California ranks ninth in American auto insurance prices

According to a report by Insure.com, the residents of California experienced some relief in their auto insurance prices when they fell from $1,991 last year to $1,709 now. In 2011, California insurance rates held sixth place in the country for the most expensive annual car insurance premiums. However, this year it has dropped to ninth place. The report did not examine the reason that the prices fell. On the other hand, Louisiana remained in first place, where the average premium for coverage was $2,536 this year. The report claimed that…

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California is among the worst states in the country for residents without health coverage

The results of a new study are showing that in 2010, California was the state with the most residents – approximately 7 million – who do not have health insurance coverage. According to the California HealthCare Foundation’s data, around 1 million children and 6 million residents under the age of 65 did not have health insurance. Among the nonelderly population of the state, an average of 21 percent were not covered by health insurance over the three years from 2008 through to the end of 2010. On the national list,…

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Consumer Watchdog chastises California’s Mercury Insurance for supposed illegal practices

Mercury is looking to raise its auto insurance rates by $89 million in California, a move that consumer advocates are calling “illegal.” Consumer Watchdog, a group concerned with making the California insurance industry more consumer friendly, claims that the insurer is looking to pass a new law that would allow it to raise rates for good drivers that have, simply, not driven for a period of time for any reason. Mercury Chairman George Joseph claims that the legislation the company is backing would save policyholders money, but Consumer Watchdog calls such…

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Hartford to test a new form of car policy in 2012

Hartford Financial Services Group has announced its intentions to begin a pilot program in 2012 for an auto insurance policy based on telematics. Hartford’s president of consumer markets, Andy Napoli made the announcement during the company’s investors meeting. The new policy will be using telematics. According to Napoli, using the “devices in insured vehicles to transmit information about driving behavior, such as miles driven, speed, acceleration, deceleration, and using that information to price the risk.” This pilot program will be known as TrueLane and will begin in the first half…

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