Post Date  February 11, 2013 – Auto insurance industry players are up against the recent car insurance rates study released by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), saying that their study is flawed.  The car insurance rates studied were released by the consumer advocacy group based in Washington D.C. in the last week of January reported that auto insurance companies are charging higher premiums to safe drivers compared to those drivers who had been found responsible or an automobile accident. The consumer group pointed out that expensive car insurance rates being referred to their report is a result of the practice of the insurers to use non-driving-related factors such as the education and occupation of a driver in rating their car insurance rates. Using income-based rating factors is “discriminatory” and “mainly harm low and moderate income motorists. Policymakers  ask why insurance companies are being permitted to use the said non-driving related rating factors in calculating car insurance rates.

Unrelated rating data dictates Car Insurance Rates

NAMIC’s vice president for public policy, Robert Detlefsen, belittled the report to be just a “press release.” Detlefsen assailed the report saying that it “erroneously suggests” that the said non-driving related factors used in rating car insurance rates are not predictive of risks. He said that the CFA’s findings are based on “one false assumption” that the only relevant risk rating factors are only those that involved accident history.  Progressive Insurance Company, 3rd largest auto insurer in the United States responded to the report saying that they sometimes include non-driving related factors in rating car insurance rates as these factors have been proven to predict a driver’s likelihood of having an accident. Progressive Insurance Company along with other insurers such as Farmers, GEICO and Allstate has been cited by the  report to have used the non-driving related factors, specifically the driver’s education and income level.

Post Date February 9, 2012 – The Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA) had reported recently that the number of fraud cases which effected auto insurance in Pennsylvania increased last year, hitting a new yearly high.  In 2012, there are over 3000 cases of insurance fraud covering different lines of insurance including auto insurance in Pennsylvania.  Fraud for auto insurance in Pennsylvania  is 3% higher  in 2012 compared to 2011 that only had 3,100 cases. Most of the reported insurance fraud was referred to by insurance companies, and the rest are from consumers and state agencies.

Auto Insurance In Pennsylvania under the claims fraud microscope

Good news though is the number of fraud cases for auto insurance in Pennsylvania had a slight decline of 2 percent, from 1,600 cases in 2011 to only 1,549 last year. However, insurance fraud that involved motor vehicles is still top on the list. The second highest number of insurance fraud cases in the state belongs to worker’s compensation with 392 cases, followed by homeowners with 388 cases. Pennsylvania homeowners insurance fraud showed an alarming increase of 33 percent last year.

Next to homeowners is healthcare with 351 cases then followed by life and commercial. Such cases were considered to be “opened investigations”. The campaign against Pennsylvania insurance fraud led to the prosecution of 394 cases and the arrest of 423 individuals.

Fraud cases for auto insurance in Pennsylvania made up of for all the staged car accidents and false filings of claims for injuries. Some cases also involved reporting a vehicle to be stolen when it was actually not, falsified claims that declares the accident to have transpired when the insurance coverage is in effect when it is not. Some fraudsters also files false claims for damages to a vehicle that had already existed even before the insurance policy had been active. The public is being reminded fraud cases auto insurance in Pennsylvania is being considered as a serious crime, a felony that can have you end up in jail for seven years and face thousands of dollars in fines. Not to mention the huge legal costs.

-Mike 

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Senior Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 206

Post Date February 4, 2013 – New Jersey Homeowners Insurance Company Claim Departments are still plagued with unpaid insurance claims.  Sadly; the majority of the unpaid insurance claims are from damage produced from Superstorm Sandy.  Both state officials and those customers with unpaid insurance claims would like it if the process sped up.  Aside from calling upon the insurers to speed-up the claims processes,  governor Christie also ordered that the time limit for insurance claims adjusters to respond a particular claim be extended to 15 days, from the usual six days.  In addition to this, the Governor also announced on Friday, Nov. 30, that New York’s insurance regulator will be posting to the New Jersey Insurance Department website,  a reports card system be instituted for all Insurance carriers with unpaid insurance claims. This new system will make NJ Insurance Companies more accountable in responding to their consumer’s needs following the disaster. These report cards will be available to the public through the website for the New Jersey Department of Banking of Insurance. Hurricane Sandy was reported to have damaged or destroyed more than 1/4 of a Million Homes in the Garden State alone.

