Columbus Auto Insurer Opens Large KY Center

The Columbus auto insurance company, Safe Auto, recently opened up a 20,000 square foot call center in Somerset, Kentucky which is south of Lexington. Safe Auto is expanding the call center to support future growth and had construction under way since November. They now have doubled the size of the call center operation according to the article "Safe Auto Opens Larger KY Call Center" from Business First found on bizjournals.com.

This customer service center in Somerset went from employing 48 people to 83 with the opening of the new facility. The center was designed to accommodate up to 250 employees which tells you the kind of growth Safe Auto is looking to have. This family owned business sells auto insurance in 16 states throughout the nation with its headquarters out of Columbus, Ohio. The company is doing well as they expand their customer service departments to meet customer need.

Florida Auto Insurance Bills to Help Fraud

In Florida, affecting many cities including Orlando and Jacksonville auto insurance, two bills are in the works to cut down the amount of auto insurance fraud plaguing the state of Florida. The article "Florida Senate Panel Advances Auto Insurance Bills" by Brent Kallestad found on Business Week's site discusses some of the details of the two bills.

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved the bills after much debate over what was the right direction. They are trying to get a handle of how much fraud is going through the state of Florida. Auto insurance fraud not only causes losses to the auto insurance companies, but these losses are passed on to consumers in the form of higher insurance rates.

The main goal of these bills is to give more power to the auto insurance companies to deny suspicious claims. This could make it harder on honest drivers doctors who are trying to get paid, so there is definitely some mixed emotion over the best way to handle such problems. Insurance companies, medical providers and attorneys can agree that something has to be done about the rampant fraud in the state, but there are many theories on the best way to handle the situation.

Compare Car Insurance: JD Power Auto Insurance Rankings

When you decide it's time to compare car insurance quotes it's useful to have has many tools at your fingertips as possible. JD Power recently released their 2009 National Auto Insurance Study which ranks various auto insurance companies in a variety of categories.

The categories include overall satisfaction, contacting the insurer, policy offerings, billing and payment, and pricing. Amica Mutual auto insurance received the overall JD Power Award for ranking the best overall in the categories.

Each company receives a score based on the legend with 4 different rankings. The rankings include 'among the best', 'better than most', 'about average', and 'the rest'. The JD Power Consumer Center Ratings may not have all the information and data used to determine JD Power and Associates Award. Visit the JD Power website for more detailed information on various auto insurance companies and their rankings.

Auto Insurance Being Dropped As The Economy Struggles

As unemployment increases and the state of the economy continues, more people are expected to drop their auto insurance coverage to save money. This is found in the article “More Motorists Expected To Drive Without an Auto Insurance Policy” by John Pirro on live-pr.com.

The article also states that many experts see a correlation between unemployment rates and the number of people driving without auto insurance protection. According to a study from the Insurance Research Council, about one in every six drivers will be driving without auto insurance by 2010. The more people who drive without protection, the more expensive auto insurance policies will become for the insured.

The consequences for driving uninsured are getting stricter. For example, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will suspend a driver’s vehicle registration if they are caught without proof of auto insurance. Many of these people driving around without insurance believe they can't afford the month to month cost of carrying protection. Unfortunately, getting caught without insurance or getting get an accident uninsured can end up costing you a lot more money.

Auto Insurance Suspicious Fraud

The article “NICB: Suspicious insurance claims up” by Susan R. Miller found on bizjournals.com says the number of questionable insurance claims increased to 41,619 in the first half of 2009, up from 36,743, in the first half of 2008.

NICB member auto insurance companies send these suspicious claims to the Des Plaines, IL based bureau for investigation and further research based on certain criteria of possible fraudulent activity. The report doesn't look into how many of these referrals actually end up being fraud. It also doesn't consider causal factors. It is looking at raw data only.

Suspicious auto insurance claims were up by 21% in the first half of 2009. Auto glass fraud is the number one type of suspicious auto insurance fraud. Suspicious car theft claims were 6,852, up about 10% from 6,216 in the first part of 2008.

Auto Insurance Companies and Repair Shops

The article “Shops debate the place of insurers in the repair process” by Brian Albright on SearchAutoParts.com talks about how car designs have become more complex and expensive which is causing more and more auto insurance companies to get involved in the auto repair process.

