Friday, February 22, 2008

Mandatory Insurance Driver's License Suspension

Beginning July 1, 2007, individuals convicted of driving without liability insurance under 625 ILCS 5/3-707 will lose their driving privileges for a minimum of three months. The suspension will be extended for an additional six months, if the individual is convicted of a second offense while the first offense remains in effect. The law, Public Act 91-1035, requires that a $100 reinstatement fee be paid to the State prior to license reinstatement. The law does not allow any driving permit during the course of this suspension.

Do you offer SR-22s to someone that does not own a car? Yes. Fill out the request a quote form and we will provide you with a quote to get your insurance started.
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Monday, February 18, 2008

Keeping Warm this Winter


Global Warming might be a very real danger facing our planet, but that does not change the reality that it gets very cold in the winter in Chicago.
With the cold weather comes a variety of health concerns. Clearly sub zero temperatures can have serious risks for even the healthiest in the population, but the situation is far more serious for those that are already in a weakened state.
IDoA Director Charles D. Johnson said. “The state has a number of resources available that seniors can use so they aren’t left to make difficult decisions about paying their heating bills or taking their prescription drugs this winter".
" I hope that older persons, their families and those who care for them will take these practical, simple steps to prepare for the cold weather ahead.”
Read complete Tips for Keeping Warm
Senior Care Resources can help provide the information, sources, and manpower to help you care for your loved ones and keep them on a positive path to wellness.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

On-Line Payment Plan

Urban Insurance Agency is happy to announce effective 12/15/07

Real-Time On-Line Payment Plan

We are always happy to speak to our customers, but now for those who wish to check their accounts, and or make payments On-Line,
we have set up our new 24 hour Payment Plan.

Urban Insurance take our customers privacy and security seriously. Our site is protected by
HACKER SAFE online protection.
This site is tested and certified daily to pass the HACKER SAFE Security Scan.

To help address concerns about hacker access to confidential data, the "live" HACKER SAFE mark appears only
when a web site meets the HACKER SAFE standard.


To make a payment on your account, just enter your phone number and zip code.
Then press "Next" to continue.
We have worked to make this process as simple as possible





We are happy to except your payment in person, by mail or over the phone,
this is just one more choice available to you.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Mississippi car insurance

Urban Insurance Agency is proud to now offer Auto Insurance in the state of Mississippi.

Urban Auto insurance can now provide quotes for Mississippi car insurance.

You must maintain a minimum of liability insurance on all vehicles owned and or licensed, and you must also carry proof of insurance in your car at all times. The minimum coverage allowed by law are:

· $25,000 per person (single accident)
· $50,000 per accident for bodily injury
. $25,000 per accident for property damage
. $25,000/$50,000 Uninsured Motorist

Please call Urban Insurance for a quote on your car insurance.

Friday, November 16, 2007

2008 Safest Cars

When I was a child, the speed limit was 65, cars did not have shoulder straps and no one heard of a "Car seat". It was not at all strange to see a child in the front seat.

How times have changed. From anti-lock brakes to air bags; we have all become aware of the dangers associated with driving. More than any other organization, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, has been a constant voice pushing for safer vehicles.

The car makers now all recognize that a bad safety report from the Insurance Institute will dramatically impact sales of that model. This is a perfect example of the marketplace stimulating better products. Below is the latest winners from Insurance Institute

2008 winners of Top Safety Pick award

Thirty-four vehicles earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award for 2008. The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, and rear crashes based on ratings in the Institute's tests. Winners also have to be equipped with electronic stability control (ESC), which research shows can significantly reduce the risk of crashing.
Compared with last year, automakers have more than doubled the number of vehicles that meet criteria for Top Safety Pick. At the beginning of the 2007 model year, 13 models qualified, but as manufacturers have made changes and introduced new and safer vehicle designs, 10 additional vehicles qualified during the year. Now another 11 vehicles are being added to the list for 2008. Designating winners based on the tests makes it easier for consumers to identify vehicles that afford the best overall protection without sifting through multiple sets of comparative crash test results.
"For 2008, consumers have the widest selection of vehicles they've ever had that afford the best protection in the most common kinds of crashes," says Institute president Adrian Lund. Front and side impacts are the most common kinds of fatal crashes, killing nearly 25,000 of the 31,000 vehicle occupants who died in 2005. Rear-end crashes usually aren't fatal, but they result in a large proportion of the injuries that occur in crashes. About 60 percent of insurance injury claims in 2002 reported minor neck sprains and strains.

