Automobile Insurance

If you're renting a car over the holidays, chances are a clerk at the counter will try to sell you some pricey insurance options. Should you fork out the extra cash? Probably not, experts say. That's because there's a very good chance the auto insurance policy you already have would kick in if you had an accident while driving a rental. And sometimes the credit card you use to rent the car offers coverage too.

As if the lousy economy hasn't done enough damage, here's another thing to worry about: more people driving without automobile insurance. State insurance officials say the number of drivers without legally required coverage rises in tandem with unemployment, which is now more than 12% in California. About 18% of drivers didn't have insurance in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available. Back then, the unemployment rate was just 5.4%. "We've seen in the past that higher unemployment tracks with a higher rate of people being uninsured," said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the department.

The real estate title industry has taken a lot of flak lately for practices that state regulators and consumer advocates claim drive up the costs consumers pay for title insurance. On Tuesday, the industry sought to counter some of the criticism by unveiling a website -- www.clta.titlewizard.com -- that, for the first time, allows consumers to see what the major title insurers charge for their policies.

An insurance industry-backed bill that would make it easier for auto insurers to persuade motorists to fix their dents only at company-selected garages won a key vote Friday in the state Senate and should be on the governor's desk next week. Insurers say the bill is needed so that they can give policyholders full information about the benefits of having work done at select auto body shops. Those advantages include lifetime guarantees, fast turnarounds and quality repairs, the insurers say. But opponents -- an unlikely coalition of car dealers, auto body shops, trial attorneys and consumer activists -- contend the bill would weaken safeguards against "steering," an illegal practice in which motorists are pushed with a combination of economic incentives and penalties into taking their cars to certain body shops.

The Assembly Insurance Committee has passed an automobile insurance measure proposed by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown as a rival to a low-cost, no-fault policy supported by Gov. Pete Wilson. Brown's bill, sent to the Ways and Means Committee on a 10-4 vote, is designed to reduce fraud, improve vehicle safety and enact a more stringent mandatory insurance law.

Other than hearing that your policy has been canceled, it's about the worst news you can get from your auto insurer: Sorry, your vehicle has been "totaled." But if you loved that car or truck, totaled doesn't always have to be the death sentence that the term implies. A totaled vehicle isn't always a mangled mess. Sometimes it's salvageable. And even if it can't be saved--or you chose not to try--the settlement your insurer offers isn't necessarily the best you can do.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said it is consolidating its claims and business operations in California to help save $69 million annually. The plan affects operation centers in Westlake Village and Costa Mesa, which employ 1,227 people. Although no immediate job cuts are planned, the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer said 1,200 people may be offered relocation, reassignment or severance options.

Owners of nearly 1 million California vehicles covered by insurance company USAA collectively will save about $48 million, thanks to a 7% rate decrease effective today. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner approved the reduction for the insurer, which specializes in serving active-duty, retired and former members of the armed forces and their families. Los Angeles County customers of USAA, the state's 10th-biggest auto insurer, will save more than twice as much as the statewide average.

Once again, thousands of Southern Californians reeling from days of destructive wildfires have been forced to exercise the home insurance policies they hoped they would never have to use. That it comes at a time of global financial crisis raises a new set of questions: how healthy are the insurance companies that protect homeowners in a region continually battered by fires? And will the current economic climate result in higher premiums?

Getting too much junk mail touting low automobile insurance rates? Being bombarded by television commercials featuring a cute gecko? Think of them as opportunities, not just irritations. California is enjoying a buyer's market for auto insurance. And consumers can find bargains -- whether they comparison shop, pick up the phone, check out the Internet or just ask around.

Question: I'm going to Mexico, and I think if I rent a car in Mexico and use my MasterCard, I get some insurance automatically. But I don't understand which of the types of insurance I can pass up at the rental agency in Mexico. What do I need? Tom Boesiger Loveland, Colo. Answer: A limo with a chauffeur. Automobile insurance, never simple, becomes more complex when a rental is involved. And when it's a rental in Mexico, it's at least triple the tribulation.

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner proposed emergency changes Monday to regulations that help determine rates for auto and homeowner policies, saying the changes would "help speed lower insurance rates to consumers." The proposal would make changes to the formulas used to set rates. These changes would require insurance companies to show premium trends over the last six years. Under the current regulation, they must show trends going back three years.

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has halted a ballot initiative drive that would have empowered authorities to seize the license plates from vehicles belonging to drivers who had no auto insurance. Poizner launched the campaign late last year, saying strong action was needed to take off the road the estimated 25% of drivers who fail to comply with California's mandatory auto insurance law.

The City of Monterey Park is about to give seniors in the San Gabriel Valley a chance to brush up on their driving skills and reduce their automobile insurance rates. State legislation went into effect in July, requiring insurance companies to offer a discount on automobile liability insurance to drivers over 55 who complete a course approved by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Insurance companies have said that the discount could be between 5% and 10% of annual premiums.

* "Cabaret"--Dick Latessa and Barbara Andres, above, are among the cast in the Kander and Ebb musical about decadence in late 1920s Berlin, playing at the Wilshire Theatre. * "Chomolungma (The Mountain)"--Stephen Legawiec's new play about seven adventurers trying to scale the world's greatest mountain opens Friday at Gascon Center in Culver City.

If you're renting a car over the holidays, chances are a clerk at the counter will try to sell you some pricey insurance options. Should you fork out the extra cash? Probably not, experts say. That's because there's a very good chance the auto insurance policy you already have would kick in if you had an accident while driving a rental. And sometimes the credit card you use to rent the car offers coverage too.

Uninsured motorists who ignore warnings from the state to buy coverage could have their license plates pulled by police officers under an initiative proposed by California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Poizner submitted papers with the attorney general's office Thursday to start the process that would allow him to gather signatures to put the measure before voters in the November 2008 election.