Smart Auto Insurance Blog

Hurricane Sandy, aka “Frankenstorm”, is approaching the east coast of the United States and is expected to hit in the next few days.  As Americans make preparations for the storm by stocking up on food and water or even evacuating their homes, auto insurance companies are making preparations for Hurricane Sandy as well.  Reuters’ Ben Berkowitz talks about what they are doing in “Insurers prepare for impact of Hurricane Sandy.”  Insurers are ready for a storm of their own once the claims start filing in.  They prepare for big storms like this by prepping claims teams and sending adjusters to the locations they believe will be hit the hardest.

A spokesman for Travelers Insurance said that they have employees and other resources positioned so that their clients will get help as soon as possible after the storm hits.  They are the second largest personal home, auto, and commercial insurer in Connecticut and the third largest in New York.  Customers in both of those states are expected to be hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  Travelers has also had to put plans in place to keep their business running smoothly across the country since a large number of employees will be working in those two states.

Lucky for insurance companies, 2012 hasn’t been too bad of a year for financial losses.  With billions of dollars of losses forecasted for Hurricane Sandy, the industry is braced to handle the claims and doesn’t expect any delay in processing because of the storm.  State Farm is the leading insurer in New York and New Jersey.  They said that they have catastrophe teams waiting to respond when the storm hits.  Allstate has teams waiting in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  Private insurance companies think that the majority of their claims will be from wind damage to autos and roofs.  They also worry about business losses if businesses are out of power for a prolonged time.  Insurers are pleading with Americans to heed evacuation orders before it is too late to reduce some claims.

A few months after Hurricane Irene, the National Insurance Crime Bureau warns consumers about buying cars that were flood damaged in the hurricane.  According to “Used-Car Buyers Are Warned of Flood Vehicles In Wake of Irene” from Insurance Journal, the NICB warns both consumers who know in advance that the vehicle was flood damaged as well as those who could be the victims of fraud.

New Jersey auto insurance companies as well as those in many other cities have seen an influx of claims related to flood damage on vehicles involved in Hurricane Irene.  This August, insurers belonging to the NICB recorded almost 12,000 claims related to flood vehicles.  Last year there were fewer than 1,000 flood related claims in August.  New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina saw the most claims.

The NICB offers many tips to avoid being taken of advantage of with a flood damaged Hurricane Irene vehicle.  Use reputable car dealers, do a thorough exam for anything like water damage, and be wary of newly shampooed carpet.  Look for interior fading, rust, and any mud or sand in crevices.  Ask about the car’s history, have a mechanic look it over, search the title, and look for any fraud in the car’s paperwork.  The National Insurance Crime Bureau can offer more helpful tips to avoid buying a flood damaged used car.

Written by Sara Smart

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SaraSmart55

New Jersey auto insurance consistently ranks as one of the highest states for auto insurance rates and regulators are looking to curb some of the rising costs through new regulations.  The article “What the New Car Insurance Rules Mean for NJ” found on NECN.com answers some of the top questions New Jersey residents have about how the new regulations will affect them.

New Jersey auto insurance is looking at a big overhaul from the proposed regulation changes for the personal injury protection component of auto insurance policies.  The changes will essentially change how and what physicians can charge for treatments and there will be a restructuring of the process for appealing a denied claim.  This is all in hopes that rising premiums will be slowed down and New Jersey auto insurance will become more affordable.

The article is very useful in answering questions many residents have.  It answers some details about personal injury protection and outlines why the system needs a makeover at this time.  The changes to medical services are discussed and gives an understanding of the changes being made to the approval and dispute process that New Jersey has long known.  Insurers will be benefiting from these changes in addition to the consumer so hopefully this encourages auto insurance companies to support the proposed changes and regulations are put into place quickly.  The regulations are not quite a done deal since the public has until the end of September to comment and a decision will be made at that time.

According to the article “NJ car insurance rates down, still No. 2 in US” by The Associated Press found on philly.com, the state has seen a 9.6% in auto insurance premiums since 2004. This is based on information from The Star-Ledger of Newark and Record of Bergen County’s Statehouse Bureau.

Despite this drop, New Jersey auto insurance quotes continue to be second highest in the US, just behind Washington, DC. Data compiled from the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s annual report shows the average New Jersey resident in ‘07 paid about $1100 per year, which was down about 4% from the previous year.

New Jersey continues to be one of the most expensive places to insure a car, partly because of how densely populated the area is. Auto insurance rates have dropped about 5.6% between ‘04 and ‘07 across the nation.

According to the article “New Jersey Association of REALTORS(R) Endorses High Point Auto Insurance” from news.prnewswire.com, High Point Auto Insurance announced a new partnership with NJAR(R) that will save thousands on New Jersey auto insurance quotes for members. 

NJAR(R) has endorsed High Point Auto Insurance as their official auto insurance partner so its members will have access to a discount with one of New Jersey’s most respected auto insurance companies in New Jersey.

Jim Tignanelli, the president of High Point Property and Casualty Insurance Company, says that since they are also focused only on New Jersey residents they can provide meaningful coverage and benefits that include the specific needs of New Jersey auto insurance policy holders.

A profile of High Point Insurance Company has been added to the smartautoinsurance.com auto insurance company directory.  High Point Insurance Company is a New Jersey based auto insurance company that is focused on providing high quality insurance coverage specifically to New Jersey residents.  They are the 6th largest auto insurance provider in the state.

More information abotu New Jersey auto insurance.

According to a press release on marketwatch.com from the School Teachers’ Insurance Plan of NJ, 2 graduating students from Toms River High School were awarded $1,000 scholarships as part of the New Jersey Auto Insurance program “Quotes for Cash”. 

The Toms River School District was one of the first to partner with the Teachers’ Insurance Plan of NJ for the Quotes for Cash program.  They have received teacher grants, donations and scholarships in the past few years.  The partnership between the school district and the company is strong.

The Quotes for Cash program donates money into a fund each time an employee of the school district gets auto insurance quotes through New Jersey Auto Insurance with Teachers’ Insurance Plan of NJ.  The program was created in 2007 and since then has raised over $50,000 for locals schools.  Teachers’ Auto Insurance Company of NJ offers auto insurance only to active and retired faculty and staff of NJ licensed educational facilities.

About 300,000 NJ residents who have New Jersey auto insurance coverage through Allstate will soon see their rates increase by 8.9% on average.  Allstate had requested a 15.4% average increase but only a 8.9% increase was approved by the state.  The 8.9% increase was still the highest increase approved by the state in six years.

Overall New Jersey auto insurance rates increased 3.7% across from March 2009 to April 2009.  In addition, insurance.com’s monthly RateWatch report singled out New Jersey as having a large disparity in prices between auto insurance carriers for similar coverage levels, and that shopping for auto insurance in New Jersey could be particularly profitable.

Members of a variety of associations can save on their New Jersey auto insurance premiums with a local insurer. According to a press release from High Point Auto Insurance, more than 75 groups are eligible for extra discounts, including:

• the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants
• OnStar
• the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce
• New Jersey Soccer Group
• the New Jersey Dental Association

This membership benefit can be combined with other High Point discounts, which the company claims can result in up to 50% lower auto insurance rates.

Allstate Insurance Company has filed a petition with the New Jersey Department of Insurance to increase their New Jersey auto insurance rates by 15.4% on average.

Allstate sited increased claims costs and expenses as the primary reasons that the rate increase is necessary.

If the rate change is approved by the department of insurance, it will only affect policy holders whose auto insurance policies became effective before September 2006.

New Jersey Auto insurance rates were already the 3rd highest in the country in the 4Q of 2008, behind District of Columbia, and Louisiana.