Massachusetts Auto Reform

Reviewing the information regarding auto insurance REFORM, that doesn't seem all it promised,
MASSPIRG prepared the following:

Changes Mean Higher Rates

The report also showed that Massachusetts drivers have already been charged an extra $150 million in premiums that they would not have paid under either our previous system or a fair competitive system.

Despite the flaws of our previous set of auto insurance regulations, the system produced a 21 percent decrease in rates over the last three years and would have cut rates by at least 11 percent next year, according to analyses of rates by both MASSPIRG and the attorney general’s office.

Under the new system, however, the insurers filed only an average 7 percent decrease in rates. Further, Commissioner of Insurance Nonnie Burnes denied the attorney general access to information that could have determined whether these estimates are inflated, so even the 7 percent figure is suspect. In either case, the net result on the average premium under the new system compared to our regulated one is an average increase in rates of at least 4 percent in just the first year.