Poor Pay More For Automobile Insurance May Get Worse Treatment/Benefits

When applying for car insurance, an applicant's job may be a major factor in determining premiums.

Clay Center, NE (PRWEB) March 16, 2006 -- When applying for car insurance an applicant's job may be a major factor in the premium amount quoted. A recent article in theNewspaper.com concluded that individuals who lack fancy job titles could pay over forty percent more for car insurance. According to the article, a ‘discount’ insurer quoted a janitor who only had a high-school diploma an average of forty percent more for car insurance than a college-educated attorney.

The news for those in the lower-paying blue collar or service industry jobs may even be worse. Applicants with lower incomes are more likely to be lured by automobile insurers that promise cheap premiums. But those same discount insurers may also provide the worst services and lowest benefits when it comes time to settle motor vehicle claims.

Annual surveys conducted by the Nebraska Autobody Association are designed to identify the best and worst insurers by having collision repairers rate insurers on the types of repairs insurance companies authorize and how insurance companies treat their customers. These surveys have repeatedly revealed a vast discrepancy in the benefits provided to claimants. Results of the association's 2005 survey revealed that on a scale from one to ten, with ten representing the best rating, insurer averages ranked from a dismal 2.3 to a respectable high of 8.6 with discount insurers rating near the bottom.

“We would not expect to find such drastic discrepancy in a regulated market,” said Norbert Zaenglein, Executive Director of the Nebraska Autobody Association. Market conduct regulation for collision repair in Nebraska is practically non-existent and the Department of Insurance simply looks the other way,” Zaenglein added. “Linking education or job title to claims severity is just another way of exploiting those groups who can least afford to be exploited.” An independent exposé of widespread insurance abuses in Nebraska will be published in a book later this year.

An automobile is a major investment and automobile insurance shields consumers against unexpected expenses, such as repairing an automobile after an accident. It is important for consumers to understand that each insurance company has its own claims handling practices and those practices aren’t always consistent with promises made in the policy.

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