Massachusetts Auto Insurance Rates Are Down

According to the article “Car insurance rates fall 8%, state says” by Todd Wallack in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts auto insurance rates are down since Massachusetts stopped setting their own rates in 2008. This information is from a study completed by the Division of Insurance.

The state study shows that auto insurance rates are down 8.2% from April 2008 to April 2009. The rates fell 5.2% from 2006 to 2007. In April of 2008 Massachusetts began allowing auto insurers to set their own rates which was to create controlled competition. Before this change, rates in Massachusetts were highly regulated.

Jason Lefferts is a spokesperson for the insurance division, and he said the study also found that during the last year the number of uninsured cars in Massachusetts dropped and that less people were considered high-risk drivers. Since the change in regulation, nine companies have become part of the Massachusetts auto insurance market.

Spending habits during a recession

There is a study recently published by M&C Saatchi, a global advertising agency with headquarters in London. It puts consumers into categories based on their behavior and reaction to the recession.

I'll get to those categories in a minute, but I think it's important to first note that the premise of this study is that while we are all effected by the recession differently depending on where we live and the local economy there, we generally are reacting to the macro economy - as it's reported by mass media.

We are bombarded daily by dismal reports of national or even global economic downturns. We cannot help but let this color our thinking. Yet, things might actually not be so bad in the immediate area around us.

So, the study and the categories are generated by how we are reacting to macroeconomics.

‘Reacting to Recession' is the name of the study. It identifies and categorizes attitudes and behavior adopted by different groups of consumers. The study finds eight consumer types with distinct approaches to spending in this recession.

Each identified group has adopted an overall specific behavior to cope financially with the downturn.

Crash Dieters

Scrimpers

Abstainers

Balancers

Treaters

Justifiers

Ostriches

Vultures


A caveat before the descriptions: they're not based on socioeconomic status, meaning that you can be in the Crash Dieter...and a millionaire.

Crash Dieters are the largest segment, grabbing 26% of adults participating in the study. The group was so named because it aims to "shed pounds" from their weekly budget by identifying and cutting out all non-essential spending until things improve. Crash Dieters are a heavily cash orientated group. Debt clearly frightens them (or is unavailable to them). They live from week to week and when the money runs out they're forced to take quite drastic action.

Scrimpers made up 13% of the study population. Cutting spending is still a main reaction, but they want to maintain their lifestyle and are reluctant to make sacrifices. "Trade down" is more their philosophy than "cut out." Cheaper stores and private labels have become more important to them.

Abstainers, like their Scrimper brethren, don't plan to make any huge cuts in spending habits. About 15% of the population are Abstainers. "The big purchases can wait until the economy improves," is what they'll tell you.

Balancers is one of the smallest groups. Nearly one in 10 people in the study fit into this category, which doesn't want to compromise or make any changes to their pre-recession lifestyle. However, a monetary crisis for them, say a job loss, triggers abrupt behavior. There's no "trading down" - It's gone.

Just over 12% of the study population are Treaters. You could describe them as Crash Dieters who occasionally binge. Every once in a while, the frugality they have adopted to deal with the recession gets rewarded by the purchase of something they promised themselves they wouldn't get.

Another 12% are Justifiers. They'll spend, but they need to have a reason - and it's not price-sensitive. If it's a newer version of something they already have, they want it and convince themselves it's a wise expenditure.

Everybody knows what an Ostrich does when it confronts danger - supposedly - and this is the way 9% of the study population is reacting to the recession. They're simply ignoring it - either because they have sufficient means to do so or because they have been brought up to believe that large balances on credit cards is the accepted norm.

At 4%, the smallest category was given the name Vultures. They're thriving on the carnage caused by the recession. Prices on many things have plummeted. They're swooping in and purchasing all they can.

The study is ostensibly for the purpose of how to market to these groups during the recession; and these distinctive categories of behavior strongly show that there may be only one recession globally...but we certainly are not all reacting to it in the same way.

Obviously, the propensity to purchase life insurance products at this time by these categories presents the same types of obstacles and challenges as any other industry.

Do you recognize yourself in any of them?

Health Insurance Reform - What Do Doctors Think

Lindsey Tanner wrote an article entitled “Doctors signal they’ll work with Obama” published in the Associated Press discussing Obama's meeting with the American Medical Association (AMA).

The AMA is a group of doctors representing the nation. Traditionally, the AMA is conservative and have fought previous administrations' health care reform attempts. There was speculation that they were going to create an obstacle for Obama and his health insurance plan. But after Obama spoke to the doctors at their annual meeting in Chicago, the AMA signaled that they won't close the door on his health insurance proposal. Specifically, they are not against the part where public health insurance will compete with private insurers.

Obama's trip to Chicago for this meeting shows how much the President values the AMA's support. They would have liked a stronger endorsement, but this is a small battle in the large fight ahead for the Obama administration.