All current car and minivan models, small and midsize SUVs, and small and large pickup trucks are eligible to win Top Safety Pick. Eight vehicles from Ford and its subsidiary, Volvo, make the list of winners for 2008. Seven winners are from Honda and its subsidiary, Acura.
Winners have features that help avoid crashes: The Institute added a crash prevention criterion last year to earn Top Safety Pick. Winning vehicles have to be equipped with ESC, which can help drivers avoid crashes altogether. ESC is a control system comprised of sensors and a microcomputer that continuously monitors how well a vehicle responds to a driver's steering input and selectively applies the vehicle brakes and modulates engine power to keep the vehicle traveling along the path indicated by the steering wheel position. This technology helps prevent sideways skidding and loss of control that can lead to rollovers. ESC can help drivers maintain control during emergency maneuvers when their vehicles otherwise might spin out.

"Vehicles should be designed to provide good occupant protection when crashes occur, but now with ESC we have the possibility of preventing many crashes altogether," Lund says.
"If all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year."
Institute research indicates that ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent and fatal multiple-vehicle crashes by 32 percent. Many single-vehicle crashes involve rolling over, and ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 80 percent (SUVs) and 77 percent (cars).
For first time pickups are eligible: Pickup trucks haven't been eligible to win Top Safety Pick until now because the Institute hadn't begun side testing them. The Toyota Tundra is first to qualify. Pickups aren't as likely as cars or SUVs to have side airbags or ESC, and Toyota has made these features standard in the Tundra.
"Pickups are among the top selling vehicles in the United States," Lund points out. "They're also more likely than in the past to be used as family vehicles, so equipping them with the latest safety features is important."
Protection in rear impacts improves: Crash tests have driven major improvements in the designs of all kinds and sizes of passenger vehicles. The Institute began frontal crash tests for consumer information in 1995. Side tests were added in 2003 and rear tests in 2004. Most vehicles now earn good ratings in the frontal test, but significant differences still are apparent in vehicle performance in side and rear tests.
Some manufacturers have been working to improve the ratings of their vehicles in the rear test. For example, the seat/head restraints in the Honda Accord, Element, and Odyssey as well as the BMW X3 and X5 are rated good compared with previous designs that were rated marginal or poor. Audi improved the design of seat/head restraints in the A3 from acceptable to good. Another 23 vehicles would have won 2008 awards if they had good seat/head restraint designs. Toyota could have claimed 10 more awards, including 3 for Lexus models. Nissan and Volkswagen could have picked up 4 awards apiece.
Another area where safety is improving is occupant protection in side impacts. More 2008 model vehicles include as standard equipment side airbags designed to protect people's heads. The Saturn was side tested twice. In the first test, the side curtain airbag didn't deploy properly, and the head of the dummy positioned in the back seat was struck by the sill of the window in the door. This impact didn't produce high head injury measures, but head protection was inadequate. In response, General Motors redesigned the side curtain airbag to ensure more rapid inflation and better coverage of the airbag next to the dummy's head. In the second test, the fix was successful, and the VUE's side rating improved from acceptable to good. Top Safety Pick applies to VUEs built after December 2007.

Each year, the Institute offers to test Top Safety Pick candidates early in the model year. The policy is for manufacturers to reimburse the Institute for the cost of vehicles if the tests aren't part of the group's regular schedule. Top Safety Pick is presented by vehicle size because size and weight are closely related, and both influence how well occupants will be protected in serious crashes. Larger, heavier vehicles generally afford better protection in crashes than smaller, lighter ones.
How the vehicles are evaluated: The Institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of frontal offset crash tests at 40 mph. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures from a Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

Each vehicle's overall side evaluation is based on performance in a crash test in which the side of the vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph that represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented SID-IIs dummies, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact. Injury measures obtained from the two dummies, one in the driver seat and the other in the back seat behind the driver, are used to determine the likelihood that a driver and/or passenger in a real-world crash would have sustained serious injury. The movements and contacts of the dummies' heads during the crash also are evaluated. Structural performance is based on measurements indicating the amount of B-pillar intrusion into the occupant compartment.

Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seats with good or acceptable restraint geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor overall because they can't be positioned to protect many people

11 NEW WINNERS FOR 2008

Midsize cars Audi A3 Honda Accord
Small car Subaru Impreza equipped with optional electronic stability control
Minivan Honda Odyssey
Midsize SUVs BMW X3BMW X5Hyundai Veracruz built after August 2007
Saturn VUE built after December 2007
Toyota Highlander
Small SUV Honda Element
Large pickup Toyota Tundra

ALL 34 WINNERS
Large cars Audi A6,
Ford Taurus with optional electronic stability control
Mercury Sable with optional electronic stability control
Volvo S80
Midsize cars Audi A3, A4
Honda Accord
Saab 9-3
Subaru Legacy with optional electronic stability control
Midsize Saab 9-3Volvo C70
Small car Subaru Impreza with optional electronic stability control
Minivans Honda Odyssey
Hyundai Entourage
Kia Sedona
Midsize SUVs Acura MDX, RDX
BMW X3, X5
Ford Edge, Taurus X
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Veracruz built after August 2007
Lincoln MKX
Mercedes M class
Saturn VUE built after December 2007
Subaru Tribeca
Toyota Highlander
Volvo XC90
Small SUVs Honda CR-V, Element
Subaru Forester with optional electronic stability control
Large pickup Toyota Tundra

Each of these vehicles will likely get a boost in sales as a result of bein on this list.

