Insurance rate increases in one state can have a domino effect in the rest of the states.

A small sample of the insurance companies that receive approval for rate increases. (www.onlineautoinsurance.com)

Whenever a company makes a bold move to make more money at the expense of their customers, other companies watch the aftermath very carefully.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out, like when Bank of America tried to tack on a fee to their accounts for using a debit card. This causes a huge uproar and other financial institutions did not follow. In fact, Bank of America ended up reversing this program after the backlash.

There are other times when it does work, like when the airlines started charging passengers for checking their luggage. After the backlash was minimal for the first airline that tried it, almost every other airline jumped on it also.

Insurance companies do the same thing. If they find that one company can get away with an insurance rate increase, the rest quickly follow suit.

What Companies Asked for Insurance Rate Increases

Overall, there were 16 insurance companies in the state of Illinois alone that were granted insurance rate increases.  Here are just a handful of the ones that were granted these increases:

• Illinois Farmers
• Owners Insurance
• Mendakota (2 sub-companies were approved for rate increases)
• Hallmark Insurance
• Auto-Owners
• Bristol West
• Victoria Select
• Badger Mutual

Insurance Rate Increases All Summer

The state of Illinois was very busy this summer with a number of insurance rate increases approved over the summer.  These rate increases were for specific coverages as well as for just sub-companies. Sub-companies are the smaller insurance companies under one large insurance company name. For example, Progressive Northern and Progressive Universal are both affiliates of the company we all know as just Progressive.

Per onlinesutoinsurnace.com, in Illinois alone there were 11 insurance rate increase approval and 13 in July.

What to Do If Your Insurance Rate Increases

Whenever your insurance company raises their rates, you should always start getting quotes from other insurance companies. Just because your insurance company raised their rates, doesn’t mean that all of the other insurance companies raised theirs, as well. The other scenario can also be that another insurance company raised their rates, but not as high as your insurance company did; meaning that you could still get a lower rate with the other company.

Either way, it is good to always call around every now and then to make sure you are getting the best rates. For an easy way to get quotes from other insurance companies for relief from your companies insurance rate increases, click here.

Liberty Mutual takes a simple message and creates a compelling  commercial from it.

Summary

During the commercial the song “Human” by The Human League is playing in the background for the entire commercial.

The commercial opens with a woman opening her car door and reaching over to the passenger seat to grab something. As she has her backed turned, a truck speeds by and takes out her door.

Screen switches to a scene where people are walking across the street and the letters “humans” are in the road.

Announcer: Humans

Screen switches again and we see a young man feeding a parking meter as his car starts rolling backwards down the hill and away from him.

Announcer: We mean well, but we’re imperfect creatures living in an beautifully, imperfect world.

Next, we are in a restaurant where a man is having the familiar trouble with getting ketchup out of a glass bottle. When the ketchup finally decides to make an appearance, it flies past the plate and all over the white blouse of the woman next to him.

Announcer: Sometimes the little things get us, and other times……

Scene changes to a man trying to put a window air conditioner in his apartment window, until he drops it on the car below.

Announcer: ……… the not so little.

Another scene change to a woman spray painting a metal chair with red spray paint. Once she admires a job well done on the chair, she realizes that the aerosol paint has drifted to her car and now her car is partially red.

Screen moves to a woman coming in to a house and closing the glass sliding door to the patio behind her. The man that was outside on the patio at the BBQ turns around to come in also and he runs right into the glass door.

Announcer: It’s amazing we’ve made it this far.

Commercial continues…………

Point of Commercial

Liberty Mutual plays this commercial well. They hit very hard on the fact that insurance is around to cover us when we make mistakes, and because we are all human we all make them. They don’t play on how much money they are going to save you or how much better they are than anyone else. They simply tell you that when you make a mistake, they will be there to help you undo the damage.

What They Want You to Do

Liberty Mutual wants you to think highly of them. They want you to think about your insurance company and if they are there for you when you need them. If not, try Liberty Mutual because they are telling you that they will be there for you.

My Opinion

I really like this commercial. There is no hard sell in it, they aren’t mudslinging, and they aren’t being obnoxious. They are cutting straight to the chase and telling you that they will be there to help when you make mistakes. This is exactly what insurance is about and it is refreshing for a company to send such a simple message.

Now, I need to go find their telephone number and call for a quote.

I give this Liberty Mutual commercial two thumbs up.

The 2013 Scion FR-S is the sports car for all financial classes, as long as you can afford the insurance premium.

