If you believe the ads, good drivers get the best insurance rates. But a new study shows auto insurers frequently charge good drivers higher premiums than those who recently caused an accident. And it appears from this research that the safe drivers who pay more are often lower income.

How could this happen?

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), which conducted the study, says this reflects a common practice in the insurance industry of using factors such as education and occupation to rate risk.

A CFA survey in 2012 found that two-thirds of American believed considering these factors, rather than driving history was unfair.

Stephen Brobeck, CFA’s executive director, calls this a “discriminatory practice” that raises the rates for low-and moderate-income drivers.

The industry rejects any notion that it discriminates in any way.

“The policies we offer are fair in every way,” said Michael Barry, vice president of media relations at the Insurance Information Institute.

How CFA surveyed the marketplace
The CFA priced policies for two hypothetical customers: a high school receptionist and an executive. Both women were 30-years old, had driven for 10 years, lived on the same street in the same middle-income ZIP code.

But there were important differences.

The receptionist is single and rents an apartment. She has never had an accident or moving violation, but she was without insurance coverage for 45 days.

The executive is a married homeowner with a master's degree. Her auto insurance has never lapsed. But, she had an at-fault accident with $800 of damage within the past three years.

CFA researchers visited the websites of the five largest U.S. auto insurers – State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, Farmers and Progressive – looking for the minimum liability coverage required by that state. This was done for both women in 12 cities.

The results: Two-thirds of the 60 quotes were lower for the executive (who had an accident) than for the receptionist (who had none), often by 25 percent or more.

The Insurance Information Institute questions whether the test was fair because the receptionist had a break in insurance coverage and that could be seen as a risk factor.  The Consumer Federation of America says the receptionist didn’t have a car for 45 days and therefore didn’t need insurance. Does that make her a riskier drive, they ask?

Why is this happening?
Insurance companies consider a variety of factors to determine the risk you pose and the price they should charge when you apply for an auto policy. Everyone agrees your age, sex, type of vehicle and driving history can help predict the likelihood that you will have an accident.

But should insurance underwriters consider your education, occupation or in some cases, your credit score? What do these socio-economic factors have to do with your ability to be a safe driver?

“These factors have been found to be actuarially sound ways to assess risk,” said Michael Barry, vice president of media relations at the Insurance Information Institute. “And before they are ever used, these rating criteria are vetted by state insurance regulators who have allowed them.”

The CFA says it’s not fair for someone to get a better rate simply because they have more education and more income.

“Our concern is that these factors are not proven; there is no logical reason to explain why they should work,” said Robert Hunter, CFA’s director of insurance and former Texas Insurance Commissioner. “The insurance companies say there’s a correlation and that’s all they need.”

Some insurance companies now consider your credit scores when setting your premiums. That doesn’t sit too well with Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who calls the practice a “blatantly unfair” way to assess risk.  

 “I think it’s terrible,” Kreidler told me. “Using a credit score in this economy? You have people who through no fault of their own have wound up with less quality credit and yet are still responsible drivers. They shouldn’t pay more for auto insurance because of that.”

Not in sunshine state
The California Insurance Department decides what ratings factors can be used by auto insurers to calculate auto premiums. Education, occupation and credit scores cannot be considered.

“We want rating factors that have a relationship to the risk of loss,” said Joel Laucher, California’s deputy insurance commissioner for rate regulation.

“You want something that’s fair and fairly intuitive so people understand why there would be a price difference. It should be something the driver can control and realize how they can amend their behavior to improve their rate.”

Massachusetts also restricts the use of socio-economic factors for private auto insurance.

“There was a determination made that auto insurance should more tightly track an individual’s driving,” said Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Joe Murphy.

The bottom line
There are a lot of insurance companies competing for your business. Rates vary greatly.

A good place to start is your state insurance department’s website. Look for a comparison chart that lists the rates in your area for various hypothetical customers. It’s a simple way to see how various insurance companies compare and where you might want to go to get a quote.

