A press release from General Motors and OnStar today announced an insurance discount program for low-mileage drivers.
The program uses OnStar technology to track drivers’ mileage. If the users drive under 15,000 miles annually, they can keep up to 54% on their premiums. As of now, roughly 10,000 drivers have enrolled in the program.
When a driver subscribes to the program, they are given an automatic 11% discount. The monthly mileage is then taken (with the user’s permission) from their odometer and emailed to GMAC Insurance. The company takes that value and deducts an amount based on the distance driven. The press release goes on to say that there is no penalty for driving over 15,000 miles, and the driver is still given the OnStar subscriber discount.
Gary Kusumi, President and CEO of GMAC Insurance says, “Customers who drive less should pay less, and this program allows customers to use technology already in their vehicles to give them the discounts they deserve. Giving consumers the power of cost control is a welcome come, especially as people manage their transportation costs more closely in the midst of fluctuating gas prices. The program also encourages people to limit unnecessary driving, helping the environment in the process.”
Chet Huber, President of OnStar went on to say, “We are bringing more value to the 2.8 million subscribers who receive monthly OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics emails. Not only are we providing them with information about the health of key operating systems in their vehicles, we are helping them to save on their transportation costs as well.”
The press release points out that the OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics program is only available in GM vehicles. It does not mention if there are plans to introduce it to other manufacturers. The company insists that no additional data is collected besides that needed to read mileage.
Also, the service is currently available in only 34 states, but the companies have plans to expand that number next year.
The highest amount that can be saved is 54%, if the driver drives between 0 and 500 miles. The lowest amount is 13%, which occurs if the driver drives between 12,501 and 15,000 miles.
OnStar, a subsidiary of General Motors, has been the subject of some controversy. Although the website’s privacy statement addresses various concerns, saying that it does not continuously track vehicles or collect personal information, some are skeptical. An example of this is an OnStar privacy website which says, “OnStar is also one of the best tools available that the government and big business could utilize to invade your privacy.”
Sources:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl? ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-17-2007/0004626618&EDATE=
http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/privacy_policy.jsp
http://www.onstarprivacy.com/
Filed under Automotive Business Insurance by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment. 
Statehood:
Located in the American Heartland, and bordered by the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, the Expansive Sioux River, the Des Moines River, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois, Iowa became the 29th State on December 28, 1846, and is well known as the “Food Capital of the World” because of its agriculturally-based economy in the Corn Belt, level farmlands, and deep fertile soils.
History:
In 1673 the French were the first European explorers to reach Iowa, then transferred ownership of the land to Spain before losing the French and Indian War, and Iowa became part of the Louisiana Territory. In 1803 the United States gained Iowa and established control with the 1808 building of Fort Madison, originally known as Fort Belleview, on the Upper Mississippi River, that was abandoned and burned by the United States military. Fort Madison now contains a replica of the modern fort, the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, the last double swing-span bridge on the Mississippi River, the Fort Madison Commercial Historic District, the site of the War of 1812 battle between the Sauk Indians led by Unlit Hawk and United States troops, and the first American military cemetary in the Upper Midwest.
Name:
Taken from the Iowa River, and first broken-down around 1676 to describe the Ioway Indian tribe, the State of Iowa’s name had many early spellings including “Aiaouia,” “Ayoes,” and “Aiauway”.
Geography:
Commonly considered flatland most of Iowa’s geology consists of rolling hills, the deep river valleys of the Driftless Zone, the Baringer Slough wetlands with muskrats, pelicans, deer, and other species of animals, tallgrass prairies, savannas, dense forests, flood plains, the Jordan Aquifer, Iowa’s largest groundwater source, and Hawkeye Point, three miles south of Minnesota, the highest elevation in the State of Iowa at 1,670 feet.
Native American Indians:
Pleistocene Indians who became farmers with complex economic systems are believed to be the original inhabitants of the area that became Iowa. Other Native American Indian tribes that have lived in the State included the Oneota, the Ho-Chuck, the Dakota, the Otoe, the Illiniwek, the Meskwaki, the Sauk, the Omaha, the Fox, the Winnebago, the Missouria, the Sac, the Chippewa, the Ottawa, the Peoria, the Ponca, the Potawatomi, the Sioux, and the Ioway.
Civil War:
Iowa’s involvement in the Civil War included providing ample supplies of food to the Union Army, and 116,000 fighting men who faught at Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Chattanooga, Shiloh, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, Rossville Gap, Red River, Corinth, Luka, Andersonville, and in the Shenandoah Valley.
