If you are looking for a 2013 Mercedes C-Class be ready for a variety of choices, including the insurance premium.

Mercedes C-Class

The 2013 Mercedes C-Class comes in 9 different versions and has a price range that spans over $27,000. With this many options and huge price range the insurance for this particular model of car is going to have a broad range of premiums. For the premium on the particular model of 2013 C-Class you are looking at, consult your insurance agent for a quote.

The Different Versions of the 2013 Mercedes C-Class

For drivers that want a vehicle that gives them quite a few different body styles and options to choose from, the Mercedes C-Class is it. Drivers first get to choose from a sedan model (4 doors) or a coupe model (2 doors).

In the sedan model, drivers have the option of the:

• C250 Sport
• C250 Luxury
• C300 4MATIC Sport
• C300 4MATIC Luxury
• C350 Sport
• C63 AMG

In the coupe model, drivers have the options of the:

• C250 Coupe
• C350 Coupe
• C63 Coupe

2013 Mercedes C-Class Safety

The 2013 Mercedes C-Class is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick”. It received the IIHS’s highest rating of “good” in 4 out of the 5 safety tests they conduct. These tests included the roof strength test (rollover accidents), the rear crash protection/head restraint ratings (rear-end accident), the side impact test, and the moderate overlap front test (head on collision).

The only test that the 2013 C-Class did not receive a “good” rating in was for the small overlap front test. This test looks at how well the car would do if hit only in the front corner of the driver’s side. Not only did the C-Class not receive a “good” rating, they actually received a “poor” rating, which is the lowest rating the IIHS gives for its testing.

Insurance Thoughts on the Mercedes C-Class

Even with that one poor rating, the 2013 Mercedes C-Class is still a “Top Safety Pick” which makes it a safe car to drive. This high safety rating will translate in to lower premiums for medical payments and pip insurance coverages.

The main coverages you are going to see a wide range of premiums in are the liability, collision, and comprehensive coverages.

The liability coverages are going to vary because you have everything from a luxury 4-door sedan to a sports coupe to choose from in this vehicle. Each of these different versions are usually looked at differently by the insurance companies given the loss history. The sports coupes will most likely have the higher liability premium given the reputation of faster, younger drivers wanting this version. On the other end of the spectrum, the luxury version will appeal more to the older driver or ones with a family, giving it a lower premium.

Comprehensive and collision coverage will definitely vary based on price. The more expensive version will see the higher premium and the less expensive versions will be a little more cost friendly.

Again, always consult your insurance agent for an insurance quote before you purchase a new vehicle, but especially for a vehicle like the 2013 Mercedes C-Class.

Insurance companies aren’t the only victims of insurance fraud.

It makes you wonder why medical professionals would need the extra money from insurance fraud.

Medical car insurance fraud is insurance fraud that focuses on getting payments from someone’s medical or liability coverage on their car insurance policy through creating fake medical expenses. This type of insurance fraud is one of the most common because it is so easy to commit if you have the right people involved.

It is also the most costly insurance fraud because medical expenses can be billed at high amounts without usually throwing up any fraud flags.

Who is Usually Involved in this Type of Insurance Fraud?

Insurance fraud that is focused on getting money from the medical payments or liability coverages of an insurance policy can be done by anyone. But usually there is a doctor involved. This makes the claim seem legit, and the insurance companies continue to pay the medical bills without questioning the treatment.

For example, in January a Texas chiropractor plead guilty to an insurance fraud scheme that was run for 2 years before it was shutdown finally. Before it was taken down, insurance companies had already paid out 1.2 million dollars in fake or exaggerated treatments that were billed by this chiropractor.

With elaborate schemes like this, there are usually multiple parties involved, but the medical professional is the key to getting the money for the scheme.

How Insurance Fraud Affects You

People that are involved in insurance fraud consider it a white collar crime. This means that they feel that since they are stealing from a large corporation that it is okay. It is a faceless crime because no one personally gets hurt. This type of thinking may help their conscious, but it is flawed thinking.

