New York's Governor, Elliot Spitzer, was blasted from both party lines in the state legislature for his proposal to fill state coffers with a $15 surcharge on car insurance policies. Even though Spitzer's proposal would add an estimated $140 million to state revenue, Democrats and Republicans alike felt the fee was unnecessary and unduly burdened middle-class drivers.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat said in response, "It's just another fee attacking the middle class."
Both Spitzer and the State Transportation Commissioner argue that the fee is necessary to repair the state's ailing bridges. Since the bridge collapse on I-35W in Minneapolis last year, states have been especially vigilant about repairing their roads and infrastructure. Currently, about 30% of the New York's 7,604 bridges are rated as "deficient."
The statistics from Insure.com are out, and the results are in. The three least expensive cars to insure in the U.S. are the Chrysler Town & Country, the Ford Escape, and the GMC Sierra Pickup.
The top three cars with the lowest insurance rates are largely so because their
history of collisions has shown that they do much better than average
on bodily injury and incur less comprehensive, collision, and liability
damage. The cars' design of their chassis and extra protective measures could also contribute to their low insurance premiums, which we've listed here:
Make and Model
Yearly Insurance Premium
1. Chrysler Town & Country
$940
2. Ford Escape
$1,022
3. GMC Sierra pickup
$1,026
On the flipside the three most expensive cars to insure include:
Make and Model
Yearly Insurance Premium
1. Dodge Ram
$1,336
2. Chevy Silverado
$1,280
3. Toyota Prius
$1,210
1948 Chrysler Town & Country image by ResedaBear (Creative Commons, 2.0, flickr)
For the first time since World War II, auto insurance premiums are expected to fall. Standard and Poor's predicted that intense rate competition would put a squeeze on profit margins for auto insurers. Although S&P forecasts a healthy year of profitability, they warned that long-term earnings remain under threat.
The weakening economy is another factor in the falling auto insurance prices. And the availability of auto insurance quotes online has contributed to continued competition in the industry, which puts pressure on premiums.
Take Advantage of Flat and Falling Quotes
Prices will fall in 2008, but they've also been flat and more competitive on average for 2007. This means that you can take advantage of the bearish auto insurance market to compare quotes and save even more on your auto insurance premiums.
Some auto insurance companies have found creative ways to cut premiums, including GPS-based, Odomoter-based, and TripSense discount systems. In order to see if you qualify, you can compare quotes online for the best possible auto insurance premium.
New York's Governor, Elliot Spitzer, was blasted from both party lines in the state legislature for his proposal to fill state coffers with a $15 surcharge on car insurance policies. Even though Spitzer's proposal would add an estimated $140 million to state revenue, Democrats and Republicans alike felt the fee was unnecessary and unduly burdened middle-class drivers.
The statistics from Insure.com are out, and the results are in. The three least expensive cars to insure in the U.S. are the Chrysler Town & Country, the Ford Escape, and the GMC Sierra Pickup.
