ABSTRACT
Automobile insurance sales followed the trend in motor car production. From a high of $290 million in 1929, automobile insurance premiums written by stock casualty companies plunged to $224 million in 1933. While automobile liability insurance offered a solution to the problem, both the bodily injury and property damage policies proved unpopular among most motorists. In 1933 Pennsylvania enacted the Uniform Automobile Liability Security Act, a law better known as the Financial Responsibility Act. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, in addition to the doctrine of contributory negligence, there were some other aspects of the law that helped insurance companies. Erie Insurance included the claims adjusters' telephone numbers with each customer's policy to assist those who had an accident, particularly when then they were outside of Pennsylvania. The Union City case shows how important a company's reputation is in the insurance business.