(Find a link to your state’s insurance department at: National Association of Insurance Commissioners.)  

You can get quotes from an independent agent who represents various companies or go online and do it yourself at sites such as InsuranceQuotes, InsWeb, NetQuote, InsuranceHotline or Answer Financial.  Don’t expect an instant quote from these sites. In most cases, you’ll be contacted by agents looking for your business. 

More information:

• ConsumerMan: Want to Cut Your Car Insurance Bill? Shop Around
• Consumer Reports: Car Insurance Buying Guide 
• Insurance Information Institute: What Determines the Price of My Auto Insurance Policy?

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.

In this age of data bases and search engines, it’s hard to imagine that anyone could be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and not receive the money. But it happens all the time.

Consumer Reports investigated the problem of lost insurance policies for its February issue. They found there’s currently about $1 billion in life insurance benefits waiting to be claimed by beneficiaries.

“The average unclaimed life insurance benefit is $2,000, but some payouts have been as high as $300, 000,” senior editor Jeff Blyskal told me.

The magazine calculated the odds that you are owed money from a lost, forgotten or unknown policy are about one in 600.

Why is this happening? 

Sometimes it’s a communication problem. All too often, people buy life insurance and don’t let their beneficiaries know about it. But Consumer Reports points a finger at the insurance industry.

“Over the years, insurance companies have not made much of an effort to find these people,” Blyskal said. “When one of their policy holders dies they don’t always go looking for the beneficiaries.”

In 2011, New York State began looking into how life insurance companies handled their claims. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that this investigation has resulted in more than $665 million being paid to more than 89,000 people across the country.

“It’s only fair for families and individuals who lost loved ones to receive life insurance benefits they are entitled to,” Gov. Cuomo said in a statement.

New York’s findings match what California regulators discovered in audits of insurance companies going back to 2008.  They found “an industry-wide practice of failing to pay death benefits” even though the companies had access to federal death records. And in some cases, payments were withheld despite direct confirmation from relatives that the policyholder had died.

Worse yet, some companies continued to collect premiums after the policyholder died and the payments stopped by drawing down the policy’s cash reserves. Once the reserves were gone, the policy was cancelled.

"For decades, too many insurers have fleeced their policyholders," said California State Controller John Chiang in a statement. 

Insurance companies agree to change their ways
Six big insurance companies have now settled charges brought by a multi-state task force looking into this payout problem.

AIG, Forethought, John Hancock, MetLife, Nationwide and Prudential have agreed to use the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File to find beneficiaries. When beneficiaries cannot be located, payouts will be turned over to state unclaimed property offices.

As part of a settlement with Florida, AIG recently turned over more than $25 million in unclaimed life insurance benefits.

“These new accounts represent dollars loved ones set aside to secure financial stability for their families,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater in a statement. “Holding companies accountable means these dollars will now be returned to their rightful owners across the state.”

The life insurance industry acknowledges the problem of unpaid benefits, but insists it’s a relatively minor one.

“By all indications, this is a very small percentage of what life insurers pay out each year,” said Jack Dolan, vice president of media relations at the American Council of Life Insurers. “Even so, we recognize that this represents benefits owed to real people who could use the money and we are dedicated to making every effort to locate beneficiaries.”

How to find and collect an unpaid life insurance benefit
Do you think you might have been named as a beneficiary by someone who died more than a few years ago?  Visit missingmoney.com where you can search records for 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and most of Canada all at once.

Or go to unclaimed.org, the website of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, to access individual unclaimed property offices. You should check all the states or Canadian provinces where the deceased lived and may have purchased a life insurance policy.

The American Council on Life Insurance also has detailed information on its website about finding a Missing Life Insurance Policy.

Of course, communication can help prevent these lost payouts from happening.

“If you take out a life insurance policy, let the beneficiary know,” advised Steven Weisbart with the Insurance Information Institute. “You don’t have to tell them how much money is involved, but you ought to tell them that they are the beneficiary of an insurance policy, who the insurance company is and how to find them.”

