Latest Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Autonomous Car Makers at Odds With Insurance Industry Study Claiming Low Estimate of Crashes

Jun 15 2020 // Companies working on self-driving vehicles have criticized an insurance industry study suggesting that only a third of all U.S. road crashes could be prevented by driverless cars, arguing that the study has underestimated...

Massachusetts’ Safety Insurance Extends Personal Auto Relief Credit

Jun 12 2020 // Safety Insurance has extended its Personal Auto Relief Credit through June 30 to reflect changing consumer patterns and needs during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a company press release.The original credit...

Insuretech Noblr Enters Louisiana Auto Insurance Market

Jun 12 2020 // Behavior-based auto insurance from Noblr is now available in Louisiana, the company said.The company provides an app-powered, personalized car insurance experience that rewards members’ good driving behaviors with...

Plane Hit, Flipped Woman’s Car Before Deadly Louisiana Crash, Lawsuit Says

Jun 11 2020 // A Louisiana woman was surprising her husband with breakfast when a plane hit her vehicle, causing it to flip several times and catch fire, according to a lawsuit filed over the December crash.Kristie Danielle Britt is...

Do Auto Insureds Prefer Insurer Websites Over Agents? J.D. Power Thinks So.

Jun 11 2020 // Remember all the talk that digital transformation would disrupt the auto insurance industry? Well, it’s real, according to the consultants at J.D. Power.The firm says its 2020 U.S. Auto Insurance Study proves that...

Louisiana Gov. Signs Bill Aimed at Stemming Auto Insurance Hikes for Veterans

Jun 10 2020 // A bill designed to prevent auto insurance companies from raising rates for deployed members of the U.S. military has been signed by Louisiana’s governor.Gov. John Bel Edwards signed Senate Bill 16 by Sen. Jay Luneau,...

Autonomous Car Makers Dispute Insurance Study’s Low Estimate of Crashes

Jun 8 2020 // Companies working on self-driving vehicles have criticized an insurance industry study suggesting that only a third of all U.S. road crashes could be prevented by driverless cars, arguing that the study has underestimated...

Mistake in Louisiana Auto Crash Bill Could Cause Higher Damage Awards

Jun 5 2020 // After a last-minute scramble to pass the business lobby’s top priority for the regular session, Republican legislators quickly realized they mangled the language of the bill aimed at limiting damage claims against...

Idaho Woman Sentenced for ‘Crash And Buy’ Insurance Fraud

Jun 4 2020 // Brittany N. Mars, an Ada County, Idaho, woman who fudged the time of accident in documents to her auto insurer, was sentenced this week for insurance fraud.Mars in February pleaded guilty to insurance fraud. Mars was...

California Orders Unlicensed Van Rental Company to Stop Selling Insurance Products

Jun 4 2020 // The California Department of Insurance issued a cease and desist order against unlicensed van rental company, Airport Van Rental Inc. and its owners, Yazdan Irani, 57, of Encino, and his wife, Kimberly, 61, for operating a...

Louisiana Legislature Passes Auto Accident ‘Tort Reform’ Bill

Jun 2 2020 // Wrapping up a regular session shortened by the coronavirus pandemic, Louisiana’s Legislature gave the state’s business lobby a long-desired goal and one that Republicans made their signature push for the...

Michigan Orders Auto Insurers to Issue COVID-19 Refunds or Waivers

Jun 2 2020 // Auto insurers in Michigan have been ordered to issue refunds or premium waivers to policyholders due to reduced driving and resulting decrease in risk to insurers brought on by the stay at home orders related to the...

Just Because It’s Not Covered Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Covered…The Entirety of Contract Doctrine – Part 2

Jun 1 2020 // Last month, I shared a claim I had consulted on involving mobile equipment. The adjuster had incorrectly denied the claim because he failed to read both the definition of “mobile equipment” and the exclusion...

Coronavirus and Auto Insurance Shopping

Jun 1 2020 // This year began with auto insurance buyers shopping around more than ever, but by mid-March, shopping began to slow down before returning to normal a few weeks later.According to the data firm LexisNexis, shopping has...

Thieves Find Unattended Autos Easy Targets During Coronavirus Sheltering-at-Home

May 28 2020 // The coronavirus hasn’t been kind to car owners.With more people than ever staying home to lessen the spread of COVID-19, their sedans, pickup trucks and SUVs are parked unattended on the streets, making them easy...

Driving Hasn’t Found Its New Normal Yet: Opinion

May 28 2020 // Memorial Day weekend, the typical start of the U.S. summer driving season, has come and gone. Data on just how much driving Americans did is trickling in, and it’s a bit noisy. Apple mobility trends show searches for...

Texas Insurer Germania Extending Auto Premium Paybacks Through June

May 22 2020 // Texas-based farm mutual insurance company, Germania Insurance, is extending its Reduced Driving Payback through June, raising its total reimbursement to policyholders to nearly $9 million in credits.Germania announced its...

Roads Are Emptier But Riskier During Coronavirus Quarantine. Fatality Rate Up 14%.

May 21 2020 // As Americans have been driving less and covering fewer miles, the emptier roads have become more lethal.Preliminary data from the National Safety Council indicate a year-over-year 14% jump in fatality rates per miles...

For Third Point Re, COVID-19 Crisis Hurts, but It Celebrates 1st Underwriting Profit

May 20 2020 // Third Point Re reported a net loss of $183.6 million for the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19-related investment volatility – but the company still had big reasons to celebrate. For the first time since its...

Louisiana Senate OKs Bill Aimed at Curbing Car Accident Lawsuits

May 19 2020 // The Louisiana Senate has agreed to change the rules for lawsuits over car wrecks, aiming to limit damage claims against insurance companies and other businesses.The Senate voted 29-8 for the bill by Republican Sen. Kirk...