State Farm Florida Insurance Company is asking the Florida government to rise insurance premiums by 58.8%. And the automotive division of the company being State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is asking for a 71.5% hike.
State Farm is the largest private US property and casualty insurance carrier and it is also the biggest one in Florida. The proposed increases are very significan and met with some public resistance but these are to be necessarey to cover much higher insurance claims then in the rest of the country - should the recent high frequency and intensity of hurricanes to continue in the region.
As high as these proposed rates are, these vary by the particular Florida region. For example State Farm is asking for a 117.7 rates hike for mobile homes in the Palm Beach area.
And State Farm is not alone in this trend - some Florida insurers asked for average rate hikes up to 92%.
Also Florida Insurance Comissioner Kevin McCarty said last week that he was 'deeply concerned' about these developments.
Meantime Allstate Corporation being currently the second largest home insurer in the US is seeking to close its Florida operations.
Thứ Hai, 22 tháng 5, 2006
Chủ Nhật, 7 tháng 5, 2006
VIN Stands For Vehicle Identification Number
Yes, did you know that VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number?
Those 17 digit codes being usually placed around the upper left part of the dashboard can tell you a number of things about your vehicle. The history of VIN started in around the 1950's when american auto manufacturers begun stamping numbers on auto parts and the vehicles themselves. It was not untill the early 1980's though before the National Higway Traffic Safety Administration - a division of US Department of Transportation created the current 17 digit VIN standard which requires all newly manufactured vehicles to be identified by one. Actually, technically speaking the current Vehicle Identification Number standard was first introduced in February of 1977 by the ISO standards commitee under the number 3779 which was precursor for the later official US governmen standard adoption.
Now, what do those numbers mean? All right - the first threee numbers are called WMI or World Manufacturer Identifier except when the manufacturer makes less then 500 vehicles of a given type then the third digit is always 9 and the second position of it is in digits 12, 13 and fourteen. The WMI is specified in the ISO 3780.
Next, the characters 4 through 9 correspond to the VDS orVehicle Descriptor Section and can be used by manufacturers for coding their vehicle description.
And then the last 8 characters of VIN are called VIS or Vehicle Identifier Section while the last 4 characters of it are to be always numeric. ISO also reccomends that the VIN possition number 10 relate to the vehicle production year when such is being encoded. And the position number 11 is to reffer to the factory plant code with letters from A to Z and digits from 1 to 0 except the letters I, O and Q with no spaces or signs in the whole VIN otherwise.
In Europe, the European Union has also issued a vehicles identifying procedure, albeit not as stringent. In it, the year part is not mandatory and the relating of VDS part to the vehicles attributes is also optional.
The VIN plays also an important part in the auto insurance industry as this is the key number by which the insured vehicles are being tracked.
Those 17 digit codes being usually placed around the upper left part of the dashboard can tell you a number of things about your vehicle. The history of VIN started in around the 1950's when american auto manufacturers begun stamping numbers on auto parts and the vehicles themselves. It was not untill the early 1980's though before the National Higway Traffic Safety Administration - a division of US Department of Transportation created the current 17 digit VIN standard which requires all newly manufactured vehicles to be identified by one. Actually, technically speaking the current Vehicle Identification Number standard was first introduced in February of 1977 by the ISO standards commitee under the number 3779 which was precursor for the later official US governmen standard adoption.
Now, what do those numbers mean? All right - the first threee numbers are called WMI or World Manufacturer Identifier except when the manufacturer makes less then 500 vehicles of a given type then the third digit is always 9 and the second position of it is in digits 12, 13 and fourteen. The WMI is specified in the ISO 3780.
Next, the characters 4 through 9 correspond to the VDS orVehicle Descriptor Section and can be used by manufacturers for coding their vehicle description.
And then the last 8 characters of VIN are called VIS or Vehicle Identifier Section while the last 4 characters of it are to be always numeric. ISO also reccomends that the VIN possition number 10 relate to the vehicle production year when such is being encoded. And the position number 11 is to reffer to the factory plant code with letters from A to Z and digits from 1 to 0 except the letters I, O and Q with no spaces or signs in the whole VIN otherwise.
In Europe, the European Union has also issued a vehicles identifying procedure, albeit not as stringent. In it, the year part is not mandatory and the relating of VDS part to the vehicles attributes is also optional.
The VIN plays also an important part in the auto insurance industry as this is the key number by which the insured vehicles are being tracked.
Thứ Bảy, 22 tháng 4, 2006
Geico Announced Having Sold 7 Million Auto Insurances
Geico also known as the Government Employees Insurance Company has announced having sold its 7th million auto insurance. The purchaser was Kevin Percell of Shelton, Conneticut who was looking for a new company to insure his vehicle. And the event took place in Buffalo, NY 13 March 2006.
Chủ Nhật, 16 tháng 4, 2006
Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance Opens New Collaboration With Ford
Ford Motor Credit Company has joined with Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance in providing very competitive personal auto and home insurance. The new insurance plans will be available to the currently more then 20 million Mercury, Ford and Lincoln users.
The new insurance offerings will be marketed as part of Ford Motor Company Insurance Services by both Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance as well as the Ford Motor Credit, the later being a financial division of the Ford Motor Company (Public, NYSE:F) . Meanwhile Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance will be conducting the claims, sales and service of this new joint financial undertaking.
