Car thieves take a break for Christmas; men quoted higher insurance rates

(Thinkstock)

Even car thieves take it easy on Christmas
You better watch out for your vehicle on New Year's Day, the busiest official holiday for car thieves in 2011, says the National Crime Information Center, part of the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Christmas Day holds the dual distinction for having the lowest theft figure for a holiday and the lowest reported vehicle thefts of any day last year.
— NWautos staff

(Thinkstock)

Men quoted higher auto-insurance rates
Men tend to get quoted higher rates for auto insurance than women, according to an analysis from Online Auto Insurance. Based on 5,000 quotes collected from regulatory agencies in seven states, the data show that if a man and a woman with the same driver profile (except for their gender) got quotes for the same coverage, the man's quote would be higher 62 percent of the time. Men's quotes average about 23 percent higher than women's. OAI manager Cesar Diaz says, "With European insurers having to exclude sex-based pricing from their business plans starting Dec. 21, we wanted to spread some awareness of the issue here in the States."
— NWautos staff