Technology has now come into play. Many new vehicles leave the factory with on-board computing power and transmitters. In the more sophisticated vehicles, this allows the vehicle to signal a garage when maintenance work is required. This technology can also be modified to monitor when and how the vehicle is driven, transmitting the results to insurers. For vehicles without the basic technology installed, black boxes have been developed. They can be plugged into the vehicle’s electronic systems and collect all the relevant data.

This is Big Brother technology to tell the insurer exactly when you drive and how many miles you travel. But it solves the problem of dishonest reporting. So many insurance companies are now offering plans directly based on the mileage traveled in a week. This is of immediate benefit to homemakers and seniors who only make short trips during the day. The most honest of the insurers are offering up to 40% discount to those who use the vehicle the least. It also helps the environment by encouraging people to use private transport less. If people walked more, it would make us less dependent on imported oil. It also reduces pollution. With better air quality, people with breathing difficulties have a better quality of life.

Not everyone approves of this technology. It’s considered an invasion of privacy. Indeed, with the right software, the insurers and anyone else who has access to the data will know exactly where the vehicle has been driven. This could prove involvement in criminal activity or suggest infidelity. Of course, the insurers protest they have no interest in making this data available to law enforcement agencies or anxious wives. But there’s a case about to be considered in the Supreme Court where monitoring a GPS transponder evidenced involvement in drug dealing. It will be interesting to see what our highest court has to say about this use of the technology.

As an example of an insurance plan, State Farm are promoting a Drive Safe and Save Plan in Illinois. This is based on the installation of a plugin device called In-Drive. Effectively, this enables drivers to pay for their insurance by the mile. Car insurance rates can be significantly lowered if you are prepared to accept positive monitoring of your driving. Look for the option the next time you get car insurance quotes from the top insurers. Big savings are available.

Apart from accepting a higher deductible, the main way of earning a discount with an insurer has always been to give the insurer more business. So, if your family owns three vehicles, you insure all three with the same company. If you also insure your home, want to cover your health costs or insure your life, a bundle has always been rewarded with sometimes quite substantial savings. But, here comes the problem. While insuring vehicles has consistently remained profitable, homeowners insurance has become increasingly challenging. Even though the US is one of the countries refusing any action on climate change in the current round of talks in Durban, the US insurance industry has recognized a major change in weather patterns over the last twenty years. That’s why you will now find it very difficult to get flooding coverage if you live anywhere near where the water level is known to rise, why hurricane damage is being defined to make it more difficult for you to claim, and why sinkhole, mudslide and earthquake coverage is getting more difficult in the areas at risk, i.e. the land drying out or being affected by more than the usual amount of rain.

In the past, companies would cross-subsidize, treating their profit on vehicle insurance as support for the other divisions. That’s no longer an option. The premium rates have been forced to rise faster than inflation because of the increasing levels of fraud and the rising costs of repairs. There comes a point when the other insurance divisions of home, health and life have to become more profitable. Allstate’s answer is to make it a condition of buying homeowners insurance that owners also buy vehicle insurance. The regulator in North Carolina has just allowed Allstate to drop 45,000 existing policyholders who refused to transfer their vehicle insurance. The same is happening in Arkansas. In most states, it’s lawful for insurers to give just 30 days notice of its intention not to renew. So here’s the big question for you. How will you react if you get a letter from an insurer threatening not to renew your homeowners policy unless you bundle cover together? Will this trigger a rush to other insurers who offer unconditional auto insurance quotes? Ironically, it may force you to discover other companies actually have lower car insurance rates.

So let’s start with the good news. Most insurers offer a discount for people who fit security measures to reduce the risk of a burglary. Check with your current insurer to see what gives the biggest savings. Now come back to your home with a little more confidence. You may still find the worst has happened, but you have done your best to prevent it. Now the practicalities: did you have enough cover? Whether you are a renter or an owner, it’s worth paying the full rate to cover the replacement value of all your possessions. Walk through the rooms and make a list. It’s too easy just to think of the more expensive items like the television, your computer(s), cameras and music equipment. You will be surprised how quickly the value of the contents rises when you actually list all you have.

