maker of four U.S.-built models, according to Consumer Reports.Ford, Chevrolet build the highest number of models in the U.S.Of all makes, it may come as no surprise that the two most prolific automakers in the U.S.

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Tags: Models

Government to ban referral fees

Referral fees in personal injury claims are to be banned by the Government, the BBC has reported.

The fees have been blamed for encouraging a compensation culture and for sharp rises in motor insurance premiums alongside an explosion of law firms offering no-win-no-fee services and pestering potential claimants with unsolicited approaches.

According to the Association of British Insurers, the number of personal injury claims received by insurers leapt 72% between 2002 and 2010, leaving consumers paying £2.7 million a day to claimant lawyers through their motor insurance premiums.

Commenting on the ban, Justice Minister, Jonathan Djanogly, told the BBC: Many of the claims are spurious and only happen because the current system allows too many people to profit from minor accidents and incidents.

However, insurers will be losing out on their income from passing details to personal injury lawyers and the like, and Admiral may be one company that particularly feels the pain.

In July, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Cardiff-based group depends on ancillary sales for a high proportion of its UK car insurance profit, with acceptance fees making up the bulk of such sales.

News of the ban comes a day after the Office of Fair Trading issued a call for evidence on car insurance premiums, following reports that premiums have risen by as much as 40% in a year.

The watchdog wants to establish the background to accounts of soaring private motor insurance costs, so it can consider whether further work is needed to improve the way the market works.

As yet, there is no timescale for implementing the referral fee ban.

Tags: Fees, Referral Fees