Adding teen to car insurance policy doesn't have to hurt

 I recently added my teenage son to my auto insurance policy, and to my shock, instead of facing a skyrocketing premium, my payment went down about $200.

Like most parents, I was dreading the idea of insuring a 16-year-old. Auto policy payments typically increase 50 to 100 percent when you add a teenager, said Jeanne Salvatore, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group. Teenage boys generally cost more, but the gap is decreasing because accidents by teenage girls are climbing, she said.

To ward off some of the financial pain, I had a lengthy discussion last year with my insurance agent when my son took his driver’s education course before his 16th birthday. I took every suggestion the agent made but still expected a whopping increase.

It turns out I was happily wrong. While all of the strategies I took may not work for everyone, parents should ask their agent about these ideas before adding their teenager to their policy.

1. Nonprimary driver status. By having more people on the policy than cars in the garage, you can save big bucks, my agent told me. In other words, consider at least delaying for a few years your teenager having his own car. (Easier said than done. Nearly 75 percent of the teens in a State Farm insurance survey reported being the main driver of a car.)

This can save you more than money. A study by State Farm and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia released this month in the journal Pediatrics found that teens who reported being the main driver of a vehicle were twice as likely to be involved in a crash, compared with teens who said they shared a vehicle with other family members.

My agent assigned my teenager to our oldest car as a nonprimary driver. Some insurers automatically assign new drivers to a family’s most expensive vehicle, so be sure to tell your agent which car your teenager will be driving.

2. Drop comprehensive and collision coverage. Only liability insurance, which covers damage you do to others, is required on a vehicle in Texas. One of our cars is a 1999 van that isn’t worth comprehensive coverage (damage from things like fire, flood, hail and theft) or collision (damage to your vehicle in an accident).

Dropping that coverage means savings, but it’s only recommended on vehicles valued at around the same or less than the annual premium amount. Remember, you take on more financial risk with this strategy in the event of an accident, so make sure you have savings you can use immediately to replace a vehicle if necessary.

3. Stay on permit. Our insurer, Farmers Insurance, didn’t require my son to be on our policy until he got his full license. Because of the graduated license program in Texas, he was able to stay on his driver’s permit (which requires an adult driver in the passenger seat) until he was nearly 17. This is not true of all insurers; contact your agent when your child gets his permit.

It turns out we weren’t alone in delaying his license. Because of the graduated license requirements and higher insurance costs, less than a third of 16-year-olds had their driver’s license in 2007, compared with 43 percent in 1998, according to the Federal Highway Administration. By age 17, barely half have a license, compared with 60 percent in 1998.


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Image Forward Announces New Texas Car Insurance Clients from Buffalo, Dallas and Houston

Image Forward, Internet Marketing Company headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida, welcome three new clients from Texas. Image Forward features internet SEO consultants (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) specialists who strategically combine a premier internet business directory with website optimization and search engine promotion of an existing website for innovative client solutions. Image Forward will enhance the overall internet presence of the State Farm Insurance Agencies serving Car Insurance in Buffalo, NY, Car Insurance in Dallas, TX and Car Insurance in Houston, TX.

John Kasperek, Insurance Agency, located in Buffalo, New York, at 2156 South Park Ave. serving the greater Buffalo area in Erie County, has become a client of Image Forward. This insurance agency specializes in car insurance, auto insurance, motorcycle insurance, life insurance, home insurance, classic car insurance and more. John Kasperek Insurance of Buffalo, NY can be reached at 716-822-2241.

Image Forward also welcomes a new insurance client from Dallas, Texas, Sarah Bradford Insurance. Sarah Bradford Insurance Agency is located at 7130 Campbell Rd #205B, Dallas County, Dallas, TX. This insurance agent provides car insurance, motorcycle insurance, life and home insurance and antique auto insurance. Sarah Bradford, State Farm Insurance Agency of Dallas, TX can be reached at 972-248-5001.

Image Forward will also be working with Jack Wallace from Houston, Texas. Wallace Insurance of Houston, TX is working with Image Forward’s internet SEO and marketing consultants. This car insurance agency is serving the greater Harris County, Texas area at 3405 Mercer Rd. Jack Wallace Insurance of Houston, TX specializes in car and auto insurance, motorcycle insurance, life insurance, home insurance, antique auto insurance and more. Call Jack Wallace Car Insurance of Houston, TX, 713-626-7500 for more information.

Image Forward’s internet SEO and marketing consultants, serving the United States and several countries, strives for a Top 10 Search Engine Ranking Position on Google and other major search engines for specific search phrases in local markets. Image Forward takes a multi-disciplined approach to making their client’s daily business operations more efficient and most cost-effective.


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Insurance across state lines?

As the Democratic health-reform plans have developed, Republicans have consistently offered one suggestion in opposition: allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. In doing so, the argument goes, persons could shop via the Internet for a policy with a cheaper premium that was being sold in another state, thereby saving money.

