Car Insurance

Metropolitan Botswana has launched a new insurance cover targeting soccer followers and their families. The new product - Kgwele Bonanza was launched on Monday. It allows the beneficiaries an opportunity to attend the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Metropolitan Production Manager, Modise Ofitlhile said the product gives every resident of the country, an opportunity to plan now for a lifetime experience of watching the World Cup.
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He said the product is meant to get Botswana football fans to attend the next three World Cup finals in 2010, 2014 and 2018. The minimum premium is P150 and the maximum is P5000. The lump sump is P15,000.

He said the money is going to be invested by Metropolitan and the offer is valid till June next year.

Metropolitan Launches Football Fans Insurance Cover

IAG chief executive Michael Hawker remains committed to an Asian acquisition by the end of next year - but is also pledging to return capital to shareholders if no suitable target emerges.

Speaking at the general insurer’s annual meeting yesterday, Mr Hawker confirmed the company’s acquisition strategy, saying scale was required to boost the insurer’s position.

He said the company’s size and diversity of risk meant it needed to expand in Asia. That reflected “a recognition that growth in Australia and New Zealand is not likely to generate sufficient growth” to keep pace with international insurance companies.

“We are primarily focusing on China, Malaysia, Thailand and India.

“One of the skills we think we could bring is in underwriting, and we are looking for someone with a skill in distribution,” Mr Hawker said, adding that motor vehicle insurance was the key target.

IAG dreams of a partner in Asia

The organizers of a statewide campaign to boost drivers’ wariness of wildlife on Colorado roads identified Highway 82 as one of the most hazardous routes in the state Tuesday.

Between 1993 and 2003, there were 632 reported collisions between wildlife and vehicles on Highway 82, according to Monique DiGiorgio, executive director of the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, which is heading the awareness campaign. There were 46 injuries reported in those crashes, although the research didn’t indicate any fatalities, she said.

That unfortunately changed this fall. Julian Gonzalez-Santillan of Carbondale was killed Nov. 4 when the car he was in swerved to miss an injured deer and rolled. He died on the scene. The accident occurred on westbound Highway 82 near Aspen Glen.

Caught in the headlights

Every car driver in Britain could pay an extra 50p in insurance premiums to meet the cost of compensation for the Berkshire rail crash, which is likely to generate one of the biggest motor insurance payouts in history.

As a crane began lifting the damaged First Great Western railway carriages from the crash site yesterday, lawyers began preparing claims on behalf of the 150 injured passengers and the families of the six passengers who died.

Legal sources suggested that the bill for insurers could be greater than the record £30m paid out after the Selby train crash three years ago, when a van driver, Gary Hart, fell asleep at the wheel and sent his vehicle careering down an embankment into the path of an intercity train.

All policyholders may foot bill for expected record insurance payout

Autumn has finally arrived in Central Texas. Leaves are falling and the chill in the air inspires most of us to get out and around more.

Unfortunately, the same is true for wild animals, particularly, in San Marcos and Hays County, white-tailed deer.

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), there are more than 1.5 million automobile crashes involving deer each year in the U.S., resulting in an estimated $1.1 billion vehicle damage and all too often, injury to the driver or passengers as well.

And with deer season now officially underway, the animals are even more likely to be on the move and running out into highways and neighborhood streets, the III says.

It can even happen on city streets, as local All State Insurance agent Linda Jalufka pointed out. “It was last week sometime,” Jalufka said, that she came across the aftermath of a vehicle-deer collision on West Hopkins Street near the National Guard Armory. “It had taken out the windshield, and didn’t kill the deer. A guy from the National Guard” was holding the animal down when she drove by, she added.

Steering clear of deer tough this time of year

OWNERS of cars have just today and tomorrow to register with insurance companies for 2005 car insurance, wrote the daily SME.

People can insure their vehicles with one of eight insurance companies, which have waited until the last moment to publish their insurance price lists for next year.

However, ČSOB Poisťovňa caused a stir in the insurance market this year by announcing its prices long before its competitors. In an attempt to attract clients the company introduced a new system of calculating the insurance fees based on a car engine’s power rather than its size.

By registering with ČSOB Poisťovňa by November 18, motorists could thus save thousands of crowns in insurance fees.

In order to prevent a major loss of clients, other insurance firms then came up with various last minute discounts, wrote the daily SME.

Car insurance deadline nears

The Iowa Insurance Division (IID) offers tips for making sure vehicles are covered in case of accidents involving deer. Iowa drivers should be aware that they need a specific type of insurance to cover their car repair costs.

The spring and fall seasons bring an increase in the number of incidents involving deer. While no state agency actually tracks this data, recent years have seen as many as 4,000 accidents involving animals reported to the Department of Transportation. Officials believe that many accidents with animals go unreported. The department has picked up more than 10,000 carcasses along Iowa roadways that had been apparently hit by passing motorists in some years.
“Some consumers don’t realize that collision insurance does not cover damages when a car hits a deer,” said Tom Alger, communications director for the IID. “Automobile owners should check the declarations page of their policy to see if they have purchased the appropriate ‘Comprehensive Coverage’. The additional premium is usually minimal, but well worth the cost if you are involved in an accident.”

Insurance policies usually use one of two different terms to describe coverage that includes contact with animals: “Comprehensive Coverage” or “Other Than Collision Coverage.” The coverage included in those terms is protection against damage to a vehicle caused by hitting a deer, as well as damage from hail, theft or falling objects. It is optional and includes its own deductible.

Will your car insurance pay damages for a deer collision?

Car insurance in Saudi Arabia grew by 126 percent last year to SR610 million as a result of the mandatory insurance on driving license imposed by the country two years ago, according to a report published by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.

Car insurance became mandatory on all motorists in the Kingdom from Nov. 20, 2002. Saudi authorities have emphasized that they would not allow anybody to drive without an insurance policy. There are more than five million cars in the Kingdom. Demand for motor insurance has been increasing due to high rate of traffic accidents in the country.

Car Insurance in Kingdom Grows 126% to SR610m

Motorists face an extra 50p on their insurance policies because of the Berkshire train disaster caused when Brian Drysdale, 48, drove his car on to the rail line, experts have warned.

The levy will be needed to meet the cost of what is expected to be one of the biggest motor insurance compensation payouts in history.

It is believed that Drysdale may not have had valid car insurance when he caused the crash. If this is confirmed, the claim will have to be met by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

This body is funded by a levy on all policyholders to meet the cost of accidents involving uninsured drivers - about one in 20 of the total.

Rail crash to up cost of car insurance

Insurance reform may mean little to homeowners who haven’t seen their premiums drop since the passage of Senate Bill 14 last year.

But motorists are benefiting.

One of the state’s larger insurers said Thursday it would cut auto insurance rates an average 12 percent, signaling the change in rules is having an effect.

USAA, which insures military members and their families, already cut rates an average 4.5 percent in February.

The insurer credited the reductions to lower operating costs and last year’s insurance reform, which increased competition.

USAA will reduce car insurance rates