It’s an interesting question isn’t it?! Some may think it’s gender based and guess men pay more than women. Others may think it’s location based and guess people in big cities pay more than people in rural communities. While both of guesses are correct, they’re not the right answer. Teen drivers, or their parents, pay more for car insurance than any other group.
The internet of things and connected cars made a splash in Dallas area media last week. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that AT&T is headquartered here! Connected cars are here and they are growing rapidly, even without a “killer app.” While AT&T has over 100 million customers using wireless, video, broadband, and even land lines services, the big growth potential appears to be connected cars.
Have you ever heard of Andy House or Ted Lilly? You may have heard of Ted Lilly if you follow baseball closely but most people may not recognize Andy House’s name. Here’s a clue, they have something in common, and it’s not sports, the schools they attended, or where they were born. Still not sure? The answer is they both committed insurance fraud with their vehicles.
Daylight Saving Time, or DST, ends at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, so here’s your first reminder to set your clocks back Saturday night. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep you get that night! Just in case you are curious, the time around the time change, or end of DST, happens to be one of the busiest times of year for car accidents. Here are some interesting items to note from an article by CBC News Canada.
What factors should be used to determine a person’s car insurance rate? Factors such as their age and gender make sense. Even the type of car they drive, where the car is parked, and their driver classification (commuter, business use, or pleasure driver) should be factored into the rate determination. But should socio-economic factors, such as a person’s education or occupation be considered? What about a person’s marital status?
A client’s son called me a few weeks ago. He’d was buying and wanted to discuss what the car insurance would cost for it. The car is an early 2000 Subaru WRX that had been nicely customized with a new suspension system, engine modifications, and wheels. The car insurance issue this raised was how to address the value of a car that’s 10 to 15 years old and had $15,000 worth of customization done in the last couple of years.
I was talking with a client about their upcoming renewal earlier this week, specifically his family’s car insurance. He let me know he’d received a speeding ticket in Dallas going to work last month and wanted to know what the impact would be on his car insurance which is set to renew next month. Will it go up, and if so how much?
Imagine you’re driving down Interstate 35 at 70 miles per hour just outside of Dallas when your car begins to spray wiper fluid continuously on your windshield while the windshield wipers are flailing madly away. Or your stereo starts blaring a local radio station and you’re unable to turn down the volume, change stations, or turn it off. Maybe your air conditioner turns on at full blast but you didn’t touch anything, or you start slowing down and you’re unable to accelerate even when the pedal’s floored.
College is a wonderful and sometimes slightly scary time for most parents. Their son or daughter is spreading their wings, stepping out on their own, and beginning to prepare for life as an adult while they figure what their future holds. It is also a time when a son or daughter begins to make decisions for themselves, some of which have adult level consequences.
Car insurance company statisticians and actuaries, along with members of the US Department of Transportation were warning of a coming tsunami of senior drivers in the early 2000’s. One of the predictions was 2015 would be a watershed year of fatal crashes involving senior drivers.
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