In fact, there should be two lists. One should be the everyday possessions, the other the expensive items. This can be jewelry, artwork and other collectibles. Take photographs of all the expensive items. For all the larger electronic and domestic goods, make a note of the serial numbers. Insurance companies are always more comfortable if you have proof of purchase – yes, it’s a good idea to keep receipts and instruction manuals should a claims adjuster ask for them. Receipts are also useful to show the original value. If you have no receipts, look for evidence of payments on credit card and bank statements. Even PayPal may show payment when you bought online.

Although this all looks a lot of hassle, you are smoothing the way should you come back to a burglarized home. Now you have a master list, it’s easy to find what’s been stolen. The claims check is also likely to arrive more quickly, which should make you feel a little better. Now spend some dollars to make your home a fortress and the next home insurance quotes will not rise too much. When you claim, remember this will be recorded in CLUE and A-PLUS so, when you next come to renew your homeowners insurance, all insurers will know about your claims history.

That said, one of the consequences of all this disaster has been a rise in the premium rates for insuring property. Private insurers have already shown themselves unwilling to continue insuring against flooding, leaving it to the federal and state programs. With the increase in the number and severity of hurricanes and tornadoes, rates have also begun to rise in the states most at risk. As weather events grow more extreme, the ground has now started to show signs of damage. Geology used to be one of these sciences no one was interested in. Now experts are in demand to explain why long periods of drought followed by intense periods of heavy rain can cause mudslides. The science of the sinkhole is also developing rapidly in states like Florida. For those of you who live on solid ground without the risk of earthquakes or the less dramatic collapses, it may seem unlikely the ground can literally just disappear into a hole. Yet, in the space of an hour, a patch of ground can subside or open into a fissure. Houses built on this ground can be wrecked without the possibility of rebuilding.

It’s a standard term of mortgages that the owners carry a valid policy of insurance on the property. The lenders want reassurance the security for the loan is protected from all the usual forms of damage. Until a few years ago, this was not such a burden but, first the withdrawal of flood protection, and now the limitation of wind damage, is making life increasingly difficult for the home owner. Mortgage lenders are not the most forgiving of people. If owners fail to put a valid home insurance policy in place, the lenders buy cover at whatever rate they can find and add the premium, plus an administrative fee plus interest to the capital of the loan. This has produced some spectacular growth in the amount alleged to be owed on some mortgages. Take the cost of sinkhole insurance in Florida as an example of the problem. Private insurers don’t want to insure so Florida created the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Until this year, it could not increase the premium by more than 10% a year. Now we see some counties where the risk of subsidence is the highest being asking to pay more than 2000% increases. Not surprisingly, those holding home insurance policies have said they can no longer afford the rates. Over time, this will force the mortgage lenders to repossess for default – not the most desirable of outcomes.

So why is it so difficult to detect fraud? Surely dishonesty should be obvious to an experienced insurance company? Well, sadly, detecting which claims are fraudulent is not easy. Let’s take a simple question. Both drivers involved admit there was an accident. One driver submits a medical report showing neck injuries. On what basis should the insurer challenge the medical report? Well, detailed investigation might show this particular clinic advertises for people to report accidents to them. Or this clinic may consistently be receiving business through referral networks. Either way, the clinic is found to specialize in the treatment of traffic accident injuries. This could make them highly skillful and deserving professional respect, or it could suggest the clinic exaggerates the injuries for its own profit when it bills for treatment, paying commission to referral agents and passing only some of the benefit on to “patients” who get settlements for their injuries. Is an insurer supposed to get a second opinion from an independent doctor on every patient from suspect clinics? Or suppose someone wants to get out of an auto loan so stages a small accident and pays a repair shop to set off the air bags and certify more serious damage so the vehicle will be totaled. If this is a one-off event and there’s no pattern to suggest this repair shop is dishonest, why should this particular claim set off alarm bells?

There’s no doubt the level of fraud has been at epidemic levels for a decade and more. Several billion dollars a year are being sucked out of insurance companies by criminals. In turn, all these losses are passed on to us in higher car insurance rates. This makes insurance fraud a political issue, albeit mainly in the no-fault states where the levels of dishonesty seem to be higher. Although there’s a National Insurance Crime Bureau established with the task of coordinating the fight against fraud, there’s little sign of success. It will take a major cultural change to deter people from this type of crime when the chances of being caught are so low. Even when staffing levels are improved by the insurers and the law enforcement agencies, there’s little observed change in behavior. The fraudulent claims keep coming in and the auto insurance quotes keep rising.