When someone successfully pulls off an insurance fraud scheme it’s not the insurance company that gets hit financially, it’s all of their customers. Insurance companies are in the business to make money, so if they are posting losses from these insurance fraud schemes they are going to turn around and raise your insurance premiums to make up for the loss.

Not such a faceless crime anymore is it?

What Can You Do to Fight Insurance Fraud?

Report, report, report! If you hear of anyone talking about an insurance fraud scheme that they are involved in report them to the Department of Insurance or the Insurance Commissioner in your state. If you know whom they are insured with, report them to their insurance company. You don’t have to worry about them finding out because you can report them anonymously.

If you are involved in a claim and the doctor is like the one above report any suspicious billing or activity to your claims adjuster. You will find that claims adjusters are very open to launching an insurance fraud investigation if something doesn’t feel right about a claim.

Keep your monthly bills down by purchasing one of these 10 cheapest cars to insure.

Those looking for a new insurance company have many factors to consider in their decision. The main factor most people consider is how much it will cost. To determine how much a driver’s insurance will cost the insurance company factors in the driving record, age, and other factors that hold certain statistics. Often drivers do not realize that insurance companies also take their car in to consideration.

Each year, a new list comes out featuring the cars that will be the lowest cost to insure. This is the first year no mini vans are featured on the list. In fact, it is the first year that SUV’s outweighed any other type of automobile. Though the SUV’s listed are not gas guzzling, or money guzzling for that matter. We have listed the cars along with some necessary statistics about each one!

1. Ford Edge SE ($1,128)

-Starts at $27,555

-MPG 19 city, 27 highway

2. Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (1,148)

-Starts at $27,695

-MPG 17 city, 23 highway

3. Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium (1,150)

-Starts at $23,495

-MPG 24 city, 30 highway

4. Kia Sportage ($1,157)

-Starts at $19,000

-MPG 21 city, 30 highway

5. Jeep Patriot Sport ($1,600)

-Starts at $15,995

-MPG 24 city, 30 highway

6. Chevrolet Express 1500 ($1,171)

-Starts at $24,750

-MPG 20 city, 27 highway

7. Subaru Outback 3.6R ($1,180)

-Starts at $23,495

-MPG 18 city, 25 highway

8. Hyundai Tucson GLS ($1,189)

-Starts at $19,395

-MPG 24 city, 30 highway

9. Ford Explorer ($1,197)

-Starts at $29,1000

-MPG 20 city, 28 highway

10. Hyundai Tucson GL ($1,204)

-Starts at $19,395

-MPG 24 city, 30 highway

The 2013 list should be helpful to those looking to purchase a new car. Each insurance company varies and of course it also depends on your driving record. If you are curious about what will be cheapest for your insurance company it is best to check with your own insurance company or the company you are looking to switch to.

Source: Yahoo! Autos

Insurance companies are spending more and more on advertising that just isn’t working.

McKinsey Auto Insurance Buyer Survey

Insurance advertising is everywhere. You find advertisements on TV, all over the internet, on billboards, on the radio, and yes, even here on Car Insurance Guidebook. Well, our commercials are more for analytical purposes, but you still see them.

You would think with all of this insurance advertising saturation that the insurance companies would be making bank from these commercials, right?

Maybe not.

They Spend HOW MUCH on Advertising?!?!?!

That is exactly what popped in my head after I read the figures from a SNL Financial report, and I am pretty sure you will have the same reaction. In 2005, the top 5 property and casualty insurance companies spent around $2.5 billion dollars on advertising. Yes, that’s billion with a “b”!

But wait, in just 6 years that amount doubled to over $5 billion dollars being spent on advertising to you and me in 2011. Per the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., GEICO alone spends more on advertising than Nike, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds.

And you were wondering what they did with the insurance premium you pay every month.

All This Advertising Has to Be Worth it Right?

According to McKinsey Auto Insurance Buyer Survey these billions of dollars being spent on advertising to try and get drivers to switch companies does not seem to be working. Their survey included the responses of 16,000 people in June of 2012 and per the results only 9% actually switched insurance companies in 2011.

And what about the other 91% of the people surveyed?

