Did Hyundai Pull MPG Claims From Super Bowl Ad Due To Watchdog Group Pressure?
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Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
What Hyundai Didn’t Include In Its Super Bowl Ad
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Like many other automakers Hyundai ran a series of ads on this year’s Super Bowl broadcast, including one for its popular Elantra line of cars. This one was a straightforward affair, focusing more on the vehicle than on, say, raging zombies, barking/singing dogs or Soup Nazis. Still, there’s one element that was missing from the commercial that’s appeared in other of the automaker’s ads for car, namely its “40 miles per gallon” fuel economy rating.</p>
Ford’s Farley Says ‘Real World’ Mileage Key to Avoid Owner Anger
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Ford Motor Co.'s global marketing chief says the automaker is focused on high “real world” fuel efficiency in its vehicles after a California woman won a case against Honda Motor Co. for failing to meet mileage claims.</p>
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Heather Peters, owner of a 2006 Civic Hybrid, won $9,867 in small claims court in Los Angeles last week, alleging Tokyo- based Honda overstated the model's fuel economy. Honda has said it will appeal the ruling, and that the car's efficiency rating was determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.</p>
Did Hyundai Omit 40MPG Claim on Elantra Super Bowl Ad Because of Consumer Watchdog?
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It happens to every new car buyer: you look at the car’s specs and among other things; you take notice of its official fuel economy numbers. Then you may discover that in real-world conditions, the mileage you eke out of a single tank is nowhere near the quoted figure.</p>
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The discrepancy is sometimes so big that you are either driving like a maniac (which in some cases may be true), or there’s something’s fishy with the official mileage estimates. Are consumers tricked by carmakers as far as fuel consumption is concerned, as some claim.</p>
Insurance Modernization Report Past Due
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (LID) – The recently created Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within the U.S. Department of Treasury has missed its deadline to report to Congress on how best to improve oversight of the insurance industry.</p>
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Title V of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (Pub.L. 111-203), which created the FIO, called for the study to be submitted to Congress no later than 18 months after the date the so-called Dodd-Frank Act took effect.</p>
Make History Today — Sign Our Official Ballot Petition
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<a href="http://justifyrates.org"><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2366" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/images_signthepetition.png" style="width: 177px; height: 231px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="177" height="231" /></a>We are doing it! Today we launched our ballot initiative drive to force health insurance companies to publicly justify their rates and get permission for rate hikes.<br />
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If you are a registered voter in California, your signature today can stop outrageous health insurance premium increases. Please:<br />
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Consumer Watchdog Campaign Begins Battle for Rate Regulation in the Health Insurance Industry
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<img alt="" height="217" src="http://a.scpr.org/i/2bba14ac62c4da8edc5bba415b80ed0d/33301-lead.jpg" width="324" /></p>
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Steve Rhodes/Flickr</div>
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Health care reform protest at Blue Shield of California, October, 2009.</p>
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<a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2012/02/02/22380/consumer-watchdog-campaign-begins-battle-for-rate-">Click here to listen to the audio of this news broadcast</a>.</p>
Consumer Watchdog Wants California To Regulate Health Insurance Hikes
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There’s a grassroots movement underway to change insurance law, giving California the power to regulate health insurance rate hikes.</p>
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The proposed initiative by Consumer Watchdog, a group based in Santa Monica, will require health insurance companies to ask permission from the state insurance commissioner before raising premiums. It’s modeled after Proposition 103, the organization’s 1988 ballot measure that now regulates how much auto insurance companies can charge.</p>
Valerie Burchfield-Rhodes – Laguna Niguel, CA (Orange County)
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2369" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/images_valerierhodesfamily.jpeg" style="width: 270px; height: 203px;" width="640" height="480" /></p>
Sen. Feinstein Backs Health Insurance Rate Controls
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A high-stakes ballot measure to give state regulators the power to approve health insurance rates in California has landed a heavyweight supporter: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.</p>
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One of California's most respected politicians, Feinstein has come forward as the chief spokeswoman and No. 1 booster of a proposed initiative to regulate hikes in health premiums.</p>
Consumer Group Attacks Auto Insurers ‘Disparate Treatment’ of Low Income
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A consumer group on Monday issued a study that shows ‘disparate treatment’ of low-to moderate-income families by auto insurers nationwide, and is asking state insurance commissioners to consider lowering minimum liability coverage requirements, and creating low-income purchase programs.</p>
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A study released from the Consumer Federation of America concludes that the auto insurance marketplace “denies important economic opportunities, especially those related to employment, to low- and moderate-income (LMI) households.”</p>
Billionaire Insurance Exec Backs Initiative to Change Rate Rules
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<em>UPDATE, Jan. 27, 2012: Mercury Insurance provided <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/79626976/Mercury-Response" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this response</a> to questions about its record.</em></p>
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The 90-year-old billionaire chairman of Mercury Insurance just won’t give up.</p>