Tag: Fort Worth car insurance

Flying Ice and Car Insurance Claims

Driving in the Dallas / Fort Worth area is always entertaining when we have an ice storm. Those of us who grew up in Texas or the southern parts of the country are just not very good at driving on ice, although I don’t know anyone who is. Aside from the normal slipping and sliding on LBJ or North Central Expressway, we learned that “cobblestone” ice can be just as challenging as sheet ice. There were also some interesting things that occurred with falling or flying ice that led to a number of car insurance claims.

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Hit by Someone with no Car Insurance?

I got a call from a client on the Friday after Thanksgiving. He’d been hit on Central Expressway in Dallas after some Black Friday shopping by someone with no car insurance. The person who hit him was driving a pickup truck that rear ended him and then did some damage along the side of his car when he took off. He wanted to know what to do.

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The Most and Least Stolen Vehicles

Every 43 seconds a vehicle is stolen in the US. That works out to about 3,000 vehicles a day or almost a million every year. Many of the cars stolen are older car models made in 1990’s through early 2000’s. That’s changing as crooks become smarter and use technology enabling them to defeat electronic locks and anti-theft measures. Some of the technologies even allow them to start your car without a key by using an electronic device that interacts with your car’s computer and start it tapping a screen.

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Avoid A Holiday Car Break In

The Thanksgiving meal is over and the shopping season is beginning. Are you going to join the throngs of shoppers and brave the malls to find the perfect gifts for family, friends and loved ones? If so, let’s consider a question and reminder that can make this holiday season more enjoyable and help reduce your likelihood of being victimized.

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Unethical Insurance Agent Practices

A few weeks ago, an insurance broker made the national news. His name is Jerry Goldman and he was the insurance broker for Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. Goldman pleaded guilty to mail fraud for overcharging Hanks and Wilson hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess premiums. Over a 13 year period, Jerry Goldman inflated premiums as much as 600% and presented phony invoices to hide the overcharges. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay about $840,000 in restitution.

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Usage Based Car Insurance

When I talk with someone about Texas car insurance I cover a number of items with them including the kind of vehicles they have, who drives which one, and how the cars are driven (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/what-type-of-driver-are-you/). Add to this data a person’s credit or insurance score along with their accident and ticket history and I’m able to provide any Texan with an accurate car insurance quote.

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Distracted Driving and Google Glass

About two weeks ago, Cecilia Abadie of Temecula, California, was issued a speeding ticket by a California Highway Patrolman. That’s not unusual, but what followed may be the first ticket of its kind in the country. The CHP officer noted Abadie was wearing Google Glass and gave her a second ticket which is usually reserved for drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen.

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Credit’s Impact on Your Insurance

I was helping a new client with his home insurance earlier this week. I’d made the final modifications to the application and sent it to him to be electronically signed. We reviewed it together by phone and he wanted to ask a couple of questions about a notice on the last page of the application. The notice mentioned he had not received the “best” pricing due to a couple of items that were returned on his insurance score including inquiries.

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5 Safe Driving Habits for Teen Drivers

In case you missed it National Teen Driving Week occurred two weeks ago. The goal of National Teen Driving Week is to improve teens driving safety by getting parents and teens working together. This year’s focus, “5 to Drive” was designed to start at least one conversation between parents and teens on safe driving habits. My hope is that there would be multiple conversations between teens and parents on driving. As a dad who’s helped raise three sons during their driving education process, I can attest there will be multiple opportunities to discuss all of the topics the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggests.

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7 Insurance Don’ts

The Dallas Morning News published an article in February 2010 of insurance don’ts that I filed away because it’s worthy of being repeated. This list applies to both car and home insurance claims, so let’s take a look at 7 things to avoid doing.

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