The Scion FR-S

Switching gears a little, most of the insurance analysis articles for the next month are going to be focused on the higher-end cars that we are get excited about. This first one, the 2013 Scion FR-S isn’t considered a high-end, sports car, but it looks like one.

The best thing about the FR-S, is that it is a great looking car for under $30,000; making it one of the few sports cars that most people can easily afford. I for one am thinking that this is my next car, once my kid has graduated and moved out.

IIHS Safety Ratings for the 2013 Scion FR-S

The 2013 Scion FR-S is not only an extremely affordable sports car it is also a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Could this car get any better?

The FR-S earned “good” ratings in all three testing categories:

Front crash test

Side impact test

Roof strength test (for rollover crashes)

(The “good” rating is the highest rating that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offers for a vehicle. )

The 2013 FR-S is the first time the IIHS has tested this model, because it has only been out for a couple of years. And to get a Top Safety Pick rating on the first testing is rather impressive.

What Might You Expect For 2013 Scion FR-S Insurance Premiums?

This particular vehicle has two things going for it already. One, the vehicle is a Top Safety Pick, so the premiums for your medical payment coverages are going to be low. Two, the vehicle is not expensive; meaning that the parts to fix the vehicle, if it is in an accident, will be low. Cheaper parts means lower comprehensive and collision coverages.

Now, for the bad news…….

This vehicle is brand new; there have only been two other model years before it and the first model year (2011) was just a concept car. This means there are few if any after-market parts available. Insurance companies like using after-market parts to fix cars because they are cheap, so this may affect the comprehensive and collision coverage.

Also, let’s not forget that the 2013 Scion FR-S is still a sports car. It’s got kick under the hood and it is going to attract the desire of young drivers that can afford this cheaper sports car. Sports cars in general have higher insurance premiums, specifically liability, because of the higher chance of a car accident being caused by them. So, I would look for the 2013 Scion FR-S to have a higher premium than the 4-door sedan you are driving right now.

Your current insurance companies financial S.O.S. signals may mean it’s time to get new insurance quotes from other companies.

It’s time to look for new insurance quotes when your insurance company starts to show signs of financial trouble.

Most things in life give us fair warning before things start to go bad. Fruit changes color before it spoils, engines make funny noises before they stop working, and you feel tired right before you get sick. Just like any of these other things, insurance companies also give off signs that there is going to be trouble ahead; unfortunately, this usually means problems for you financially, as well.

When is it Time for New Insurance Quotes?

Whenever you start seeing your insurance company start showing signs of financial distress in your state or nationwide, it is time to start calling around for new insurance. These signs can include laying off a large amount of people on the corporate level, cutting back on the number of independent agents they have, negative chatter about their stocks, and starting to close offices.

Any of these signs can be an indication that your insurance company is having trouble financially and is looking for ways to turn things around. The closures and cut backs are all ways to decrease the overhead costs of running the company to try and salvage it from going under.

Why Would it be Time to Look for New Insurance Quotes?

When insurance companies aren’t making enough money to stay in business, they do two things. One, they cut overhead costs; which are the examples given above.

Two, they look for ways to make more money. And this additional money comes from you. In order to keep their business open, they are going to raise the price of their product; which means increasing your insurance premium.

For example, in the early 2000’s SAFECO Insurance made huge cuts in their workforce in an effort to keep in business. Thousands of people lost their jobs and offices nationwide were shut down. Insurance premiums were then later raised to try and reverse the financial problems. In 2008, regardless of their efforts SAFECO was bought out by Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Do These Signs Always Mean it is Time to Look for New Insurance?

No, sometimes insurance companies take these measures to cut the excess, so they can run more efficiently. But, it is still something to keep an eye on.

When you start seeing the signs of overhead being cut, keep a keen eye on your insurance premiums. If they start to increase for no reason, it is time to call around to the insurance companies that aren’t having financial issues for new insurance quotes.

What insurance you had in place determines if you have rental car coverage for an accident.

At the exact time of the accident, whatever insurance policy you had that was active are the coverages that will apply to the claim. If the policy you had with your old insurance company was the one that was active and you had rental car coverage on it, then you will have rental car coverage for the accident. Just because you switched companies before a claim has been closed with your old company, doesn’t mean you lose the coverages you had at the time of the accident.

On the other hand, if you didn’t have rental car coverage on your old policy that was active at the time of the accident, but your new policy does; you do not have rental car coverage.