• 18% did shop around, but ended up staying with their current company
• 18% renewed with a company they didn’t like, but didn’t want to go through the trouble of switching
• 55% were happy with their insurance company

Losing Advertising Focus

If you have read any of the insurance advertising commercials that I have reviewed, you will know that one of my biggest pet peeves is the “our rates are cheaper” advertising. It just felt that it was everywhere and that all of the companies were doing it. Well, apparently I was not wrong in my feelings about it being everywhere, because according to the McKinsey survey the majority of the insurance commercials over the last 10 years have been focused on price.

Unfortunately for the insurance companies, the segment of the population that will switch due to price is only around 30% of drivers. So for the last 10 years they have spent billions of dollars in advertising to get a small segment of drivers to switch; which surprisingly hasn’t been working (insert sarcastic tone here).

Guess it’s time to rethink those advertising strategies, huh?

The 2013 Ford Fusion had a rough first year, so be cautious as to the one you buy.

One of the 2013 Ford Fusions that were recalled.

When purchasing a 2013 Ford Fusion it would be wise to determine exactly when in 2012 it was made. Most of the models that were manufactured in 2012 have been subject to major recalls and have different safety ratings than the ones manufactured later in the year. This difference in quality and safety could make a difference on your insurance premiums.

2013 Ford Fusion Safety

For the models built after December 2012, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rated the 2013 Ford Fusion as a “Top Safety Pick +”. This distinction was only given to 13 other vehicles for 2013 and elevates the 2013 Fusion as the safest of the safe vehicles on the road today.

To earn the distinction of being a “Top Safety Pick +” a vehicle has to rate as “good” in 4 of the 5 safety tests that the IIHS conducts on it. The “good” rating is the highest rating that the IIHS gives. On the 5th safety test, the vehicle can earn no less than an “acceptable” rating, which is just one under the “good” rating.

If you noticed, this top safety rating was only granted to the 2013 Fusions that were built after December 2012. The specific manufacturing date was probably used due to the recalls below on the 2013 Ford Fusions that were built prior to that date.

Recalls for the 2013 Ford Fusion

There has already been two recalls for this 2013 vehicle and it is only February. Both recalls happened at the beginning of December in 2012.

Recall #1: “FORD IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2013 FUSION VEHICLES, MANUFACTURED FROM FEBRUARY 3, 2012, THROUGH OCTOBER 20, 2012, FOR FAILING TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD (FMVSS) NUMBER 108, “LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.” THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY NOT HAVE HAD THE LOW BEAM HEADLAMP PROJECTOR COATING PROPERLY CURED DURING ITS MANUFACTURING PROCESS.

Consequence: AN IMPROPERLY CURED PROJECTOR COATING WILL BECOME HAZY THROUGH OPERATION, OVER TIME, REDUCING THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE LOW-BEAM LAMP. THIS MAY DECREASE DRIVER VISIBILITY AND INCREASE THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH.” (safercar.gov)

Recall #2: “FORD IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2013 ESCAPE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM OCTOBER 5, 2011, THROUGH NOVEMBER 26, 2012, EQUIPPED WITH 1.6L ENGINES, AS WELL AS CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2013 FUSION VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM FEBRUARY 3, 2012, THROUGH NOVEMBER 29, 2012, EQUIPPED WITH 1.6L ENGINES. COOLANT SYSTEM LEAKS MAY CAUSE THE ENGINES TO OVERHEAT AND LEAK FLAMMABLE ENGINE FLUIDS.

Consequence: IF FLAMMABLE ENGINE FLUIDS COME IN CONTACT WITH THE VEHICLE¿S HOT EXHAUST SYSTEM, A VEHICLE FIRE COULD OCCUR.” (safercar.gov)

Insurance Thoughts in the 2013 Ford Fusion

The 2013 Ford Fusion is a smaller sedan, but it has over a $10,000 price range for the models it offers. This wide price range, in addition to it being a hybrid, makes it hard to determine what the comprehensive and collision coverage would be.

However, with being a “Top Safety Pick+” the medical payments or pip coverage will be very low for the models post December 2012. As will be the liability coverage on the 2013 Ford Fusion because of the limited damage this smaller sedan could do compared to other larger vehicles.