First of all, let’s look at the causes behind such an apparent injustice that makes young drivers pay the highest insurance rates possible. Car insurance providers base the calculation of their auto insurance quotes on a precise assessment of how it is likely for the driver to end up in an accident and file a claim. From this point of view teen drivers are the most risky group because they tend to produce more claims than any other age group and have the most serious accidents because of their risk taking behavior. The statistics prove it and show that teens produce more accidents with more damage in all states. That’s why insurance companies give teens the highest rates possible. Of course, not all teens are bad drivers. But since there are more inexperienced car owners that produce crashes in this group everyone making part of it ends up paying more for insuring their vehicle.

Now, what can you do to avoid having higher auto insurance quotes when you are a teen? There are several strategies that can help you reduce your insurance costs and you can actually combine them in order to raise the chance of getting an affordable policy. Consider the following options:

Ask your parents to include you into their policy

Being a written driver with your parents, who usually have lower premiums will reduce your insurance rates as well. Sure it will raise their premiums a bit but it will still be more affordable than having separate policies. The downside of this option is that you won’t be able to accumulate your own no-claims discount while being a written driver. And if you are a good driver with no insurance claims that sure is disappointing.

Be a good student at school or college

If you have the potential of getting good grades at school or college now you have another reason for doing it. Most insurance providers offer substantial discounts to students with an average of B and higher. You will be required to provide a copy of your grade report periodically but this paperwork will give you lower auto insurance quotes, so it’s really worth it.

Shop around

Shopping around is the easiest thing you can do with all those sites letting you compare auto insurance quotes online. It takes only a couple of minutes and you will get all the information you need to buy the right policy from the right provider. Just make sure you know exactly what coverage types you want to get before shopping around. Define your needs first and then get busy comparing auto insurance quotes.

This is all smoke-and-mirrors. You can see a listing of perils covered which will include wind damage but, when you look at the clause on deductibles, you will probably find there’s a mandatory hurricane deduction. Unlike the auto insurance policies, this is not a fixed amount. These deductibles are a percentage of the value of your home and some insurers pitch the deductible up to 5% of your home’s value, e.g. $15,000 if your value is $300,000. For homeowners to have to find 5% as a lump sum to trigger the payment of the rest of the claim can be a major financial strain.

Now let’s comes to the theme of this article. One of the reasons why the claims process can slow down to a snail’s pace is disagreements over the difference between wind damage and water damage. The majority of policies exclude or restrict water damage. So, as an example, suppose a strong gust of wind removes the roof from your home. That’s clearly wind damage and the cost of rebuilding will usually be covered. Why “usually”? When the wind exposes the timber frame of your home, it can get wet and this can cause the frame to warp. Now the question is whether replacing the frame is responding to the damage by the wind or damage caused by the subsequent rain. You argue that the timber would not have gotten wet had the roof not blown off, so the main cause is the wind. The insurer argues the wind did not cause the timber to twist out of shape. That was the rain.

It would be good if all such arguments could be quickly resolved but, after Katrina, insurers are more defensive faced with large weather events. Worse, they have also been reducing the number of claims adjusters and everything now takes longer. This puts a heavy burden on home insurance policyholders. You’re often forced to take emergency measures to protect your property, e.g. when the roof blows off. Keep a detailed photographic record to show the before and after situation, keep all the invoices and bills for the materials and labor, and make sure you keep a constant stream of updating messages going to the home insurancecompany. It must always have the chance to monitor this work.

The aim is simple: to keep younger inexperienced drivers off the road. This would be achieved by setting a national standard for graduated drivers’ licensing. Federal highway funds would be tied to encourage states to enact the federal standard within three years. The bill creates a ladder to climb for a full license. It begins with a learner’s permit no earlier than 16, passes through an intermediate stage and ends with a full license. It also creates a number of specific criminal offenses, including driving unsupervised at night without a full license, using a cell phone while driving, and a limit on the number of young passengers. The intention is formally to introduce the rule that no one can have a full license under the age of 18.