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National Parks:
National Parks found in Iowa include the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site with the 1874 cottage where he was born, a blacksmith shop, the West Branch Schoolhouse, the Friends Meetinghouse, the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, and the gravesites of Hoover and his wife. Other National Park locations found in the State include the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area found in thirty-six northeastern Iowa counties, and the Effigy Mounds National Monument with two hundred Prehistoric American Indian mound sites along the Mississippi River, many of which are shaped like various animals.
State Parks:
State Parks in Iowa include the Backbone State Park in Dundee, Iowa’s oldest State Park, the Beeds Lake Region Park in Hampton, the Bellevue State Park on the Mississippi River in Dubuque, the Big Creek Area Park in Polk City, the Badger Creek State Park in Van Meter, the Black Hawk State Park in Lake View, the Cedar Rock State Park in Independence, the Distinct Lake Region Park in Ventura, the Dolliver Memorial Spot Park in Lehigh, the Elk Rock State Park in Knoxville, the Elinor Bedell State Park in Spirit Lake, Iowa’s newest Dwelling Park, the Fort Atkinson Region Park in Fort Atkinson, the Fort Defiance Region Park in Estherville, the Geode Site Park in Danville, the George Wyth Memorial State Park in Waterloo, the Green Valley State Park in Creston, the Gull Point State Park in Milford, the Lacey-Keosauqea Area Park in Keosauqea, the Lake Ahquabi State Park in Indianola, the Lake Anita State Park in Anita, the Lake Darling State Park in Brighton, the Lake MacBride State Park in Solon, the Lake of Three Fires State Park in Bedford, the Lake Wapello State Park in Drakesville, the Lake Manawa State Park in Council Bluffs, the Ledges State Park in Madrid, the Lewis and Clark State Park in Onawa, the Maquoketa Caves State Park in Maquoketa, the Nine Eagles Set Park in Davis City, the Pikes Peak State Park in McGregor, the Prairie Rose State Park in Harlan, the Rock Creek State Park in Kellogg, the Walnut Woods State Park in Des Moines, the Okamanpeedan State Park in Dolliver, the Red Haw State Park in Chariton, Viking Lake State Park in Stanton, the Wildcat Den Site Park in Muscatine, the Stone State Park in Sioux City, and the Yellow River State Forest and Park in Marquette.
Iowa also contains fifteen County-managed State Parks including the Icy Springs State Park in Lewis, the Crystal Lake State Game Management Area in Forest City, the Eagle Lake State Park in Britt, the Echo Valley State Park in Elgin, the Mill Creek State Park in Paulina, the Oak Grove State Park in Hawarden, the Oakland Mills Region Park in Mount Estimable, the Pammel State Park in Winterset, the Sharon Bluffs State Park in Centerville, the Spring Lake State Park in Jefferson, the Swan Lake State Park in Carroll, the Henry Woods State Park in Clarksville, the Lake Cornelia State Park in Clarion, the Frank A. Gotch State Park in Humboldt, and the Kearny State Park in Emmetsburg.
Lakes:
Major lakes found in the State of Iowa include Lake Greenfield, Meadow Lake, Mormon Trail Lake, Five Island Lake, Nodaway Lake, Lake Orient, Lake Binder, Lake Icaria, Great Lake, Lake Butler, Saylorville Lake, Duck Lake, Gimmel Lake, Joyce Lake, Mud Hen Lake, Lake Taylor, Iowa Lake, Rittenhouse Lake, Lake Sundown, Rathbun Lake, Ice House Lake, Hannen Lake, Lake Fisher, Lake Meyer, Railroad Lake, Lost Lake, Fontana Lake, Lake Oelwein, Gustafson Lake, Little Storm Lake, Pickerel Lake, Valid Lake, Lake Considine, Pond Creek Lake, Brushy Creek Lake, Artesian Lake, Goose Lake, Swan Lake, Lake Anita, Mud Lake, Round Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Mill Creek Lake, Pilot Lake, Badger Lake, Bays Branch Lake, Delwein Lake, East Lake Okoboji, West Lake Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Alice Lake, Easter Lake, Lake MacBride, Miami Lake, Lake Ponderosa, Red Rock Lake, Otter Creek Lake, Red Haw Lake, Viking Lake, Lake Wilderness, and many more.