Larry Lubell
Urban insurance Agency.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

New Lower Rates on Car Insurance

Think You’re Paying Too Much for Car Insurance?

Let “
Urban Insurance Agency.com” find you the lowest rate on your car insurance.

We offer among the
lowest car insurance quotes in Chicago on SR-22 filings We will compare rates at more than 20 different companies in order to find the exact coverage you want at the lowest price.

Below are “Actual Rates” for customers who switched to Urban today*

Term Age Sex / M or S City Coverage Rate

12 months 44 Male Single Chicago SR22 $340
6 months 51 Male Single Ottawa Liability $129
6 months 24 Female Married Summit 4 Cars $464
12 months 21 Female Single Granite City SR22 $440
6 months 30 Female Single Gary Full Coverage $420
6 months 36 Male Single Chicago Liability $155
6 months 25 Male Married Skokie Full Coverage $289
6 months 27 Female Single Hammond Full Coverage $390


We can help drivers in Chicago, Illinois get the lowest quotes even if they have a DUI, suspended license or pending suspension. Unlike many insurance companies today we can offer you auto insurance without "Running your credit" This can save you hundreds of dollars on your policy.

We also offer Insurance for Tow trucks, Messengers, long and short haul trucking.

Call Urban Insurance for a Free Car Insurance Quote
800-680-0707

*10/24/07

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Cut your Gas Bill !


10 Ways to Increase Your Gas Mileage

The war in Iraq, Conflict in Turkey, Anger in Iran, coupled with the growing demand from China, have come together to cause Oil prices to surge to a new record of $89 a barrel. This is more than four times the prices we were paying in the year 2000. While we can hope that successful conclusions to world crises will reduce oil prices (Not to mention- peace) but due to world demand it is unlikely we will see prices drop below $60 a barrel; so the days of $2.00 gas are over.
Owning and maintaining a car has never been cheap. And, gas is one of the biggest, of those expenses. With gas prices at all time highs, this has never been truer. Clearly we have seen a trend away from larger SUVs, but for most of us, we are stuck with the Vehicle we have for the next few years. But you can still save gas and money on your current ride if you follow the following tips:

1. Check your tire pressure. This might not seem an obvious factor in fuel consumption, however, Under inflated tires are the number one cause of avoidable fuel loss.
2. Keep brakes in shape. Try riding your bike while even lightly pressing on one of the brakes- it does not make for a fun trip. That gives you an idea of what a misaligned or stuck parking brake can do to your fuel efficiency,
3. Check your Wheel alignment. , unbalanced wheels can play a role in mileage
4. Use the right gasoline. Most cars today are designed to run on regular gas. Check your owner’s manual. If premium fuel is "Required", plan on biting the bullet, but if the manufacturer only recommends premium, you may be able to get by with a lower grade.“If it’s "Recommended", you may have an option to go to a lower grade fuel -- although there will be some trade off there if you’re saving a ton of money in the process”.
5. Change your oil and filter regularly to avoid dirt causing additional friction in your engine.
The time your car burns the most fuel is while it's "warming up". Heat not only puts wear on your engine, but the energy that is used to cause the extra heat is energy not available to move the car forward. Try using the lightest oil recommended in your owner's manual.
6. Check your spark plugs. One misfiring spark plug can reduce fuel mileage by as much as 30 percent!
7. Check your air filter . A dirty filter will rob your car of performance and fuel economy So check every time you change your oil
8. Watch out for wind resistance. There is a reason auto makers spend millions testing cars in wind-tunnels, bike racks, stuff stacked up and tied down to your roof roof will increase wind resistance and negatively impact mileage.
9. Use air conditioning wisely. The drag caused by open windows when driving over 50 mph is greater than the energy required to run the air conditioner. So you can get the most fuel efficiency by using the A/C on the highway, However rolling down the windows will help fuel economy at slow speeds.
10. Be a smart driver. Stop and start driving really burns fuel. So, do your best to keep it at a minimum. For example, if you have cruise control, use it to keep highway speeds as steady as possible. Shift manual transmissions into neutral before stopping. And, if you can, consider changing driving routes to avoid excessive stopping and idling.

Of course, since there is nothing anyone of us can do to reduce oil prices, it is more important than ever to make sure you are not over-paying for your car insurance. Let Urban Insurance Agency provide you with a competitive rate. See how much money Urban can save you.

Call 1-800-680-0707 or click to get a Free Quote.
Urban Insurance Agency has been helping customers save money on their car insurance for more than 45 years. We represent 20 different companies in order to find you the lowest price on your Auto Insurance.