| Insurance, credit link needs to be severed
Using credit scores as a factor in determining automobile insurance eligibility and premiums is a standard industry practice. For years, insurers have maintained that a person's scores, originally intended to measure creditworthiness, are also a predictor of whether - and how often - someone will file an auto insurance claim.
And for years, consumer groups have urged state legislatures and the federal government to see the flaws in that practice. Consumer advocates say using credit scores to set insurance rates unfairly hurts African-Americans and Hispanics because those groups tend to have lower credit scores and thus end up paying more for their auto insurance. They also complain that errors in credit files can result in lower scores and thus higher insurance premiums.
The Federal Trade Commission recently weighed in on the debate, releasing a study that largely sides with the industry.
GE Money and Southern States Join Forces for Strategic Growth
ST. PAUL, Minn.-(Business Wire)-July 20, 2007 - GE Money's Sales Finance unit and Southern States Cooperative, one of the nation's largest farmer-owned cooperatives, announced a new multi-year relationship to provide new financing options through GE Money's private label credit program. The program will be offered at the cooperative's more than 1,100 retail outlets across 23 states. With 300,000 farmer members and fiscal 2006 sales of $1.6 billion, Southern States is a leading supplier of agricultural products and service east of the Mississippi River. .
How a ‘down-to-earth’ lawyer won millions from Ford
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Flying from city to city in his private jet, Arkansas lawyer Tab Turner has won hundreds of millions of dollars suing automakers for clients injured in sport utility vehicle rollover crashes. His crusade for automotive safety has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, "60 Minutes II" and the PBS program "Frontline." Actor Michael Douglas has announced plans to play Turner in a movie. During the past two decades, Turner�s main foe, the Ford Motor Co., has settled hundreds of death and injury lawsuits involving its Bronco II and Explorer models rather than face him at trial. "He has built a reputation as Ford wrecker," said Adam Penenberg, the New York journalist who wrote the book about Turner that Douglas is making into a movie. "Ford does not want to get in a courtroom with him." Now, however, Ford has decided to take its chances with Turner in a landmark consumer-protection lawsuit being tried in Sacramento Superior Court.
OnStar Drivers Get Option of Lower Insurance Rates
GMAC will give lower premiums to low-mileage drivers who allow their driving distances to be monitored by OnStar, The Detroit News reported. In a pairing between OnStar and the insurance unit of GMAC Financial Services, OnStar subscribers can have their annual mileage figures sent directly to GMAC auto insurance business. Low-mileage drivers could see their insurance premiums cut in half, the story said. "You drive less, you pay less, it's very simple," OnStar President Chet Huber said. GM has tested this low-mileage discount plan since 2004 with about 10,000 drivers nationwide. Starting this month, the service expands to GM vehicle owners in Michigan and 33 other states. Mazda Marks 40 Million Units of Vehicle Production in Japan .
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