Needless to say, the GOP believe this unreasonably interferes with the sovereign right of states. Further, they argue driving in an essentially rural state is not the same as in New York which is full of traffic. Only state legislatures know the detail of local conditions and can make appropriate laws. This explains why teens in North Dakota can start to drive on their 14th birthday, whereas New Jersey prevents a teen from moving to the intermediate stage until his or her 17th birthday. This is not to say any state is derelict in its laws. The Insurance Institute for HIghway Safety rates 37 states as having good laws, but there’s a general failure to deal with distractions while driving. Only 30 states currently ban texting. Worse, only 28 states ban cell phone use by novice drivers. Most driver safety experts think there should be a general ban on texting by drivers of all ages.

Whatever your opinion on hand-held technology and cell phone use, the death of teen drivers is potentially preventable both by limiting unsupervised driving and by insisting on every driver going through an approved course of instruction before being allowed a full license. Of course, nothing can prevent teens determined to drive no matter what the law says. But if we can reduce the number of accidents, this will reduce the auto insurance rates for both teen and young adult drivers. Doing nothing should not be an option. Indeed, it may be better not to use auto insurance quotes as a reason. Simply pitching this to parents as a way of keeping more of their children alive should be enough to pass the bill into law.

So, if you go back in time, printed words have always been used to manipulate people. They sell ideas to you. This means real power lies in the power to control access the means of publication. If a group can control what gets printed and distributed, the words can always tell the same story. But if the means of publication is open to other voices, this can give a completely different view of the world. This is why reputations can be made or unmade depending on who has the power to publish.

The problem for modern companies is anyone today can start up a blog or website. Many internet services are free to use. Similarly, the networking sites like Facebook allow people to write their opinions and describe their experiences. In the past, we would never get to hear Anne from Denver bought a steam cleaner that sprayed boiling water over her hands. Now she can write it and thousands of people can tweet it. It makes it very difficult for manufacturers and service providers to protect their reputations. This explains, in part, why insurance companies very rarely allow interaction on their sites. Since they cannot control what sometimes angry customers may say, they try to deny them a voice. Except there are now some very high profile sites on which people can complain about bad products and services. This movement is not yet sufficient to damage the vast insurance industry, but individual companies are finding it more difficult to prevent their reputations from slowly washing away.

This makes the recent announcement of a new online forum all the more encouraging. The intention is to allow people from both sides of the insurance relationship a chance to ask questions and have their say. Instead of a blank screen on which insurers give you the news they think you should hear, you can now ask about how to get more affordable car insurance rates, what to do if a claims adjuster low-balls the fair market value offer, and so on. This does not mean everyone on the forum will be an “innocent” consumer. There will inevitably be anonymous industry experts giving balancing views and opinions. But this is a hopeful sign of change. You may even get cheap car insurance quotes because of pressure through forums like this.

Let’s start with the good news. The courts in most states operate the rule that any ambiguity in the policy is always resolved in your favor. Courts reckon insurers can afford the best attorneys to write the contracts. If they can’t get the wording clear enough, that’s their problem and they have to pay out on your claims. But if the wording of the agreement is clear, you’re caught by whatever it says. If you never bothered to read the policy or read it and failed to understand, that’s your problem.

As an example, here’s a recent case from sunny Florida. M lived on her own. She owned and insured a car, but allowed her granddaughter to drive it. Her granddaughter lived with her parents at a separate address. On the fateful day, the granddaughter was driving the car with the family as passengers. There was an accident. The driver and passengers were injured. So here comes the first question. Can you say who your “relatives” are? That’s easy, isn’t it. This is anyone related to you by blood or marriage, and it has nothing to do with where they live. So if the policy says the insurer will pay on a claim when the car is driven by the insured and his or her relatives, you know what that means. Does the policy also cover the car when it’s driven by anyone else with the insured’s consent? That can be important if, for some reason, you need a neighbor or friend to drive you around.

So what do you make of this phrase: there’s no coverage for any injuries to an insured or a family member living with the insured. Is the “insured” always M, the policyholder paying the premium installments, or does it include relatives or others driving with the owner’s consent? The Florida appeals court has just held the word “insured” always refers to the driver. This meant the granddaughter and her parents could not claim for their injuries because they lived together in the same house. You would have known that, right? This car insurance policy is unambiguous. You didn’t think M was the insured and so the driver and her passengers could claim?

Courts have a habit of thinking some words have obvious meanings. If you are covered when you drive, you are insured no matter whether you pay the premium. So to prevent being caught, read the policy before signing. Don’t just accept the car insurance quotes on the basis of cost. If you have any doubt, ask what the policy means.