Written by Update on Massachusetts Auto Insurance
Liberty Mutual announced all new and renewed auto insurance policies in Massachusetts will include and no additional cost 4 benefits that were not available before January 1st, 2008.
The four new features will give all Massachusetts Liberty Mutual policyholders the ability to receive full replacement cost of a new vehicle was totaled in an accident or stolen with a year or 15,000 miles after purchase.
Metlife Auto announced that it has added a a new identity theft resolution to their 200,000 Massachusetts policy holders.
Travelers has said that Premier would be renamed to Travelers of Massachusetts to bring the highly regarded name of Travelers back into the state of Massachusetts.
Want to get a fair auto insurance quote in Massachusetts? You may have to wait until 2008.
Almost anyone not in the auto insurance industry living outside of Massachusetts probably has no idea how hard it is to get auto insurance in this very populated state. I’m not talking inexpensive or low cost, I simply mean basic coverage. Insurance companies have bailed one after another citing unfair legislation and low to no profit margins. Consumers, naturally receive the worst end with little competition and incredibly high premiums – if you can find them at all.
So how did this happen? Why would one state be so extremely difficult to get a fair auto insurance policy providing the customer with a reasonable cost and competition, ultimately giving consumers the best options? Quite simply put, the government. Instead of letting the insurance carriers decide how to set consumer rates, the government stepped in and instituted some very strict guidelines against discrimination. Discrimination is a harsh word, but fairly accurate in describing the assessment of risk in the insurance industry. You can’t be unbiased and make a profit, it’s just not possible. So, in order to keep costs low for good drivers, the difference has to be made up somewhere.
Whether it seems fair or not the Government is finding out very quickly that forcing guidelines that stopped the practice of quoting rates based on race or gender made it impossible for most companies to turn a profit in that state and ultimately, the consumers were left with few options for coverage based on those guidelines.
So where’s the remedy? Will Massachusetts ever get competitive auto insurance? Sure, someday, but both sides are going to be miles apart if the auto insurance industry continues to be bound by state legislation for setting policy rates. At the moment there is a proposed plan that shows some promise, but ultimately even though it’s attempting to bring in more insurance carrier driven rates (i.e. competition), it (the state) still has an ultimate hand in the outcome.
Although there are proponents and critics of this new plan set to start in 2008, it’s easy to see that states like New Jersey which had similar laws a few years ago have prospered with their auto insurance overhaul. The new changes to the Mass plan would allow competition and that’s the bottom line, Massachusetts needs competition.
For more information on Gov. Patrick’s Auto Insurance Proposal
Massachusetts Auto Insurance Resources:
