Five men charged in motorcycle theft ring

TRENTON -- The state Attorney General's Office has charged five Burlington County men with involvement in a motorcycle theft ring.

The men allegedly stole motorcycles, retagged them with new vehicle identification numbers, then sold them, according to a press release from the attorney general's office.
TRENTON -- The state Attorney General's Office has charged five Burlington County men with involvement in a motorcycle theft ring.

The men allegedly stole motorcycles, retagged them with new vehicle identification numbers, then sold them, according to a press release from the attorney general's office.
Wilson Lopez, 25, of Burlington Township; Tyrone Sapp, 31, of Willingboro; and Angel Carrion, 28, of Mount Holly were charged in one indictment with eight counts of theft by unlawful taking, five counts of receiving stolen property and conspiracy, the statement said. Lopez was also charged with fencing, or receiving and selling stolen goods.

The three men allegedly conspired to steal six motorcycles and two vans between December 2003 and June 2004, according to the press release.

In two other indictments, Neil C. Moyer, 33, of Brown Mills was charged with receiving stolen property and fencing, while Ian Boyington, 30, of Riverside was charged with receiving stolen property, alteration of a vehicle identification number and another motor vehicle-related offense.

The charges for the five men are all third-degree crimes, the statement said.

In some cases, the men would receive the motorcycle from its owner, file a false insurance claim saying the motorcycle had been stolen so that the owner could receive an insurance payment, then change the motorcycle's VIN and sell it.

An insurance fraud investigation led the New Jersey State Police and the Attorney General's Office to evidence of the theft ring, officials said.

"Frequently, insurance fraud investigations lead to evidence of stolen vehicles," said Greta Gooden Brown, the office's insurance fraud prosecutor.

According to the Attorney General's Office, the five men have been ordered to appear at a later date at Superior Court in Burlington County.


Source:http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?

Geico Sponsors Scooter Pavilion At Cycle World Motorcycle Shows

Santa Ana, Calif. (November 21, 2008) – Advanstar Communications, a leading worldwide media company, announced today that they have joined forces with GEICO Powersports as the presenting sponsor of the all new Scooter Pavilion. The pavilion is set to be featured at every stop on the 13-city Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows presented by Toyota national tour.

The all new Scooter Pavilion presented by GEICO Powersports is an area designated to showcase the current scooter craze. From the Piaggio MP3 three-wheeler to the all-electric Vectrix scooter, the new Scooter Pavilion is the place to see and learn about all the latest high mileage transportation options now available. Showgoers can check out scooter accessories and compare more than 20 models from Aprilia, CF Moto, Genuine, Honda, KYMCO, Piaggio, Suzuki, Vectrix, Vespa, Yamaha and more. Visitors to the pavilion can also enter for a chance to win two new Honda Metropolitan scooters and matching helmets courtesy of GEICO Powersports.

“We couldn’t produce such a successful show series without the help of our sponsors and we are thrilled that GEICO, the country’s third-largest private passenger auto insurer, will join as presenting sponsor for our new scooter pavilion,” said Group Show Director Jeff D’Entremont. “With gas prices fluctuating, scooter sales are booming and more and more people are looking for alternative modes of transportation such as scooters, so we are expecting a great turnout at the new Scooter Pavilion presented by GEICO at all the shows across the country.”

“GEICO is proud to be a part of this event that will benefit those who appreciate the powersports lifestyle,” said Vince Giampietro, manager of GEICO Powersports and event marketing. “The Scooter Pavilion is a great place to learn about the newest equipment and our goal is to keep scooter-riders safe on the road and properly insured.”

For hard-core motorcyclists or casual riders, GEICO motorcycle insurance is designed with money-saving discounts, payment plans and GEICO's reliability to meet the needs of motorcycle owners. Specializing in a range of coverage policies, GEICO covers most types of motorcycles, including cruisers, street, sport, touring, high-performance bikes and scooters.

For the 16th consecutive year, Cycle World, the world’s most popular motorcycle magazine, is the title sponsor for the series and leading manufacturer Toyota will return for the 11th year as presenting sponsor. The Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows® presented by Toyota is the world’s largest motorcycle show series. For more information, call 800/331-5706 or visit motorcycleshows.com.

Source: http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=35051

Competition in UK Private Motor Insurance 2007 - New Research Report on Companies and Markets

The brief analyzes the competitive developments in the UK private motor insurance market, discussing market concentration and competitor performance and providing analysis of the top insurers´ market share, GWP and underwriting performance over the last five years.

Scope

Analysis of the top private motor insurers´ growth or decline in market share and the trends driving these changes Performance data of the top
insurers in the UK motor insurance market.

Highlights

The market dominance of the largest players is expected to confer a greater control over the setting of premium rates and a greater ability to steer the market. This has been evident in the fact that the current underwriting cycle has turned before the market reached the level of losses seen in previous cycles.

Reasons to Purchase

Benchmark your company against your competitors based on current and past performance in the market Gain knowledge of competitive developments among private motor insurance providers.