The American Council of Life Insurers has a new My Insurance Log tool on its website, to make this easier.

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.

Auto insurance is one of those things you buy and then forget about. We have coverage, so we figure there’s no need to worry about it again. That could be a costly mistake. 

“Shopping is very important because insurance company pricing is wildly different,” said Robert Hunter, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). “We just finished some research on auto insurance and found that it’s very easy to have a quote of $700 from one company and up to $3,000 from another for the exact same risk.” 

According to new survey from the price comparison website InsuranceQuotes.com, a lot of us are missing the chance to save money. Only 21 percent of the car owners said they shopped for auto insurance within the past 12 months to see if they could get a better deal. Of those who did check, 43 percent ended up switching companies. 

“This suggests that many people who shopped around liked what they found,” said John Egan, managing editor of InsuranceQuotes.com. “If you’re not doing it, you may be leaving money on the table.” 

A more detailed analysis of the insurance marketplace done by Deloitte Research last year found that nearly 24 percent of the respondents said they never shop around when their auto insurance policy is up for renewal, another 34 percent rarely do. 

Why? Most said they are satisfied with both the price and the service they get from their insurance company. 

Of course, there’s no way to know if you’re getting a good price if you don’t see what the competition can offer. 

“I think people spend more time shopping for Christmas presents and trying to decide where to go out to eat then they do shopping for auto insurance,” Egan told me. 

The editors at Consumer Reports point out that some insurance companies reward their loyal customers, especially those who don’t make many claims, with better rates. 

But that may be changing. 

The CFA’s Robert Hunter, a former insurance commissioner in Texas, told me some companies are moving to what’s called price optimization. Simply put, they figure out which customers are unlikely to switch carriers and then raise the rates on them. 

“So not only do you miss good deals that might be out there by not shopping, but your own company may be jacking up your rate a little bit because they don’t think you’re going to leave them,” he noted. 

Hunter recommends price shopping every couple of years, right away if you’re notified of a major price hike. 

Where do you start? 
Visit your state insurance department’s website and look for a comparison chart that lists the rates in your area for various hypothetical customers. It’s a good way to see how your insurance company stacks up to the competition and where you might want to go to get a quote. (Find a link to your state’s insurance department at: National Association of Insurance Commissioners.) 

I went on the California Insurance Department’s website and looked at the prices for a married couple living in Long Beach who drives 9,000 to 16,000 miles a year. Both the husband and wife have one traffic ticket but no accidents. 

Get this: The annual premium for this family ranged from $2,441 to $12,497. That’s a staggering difference! 

You can get quotes from an independent agent who represents various companies or go online and do it yourself at sites such as InsuranceQuotes, InsWeb, NetQuote, InsuranceHotline or Answer Financial.  Don’t expect an instant quote from these sites. In most cases, you’ll be contacted by agents looking for your business. 

Remember: Saving money is good, but you also want a company with first-rate customer service. Consumer Reports says the insurance companies with the highest satisfaction scores (based on the experience of 28,000 subscribers who filed a claim between 2006 and 2009) are: NJM (New Jersey & Pennsylvania residents), USAA (military and veterans), Amica and Auto-Owners. 

By the way, the same situation exists with home owners insurance. Few people price check to see if they can get a better deal after they buy it. Again, the only way to find out if you’re paying too much is to take the time to shop around every few years. 

More information:

• Consumer Reports Car Insurance Buying Guide 

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.

Larry Downing / Reuters

President Barack Obama meets with workers at the National Red Cross headquarters in Washington this week. The Red Cross is one of the nation's leading disaster-relief organizations.

Watch out: Scammers trying to cash in on Superstorm Sandy are on their way. The destruction caused by the storm gives the bad guys a major opportunity to steal your money or personal information.

Symantec, the security software firm, reports the first wave of Sandy-related spam has been sent. The messages have subject lines such as: “Help Sandy Victims and get $1000 for Best Buy!,” and “Deposit Processing Open Today (Frankenstorm doesn’t stop us).”