And as a reminder I will mention that in January I have also written here more about Costco and Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance.
The new insurance offerings will be marketed as part of Ford Motor Company Insurance Services by both Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance as well as the Ford Motor Credit, the later being a financial division of the Ford Motor Company (Public, NYSE:F) . Meanwhile Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance will be conducting the claims, sales and service of this new joint financial undertaking.
And as a reminder I will mention that in January I have also written here more about Costco and Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance.
Thứ Tư, 22 tháng 3, 2006
Top 10 Least Expensive Cars To Insure In Canada
- Buick Rendezvous 4DR 2WD
- Mercury Grand Marquis 4DR
- KIA Sedona
- Buick Le Sabre 4DR
- Buick Century 4DR
- Lexus ES 300 4DR
- Ford Taurus Wagon
- Mazda MPV
- Saturn Vue
- KIA Spectra 4DR
These are the latest figures from Insurance Bureau of Canada based on statistical claims history for all vehicles on record. The actual final auto insurance costs will of course vary depending of all the combined price factors involved.
Also here is a list I posted couple of months ago to the 10 least expensive cars to insure in the US
Auto Insurance And Credit Reporting
Yes, many auto insurance companies will check your credit history as a part of the process in determining the final cost of your auto insurance.
So how knowing about that can help you with auto insurance? Well, you can order a free copy of your credit report and see if there is anything there that can be improved. All information on such reports, positive or negative stays there only for certain stated there length of time. If a particular one is to expire soon then switching your auto insurance after that date can lower your premium automatically. Also you might find some other items in the report that you weren’t aware of.
By the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to a free credit report from any of the three credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. They got a PDF webpage with a Request Form hat you can print out, fill in and mail to receive that free credit report. The mailing address is: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
A word of caution here. There are also a number of companies offering what they only call a free credit report, but when you read the fine print it turns out not free at all. It might be called as ‘free with a membership’ or ‘free within trial period’ and if you don’t cancel during the trial time they will bill your credit card. These are not part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program.
So how knowing about that can help you with auto insurance? Well, you can order a free copy of your credit report and see if there is anything there that can be improved. All information on such reports, positive or negative stays there only for certain stated there length of time. If a particular one is to expire soon then switching your auto insurance after that date can lower your premium automatically. Also you might find some other items in the report that you weren’t aware of.
By the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to a free credit report from any of the three credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. They got a PDF webpage with a Request Form hat you can print out, fill in and mail to receive that free credit report. The mailing address is: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
A word of caution here. There are also a number of companies offering what they only call a free credit report, but when you read the fine print it turns out not free at all. It might be called as ‘free with a membership’ or ‘free within trial period’ and if you don’t cancel during the trial time they will bill your credit card. These are not part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program.
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 3, 2006
California New Low Cost Auto Insurance Program Expanded
California has just passed Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Garamendi. It is to start on April 1 (not a fools joke).
It is a Low Cost Automobile Insurance program allowing low income drivers to opt for the liability auto insurance for under $400 a year. With the new legislation in place it will be expanded to the counties of Alameda, Orange, Riverside, Sand Bernardino and Sand Diego.
Plans are in the workings to also expand the program to the counties of: Contra Costa, Imperial, Kern, Sacramento, Santa Clara, San Jaquin, San Mateo and Stanislaus.
In the words of Senator Martha Escutia "My goal in creating the Low Cost Auto Insurance Program six years ago was to provide an affordable alternative for consumers who are required to have, but simply cannot afford a conventional policy. The expansion of the program to additional California counties is a blessing for many working families who are searching for affordable auto insurance."
This auto insurance program has been created in 1999 and originally applying to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties. With the new legislation in place it will encompass 16 counties.
The terms for it are that to qualify for this program the family income must be lower then 2.5 times the Federal poverty level of $24,000 for a single individual, $33,000 for two people and $50,000 for a family of four and the insured vehicle’s total value needs to be under $20,000. There are also some minimum driving record requirements for it. For more information please call 866-602-8861
Here you also read what I wrote about this developing program in January.
It is a Low Cost Automobile Insurance program allowing low income drivers to opt for the liability auto insurance for under $400 a year. With the new legislation in place it will be expanded to the counties of Alameda, Orange, Riverside, Sand Bernardino and Sand Diego.
Plans are in the workings to also expand the program to the counties of: Contra Costa, Imperial, Kern, Sacramento, Santa Clara, San Jaquin, San Mateo and Stanislaus.
In the words of Senator Martha Escutia "My goal in creating the Low Cost Auto Insurance Program six years ago was to provide an affordable alternative for consumers who are required to have, but simply cannot afford a conventional policy. The expansion of the program to additional California counties is a blessing for many working families who are searching for affordable auto insurance."
This auto insurance program has been created in 1999 and originally applying to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties. With the new legislation in place it will encompass 16 counties.
The terms for it are that to qualify for this program the family income must be lower then 2.5 times the Federal poverty level of $24,000 for a single individual, $33,000 for two people and $50,000 for a family of four and the insured vehicle’s total value needs to be under $20,000. There are also some minimum driving record requirements for it. For more information please call 866-602-8861
Here you also read what I wrote about this developing program in January.
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