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    24May, 2023
    JD Power: Insurance hikes encourage shopping, cost long-term customers

    Rising insurance costs are prompting more customers to shop around for alternative carriers, according to a new J.D. Power study.

    “Auto insurance customers are starting to shop for insurance like they shop for gas,” said Stephen Crewdson, J.D. Power’s senior director of insurance business intelligence. “They are taking a much more active stance in seeking out plans that fit their needs and their budgets, which could have a serious long-term effect on carriers that have been working for years to build lifetime value through bundling and other initiatives. In the near term, this shopping trend manifests itself in increased customer interest in usage-based insurance (UBI) plans and some reshuffling of market share among the top carriers.”

    According to the study, which is available online with a subscription, the insurance shopping rate reached 13.1% in 2023, the highest rate since June 21, 2021. Meantime, the 30-day switch rate reached 4.1% in March, compared to a yearly average of 3.4% in 2021.

    Overall satisfaction among those shopping for new carriers remained flat year-over-year, despite shopping and switching insurers increasing, the study found.

    Rising insurance costs have triggered more policyholders to shop around, J.D. Power said, noting auto insurance prices rose 14.5% in February alone.

    “Accordingly, among those shopping for reasons of price, 44% say they are price checking and 42% say they are being spurred by a rate increase,” it said. “Similarly, 41% of those shopping because of a rate increase say that their rate increased 20% or more.”

    The study also found that more insurers are purchasing UBI programs to monitor customers driving habits and base their rates on safety and the amount of road miles driven.

    The telematics programs are now offered to 22% of insurance shoppers with 18% buying them, compared to 2020, when they were presented to

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    19May, 2023
    16 months in prison for St. Paul lawyer who plotted to recruit patients in effort to dupe auto insurers

    A longtime St. Paul personal injury attorney is going to prison for more than a year for participating in a multiyear scheme to recruit chiropractic patients that duped auto insurance companies into covering health care services.

    Bradley H. Ratgen, 52, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to a 16-month term after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud under Minnesota’s no-fault insurance law, which requires insurers to cover clients’ medical expenses regardless of who’s to blame for a crash.

    Along with his prison time, Ratgen was ordered to serve one year under court supervision upon his release. He also was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay more than $22,000 in restitution.

    The scheme began in 2015 and continued until late 2021, according to prosecutors. For example, according to the charging document, Ratgen would be hired to represent an illegally recruited chiropractic patient in that person’s threat to sue an auto insurance company.

    “Runners,” as they are called, were paid $300 by Ratgen for each recruited patient who had actual crash injuries, was not at fault and attended multiple chiropractic visits, the prosecution outlined in one court filing.

    In total, according to prosecutors, Ratgen’s scheme attempted to cheat insurance companies out of nearly $60,000 and succeeded in compelling $22,748 in illegal payouts.

    “Ratgen, by using his status as a lawyer to commit fraud, eroded the public trust that people have in lawyers and the legal system,” prosecutors said in a filing ahead of sentencing.

    Ratgen graduated from St. Paul’s William Mitchell College of Law in 1995 and founded his personal injury law firm in 2000, according to its website.

    The state’s Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, the profession’s licensing regulatory body in Minnesota, filed a disciplinary case against Ratgen in July 2021 related to the fraud allegations

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    21Nov, 2022
    Lawmakers may give auto insurance minimums another look

    New Jersey lawmakers may take a second look at raising some car insurance coverage minimums after most bills in a reform package championed by Senate President Nicholas Scutari failed to advance this summer.

    Sen. Joe Lagana (D-Bergen) on Monday introduced a bill that would require auto insurance policies to include at least $50,000 in personal injury protection coverage, up from the $15,000 mandated under existing law.

    Lagana said the aim is to protect people injured in automobile accidents who can’t afford to pay their medical bills. Scutari has previously said New Jersey’s current requirements are so low they force taxpayers to subsidize victims’ unpaid medical bills.

    “I’ve seen people spend two months at a chiropractor, get an MRI and maybe an epidural injection for a herniated disk and blow through $15,000. I’ve seen people not make it out of the hospital without blowing $15,000,” Lagana, an attorney, said in an interview. “The amount of premium a person is paying — which isn’t low — for really subpar medical coverage is not really appropriate, I think.

    The bill’s introduction comes after the Legislature approved and Gov. Phil Murphy in August signed a separate bill, sponsored by Scutari, that sets new floors for bodily injury liability and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

    Those changes will require auto policies to offer at least $25,000 in bodily injury liability coverage — which is meant to pay for injuries others suffer as a result of an accident caused by the policyholder — by 2023 and $35,000 by 2026. Industry officials have said this will add about $125 to New Jerseyans’ auto insurance premiums.

    Personal injury protection pays for injuries sustained by the policyholder. One of the bills in Scutari’s package that did not win approval from the Legislature would have raised those minimums to $250,000.

    Insurance

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    19Nov, 2022
    Auto insurance rates and inflation | Business

    Every day you read a new article on the effects of inflation on the things we buy.

    Let me try to explain what is happening in the automobile insurance market. When the COVID lockdown occurred auto insurance companies quickly realized people were driving less and claims costs were going to go down. Most of the large insurance companies lowered their rates or returned premiums in the form of dividends.

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    15Nov, 2022
    Average Cost Of Car Insurance 2022

    Car insurance is required to drive legally in nearly all states, so it’s helpful to know what you can expect to pay for coverage. Forbes Advisor found the average cost of car insurance is $1,601 for full coverage and $513 for state minimum coverage.

    We analyzed rates from the best car insurance companies to get the average cost of auto insurance by:

    • Age
    • Company and coverage amount
    • Driving history
    • Gender
    • State
    • Vehicle type

    All of these factors are taken into account by car insurance companies when pricing policies so they affect what you pay.

    How Much Is Car Insurance?

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    The national average cost for car insurance is $1,601 per year, according to a Forbes Advisor analysis. This rate is for full coverage car insurance, which includes optional coverage that covers theft and damage to your own vehicle..

    There’s no standard definition of full coverage car insurance, it generally includes:

    • Liability insurance, which pays the cost of others’ injuries and property damage when you cause an accident, and for your legal defense, judgments and settlements if you’re sued.
    • Collision insurance, which pays for damage to your car, regardless of fault.
    • Comprehensive insurance, which pays for non-collision damage, such as damage from flooding or a fire.
    • Uninsured motorist coverage, which pays for you and your passengers’ medical bills if you’re injured in an accident caused by an uninsured driver.

    Drivers with the minimum amount of liability car insurance required by their state pay an average of $513 per year, based on our analysis.

    State minimum required liability insurance is much cheaper than full coverage car insurance because it doesn’t cover your car. It provides only liability insurance at the amount needed to drive legally.

    Average Cost of

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