Overview

Automobile insurance is a significant, legally mandated household expense, without which consumers place their financial security and livelihood at risk.

Under the guise of “fixing the system”, many auto insurers along with and some lawmakers   launched a campaign to dump our regulated insurance rate setting process for a largely unregulated one.

MASSPIRG opposes efforts to eliminate our hard fought consumer protections. Deregulating the system  will result in higher rates over the long term, higher rates in the short term for urban and younger drivers,  insurers using unrelated factors to driving to set rates (marital status, education, type of job, and credit scores to name just a few), and failure to address the real cause of our high rates---our highest-in-the-nation accident rate.

Resources: 

• Letter calling on Commissioner Burnes to Preserve Consumers' Rights to Appeal 12/8/2008 (PDF)
  

• AN ACT To PROVIDE FOR FURTHER CONSUMER PROTECTION IN AUTO INSURANCE 10/24/2007 (PDF)

• Leaders and Organizations in Support of: AN ACT To PROVIDE FOR FURTHER CONSUMER PROTECTION IN AUTO INSURANCE 10/24/2007 (PDF)
  

• Summary of AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR FURTHER CONSUMER PROTECTION
  IN AUTO INSURANCE 10/24/2007 (PDF)
  

• Letter to Commissioner Calling for Disclosure of Insurance Declinations 9/26/20 (PDF)

• Mayor Menino calls for fair insurance rules 9/10/2007 (PDF)

• Letter to the Governor signed by 10 Consumer Groups Calling for Preserving Ban on Unfair Auto Insurance Practices (PDF) 8/1/2007

• Members of the Auto Insurance Task Force Call for Consumer Protections in Auto Insurance regs 7/19/2007(PDF)

• Statement: New Insurance Regulations Better for Insurers than Consumers.7/15/2007 

• The National Consumer Law Center's report, "Credit Scoring and Insurance: Costing Consumers Billions and Perpetuating the Economic Racial Divide," 7/3/2007 (PDF)

• The Massachusetts Automobile Insurance Study Group3/15/07

• MASSPIRG fact sheet about the auto insurance bill HB 5021
  6/5/2006 (PDF)

• Bad Process and Bad Bill 6/5/2006

• CFA calls attention to Unfair Underwriting practices by GEICO  3/14/2006 (PDF) 

• Myths and Facts about Auto Insurance Reform (PDF) 11/14/2005

• The Limitations of a Competitive Auto Insurance Market:

• How to Reduce Rates and Increase Insurer Profitability Simultaneously. 11/23/2004