These phishing expeditions are designed to snag your credit card, debit card or bank account numbers.

Based on previous disasters, Symantec predicts a rash of cyber-attacks that start with links to fake news stories, photos and videos. These will be distributed via Facebook posts and tweets, Internet searchers, text messages and email.

Resist the urge to click on these unknown links or you could download some nasty malware onto your computer or smart phone.

Charity scams 
This is an emotional time for people all across the country. You want to help, and con artists hope to take advantage of that. They make phone calls and pretend to be a bona fide charitable organization. They set up websites that look like reputable charities. It’s very easy to do.

The online security firm Avast! reminds us that back in 2005, after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast, there were at least 15 bogus websites designed to look like the American Red Cross site. Donors who took the bait gave their personal information, such as credit card numbers and PayPal passwords, to the online crooks.

“Charity scams are among the most despicable scams out there,” said John Breyault, director of fraud.org, the National Consumers League’s Fraud Center. “Not only are consumers victimized when they give money to the scammers, but the people who need help to rebuild their lives don’t get that money.”

Related: 7 tips to avoid post-disaster insurance and repair scams

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has warned residents of his state to be cautious if they receive calls to make a donation to the storm relief effort.

“Unfortunately, there are some who might use our generous nature to take the donations for themselves, not for those in need,” he said. 

A charitable request might be a scam, DeWine advises, when the caller:

• uses high pressure tactics to solicit an immediate donation.
• is hesitant or unable to answer questions.
• asks for the check to be made payable to a person instead of a charity.
• offers to pick up your check immediately, rather than waiting for you to mail it off.
• promises a prize in exchange for a donation.

Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, urges donors to take their time and do their homework before responding to any solicitation.

“You want to know what they do, what relief activities your contribution is going to fund,” he said. “You can’t assume based on the name alone what activities your generosity is going to support.”

To help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, Weiner suggests choosing an organization with some skill and experience in disaster relief activities, such as the American Red Cross.

“A start-up organization, or even an established charity that decides to get involved in relief work for the first time, may have great intentions, but may not necessarily carry it out very effectively,” he cautioned.

Protect yourself: Never make a donation by clicking on a link in an email or text. Go to the site on your own. Be careful with web searches – names can be misleading – you could wind up on the wrong site.

Don’t allow yourself to be pressured into making a donation.

Don’t give your credit card information to an unknown caller. If you’re interested in the cause, ask to be sent information.

Stop, think and check them out. You can do that at sites such as: BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator.

Home repair scams
“After a spectacular storm like this, fraudsters will come out of the woodwork offering to repair damaged homes,” warned Susan Grant, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America. “They may take your money and just disappear. Or they may start the work and not finish it. Or they work may just be really shoddy quality.”

If you need repair work done and don’t have a trusted contractor, you want to find someone qualified to do the job. And in a situation like this, it won’t be easy. Try to stay calm, so you can deal with the situation rationally.

For major repairs, the Better Business Bureau recommends getting at least 3 to 4 estimates. They should be based on the same specs and materials.

Get everything in writing. The contract needs to spell out when the job starts and will be completed, a payment schedule, what materials will be used and what sort of clean-up will be done.

Remember: Never make a final payment until all the work is completed to your satisfaction.

Consumer Reports suggests:

• Try to deal with people who live and work in your community.
• Ask for copies of the contractor’s general liability and worker’s compensation insurance.
• Avoid paying more than the minimum in advance.

Protect yourself: Steer clear of anyone who shows up at your home or office, offers an instant estimate and wants a sizeable payment in cash before any work is done.

Say no to a contractor who promises a great price because he has left-over materials from a previous job. That’s a common trick used by fly-by-night operators.

Don’t let anyone pressure you into hiring them. You need time to check references, to see if they are licensed or registered (if required in your state) and to check them out with the Better Business Bureau.