Unpaid Insurance Claims Plague Garden State Homeowner Policy Owners

Unpaid insurance claims so far have already reached almost 150,000 and with this also comes a rising number of insurance claims complaints. According to the recently released report cards among the 25 insurers rated by the state of New Jersey;  Allstate Corp. by far holds the highest volume of complaints. Both Allstate and State Farm hold the record for a high number of unpaid insurance claims because they are the 1st and 2nd largest insurance companies in most states.

After any natural disaster, both auto insurance and homeowners consumers are faced with a slow-paced claims processes.  Superstorm Sandy has  has been no exception.  It seems like insurance companies never learn from their mistakes.  The new report card system may help.

-Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Senior Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 206

Post Date February 2, 2013 – A Missouri auto insurance premium finance company responsible for financing Assigned Risk Missouri auto insurance policies;  recently agreed to pay fines in excess of  $40,000.  The finance company prematurely cancelled  a fair number of State Assigned Missouri auto insurance policies.  Many people don’t understand what a State Assigned Auto Insurance Policy is.  In any state where auto insurance is a mandatory part of registering an automobile a State Assigned Risk Program in mandatory. In the State of Missouri where Missouri Auto Insurance is required, not all drivers will qualify for a Standard or Preferred Missouri Auto Insurance Policy.  New drivers and those drivers with Accidents, Tickets or DUI or Violations needs to apply to the State Assigned Missouri Auto Insurance Program.  Under normal circumstances, the payment plan offered by the Assigned Risk Missouri Auto Insurance Plan is not favorable to the buyer.  A premium finance company will offer the pay the insurance carrier the premium in full in-turn for better payment terms plus interest.

Missouri Auto Insurance finance company pays fine

According to state officials, the Premium Finance Company issued cancellation requests to the Missouri Auto Insurance companies for  a number of auto policies with an cancellation effective date as the date of notice.  A cancellation notice must provide the customer time to remit their late insurance payment or find replacement coverage.  The Missouri’ insurance statute that requires financing providers to provide no less than 20-day notice to insurers that had issued the policies.

If you happen to have a Assigned Risk  or High Risk Missouri Auto Insurance Policy, we provide a number of policy alternatives which are cheaper and have great payment programs.  InsureDirect has been offering an auto insurance alternatives to our customers for over 20 years.

-Mike 

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Senior Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 206

Post Date February 1, 2013 – In excess of $1o million dollars were paid to Missouri Auto Insurance customers who filed for additional claim payments before the Department of Insurance – Insurance Consumer Affairs Division, against their insurers last year. Complaints among those whom purchase Missouri auto insurance have the second-highest number of complaints in the State Insurance industry next to health insurance products.  This is being followed by Missouri Homeowners Policies. The number of complaints regarding  Missouri auto insurance complaints total over 800; health insurance, near 1200 while Missouri homeowners are a tad over 700 complaints.

Missouri Auto Insurance Companies settle complaints

The most common reasons for Missouri Auto Insurance complaints are claim delays, denial of claims and unsatisfactory claim offers.  The most number of Missouri Auto Insurance complaints filed for denial of claim numbering 900. This is followed by delays on the claims processing (650 complaints), and unsatisfactory offer (600 complaints). Last year, the insurance department was able to entertain a total of 31,240 complaints and queries, almost 22,000 of which came in through phone calls. From the said number, 3,851 of complaints were filed formally.

One of the notable accomplishments of the department last year for Missouri auto insurance is the assistance it had extended to a Franklin county resident who had claims issues with his auto insurer. The man sought the department’s help in resolving the issue he had with his vehicle’s extended service contract provider. Accordingly, the consumer was not able to have his car for five months after taking it in for repair as the engine was smoking. With the insurance department’s assistance, the said consumer’s insurance company agreed to pay an additional $3,000 to cover for his vehicle repair.

To protect Missouri Auto Insurance customers,  the department performs market conduct exams and investigations to ensure that Missouri auto insurance companies comply with state law in handling the consumers. These investigations also cover the rates being charged by insurers to customers and the way they handled claims. Enforcement actions of the insurance department last year were able to collect around $5.1 million in fines from different insurance companies.

-Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Senior Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 206