According to Los Angeles Times article, number of fatalities due to DUI related accidents dropped to a record low in past 14 years in California. Alcohol was the reason of 791 deaths in 2010 comparing to 950 deaths in 2009. Increased amount of Dui checkpoints is definitely helping. As California highway patrol states Dui checkpoints main purpose is to build awareness, educate and decrease unnecessary deaths caused by intoxicated drunk drivers.

It looks like its working and hopefully there will be less drunk drivers on American roads killing innocent people.

Speaking of the cost of insurance, DUI stays on your record for 10 years, good driver discount, which is %20-25 is removed, SR-22 filing might be required…

It’s just not worth it. Don’t drink and drive.

Slavsky.com

Slavsky Insurance is not a huge company like Geico or Progressive. Our financial resourses are not “unlimited” but we still try… We try as much as we can to help our customers and our community, we try to give back as much as we can and we really appreciate you appreciate us trying…

This year was a great year for us. One of the things that made it great is the fact that we realized one more time that we are in business not just to make a profit but most importantly enjoy the fact that we’ve helped many people get affordable auto, home or business insurance. Saving money for our clients is a great thing and we are looking forward to find ways to be more efficient, cut unnecessary costs, so that we can pass the savings toward helping our clients get even more affordable insurance policies.

It would be awesome to have you tell us what else we can do to be a better company for you, so if you have any suggestions, reach out to us. Give us a call at 1(888)Slavsky or 650-351-1113

If you live in California, 800-insurance has a promotion for you that will end at the end of February, 2011.

Basically, the offer is that 800-insurance will send you $40 gas card for you after you purchase auto, home or business insurance if you were referred to 800-insurance by 800-insurance client.

If you are not a client of 800-insurance and were not referred, you can still get a quote and if you like the price you can purchase insurance policy and receive $20 gas card as long as you mention the promo code: “Thanks40″.

So, for those of you who is not happy about your insurance or think you are paying too much, give 800-insurance.com a try, get a free quote.

This offer is for Californias only.

When we posted our video about why people should consider buying insurance from Slavsky insurance, we received tons of positive feedback. Mainly, those that watched that video, liked it for too reason: 1. It’s funny and 2. They liked our consept and the way Slavsky Insurance does business.

Here is the link to one of our video. Let us know what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fsUNcgzQo

An inquiry in California alleges that the company violated state laws on how policies are priced and sold, perhaps affecting thousands of customers.

Mercury Insurance Group violated state laws meant to regulate how coverage is priced and sold and, as a result, overcharged perhaps thousands of Californians for homeowner and automobile insurance, the state Department of Insurance said Monday.

The state’s fourth-largest auto insurer failed to ensure drivers were not charged more after accidents in which they were not at fault, and refused to cover bartenders, artists and others unless they met stricter underwriting standards than other customers, a state investigation alleges.

Mercury could face fines of at least $5,000 for each violation under an enforcement action filed Friday, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said. The company continued a number of activities that it had been ordered to stop years earlier, he said.

“Mercury Insurance has disregarded California’s consumer protection statutes and overcharged consumers,” Poizner said. “In addition, the department’s examination finds that Mercury Insurance has apparently continued to violate the law despite agreements with the state to terminate its illegal behavior.”

Mercury spokesman Coby King said the company had not overcharged customers or violated the law. He said the practice of restricting customers in certain occupations, such as artists and bartenders, was ended more than 10 years ago. In a statement, King intimated that Poizner released the report to further his campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

“This report appears to have been leaked to reporters in a manner designed to further the political interests of the commissioner, not the people of California,” the statement said.

Darrel Ng, a department spokesman, denied any political motives for the department’s action.

“The Department of Insurance takes very seriously its role in ensuring that insurance companies follow the law,” Ng said. “Mercury should spend less time imagining conspiracy theories against them and more time following California’s consumer protection statutes.”

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Confuse on which California car insurance provider to pick? The State mandated drivers to secure insurance. Getting an online quote will help you find an insurance company. Pick one that meets the State’s requirement. Include Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury. Read this article for more insurance information.

You can get a California car insurance quote online. Quotes are now quite common on the internet. There are a variety of different types of quotes that you can get. Some types are just a single quote from particular insurance company. Other quotes from a website can come from several different sources.

Having California car insurance is critical, so if you don’t have it, go get an online quote right away. But before you start your quote, get some basic information on the insurance cover you want and list your vehicle information. Do always go for the cheapest insurance, but get the insurance you can afford.

You do not really need to spend a fortune just to get auto insurance regardless of its nature. There are different kinds of car insurance for you to choose depending on your needs and your budget of course.

Before you can actually get the best car insurance in California you need to know California car insurance requirements. This will help a lot in getting the California car insurance quotes that is right for you.

You must know that the state of California follows a Tort system in its automobile insurance. This means there must be someone found to be at fault for the accident. Hence, that person and his or her insurance firm should be responsible for all the damages caused by such an accident as stipulated in the policy.