Helpful resources

• Better Business Bureau: Tips on Hurricane Relief Donations 
• Charity Navigator: Tips for Giving in a Time of Crisis
• Charity Navigator: Hurricane Sandy: Charity’s Responding
• Federal Trade Commission: Avoid Charity Fraud
• Federal Trade Commission: Charity Checklist
• Federal Trade Commission: Charitable Donations: Give or Take?
• BBB Warns About “Storm Chasers” Following Hurricane 
• New York Attorney General: Guide to Property Owners as They Recover and Rebuild from Hurricane Sandy

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook or visit The ConsumerMan website.

A lot of homeowners in the Northeast woke up today and confronted the specter of flooded structures, fallen trees and other serious property damage. Last year's Hurricane Irene clocked in as the fifth most expensive hurricane in history, with $19 billion in damages, and Sandy's impact is expected to be even larger.

Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, said homeowners who suffered damage from Superstorm Sandy should take a few steps immediately. Here's what you need to do to get repairs under way.

• While Hartwig recommends a sit-down with an insurance agent once a year to go over coverage types and levels, many of us don't do that, so the first step is reading your policy to find out whether or not you have covered claims. While wind causes some damage to homes, cars and other property, the big issue is flooding. Flooding is responsible for more than 90 percent of property damage inflicted by natural disasters, although it isn't covered in most homeowners' insurance policies.
• Inspect your home, take pictures of any structural or property damage as soon as possible and pull together a list of damaged property along with, if possible, how much those items were worth. Gathering all that information quickly will help your claim get processed faster, Hartwig said. Homeowners who file their claims right away can expect to meet with an adjuster in just a few days, so people who file today could meet with an adjuster by the end of the week. If your home is too badly damaged to inhabit, some insurance companies can give you money for temporary living expenses on the spot. 
• To get rebuilding under way, shop around for estimates from contractors. Even though you'll be anxious to get your house and your life back to normal, it's important to conduct due diligence and make sure that whoever's handling the repairs is reliable. Unscrupulous contractors prey on the victims of natural disasters, so ask friends or family for referrals, and be sure to check the contractor's references.

More money news:

• Americans feeling better about economy
• Sandy to keep stock markets shuttered Tuesday
• Toyota on top in latest Consumer Reports survey
• Video: What food to save, throw out if you lose power
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Companies that provide employees with generous benefits, including contributing more to retirement funds and absorbing health insurance hikes, are often financially healthier because of it.

A study released Wednesday found employers that offered substantial programs focused on the long-term financial health of their workers saw a host of business dividends as a result, everything from lower turnover to better customer service.

Harvard Business Review Analytic Services surveyed 58 of the 100 companies named to “The Principal 10 Best” list over the past decade and also conducted interviews with executives from 20 employers included on the list. Three quarters of those polled reported that benefits contributed to employee retention and 72 percent said they impacted employee loyalty.

The survey was commissioned by the Principal Financial Group, although companies studied did not necessarily use Principal services.

Despite the tough economy in recent years, firms in the study said they had maintained or increased their benefits packages, including raising retirement contributions in some cases. While some did have their employees pay more for health insurance benefits, the majority ate the increased costs.

Virtually all the firms agreed that they have a "strong sense of responsibility when it comes to providing benefits that protect the financial well-being" of employees and their families. When asked to identify the most significant thing they are doing to impact employees’ financial security, nine out of 10 respondents mentioned retirement programs and cited generous employer contributions.

The majority of companies surveyed also provided one-on-one financial help for employees for retirement planning and have added wellness programs.

As a result of the generous benefits, the employers surveyed said they saw a host of benefits, including:

• Enhanced recruitment
• Committed, engaged employees
• Excellent retention
• Deep organizational expertise
• Safe workplace practices
• Strong customer relationships

The question of whether these employers are more likely to have lucrative benefits because they’re successful, or they’re successful because they provide such perks, wasn’t answered by the study, said Luke Vandermillen, senior vice president of retirement & investor services with the Principal Financial Group. However, he said there is “a paternalistic feeling that cuts across these companies.”