This seems perfectly sensible to anyone who has purchased a pair of running shoes over the Internet for a price lower than that available locally. Unfortunately, it won't work with health insurance.

States have regulated health insurance since the 1945 passage of the McCarran Ferguson Act, which, among other things, forbids interstate sale of insurance (health, auto, homeowners). States have regulated insurance ever since. Many insurance companies sell policies in different states but, in doing so, must comply with a given state's regulations. For example, I have car insurance from the same company as my dad who lives in Georgia.Some already purchase health insurance across state lines. The ERISA Act of 1974 allows businesses that self-insure their employees to include all employees in one health insurance pool, even if they live in different states. Self-insurance means that the company is responsible for paying the health expenditures of its employees after the employees have paid the specified deductibles and co-pays. Such companies typically hire an insurance company to process claims and are predominantly large employers who have chosen to self-insure to remove the insurance middleman.

But individuals are prevented from purchasing health insurance across state lines. Allowing them to do so would require a federal law that replaces state regulation of insurance with federal regulation. This is an odd policy prescription for Republicans to champion, because they tend to reject federal regulation in favor of state autonomy.


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4 Days Of Car Insurance Enforcement, 17 Vehicles Impounded

EL PASO, Texas -- It's been a few days since the enforcement of this new law and some El Pasoans are learning the hard way that it pays to have car insurance.
"No doubt. I wish I had insurance," said Enrique Munoz.
Munoz was pulled over on Tuesday because of a moving violation. He didn't know that it would become such a hassle.
"When he pulled me over he turned around and said, 'Do you have insurance?' And I don't. He said I had to impound the car," said Munoz.
AD Towing picked up his car and he had to call his wife for a ride. He said it seemed like bad luck was following him because he was insured before.
"I had been working on the car and it's been only a week since I got it out," said Munoz.
El Paso Police officials said so far since the ordinance went into effect on Sunday, officers have had 17 cars impounded. Outside AD Towing, KFOX talked to Miguel Angel Ledesma who discovered that his wife car was towed Wednesday morning.
"This morning my wife was in a fender bender. They towed the car because she didn't have insurance. I came to get the car," said Ledesma.
Drivers outside AD towing said they don't think the new ordinance is fair. Amanda Teran said some people can't afford car insurance.
"They need to check first if a person has had insurance. If it has lapsed within a certain amount of time, then give them a break, cite them for no insurance, but don't tow the car," said Teran.
Munoz and his wife already got coverage for the vehicle and they came to pick it up. They'll pay about $85 to AD Towing. But the longer it stays, the more you pay. And for Ledesma, he still doesn't have insurance and he's leaving empty handed.
"I know they're forcing people to get car insurance, but it's too much. It's a lot of money," said Ledesma.



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Road rage earns jail time for Texas man

YOUNGSTOWN — An act of road rage has earned a Texas man several years of probation and a short stint in the county jail.

Fadil Galesic, 32, of Texas, appeared Friday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for sentencing on three counts of aggravated assault.

Galesic had entered into a plea agreement in early June amending three counts of felonious assault to three counts of aggravated assault.

The felonious-assault charges carried sentences of probation to eight years on each count.

The amended charges of aggravated assault carry penalties of probation to 18 months on each count.

Prosecutors recommended probation for Galesic. J. Michael Thompson, an assistant county prosecutor, previously told the court a standing conviction and restitution will be sufficient punishment from the prosecutor’s standpoint.

If there had been injuries, he said, the situation would be different.

Judge Krichbaum followed that recommendation, sentencing Galesic to three years’ probation, but on the stipulation that Galesic serve six months in the county jail.

Galesic had been free after posting $50,000 bond.

Before leaving court Friday, Galesic paid $250 to the victims to cover an insurance deductible for a car damaged in the incident.

Galesic was at an Austintown strip club April 5 when he got into a disagreement with some other patrons.

Galesic’s attorney Michael Kivlighan previously told the judge the disagreement appears to have started when someone made disparaging remarks about the club’s dancers.

Thompson said Galesic left the club around the same time as the other patrons, got into his truck and rammed their van, causing the vehicle to run off the road.

Galesic, who was said to be intoxicated, tried to drive off but was later captured and held by the people he ran off the road.


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Device uses driving habits to set insurance rate

A new type of car insurance that sets rates using a device installed in a vehicle to measure individual driving habits is being rolled out in Texas.

MyRateSM, offered by Progressive, has already been introduced in other parts of the country as part of a national rollout, depending on state regulatory approval.

Cars driven less often, in less risky ways and at less risky times of day could receive a lower premium using the device.

As an enticement, the company is offering Texas customers a first-term discount of as much as 10 percent when they sign up for MyRate and install the unit. When they renew their policy, they could save as much as 25 percent or more — or see their rates hiked by up to 9 percent — based on driving habits.

The company charges $30 per policy period for the use of the device.

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No insurance? No problem! Thousands of repeat offenders share Houston's roads

HOUSTON -- On the road right now in Houston are people driving with no car insurance and thousands of them have the tickets to prove it. But as statistics obtained by 11 News suggest, many could care less. The attitude seems to be: no insurance, no problem.