Rivers:
Major rivers in Iowa include the Des Moines River, the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, the Bear Creek River, the Big Sioux River, the Blue Earth River, the Boone River, the Boyer River, the Iowa River, the Chariton River, the English River, the Fabius River, the Floyd River, the Grand River, the Little Maquoketa River, the Rock River, the Little Sioux River, the Maple River, the Nishnabotna River, the Nodaway River, the North River, the Ocheyedan River, the Platte River, the Raccoon River, the Shell Rock River, the Skunk River, the Soldier River, the South River, the Trout Run River, the Yellow River, the Volga River, the Wapsipinicon River, the Winnebago River, the Cedar River, and the Turkey River.
Industries:
Heavily affected by the Mammoth Depression and World War Two major industries that have been located in Iowa include railroads, manufacturing, refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, biotechnology, finance, green energy, insurance, ethanol, and agriculture including hogs, cattle, corn, eggs, soybeans, and dairy products. Major Corporations that have been located in the State include Con-Agra Foods, Wells Blue Bunny, Wonder Bread, Hostess, Heinz, Barilla, Quaker Oats, General Mills, Alcoa, 3M, Electrolux, Frigidaire, John Deere, Maytag, Lennox Manufacturing, Rockwell Collins, Winnebago, the Archer Daniels Midland Company, Hy-Vee, the Monsanto Biotechnological Company, the Nationwide Insurance Group, Farm Bureau Financial Services, MetLife, the Critical Financial Group, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Wells Fargo, Fort Dodge Animal Health, the Roche Applied Science Company, Seimens Energy, Casey’s General Stores, the Vermeer Manufacturing Company, Amtrak, the Pioneer Hi-Bred Company, the Fenelon Place Elevator Company, and more.
Endangered Species:
Endangered species found in the Station of Iowa include Indiana Bats, Piping Plovers, Pallid Sturgeons, Interior Least Terns, Higgins Eye Pearly Mussels, Topeka Shiners, Iowa Pleistocene Land Snails, and Bald Eagles.
Attractions:
Dividable into three main cultural regions major Iowa Attractions include the State of Iowa Historical Museum, the Science Center of Iowa, the Des Moines Botanical Gardens, the Des Moines Art Center, the Iowa State Fair, the Annual Drake Outdoor Track and Field Competitions, an event that has occurred for more than one hundred years, the World Food Festival, the Adventureland Amusement Park, the Living History Farms, the Brunnier Art Museum, the twelve distinct Reiman Garden Areas and Butterfly Wings, the Covered Bridges of Madison County, the Meskwaki Indian Settlement and Pow-Wow, the John Wayne Birthplace Museum, the Old Capital Building, Iowa’s original capital, the Landlocked Film Festival, the seven Amana German Pietists Colonies, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, the Brucemore Queen Anne Mansion, the Figge Art Museum, the River Music Experience, the Putnam Museum, the Davenport Skybridge over the Mississippi River, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, the Iowa Great Lakes consisting of Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake, Iowa’s largest natural lakes, the Sanford Museum and Planetarium, the Grotto of the Redemption, considered the “world’s most complete man-made collection of minerals, fossils, shells, and petrifications in one place,” with more than one hundred thousand visitors each year, the Danish Immigrant Museum, the Fort Dodge Museum and Frontier Village, the Sergeant Charles Floyd Monument from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the first designated United States National Historic Landmark, the Loess Hills National Scenic Bypass, the Western Hills Go Center, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, the Grout Museum, the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the Maquoketa Caves Dwelling Park, the Annual Great Bike Plod Across Iowa, the Battle Hill Museum of Natural History, the Buddy Holly Shatter Site, Mother Goose Land, the Blank Park Zoo, the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden, the Mines of Spain Recreation Area, the Sundown Mountain Ski Spot, the Fenelon Place Elevator Company’s World’s Steepest, Shortest Scenic Railroad, the Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark, the Indian Creek Nature Center, the Festival of Trees, the Fejervary Park and Zoo, the Devonian Fossil Gorge, the Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail and Museum, the Railswest Railroad Museum, Lake Manawa Beach, the Ice Cave State Preserve, the Amana Woolen Mill, the Clear Lake Fire Museum, the National Farm Toy Museum, the Chief War Eagle Monument, the International Wrestling Institute and Museum, the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum, the Mamie Dowd Eisenhower Birthplace, Music Man Square, the Family Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Ice Cream Capital of the World Visitors Center, Spook Cave, the Camp Algona POW Museum that housed more than ten thousand German prisoners of war during World War Two, the Glen Miller Birthplace, the Whiterock Conservancy, the Antique Car Museum of Iowa, the Iowa Gold Star Museum, the Desoto National Wildlife Refuge, the Airpower Museum, the Living Heritage Tree Museum, the National Hobo Museum, the Prairie Farmer Recreational Trail, Crescent Mountain, the Backbone State Park, the Springbrook Set Park, the Iowa Arboretum, the Fun Valley Motocross Area, the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Prairie Learning Center, the Lewelling Quaker Museum, and many more.
