After fall, Mass. insurers’ auto rates up again - Boston Globe
The insurance division can reject a rate increase only if it is unreasonable or excessive, Anthony noted.
"We are not a socialist regime,'' Anthony said. "We have competition. Some people's rates may go up and some people's may go down. It's the way competition works.''
The rate increases could reignite debate over the way the state regulates auto insurance. Historically, the state set standard rates for every carrier, so rates differed little from company to company.
But starting in 2008, Governor Deval Patrick's administration gave insurers more freedom to set prices - a change called managed competition - in an effort give consumers more options and lower premiums.
Since then, more than a dozen additional insurers have entered the Massachusetts market, including industry giants such as
Overall, auto insurance premiums fell by an average of 12.7 percent from 2007 to 2009, the steepest drop in the country, according to a recent report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. That translated into average savings of $133.80 per policy.
More important, state insurance regulators said, customers have wider choices because deregulation left companies free to offer different prices and products.
"Prior to managed competition, buying your auto insurance in Massachusetts was like when Henry Ford unveiled the Model T,'' said Murphy, the insurance commissioner. "You could have any color you wanted as long as it was black.''
Industry groups echoed Murphy.
"We believe that managed competition has been strongly helpful to the motoring public in Massachusetts because it has reduced the cost of insurance for good drivers and dramatically improved consumer choice in products and carriers,'' said James T. Harrington, executive director of the Massachusetts Insurance Federation, which represents most of the state's auto insurers.
16 May, 2012
-
Source: http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-15/business/31702518_1_auto-rates-rate-increases-auto-insurance/2
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