11 News Video


Drivers without insurance
August 6, 2009
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An estimated 15 percent of Texas drivers go uninsured. That's above the national average and is predicted to go up as the economy goes down. And the fewer insured drivers there are, the more insurance companies then have to charge the rest of us.

11 News investigated and obtained records on thousands of drivers ticketed for “no insurance” in the city of Houston. Turns out, many of them kept on driving with no insurance and were cited again and again.

In 2007, police cited the same 15,529 drivers more than once for no insurance. That rose to 16,381 repeat offenders last year. Of those, 107 were cited more than five times.

But drilling down further, 11 News found one driver who took top honors. Records show he was ticketed in 2007 for no insurance in July, then again in August and again in October. Then in 2008, police cited him in March, April, May, June and again in August. In all, he had been cited 15 times in the last two and half years.

Contacted by phone, the 21-year-old downtown Houston resident said times are tough. He had other bills and often couldn't afford car insurance. As of last week, he was still on the road.

“I don't understand," said the Presiding Judge of Municipal Court Berta Mejia. "There are warrants for failure to pay his fine."  

Judge Mejia said the courts try to work with people to pay-off fines, but a case like this guy's perplexed her.

"I want them to get insurance. I want them to resolve their cases,” said Mejia.

The fines can be severe. They can potentially be over a $1,000 in city and state penalties.

If writing tickets doesn't seem to work, what might? 11 News found one new approach being tried not in the big city but in the small town of Richmond in Fort Bend County.

Richmond had a big problem with uninsured drivers. They were ticketing over a thousand of them a year. But in 2006, Richmond Police started an aggressive new tactic: impounding cars of uninsured drivers.

In the first year, they were towing at least a car a day. But three years later?

"So far this year, we have only towed 130 vehicles," said Sgt. Lowell Neinast.

That works out to about a hundred less compared to the rate in 2006.

The city of Pasadena is doing the same thing. They too are impounding the cars of the uninsured.

But critics say it’s unfair to the poor. It adds hundreds of dollars in towing and legal expenses when what low income drivers really need is more affordable insurance.  Police say it's making a difference when tickets alone failed.

(The data used by 11 News was from public municipal court records which does not reflect the income level of the drivers. There is no determination of how many of those caught driving without insurance were poor.)


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Auto Body Shop in Plano, Texas Provides Environmentally Safe Auto Paint Repair

 Plano, Texas – What happens to waste materials and hazardous by-products when they leave the auto body shop? Do they vanish into the air and become a problem for nearby residents? The EPA oversees all auto body shops and holds them responsible for hazardous waste disposal.

Collision on Wheels is a mobile auto body shop that stays ahead of the compliant curve by using environmentally safe products to reduce VOCs being released into the atmosphere. In addition, Collision on Wheels will repair rather than replace plastic bumpers when possible to reduce the amount of waste going into the landfills.

Collision on Wheels is a mobile auto body shop that carries everything they need to perform minor collision repairs on vehicles in parking lots or driveways. They do not consume the power that a traditional auto body shop uses. They have a special tent that they cover the car with as they work to prevent damages to surrounding property.

Collision on Wheels typically completes repairs in one day or less and the cost is often less than an insurance deductible; however, in cases where damages are more severe, they can work with insurance companies.

A mobile auto body shop does not have the expenses that a typical auto body shop has; therefore, they can pass the savings onto their customer. In addition, Collision on Wheels uses only one technician to complete each job to reduce the cost.

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Fear and Fury: What’s behind town hall tensions?

The Ridgedale Library auditorium doesn't often draw a standing-room-only crowd.

But with 20 minutes to go before the start of a health care town hall meeting there last week, every one of the 150 seats was taken. Throngs, some still in work boots, others in suits, lined the walls or found a patch of carpet. Some lugged copies of the 1,000-page health care bill, the margins marked with comments or questions.

As the meeting began, some had only technical questions. Others came to vent. The crowd erupted in applause when one man decried health care mandates as "socialistic" and "un-American."

Across the Twin Cities, and the country, voices are rising in anger, fear and confusion over what would be the biggest change to the nation's health care in generations. People are shouting down others; jamming Capitol Hill switchboards to voice support or concern; sending threatening letters to lawmakers, even hanging one in effigy.

The debate also is exacerbating the divide on other problems facing the nation, from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the banking bailout, the economy and even racial equality. On Friday, outside Rep. Keith Ellison's Minneapolis office, debate over health care suddenly turned into a standoff on race. "The real deal is you don't want black folks to get what you got," yelled the Rev. Jerry McAfee. A crowd of white picketers circled the preacher. "You're the racist," a woman yelled. The fracas only ended when a police car arrived, lights flashing.

Is this mob rule, or democracy in action? A passing frenzy, or evidence of a newly engaged populace that will be a political force when Washington confronts health care this fall?


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