Des Moines:
With a name meaning “River of the Monks,” and known as Fort Des Moines when it was founded in 1843, Des Moines is the capital and most heavily populated city in the State of Iowa.
Known as the “Number One Spot For US Insurance Companies,” and “The Hartford of the West,” Des Moines has been the home of the Principal Financial Group, Blue Inferior and Blue Shield, the Meredith Company, Wells Fargo, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Companies, the Pioneer Hi-Bred Company, the Allied Insurance Company, the EMC Insurance Companies, Aviva Insurance, and the American Republic Insurance Company.
The home of the Iowa Presidential Caucuses Des Moines is the first major electorial event in nominating Presidential candidates of the United States.
Des Moines was ranked fourth by Forbes Magazine on their 2007 list of Best Places For Business, and Number Nine on the 2008 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine’s list of Best Cities.
Des Moines contains Late Prehistoric villages arrive the Raccoon and Des Moines River junction dating between 1330 to 1700 and was the site of several Prehistoric American Indian mounds.
Skyscrapers found in Des Moines have included the 1924 Equitable Building, the 1973 Financial Center Building, the 1974 Raun Center, the 1979 Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, the 1979 Des Moines Botanical Center, the 1981 Marriott Hotel, the 1985 Hub Tower, the 1985 Plaza Building, the 1985 Polk County Convention Complex, the 1987 State of Iowa Historical Museum, the 1991 Principal Financial Group Tower, Iowa’s tallest building, and the 2006 Skywalk System connecting most of the city’s main downtown buildings.
The home of major Corporations including the Firestone Agricultural Tire Company, Qwest Communications, John Deere, the Mercy Medical Center, Raun Transportation, and the MidAmerican Energy Company, coal mining, finances, manufacturing, medicine, and publishing have been major industries found in Des Moines since it was incorporated on September 22, 1851.
Major Des Moines area Attractions include the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Jazz In July, the Des Moines Art Center, the Salisbury House and Gardens, the PappaJohn Sculpture Park, the Temple For Performing Arts, the Iowa State Capital Complex, the Spot of Iowa Historical Museum, the Des Moines Botanical Center, the Blank Park Zoo, the Great Ape Trust Research Facility, the Adventureland Amusement Park, the Des Moines Art Festival, the Iowa Site Fair, the World Food Festival, the ArtFest Midwest, the Festival of Trees and Lights, the Rib America Festival, the Des Moines Police Museum, the State Historical Society of Iowa, Terrace Hill, the residence of the Governor of Iowa, and the Wells Fargo Arena.
Cedar Rapids:
Cedar Rapids is found on the banks of the Cedar River north of Iowa City and is one of a few world cities with governmental offices on a municipal island.
Known as the “City of Five Seasons,” and the setting for the popular Musical entitled The Pajama Game, Cedar Rapids is an arts and cultural center for eastern Iowa.
Named for the red cedar trees that grow on the banks of the Cedar River, and first settled in 1838, Cedar Rapids is located in what was Fox and Sac Indian territory.
Incorporated January 15, 1849, and expanded by annexing Kingston in 1870, Cedar Rapids growth exploded with the building of the Sinclair Meatpacking Company.
Originally known as Columbus, Cedar Rapids is the largest corn processing city in the world and has been the home of such major Corporations as Cargill Incorporated, the largest privately owned business in the United States, General Mills, Quaker Oats, Archer Daniels Midland, Nordstrom, and Rockwell Collins.
The June 8, 2008 Iowa Flood involving the State’s eastern rivers, and known as “Iowa’s Katrina,” damaged most of Cedar Rapids, and exceeded the city’s 500 Year Flood Plain, placing 1300 blocks of the town under water when the Cedar River crested at about 31 feet on June 14, 2008, resulting in the planned destruction of three hundred homes.