The Harvard study shows great benefits are "not only good for employees, but good for those companies that provide well-rounded broad and deep benefit programs," he said.

A growing number of small business owners are taking a page from their bigger corporate counterparts and implementing wellness programs for their employees to curtail ever-escalating health care costs. Employers can’t just force everyone to eat tofu and do yoga, however.

That’s why Climax Portable Machine Tools based in Newberg, Ore., is taking its time rolling out a wellness program and using a carrot instead of a stick with its 160 employees. The program implemented in the last year is voluntary. Workers are offered incentives, including getting up to $40 back in their paychecks a month, for getting on the health bandwagon. Among the steps being offered are on-site medical screenings, health and nutritional seminars, daily walks and even a company basketball team.

Climax has seen its health insurance premiums rise as much as 30 percent annually, so a wellness program made sense, said Karen Kinslow, the company’s wellness coordinator. “We really wanted to look after our employees and it really helps the bottom line when you do these things,” she explained.

More small business owners are realizing the same thing. A recent MetLife survey found 29 percent of small businesses offered some sort of wellness options, compared to 22 percent last year, and 16 percent five years ago.

Such programs have been shown to pay off for employers. Research from the Partnership for Prevention found that for every $1 spent on worksite health promotion programs, a company can see an average of $3.50 in savings related to fewer sick days and health care costs.  And such programs can be a good thing for employees. An Israeli study showed that employees who engaged in some form of exercise had lower rates of depression and job burnout, according to an article in MyHealthNewsDaily.

But the strong-arm approach to getting workers healthier can run afoul of the nation’s labor laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. Implementing employee health programs come with many restrictions under several key laws – the ADA, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Under the ADA, employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to take a medical exam, and you can’t require an employee to participate in a wellness program to qualify for health insurance, said Chris Kuczynski, assistant legal counsel, ADA/GINA policy division for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

When it comes to GINA, he continued, “If you’re going to offer an incentive in connection with a health risk assessment or wellness program, you can’t condition that on whether a person gives you family history or genetic information.”

Employers can’t have blanket wellness policies, which is where companies get into the most trouble, Kuczynski stressed. If a worker is unable to engage in certain exercises because of an underlying medical condition that is beyond his control, such as a thyroid gland disorder or high blood pressure, employers can’t penalize the employee for not participating.

Climax has been cautious when implementing methods to encourage workers to participate.

Kinslow talks to workers individually and helps them come up with other options if they can’t do things like running a 5K. Employees can get points, which translate into dollars, if they attend nutrition or stress-reduction seminars on-site, or even if they take a healthy-eating cooking class. And, she added, some employees may not want their wellness tied directly to work, so they could get points for teaching a karate class to kids, for example.

When providing rewards there are limits, especially as they relate to health insurance premiums. Companies are increasingly offering employees breaks on their healthcare premiums as incentives to participate in wellness programs, but there are strict requirements under HIPAA on how that can be done. The total award must not exceed 20 percent of an employees total coverage cost. Under a provision in health care reform that number will go up to 30 percent in 2014.

As far as medical privacy restrictions, health screenings that are done by the employer must be strictly confidential. “They always have to be careful with where data goes and their access to that data,” said Joe Ellis, senior vice president at CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services, an employee benefits consulting firm. “The employer would never see an individual’s data but they could see aggregate data.”

Another problem is potential injuries workers could sustain while exercising during work hours.

Late last year, Ged King, president of The Sales Factory, a marketing agency in Greensboro, N.C., bought four Trek commuter bicycles for employees to use on lunch runs, errands or leisurely rides.

The bikes are part of a wellness strategy King devised to help his staff of 27 get healthier.

His plan also includes rewarding workers prizes -- everything from $25 gift cards to iPods -- if they exercise more, including biking, running, or even gardening. “It makes for happier people who are more excited to come to work,” he said about the wellness program that launched last month. “You can’t be creative if you don’t feel good.”