Persons requiring insurance is purchased by insurance companies

13/12/2007
Question 2. Persons requiring insurance is insurance purchased by insurance companies not operating in Vietnam or not? DNBH must be qualified to perform what commitments with customers?

Answer:
- Organizations and individuals with insurance needs are involved in insurance business insurance activities in Vietnam.

- Business insurance must ensure the requirements of finance to implement their commitments for the purchase of insurance. (Article 6 Law BH KD) Guidelines insurance participation is in Decree 45CP 27 months 3, 2007 guiding the implementation of the Law KD insurance (Article 3 of Decree 45 CP) as follows

"1. Organizations and individuals want to business insurance, business insurance, active insurance brokers in Vietnam is the Ministry of Finance license the establishment and operation as stipulated by Law Business insurance .

2. Organizations and individuals with insurance needs with a choice of insurance companies and are only involved in insurance business insurance are allowed to work in Vietnam. No organization or individual is allowed to interfere with illegal choice to business insurance, business insurance brokers buyer's premium "

This is to protect the interests of customers to buy insurance because the insurance companies operating in Vietnam is state management closely, being governed by the laws of Vietnam. If disputes occur, the buyer of insurance may give Vietnam court hearing.

Conditions and procedures for transfer of coverage between 02 .

57 questions. Conditions and procedures for transfer of coverage between 02 DNBH specified how to ensure the benefits of buying insurance?

Answer:

The transfer from HDBH DNBH to other DNBH must comply with the conditions and procedures to allow KDBH Law. Article 75 Law KDBH stipulated conditions of the transfer HDBH as follows:

"The transfer of insurance contracts are made on the following conditions:

1. Business insurance franchisee business insurance business to be transferred;

2. The rights and obligations under insurance contracts to be transferred does not change until the expiry of the insurance;

3. The transfer of the insurance must be accompanied by the transfer of funds and for services related to all insurance contracts are transferred. "

Article 76 Law KDBH rules of procedure transfer HDBH as follows:

"The transfer of the insurance is done by following procedures:

1. Insurance business transfer contract of insurance must have the proposal to transfer the insurance to send the Ministry of Finance reason, plan transfer, accompanied by the transfer. The transfer of the insurance only be conducted after the Ministry of Finance approved in writing;

2. Within 30 days after the Ministry of Finance approved the transfer of insurance business transfer contract of insurance must be published on the transfer and notify the buyer of insurance in writing. "

Defining the contents and conditions of transfer of such insurance is to guarantee rights and benefit customers buy insurance even in the worst situation occurs.

Online Car Insurance Tips

The Internet offers many advantages to people when it comes to shopping. One of those areas is buying online car insurance. Let's look at a few tips that we can offer you as well as the benefits of getting your car insurance online.

1. The first thing we talk about is convenience. You can quickly do comparison shopping among several insurance providers to determine where you want to purchase your car insurance. The nice thing is you can do this from the convenience of your own home.

In the past you had to scour the yellow pages, pick up the phone, and start making calls talking agents. Many people did not enjoy this because, if you've ever spent any time on the phone with an insurance agent it's difficult to get off the phone without purchasing from them.

2. Comparison-shopping allows you to determine what online car insurance is best for your situation. Many car insurance providers offer online calculators that allow you to punch in variables in regards to things such as number of drivers, the ages of the drivers, where you live, how many miles you drive to work, and so on.

You can then determine the various deductibles that they offer and come up with what your monthly premium would be. You also know right up front how much money your first payment would have to be and whether there are discounts for paying six months or 12 months in advance.

3. The savings that you can make by dealing directly with the company can be attained by by-passing the middleman, which is the insurance agent themselves. This is not for everybody, however, as some people prefer to have counseling provided to them by an insurance agent. You will have to determine whether you need help or whether purchasing online car insurance is something you can do yourself.

Why Buy Cheap Car Insurance

The key to finding cheap car insurance is to do some comparison shopping and know all of the specifics about your particular situation. Many people are over insured and could get cheap car insurance to provide adequate coverage for them and yet they do not even realize it.

If you have a teenager finding cheap car insurance may be out of the question. You can help yourself by making sure they drive a car that is less expensive to insure. For example, any type of a sports car will jack your rates up because you are allowing a teenager the opportunity to drive recklessly and fast according to an insurance company.

Knowing what the basic requirements are in your state is key to coming up with insurance that is more affordable. If your car is owned outright you may not want to put full coverage on it but just cover it with liability insurance.

Certainly you have to consider the value of the car and what it would cost replace it. And as that goes down the type of insurance should be adjusted accordingly.

You can really help yourself by going to a website that specializes in cheap car insurance. Even if you are bypassing an agent websites that specialize in this type of insurance can offer suggestions to you when you are filling out your online form.

This could include asking such things as when your last ticket was, how long since your last wreck, when was your last claim,, are you a homeowner, and so on. These things can all factor into the price of your cheap car insurance.