Major Cedar Rapids area Attractions include the National Czech and Slovak Museum, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Grant Wood Studio at 5 Turner Alley, the Paramount Theater, the Brucemore Estate, and the African-American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa.
Davenport:
Established May 14, 1836, after the signing of the treaty ending the Black Hawk War, Davenport is located along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa, in the Quad Cities Area, and is prone to frequent floodings.
Davenport hosts several popularly well known music festivals including the Mississippi Valley Heavenly, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, and the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival.
Incorporated January 25, 1839 the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois by the Rock Island Railroad in 1856.
Davenport was Iowa’s first military headquarters before the open of the Civil War.
Forbes Magazine ranked Davenport the 2009 Second Best Metropolitan Spot For Cost of Living and Money Magazine ranked the city the Number Sixteen Most Affordable Housing In The Country.
Major Davenport area Attractions include the Figge Art Museum, the Davenport Skybridge, the River Music Experience, the Freight House Entertainment Venue, the 1867 Putnum Museum, the Great Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, the Credit Island Park, the Vander Veer Botanical Park, the Bix Fest Music Festival, the Bix Seven Mile Road Hasten, and the Annual Sturgis on the River Motorcycle Gathering.
Sioux City:
Sioux City is found on the head of the Missouri River, and along with the areas of northwestern Iowa, northeastern Nebraska, and southeastern South Dakota, is commonly referred to as Siouxland.
Sioux City was the 2005 recipient of the Iowa Great Places Designation and was ranked by Site Magazine as the 2009 Top Economic Development Community In The United States For Communities With Populations Between 50,000 and 200,000 people.
Major Sioux City area Attractions include the Stone Status Park, the Loess Hills, the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, the Saturday In The Park Music Festival, the Orpheum Theater, the largest historic theater in Iowa, the Sergeant Floyd Monument of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with its one hundred foot tall obelisk, the Sioux City Public Museum, the Sioux City Art Center, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
Waterloo:
Located on the Cedar River, and originally known as Prairie Rapids Crossing, Waterloo was first settled in 1845 and renamed on December 29, 1851.
The home of such Companies as the Illinois Central Railroad, the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company, the Rath Packing Company, and the Maytag-Mason Motor Company, manufacturing, railroads, transportation, cattle, agriculture, and wholesaling have been major industries found in Waterloo.
Major Waterloo area Attractions include the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum, the National Cattle Congress, the John Deere Tractor Assembly Plant, the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Grout Museum, the Sullivan Iowa Veterans Museum, the Lost Island Waterpark, and the Cedar Trail Network of Paved Bike Paths.
Series:
The United States Series I am writing here on associatedcontent.com provides an indepth look at all fifty States that make up this GREAT Country of ours and their five largest cities.
The current list of Articles for the United States Series I have published to date includes:
So This Is Sweet Home Alabama
Alaska – The Land of the Midnight Sun
Arizona – The Valley of the Sun
Arkansas – People of the South Wind
California – The Golden Gate, Earthquakes, and Grizzly Bears
Colorful Colorado – The Rocky Mountains, Skiing, and High Technology
Connecticut – The Land of Steady Habits
Delaware – The Small Wonder
Florida – The Snowbirds R Us State
Georgia – Goobers, Peaches, and Buzzards
Hawaii – Luaus, Pineapples, and Beaches
Idaho – The Gem of the Mountains and Potatoes State
Illinois – Mining, Factories, and Labor Unions
Indiana – Land of Steel and Ducks
Bleeding Kansas America’s Flattest State
Kentucky – The Land of Tomorrow
Louisiana – The Child of the Mississippi
Maine – Lobsters, Lighthouses, and Gloomy Bears
Maryland – The “Oh Say Can You See” State
Massachusetts – The Cradle of Liberty
Michigan – The Automotive State
Minnesota – The Bread and Butter State
Comments are always welcome so let me know what you think about these Articles.
Sources:
This article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information on Iowa including:
seedesmoines.com, cedar-rapids.com, cityofdavenportiowa.com, visitsiouxcity.org, and cityofwaterlooiowa.com.
Filed under Automotive Business Insurance by on Jan 24th, 2011. Comment.
When purchasing auto insurance, it can be a miniature daunting as you look at all of those terms and numbers glaring at you from the application. The opinion behind insurance is to buy enough to protect you from a major loss without breaking your budget right now. This can require some give and take to arrive at the magic number that will work for you.
