Monthly Archives: September 2010

//September
27 09, 2010

Massachusetts regulators trying to crack down on texting as ban nears

By | September 27th, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

A law set to take effect at the end of the month in Massachusetts has state officials working on a public relations campaign to inform the public of the ban on sending text messages while behind the wheel. The efforts have targeted mass transit lines, highway billboards, and many others, according to the Boston Globe. [...]

27 09, 2010

Wider scope of police inquiry yields arrests in NW theft ring

By | September 27th, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

Two more arrests this week in an ongoing investigation into a convoluted auto theft scheme in the Pacific Northwest were the result of a broad involvement by many law enforcement agencies, according to a report in the Great Falls Tribune.Mike Martell and John Mattheisen, both residents of Great Falls, made their initial appearences in Cascade [...]

24 09, 2010

Some consumers in the dark about car insurance coverage

By | September 24th, 2010|Recent Articles|46 Comments

While many consumers get car insurance, they may not all understand their coverage. According to a recent survey from MetLife Auto & Home, a number of questions posed to consumers came back with results indicating some did not understand car insurance policies. For example, 56 percent of those polled said they thought the cost for [...]

22 09, 2010

Report: Car theft down, unless you’ve got one of these

By | September 22nd, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

There was good news and bad news in the report released this week by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. For most motorists, the news that their vehicles were probably less likely to be stolen must have been welcome. For drivers of a few models, however, the report may have made them double-check their car insurance [...]

21 09, 2010

Consumer group blasts industry claims on car insurance rates

By | September 21st, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

Despite the strong contention of the Wisconsin insurance industry that car insurance premiums would be likely to rise following the passage of increased coverage standards, a report from consumer watchdog Citizen Action says that these claims gravely mischaracterize the new law.On the contrary, Citizen Action says, car insurance has been a highly profitable business in [...]

21 09, 2010

Law enforcement interest in car theft ring broadens

By | September 21st, 2010|Recent Articles|1 Comment

A rash of car thefts in the area of Great Falls, Montana provoked the interest of a number of law enforcement agencies recently, as spokespeople told the Great Falls Tribune that the spike in stolen cars could be connected to nearby Spokane, Washington, and associated drug crime.One spokesman for the Great Falls Police Department told [...]

17 09, 2010

California could promote car sharing programs with bill currently in state Senate

By | September 17th, 2010|Recent Articles|2 Comments

A proposed California law could allow more than one driver to pool responsibility for car insurance costs on shared vehicles, and receive reimbursement from group members for gas, depreciation, and maintenance, according to an announcement from car accident law firm Carman and Bevington. Car sharing programs have been around for some time, the law firm [...]

16 09, 2010

Inventor of The Club dies in car crash

By | September 16th, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

The inventor of one of the country's most widely known anti-car theft devices, The Club, died yesterday in a head-on collision in western Pennsylvania. Two other people were also killed, according to the Associated Press.James Winner, who was 81, is said to have sold 10 million Clubs through his company, Winner International. The Washington Post [...]

15 09, 2010

Report: Drop in car theft may have caused auto insurance rate improvements

By | September 15th, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

A general downturn in the number of U.S. auto thefts may be behind a drop in car insurance rates, according to a report released Tuesday by website The Auto Insurance.The site asserts that statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau show an 18 percent reduction in the incidence of auto theft in the U.S. over [...]

15 09, 2010

Recent Missouri measure tightens oversight of insurance companies

By | September 15th, 2010|Recent Articles|0 Comments

Insurers in Missouri who might be in danger of not being able to meet their financial obligations are now under a higher level of scrutiny from regulators, thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 583. The state's Department of Insurance announced last month that the law spells out explicit standards to which insurance companies will [...]