GM recently announced it was hiring several “white hat” hackers to determine system vulnerabilities on their vehicles. These hackers will work closely with GM on their “Bug Bounty” to attempt to penetrate the vehicles computers systems to find out if owner’s data can be stolen and cars can be hacked or taken control while someone is driving.
One question I’m asked by clients when filing a car insurance claim is how much will this cost them when their policy renews? Here are some interesting statistics that give us some benchmarks.
I currently have two clients who were recently served with papers notifying them that they were being sued by the other person involved in the accident. The circumstances surrounding their suits is different, however, they both were scared and called me to determine what to do.
On Sunday my brother-in-law was driving to Houston from Dallas on Interstate 45 when traffic slowed down south of Huntsville due to road work. He slowed down and entered the line of vehicles as the number of lanes shifted from two to one. The next sound he heard was the screeching of tires from a Dodge Challenger whose driver ignored the flashing road work signs, lost control of his vehicle and proceeded to side swipe my brother-in-law’s car and the next 4 vehicles ahead of him.
The number of drivers without car insurance, referred to as uninsured motorists by most insurance carriers, is rising nationally. Almost 1 in 8 drivers, or 13%, did not carry car insurance in 2015 despite it being required in 49 states. This was up from a national average of 12.3% in 2010.
According to NICB, thefts of vehicles in the United States rose again in 2017 by more than 4%. For the vehicles that were recovered, many were missing parts such as wheels, rims, and other valuable parts. Those that weren’t recovered, probably ended up in chop shops where they were dismantled, and their parts sold on the black market.
I enjoyed writing several blog posts in April that were based on a presentation I gave to a group on frequently asked home insurance questions. I though it would be apropos, to take the same approach with car insurance and address a similar question set beginning with what factors impact your rate but have little or nothing to do with your car!
A Washington Examiner article appeared in my Insurance Journal feed earlier this week raising one of the most interesting questions I’ve seen in a long time and that is, “If two self-driving cars get into an accident, whose insurance covers the damage?” I’m not aware of that happening yet, but it probably will happen. After all, the software that guides these vehicles is still being shaped as both human developers and artificial intelligence, and both are discovering things they may not have considered. There are two scenarios that give us a hint as to the possible answer.
I’ve written several posts on distracted driving and how dangerous it is for both the driver and everyone else on the road. Related topics I’ve written about include the types of things that contribute to driving in a distracted manner such as phone usage, video billboards, electronic systems in most cars, etc. An article recently appeared in The Dallas Morning News and Bloomberg about a recent study that revealed the average car insurance rate increase resulting from a driver being awarded a ticket for distracted driving.
ver the past three weeks, I’ve been faced with three interesting scenarios involving young adults and how to handle their car insurance. There was the adult who hadn’t left the nest, the boomerang, and the one who’s married and out of their parents’ home but received the gift of a car from the parents. Each presented its own uniqueness in addressing who purchases the car insurance, however there was one commonality that everything hinged on. Let’s look at each one.
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