Car insurance

British insurer Direct Line is now offering a 5 percent discount to Tesla drivers to encourage them to use semi-autonomous driving tech. The offer is part of a collaboration between the insurance company and Tesla, which is estimated to have sold over 2,500 vehicles equipped with its Autopilot tech...Read More»

Like all insurance, auto insurance premiums can be affected by a wide range of variables, including a driver's age, driving record, and credit score. One of the most important factors in determining that rate, though, is where the driver lives. State laws can have a huge effect on what insurance...Read More»

If someone told you that a bank--a major bank at that--forced borrowers to shell out more money for services they really didn't need, which bank would you immediately think of? Yes, Wells Fargo has done it again. The bank that can ill-afford another scandal is at the center of another one. A plague...Read More»

A new report suggests that auto insurers are charging car owners in minority neighborhoods higher premiums than folks in predominantly white neighborhoods. Sadly, that might not sound like big news. After all, insurers often set rates based on a vehicle owner's ZIP code, and it's not uncommon for...Read More»

Self-driving cars are going to ruin everything--in a good way. If all goes as planned, they'll dramatically reduce auto accidents and highway fatalities; boost fuel efficiency; minimize traffic jams; and maybe even cut the number of vehicles we own. Autonomous vehicles are likely to wreak havoc on...Read More»

We learned a lot of interesting things in the first decade of the Smartphone Era. We now know that, though nearly all of our friends have mobile phones, few like talking on them. We've learned that "freemium" is never free. And of course, we know that if you really want to make bank in the App...Read More»

This summer, many of us will take road trips, hitting the open highways, rolling down the windows, and letting the wind blow through our hair. That'll be a welcome change of pace from the bumper-to-bumper traffic and crowded parking lots we endure the rest of the year. No doubt about it, city...Read More»

Active-safety systems like automatic braking and collision avoidance minimize the chances that you'll be seriously injured in a crash. Unfortunately, these semi-autonomous systems may not reduce your auto-insurance premium--at least, not yet. That's likely to come as a surprise to many of you...Read More»

Last week we discussed some of the new, unorthodox methods that car companies are using to track down owners of recalled vehicles. But automakers aren't the only companies that want consumers to have their flawed car fixed. Insurers feel the same, and at least one is letting its customers know when...Read More»

Earlier, we discussed today's low gas prices and how many indicators suggest that they could fall further in the future. To anyone with a car, that probably sounds like good news, but as the folks at Forbes point out, there's a potential downside to cheap gas: higher insurance rates. ALSO SEE: 2016...Read More»

When you're shopping for a new ride, you always take a test drive, right? But what happens if you're in an accident during those 15 or 30 minutes? Who can be sued? That question was recently posed in a Colorado court of law, and as Auto News reports, the dealership was found to be just as liable --...Read More»

This week, J.D. Power released its 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience (DrIVE) Report, which reveals that motorists often don't use or appreciate the high-tech features in their new cars. The results should be a wake-up call to automakers around the globe. Heck, even Apple and Google should...Read More»

We've all heard horror stories about men and women who've lost their spouses, then learned that their better half was so deep in debt, those they've left behind are left out in the cold. We like to think those cases are extreme, but in fact, they happen every day -- even in cases where a spouse...Read More»

Self-driving cars are just around the corner. Many people worry about the added expense of autonomous technology and the effect it'll have on car prices, but in fact, self-driving vehicles are likely to save owners a good bit of money. How much? By some estimates, $1,000 or more each year -- and...Read More»

Insurance companies gather a lot of information. Age, gender, the car you drive, your driving record, your zip code, and your credit rating (where it’s legal): It all influences insurance rates—and your relative risk, as insurers see it. Placing bets on our likelihood of an accident is...Read More»

Wise people often say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", and if ever there was a vehicle that wasn't broke, it's the Ford F-150. That pickup has been America's best-selling ride for nearly 40 years. And yet, for 2015, Ford upended conventional wisdom by "fixing" its hugely popular truck, ditching...Read More»

Yesterday, we discussed automakers' growing concern over Apple and Google. They're not just worried about the tech firms' plans to begin selling autonomous vehicles by 2020, they're also worried about the ways in which autonomous vehicles themselves will radically change the auto industry. As it...Read More»

Americans are wary of insurance companies. In fact, a recent Gallup poll about trustworthy professions put insurance agents near the bottom of the "trusted" list, besting U.S. Senators, Representatives, and, sadly, car salespeople. A new series of lawsuits against insurers isn't going to do the...Read More»