Issues sometimes arise between repairers and insurers as the insurance companies pressure shops to cut costs. The repair shops see this as meddling as they deal with their own financial pressures. Most repair shops prefer that the insurance company give a check and stay out of the repair process, but customers find a lot value in the insurance companies taking over. In addition, insurance companies want to keep the repair shop's prices down as much as possible to save themselves money.

Not all insurance companies are getting in the way of the repair shop's agenda. State Farm auto insurance is generally seen as cooperative according to the article. Recently, they have participated in programs striving for efficiencies in the repair business. While some repair shops see this as intrusive, others see it as a positive force. Gene Regan, general manager at Causeway Collision Center in Manahawkin, NJ believes it is a productive initiative for State Farm to get involved. He sees the program bringing the repair shops and insurance companies together to learn from each other and develop better business practices. This will ultimately benefit the mutual customers who both parties look to please.

Massachusetts Auto Insurance Rates Are Down

According to the article “Car insurance rates fall 8%, state says” by Todd Wallack in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts auto insurance rates are down since Massachusetts stopped setting their own rates in 2008. This information is from a study completed by the Division of Insurance.

The state study shows that auto insurance rates are down 8.2% from April 2008 to April 2009. The rates fell 5.2% from 2006 to 2007. In April of 2008 Massachusetts began allowing auto insurers to set their own rates which was to create controlled competition. Before this change, rates in Massachusetts were highly regulated.

Jason Lefferts is a spokesperson for the insurance division, and he said the study also found that during the last year the number of uninsured cars in Massachusetts dropped and that less people were considered high-risk drivers. Since the change in regulation, nine companies have become part of the Massachusetts auto insurance market.

Many Working to Save Massachusetts Auto Insurance Appeal Board

Massachusetts' Insurance Commissioner wants to eliminate the state's independent auto insurance appeal board, citing cost and a move towards a more competitive insurance market. This proposal doesn't sit well with many consumers, legislators, and even insurers, according to an article in The Republican. If the board is eliminated, policyholders will instead have to appeal their claims to the insurance companies themselves; consumer groups fear that is unfair and will create bias towards finding the motorist at fault in order to avoid paying accident claims.

However, the insurance commissioner claims that the change will actually benefit consumers, because they will no longer have to pay a fee to appeal and will have state oversight of insurance companies; not to mention the opportunity to shop around for auto insurance quotes from multiple insurers.

On average, the board of appeal has found in favor of the consumer about half of the time, saving drivers thousands of dollars in premium surcharges. The surcharges can appear on their records for up to 6 years!

A bill is currently pending in the state legislature to save the appeal board. As of now it will remain open for several months to deal with its backlog, but no new appeals may be filed after April 1st.

Arbella Expands To Conn., N.H.

The CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group of Quincy says recent regulatory approval in Connecticut and New Hampshire for the company to sell commercial policies in those states will help offset a decrease in business caused by Massachusetts’ “managed competition” system for auto insurers.

Expanding into New Hampshire and Connecticut doubles the number of New England states in which Arbella operates.

The company will offer commercial auto, property, liability, workers compensation and other commercial lines in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Arbella is the third-largest personal auto insurer in the state and the fourth-largest commercial auto insurer.
The company also sells insurance in Rhode Island and already sells personal auto insurance in Connecticut.


High-Tech, Lowball
According to John Donohue, Arbella president and CEO, the company waited until now to begin business outside of Massachusetts and Rhode Island because it didn’t have the technology to do so.

With the technology in place, Donohue said the time to make the move came when the state enacted its “managed competition” system for auto insurance rates. The system allows insurance companies to set prices for policies under the watchful eye of the state Division of Insurance.

“The deregulation of the Massachusetts auto insurance industry is a potential impact,” he said. “There may not be as much business in the state.

California Auto Insurance Suit

A California judge threw out a lawsuit that challenged rules requiring California auto insurance companies to base their rates primarily on drivers' records instead of where they live.

Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster granted a summary judgment, ruling that regulations were consistent with a rate-regulation initiative adopted by California voters in 1988.

Three insurance groups - the American Insurance Association, the Association of California Insurance Companies and the Personal Insurance Federation of California - sued, contending that a driver's residence is essential in determining risks and auto insurance costs.

Ken Gibson, a vice president of the American Insurance Association, predicted the new regulations would result in higher rates for some California residents

But consumer groups argued that the old rules could have penalized good drivers.