| Tougher to Reject Auto Insurance Applicants
It will be tougher for non-life insurance companies in Korea to reject applications for automobile insurance. According to non-life insurance businesses on Jan. 4, Korea�s Financial Supervisory Service send notification letters to insurance companies on Jan. 2 informing them of the new regulation that requires them to accept all auto insurance applications, excluding exceptional cases, such as those with more than three accidents over the past three years, or those with a record of insurance fraud. Until now, some insurance companies have rejected applications which have not had an accident for a length of time. The companies argue that despite extending the �no-accident� period from seven years in 2006 to nine years for 2008, these accounts bring in small profits due to large discount rates under which the fees are discounted up to 60%.
JOHN CHAPPELL: NORTH NOTES: Robbins Enjoys New DMV Office
Donald Schofield moved to Carthage this year, found a job and started saving for a car. Schofield, who is from Ohio, found out he could not get a North Carolina driver's license without buying insurance, even though he owned no vehicle. This state requires all licensed drivers to have liability coverage, and insurance companies made policies for nonowners available. Trouble was, his roommate had a car. That meant a lot of insurance agents would not write coverage for Schofield himself. So when savings reached the bare minimum needed for wheels, he bought a used Honda with help from Lee Bolerjack, whose import car garage was just a mile away. Bolerjack specializes in repairs to the kind of cars other local mechanics wouldn't touch: foreign cars like Volvos, Mercedes-Benzes, Jaguars and other non-Detroit European autos.
InsWeb named in patent suit
Autobytel sued Sacramento-based InsWeb (Nasdaq: INSW) and others in the Eastern District of Texas. InsWeb allows consumers to compare insurance rates for home, auto, life and other types on insurance on its Web site. Hussein Enan, the company's chairman and chief executive, released a media statement saying the company has not been notified of the suit. "InsWeb was surprised by the public news reports of the filing of this lawsuit," he said. "We were not previously contacted by Autobytel nor have we been formally served with the complaint. Accordingly, we are unable to comment on any specifics regarding the allegations. However, we are confident that our business processes and technology were developed without infringing any third-party patent and we intend to vigorously defend the action." .
Editorial: Tougher legislation could curb auto thefts
It's an epidemic, and Albuquerque is rightly seeking a potent remedy from the Legislature. On Tuesday, city officials and other advocates said they need help to battle the escalating trend of auto thefts in the city. As Tribune reporter Christopher Sanchez detailed in "Albuquerque mayor wants tougher penalties for auto thieves" after a two-year decline in auto thefts from 4,088 in 2003 to 3,796 in 2005, these crimes spiked in 2006, when some 5,515 vehicles were stolen in Albuquerque. That's a 45 percent increase in one year and plenty cause for alarm. In addition to obvious property loss and costlier insurances premiums for everyone, the crime is disruptive, depriving owners of the transportation they need to get to work and conduct their lives. Officials said they need a comprehensive crackdown on car thieves and will ask legislators to help by passing more severe criminal penalties to deter would-be thieves.
Miss. AG says criminal probe of State Farm has new focus
NEW ORLEANS -- Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says his office opened a new criminal investigation of State Farm Insurance Cos. that is separate from its earlier probe of the insurer's "crimes against policyholders" after Hurricane Katrina. State Farm is suing Hood for allegedly violating an agreement last year to end a criminal investigation of the company's handling of claims following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane. However, in court papers filed last Friday, a lawyer for Hood says the January 2007 agreement doesn't give State Farm "blanket immunity" from a new investigation "with a new focus and new genesis." "The first investigation involved crimes against policyholders in State Farm's handling of Katrina related claims," wrote Hood's attorney, J.
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