Source:http://www.live-pr.com/en/competition-in-uk-private-motor-insurance-

Young man awarded €5m for motorbike injuries

A YOUNG man who suffered catastrophic head injuries when the motorbike on which he was travelling as a passenger hit a roadside earth bank has secured €5 million damages in one of the biggest High Court settlements of its type.

Approving the settlement yesterday, Mr Justice John Quirke said he had "real concerns" about how meeting the costs of future care for crash victims was dealt with here and he suggested the UK system was "infinitely better".

Given the large difference of opinion between experts about the costs of providing care for crash victims for the rest of their lives, there was a need to examine the "much better" type of compensation system in the UK which allows for periodic payments in such cases, rather than one large settlement, he said.

He made the comments in the case of David McCullagh jnr (30) who, through his father David snr, had sued the driver and owner of the motorbike, Anthony Leahy, Ballineadig, Farran, Cork.

Mr McCullagh, a painter and decorator from Ardcross, Crosshaven, Cork, claimed he suffered severe injuries and is now in a wheelchair as a result of Mr Leahy's negligence in controlling the bike when it hit an earth bank at or near Lee Valley Golf and Country Club, in Ovens, Co Cork, on June 25th, 2006.

Yesterday afternoon Mr Justice Quirke was told the case had been settled without a hearing.

The €4.98 million settlement provides for the cost of daily care to Mr McCullagh for another 33 years, a figure reached on the basis of medical opinion his life expectancy had been cut by 29 per cent.

Henry Hickey SC, for Mr McCullagh, said his side's expert had assessed the costs of care on the basis of the reduced life expectancy while another actuarial report had come up with a figure of €3 million for future care.

Mr Justice Quirke said he had "real concerns" about how the costs of future care for people in such situations is dealt with here.

The system here is supposed to cover all future costs but there was no way of doing that properly and it was the equivalent of "looking into a crystal ball", the judge said.

The judge approved the immediate payment out of €865,000 from the €4.9 million to include €250,000 towards the cost of adapting the family home for David and sums of €60,000 for his parents and €40,000 for his brother and sister for the care they had provided in the last two years for him. The remainder of the money will be paid into court pending wardship proceedings.

David's brother and sister had provided daily assistance bringing him to physiotherapy five days a week while he was in hospital in Dublin and Cork. The insurance company, which insured the motorbike owner, has already provided financial assistance towards home improvement, a car and daily physiotherapy, Mr McCullagh's counsel said.

Mr McCullagh has spent most of his time since the crash in Cork University Hospital and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire and is staying in St Finbarr's Hospital in Cork pending the completion of works to his family home, his counsel said. Apart from his physical injuries which have confined him to a wheelchair, he is also affected intellectually, counsel said. He can carry on conversations but has speech difficulties.

Source:http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper

Insurers suffer from historic floods

Bridge – Bao Viet Insurance has had someone on duty until 1-2 am in the morning since the historic heavy rains began on October 31. Though having not calculated the damages, the group believes that it would suffer severe losses.

By the afternoon of November 3, or three days after Hanoi began sustaining the historic floods in the last three decades, over 50 car owners reported damages to Bao Viet.

The insurance group had estimated that the total number of sustained vehicles may reach 100, and that the group may have to spend several billions of VND to compensate the damages.
An official from Bao Viet said that the number of damaged cars may be bigger if counting the vehicles that were damaged in the expanded Hanoi. Bao Viet’s vehicle insurance has never before incurred such a heavy loss.

In the insurance policies with Bao Viet, there is a provision on compensation when cars are submerged under water. The clients, who accept the provision, have to pay additional premiums of 5%, but will be insured 100% for risks. If clients do not buy the insurance clause, they will not get the compensation if they try to kick start when the vehicles are flooded.

Among the 18 cars submerged on the underground floor at the C6 My Dinh residential quarter, some of them were Bao Viet’s clients. As this is a natural calamity, it is highly possible that the vehicles’ owners will be insured no matter what if they bought the insurance clause on compensation when cars are submerged under water.

The Head of the Vehicle Insurance Division, Dinh Quang Tan, said that since Hanoi became flooded because of the heavy rains, Bao Viet’s staff had to come to sites to assist clients to repair broken down vehicles. Tan said that the staff had to work overnight on October 31, when there were too many broken down vehicles. Only after assisting clients to rescue vehicles, the company will begin assessing the damage levels in order to define the compensation.

Bao Viet now has some 3 million clients who are the owners of motorbikes and 500,000 cars nationwide. In Hanoi, Bao Viet now holds 40% of the market share, followed by Bao Minh, PJICO, and PVI.

PJICO has also estimated that the number of damaged cars in the heavy floods may reach 100. Among the 18 vehicles submerged in the C6 My Dinh case, four were the clients of PJICO.
Insurers said that the number of broken down motorbikes in the floods was relatively large. However, as the motorbike owners only purchased the compulsory third-party insurance, and did not purchase insurance policies for body work, they will not receive compensation.

Source:http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2008/11/811801/