In getting California car insurance quotes, it is important for you to know that the tort system varies for each States. State Law in California, in particular, requires a minimum of $15,000 per injured person up to a total of $30,000 per accident for Bodily Injury Liability limits. It also requires a minimum limit of $5,000 for Property Damage Liability coverage. This is most often referred as 15/30/5 coverage.

Residents in California had an average auto insurance premium of $1,650 in 2009. Since the national rate is $1,735, people have this feeling that the state has been collaborating with insurance companies to fix the rates so that there would be no need to look for better California car insurance quotes. This is why it is really important for you to look around to find the cheapest California car insurance.

Get insurance quote @ Slavsky

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WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — As the economy begins to mend, the cost of borrowing money for a big purchase could start to increase.

Mortgages, in particular, have flirted with record lows during the recession. Credit card rates have been bouncing upward and, while auto loan rates are expected to stay low for a little while longer, they can’t stay low forever.

The Federal Reserve has played a key role in keeping the cost of borrowing so low, through the so-called fed funds rate, a benchmark that determines the interest paid by consumers and businesses on a wide variety of loans. That has been near 0% since December 2008, as the central bank worked to spur greater lending and economic activity.

But as the economy heals, that rate is sure to come up, as will the cost of a lot of loans – although economists assure that borrowing costs won’t rise until the economy is ready for it.

“The important thing to remember the Federal Reserve has a mandate to maximize employment and keep inflation low, so interest rates may be going up, but it will be in the context of better job growth,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities.

Mortgages: Apart from what the Fed does on interest rates, economists and Fed officials have been predicting higher mortgage rates for several months, as the Fed winds down credit programs that artificially spurred cheaper loans.

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The insurer had delayed the increases till May 1 pending a review by an outside actuary appointed by the state insurance commissioner. That report is expected within two weeks.

Thousands of worried Californians who buy individual insurance policies from Anthem Blue Cross will soon learn whether they face rate increases of up to 39% that were put on hold for two months amid a public outcry that helped revive national healthcare legislation.

California’s largest for-profit health insurer agreed to postpone the increases for many of its 800,000 individual policyholders until May 1 while an outside actuary, appointed by state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, evaluated its spending practices.

The actuary report from Axene Health Partners is expected within two weeks.

Poizner said in February that he would stop Anthem’s rate hikes if the report shows that the Woodland Hills insurer spends less than 70% of its premium dollars on medical claims, as required by state law.

At the time, Poizner said that Anthem’s proposed increases could have a “devastating financial impact on hundreds of thousands of its policyholders in California.”

Poizner did not respond to requests for an interview. On Friday, representatives from his office and Anthem’s parent, WellPoint Inc., said the two sides had yet to address the rate hikes despite ongoing speculation that WellPoint might delay them an additional 30 days or limit the increases to 10% to 15% through the end of the year.

Poizner’s office is awaiting the actuary’s study. “Our next action is predicated on what the report says,” said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the Department of Insurance.

A WellPoint spokeswoman acknowledged Friday that the Indianapolis insurer will not have adequate time to notify customers of any changes within two weeks. The company, Kristin Binns added, has no agreement with Poizner to extend the delay 30 days.

“No formal decision has been made yet, but it’s unlikely we’ll be in a position, given the timing, to implement any rate increase May 1,” Binns said. “It’s unclear at this point what happens.”

Frustrated policyholders say they have heard nothing from Poizner’s office and little from Anthem beyond a letter in early March informing them that their rates would not change for 60 days.

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” said Mary Feller of San Rafael, Calif., who faces a 39% increase for herself, her husband and daughter that would push the family’s annual insurance bill over $25,000.

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SAN DIEGO — The earthquake that rattled Southern California this week was a gentle reminder that not many Californians, and not may San Diegans, have earthquake insurance. Only twelve percent of homeowners are insured.

This could spell trouble when the big one actually arrives. But there are reasons why so many people have chosen not to be covered.

The epicenter of the earthquake felt in San Diego on Sunday was in rural Baja California. And it did some structural damage in Mexicali, Calexico and El Centro. But it could have been much worse.

“California homeowners, in this most recent event, basically dodged the bullet,” said Glenn Pomeroy, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, which is a state-managed non-profit that provides 70 percent of the earthquake insurance in California.

“Let’s say the 7.2 that happened on Sunday happened under Los Angeles. We would see massive destruction. Homes destroyed. Infrastructure badly damaged,” Pomeroy said.

The California Legislature created the earthquake authority after the costly Northridge Earthquake in 1994 drove most private insurance companies out of the temblor business. Pomeroy said the authority has the ability to cover billions of dollars worth of claims.

But property owners won’t get anything if they don’t purchase policies.

Pomeroy points out that the typical homeowner’s insurance policy explicitly rules out coverage for earthquake damage. He says many homeowners don’t realize this, or they believe federal disaster aid will come to their rescue in the event of a big earthquake.

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