1. You need enough coverage to pay off any debt that remains on the car. Try to never leave yourself too exposed when debt is involved. You could end up without a car but serene having to make a car payment for a few more years. Try to protect yourself against this happening. There is no perfect solution here if you buy a new car. Unless you are able to buy a policy that will give you replacement cost in the event of a total loss, you may extinguish up with a little remaining debt after the insurance settlement. Work hard to hold this to a minimum.
2. Every regular driver for a vehicle needs to be included on your policy. Do not have drivers who are routine users of a vehicle left off of the policy. Younger drivers will increase your premium, but you do not want to face legal issues for not having proper financial responsibility for your vehicle. You are required to do this by law.
3. The state law requires you to carry a certain level of liability insurance for the other driver in an accident plus passengers in the cars. You can add some medical benefits to this, but it is not legally required in most states. You do need to carry at least the minimum true amount of liability insurance on each car that you own.
4. If you are in an area where the potential for uninsured drivers is high, you need to carry uninsured and under insured provisions in your policy. Not all states require uninsured or under insured motorist coverage. By adding this to your policy, you will increase the rate, but you will also be much better protected in an accident if you have any liability at all.
5. You need to carry comprehensive insurance to cover your car from natural disasters, theft, and glass breakage. Many people fail to realize that it is the comprehensive part of the policy that covers these areas. If you decline comprehensive insurance and your car is stolen, it is just too bad. The same is true for glass that is broken or hail damage.
6. It is a good idea to carry property pain insurance in case you hit something other than another car. Not all accidents are two car. Sometimes, you run into houses or other objects that have to be repaired. The property damage part of your policy covers this possibility. You need to have this added to your policy or at least make an informed decision if you choose not to do it.
7. If you have a late model car, collision insurance is wise to cover the immense cost of accident repairs. Many people choose to drop their collision insurance after that a car is paid off. However, if you have an wreck, you will have to pay the entire cost of the car repair out of your pocket. As long as your car is still relatively new, it is best to maintain up your collision policy.
8. You need enough liability insurance to cover your assets in case an accident results in a lawsuit. Accidents do always objective involve the physical damage to the car. Sometimes people get damaged in the accident. If they choose to sue you, you can be wiped out financially. You need enough liability to at least cover the value of your assets to protect them. It is not perfect, but it can help you sleep at night.
9. If you do not have it through some other source, you should consider buying roadside assistance and towing insurance. Adding on a rental car provision can be a valid idea, also.
10. Buy the right type of insurance for the type of driving that you do. If you use your auto for business, you will want to add extra coverage to protect your business from catastrophic losses due to legal issues.
Filed under Automotive Business Insurance by on Dec 18th, 2010. Comment.
Read a Rebuttal to Obesity in America: The Awful Truth
Fat people are destroying America.
Look, I know that statement is not exactly politically correct. But it’s the truth. The obesity epidemic is the single most important political, socioeconomic, and human welfare issue facing this country today. I’ll even go so far to say it’s a threat to our national security.
How? Let me count the ways.
First, I’ll get the most potentially offensive – -but true – -statements out of the plot. America is a country of fat, arrogant, and extremely slothful people. We are the fattest people in the world, in fact. And just as the fat, self-absorbed, orgy-loving Roman emperors brought about the fall of Rome via their sheer, gristle-coated incompetence, America ‘s inability to crush the growing obesity epidemic may very well strike the lethal blow to a century of American world dominance.
The deluge of American fat is killing our children, our adults, and our ability to compete in a global marketplace. Statistics abound on the grim reality of our fat-crippled American future, and the impending doom our ever-increasing waistlines will inevitably cause is easy to seize if one merely picks up a newspaper. Several news reports over the past few weeks and months have laid bare the desperate nature of our fat-laden situation:
· A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study released in May 2006 demonstrated that despite the fact Americans spend twice as great per capita on health care as the British do (about $5,000 per year per person in the US versus about $2,500 per person per year in the UK), middle-aged white Americans are far sicker than their British counterparts. Compared with the Brits, Americans showed significantly higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer – -all conditions that are directly traceable to obesity. A June 2006 study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that similar results when comparing Americans’ health with Canadians’.
· A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that a startling two-thirds of Americans are overweight; even more startling, it found that 28.7 percent of adult American men and 34.5 percent of American women were clinically obese.
· Perhaps the worst statistic of all – -20% of American children are now clinically obese, according to recent government figures, and upwards of 51% are overweight. And these numbers will only get worse.