To deal with the issue of injuries, employees at The Sales Factory were all asked to sign a “Bicycle Release Form” before King purchased the bikes. The release stated that workers were assuming “all personal liability in case of injury”.

Employees were also asked to promise to wear helmets, which he provided, when they take the bikes out. The goal of the wellness plan, King stressed, “is to make sure we’re healthier.”

The Toyota Sienna may not be as fun as an Audi sports car, but at least you're saving a bundle on car insurance.

Many of us may secretly dream we are zipping down the highway in an Audi or Mercedes sports car when what we're really doing is riding along in a minivan or a family SUV.

Well, at least we’re saving a lot on car insurance.

The website Insure.com just released its annual ranking of highest and lowest insurance rates by vehicle. Two Toyota Sienna models topped this year’s list as cheapest to insure, with an average annual insurance rate of $1,111 and $1,114.

The minivan was followed by two Jeep models, the Patriot Sport and Compass Sport. The rest of the 20 least expensive vehicles to insure heavily favored family-oriented crossover SUVs, minivans and trucks.

The most expensive cars to insure would also be a lot more expensive to buy, but probably a lot more fun to drive. The Audi R8 Spyder Quattro Convertible ($210,000) and Mercedes CL600 ($159,000) topped that list, with annual insurance rates that are around three times higher than the Sienna. Of course, if you have to ask how much they cost to insure, you probably can't afford them.

Insure.com’s annual ranking of highest and lowest insurance rates is based on average premiums for a 40-year-old single male who commutes 12 miles to work. The website, which looked at more than 900 vehicles from the 2012 model year, relies on Quadrant Information Services to collect average rates for six insurance carriers in 10 ZIP codes per state.

The minivan’s top ranking was no fluke.

In 2011, the Chrysler Town & Country LX had the lowest rate, with an average annual premium of $1,091.80.

Here are the least and most expensive vehicles to insure for the 2012 model year, along with the average annual premium for Insure.com’s sample customer. The full list is available on Insure.com's website.

Least expensive:

1. Toyota Sienna LE  $1,111
2. Toyota Sienna $1,114
3. Jeep Patriot Sport $1,116
4. Jeep Compass Sport $1,118
5. GMC Sierra K1500 Regular Cab $1,121

 Most expensive:

1. Audi R8 Spyder Quattro Convertible $3,384
2. Mercedes CL600 Coupe $3,307
3. Mercedes S600 $2,948
4. Audi R8 4.2 Quattro Coupe$2,903
5. Porsche Panamera Turbo $2,738

Most homeowners have insurance. The question is: do you have enough insurance? Will your policy cover you if the worst happens – if your house is totally destroyed and you need to rebuild? 

According to the Insurance Information Institute’s 2011 Insurance Pulse Survey, nearly half (48 percent) of all homeowners in the U.S. believe the insured value of their home is linked to its market value. 

The percentage of working-age people who get their health insurance through their employer has fallen sharply in recent years, according to a new report, and the drop cannot just be blamed on people losing their jobs.

A report released this week by the by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 60.1 percent of working-age adults had employer-sponsored insurance in 2009, down 8.8 percentage points from 1999.

In addition, 55.8 percent of children were on an employer-sponsored plan in 2009, a 9.3 percentage point drop from a decade earlier.

The report said job losses were an important factor in people losing their employer health coverage, but they were not the primary reason.

Over the course of the decade, the percentage of full-time workers with employer health benefits fell by 3.8 percentage ponts, to 77.2 percent. The number of people with part-time jobs who got health insurance from their employer saw an even steeper 9.2 percentage point drop, to 50.6 percent.

In general, about 50.7 million people, or 16.7 percent of the population, had no health insurance at all in 2009.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities focuses its research on programs that affect lower-income families. The health insurance report is based on U.S. Census data.

Related:

Your boss is feeling the pain of rising healthcare costs, too

Healthcare costs for retirees could top $100k