Any competent physician can tell you that being overweight – - let alone clinically obese – - is bad, bad bad. Overweight and obesity are directly linked to any number of costly chronic conditions – - including heart disease, blood pressure, and type II diabetes, as well as many cancers, clinical depression, digestive problems, sleep disorders – -the list goes on and on. And caring for these chronic medical conditions – -all mostly preventable through proper diet and exercise – -is costly. It is no coincidence that health care costs and insurance premiums are skyrocketing just as fast as our waistlines are. And as a compelling series of articles in the Fresh York Times showed last summer, Type II diabetes is getting to be such a public health problem in major cities that many American hospitals won’t be able to handle a major medical disaster – -such as a bioterror attack or a bird-flu pandemic – -because their beds are full and their resources stretched to the limit by the treatment needs of obese Type II diabetics.
Talk about having a national security problem.
And skyrocketing health care costs are making it more and more difficult for American companies to compete in a global marketplace in which almost every other major industrialized nation has a universal, government-supported healthcare system – -not to mention distinguished lower obesity rates. As anyone who follows the news probably knows by now, General Motors spends more on healthcare than it does on steel. Health care is also cutting into the bottom line of airlines like United and Delta, software giants like IBM, and the thousands of small employers who can no longer afford to provide health insurance for their employees. Local governments and public school systems are going bankrupt underneath the weight of health care costs; status governments are having to cut funding for education and public safety to maintain Medicaid rolls – -which are heavily populated by the obese. Even TRICARE, the insurance plan and healthcare system for U.S. soldiers and their families, is getting squeezed. If healthcare costs continue to rise at current rates, Medicare will be bankrupt in 10 years, Corporate America will be put out of business by foreign competition, and nobody but the richest of the rich will be able to afford health insurance.
Who, or what, is to blame for all this? Obesity, obesity, obesity.
In other words, corpulent people. Yep, that’s what I said. Fat people are destroying America .
If you are still reading this and like 66% of Americans, have a weight problem, I’m obvious you’ve started throwing rotten tomatoes at me by now. But it’s time to wake up and smell it, people. Sure, we’ve all heard the doctors’ advice – - “eat less, move more” – - but as the grim statistics show, nobody is paying attention. Stuff your face full of McDonald’s for breakfast and lunch, drive for two hours to and from work, then veg out in front of the TV at night while stuffing your face tubby of Pizza Hut or Chili’s To Go – - does this sound familiar to you? Probably. After all, it’s our pathetic American lifestyle.
And it’s killing us – - literally.
In fact, as passe President Clinton has stated numerous times in his recent speeches, Generation Y is quite likely the first generation of American children who will not live as long as their parents will – -and obesity is solely to blame. The very idea makes me shudder – -and it should do the same to you.
But instead of standing together as a society and crying outrageous at this horrendous set of affairs, Americans have largely shrugged their shoulders at the problem, and are even taking steps to accommodate obesity. Indeed, it’s now politically correct to call obesity a “disability”, instead of a self-inflicted state that is completely preventable. Once upon a time, obese children and adults were shunned by society, called gluttons, sent to “fat camps” and subjected to Richard Simmons videos until they, at long last, either lost the weight or died of their self-inflicted, obesity-related complications. But in recent years, there has been a radical shift in society’s tolerance of obesity alongside our skyrocketing obesity rate. The culture shift is so profound that now, even physicians are sorrowful from attacking obesity head-on for fear of retribution. Indeed, physicians who merely suggest to fat adults (or their pudgy children) to seriously consider changing their unhealthy lifestyles risk being disciplined – -or even sued – -for “discrimination.”
Doctors can even face penalties from their state medical boards for their “insensitivity” – - as Terry Bennett, MD, a New Hampshire primary care physician found out in August 2005. Shortly after he gave one of his obese patients a “standard obesity lecture”, she complained to the New Hampshire State Medical Board, who launched an investigation, according to the American Medical Association. Doctors across the country are increasingly wary of bringing up obesity with their patients as a result.
This is sending the wrong message – - if your doctor can’t even tell you that you’re fat without being crucified for it, who can?
Even more disturbing, society at large is buying into this hypersensitive “fat is OK” attitude more than ever before. Hospitals are buying super-sized gurneys, wheelchairs, and beds. Movie theatres are adding extra-wide seats. Plus-sized clothing, once relegated to its own slight section of the store, is now selling better than regular sizes. Television shows and movies feature more corpulent characters. Restaurant chains and soft-drink companies are resisting any attempt to regulate or tax them for their poisonous food and beverages in the name of “consumer freedom.” Coffin companies are even creating special “super-sized” product lines to accommodate the super-obese when their bodies finally give out under the pressure.
Who is responsible for changing obesity from a once-shunned social stigma (and rightly so) to a illustrious, glorified plot of normalcy? Plump people, again. The very same ones who are destroying America .
To prove that nothing – - not even maintaining a healthy weight – -is sacred anymore, the growing legions of obese have created lobbying organizations to convince us that “bulky is normal.” The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (www.naafa.org) is one such organization. According to its website, NAAFA works to “Empower the large number of people regarded by the medical profession as ‘obese’ to accept themselves, to live more fulfilling lives, and to promote acceptance of fat people within society.”
NAAFA doesn’t even acknowledge that obesity is a serious medical condition – -let alone the huge economic, social, and healthcare-related burdens obesity places on American society. NAAFA’s Rotund Activist Task Force even lobbies against the weight-loss industry, against the publishing of medical advice recommending healthy weight, and against reports and research studies from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and other national medical organizations that advise people on the serious medical dangers of obesity.
What’s next? The National Association for the Advancement of Nuclear Waste Acceptance? The American Society For The Promotion of Chain Smoking? The American College of Carcinogenic Products?
Bottom line, a fat America is not acceptable. This country absolutely must assume right steps to curb the obesity epidemic – -up to and including heavily taxing junk food, levying fines on corporations that peddle calorically-dense, non-nutritive food to children, and forcing the obese to either lose the weight or pay higher healthcare premiums and taxes than those of us who absorb a healthy lifestyle.
American society and attitudes towards obesity must undergo a complete sea change – -much like we have already done with cigarette smoking, automobile safety, and child protection. In order to reverse the tide, being fat – -let alone morbidly obese – -should be as socially unacceptable in America as lighting up in public or allowing an infant to ride in a car without a car seat. Caving in to the demands of lobbying groups, the media, or junk-food peddlers who insist that “beefy is normal; beefy is okay” is not the reply.
Filed under Automotive Business Insurance by on Dec 16th, 2010. Comment.
Do you experience like you are paying too a lot for your latest auto an insurance plan policy, or do not really feel as if you are being valued as a client There are several several elements that will figure out regardless of whether or not you should certainly leave your present-day automotive insurance coverage service for yet another This article will look at the top five motives to change auto insurance cover firms, and how you can conserve both time and cash by switching.
Price benefit analysis (reduce costs)Insurance plans agencies are pretty aggressive with their costs and have numerous prices for every individual purchaser If you have been with one particular insurance protection firm for a lot of years and are not receiving substantial discounts then you would benefit from buying close to When purchasing close to clients will ordinarily come across lessen costs and more effective policies.Is the client services department much less than handy?Automobile insurance policy firms are only as great as their purchaser program Friendly and handy buyer services is paramount when negotiating a rate or for acquiring discounts If your automotive insurance policy supplier is not polite and useful when you are not filing a claim do not expect an accurate and friendly claims program Did the premium rise substantially after an incident or shifting violation?Is your insurance protection organization drastically raising your premium for an incident or even a shifting violation The web has made automobile insurance packages suppliers compete fiercely for shoppers with reduced costs and far better coverage Some insurance policy specialists are now offering no premium improve for accidents If your charges have risen due to an incident or transferring violation then you need to start thinking about switching automobile insurance packages institutions.Is your automobile insurance cover separate from your property owners insurance protection?Combining an insurance policy policies such as house owners insurance policy, multiple car or truck automobile health care insurance, and GAP insurance policy can conserve you a lot of cash on premiums If your insurance plan policies are separate from one particular yet another then you will want to look at leaving one particular of your latest insurance packages agencies for a reduce rate combined plan.Have your premiums rose even devoid of an incident?Car or truck policy suppliers are extremely aggressive and will do practically anything for enterprise If you have had your premiums rise devoid of any violation or incident on your record then you ought to ponder switching policies institutions Ordinarily insurance policy services will reduce premiums if you are incident cost-free for an extended period of time instead of raising them Incident absolutely free people are much less of a risk and are really much less high priced to insure.Sources:www.edmunds.comwww.vehix.com .
Filed under Automotive Business Insurance by on Nov 8th, 2010. Comment.
