Insurance Reform

Current Campaigns

Campaign for Fair Auto Insurance Reform (FAIR)

Some auto insurers are aggressively looking to dismantle and eliminate our auto regulatory system in favor of one where insurers set all the rules and they can ignore our hard fought consumer protections that currently exist. Insurers want to use non-driving related factors such as credit scores, marital status, level of education and type of employment among other factors, in determining whether to insure your car or what rate they will charge. Read more.

Lower Accident Rates=Lower Premiums

Massachusetts holds the dubious distinction of having the highest accident rate in the nation, resulting in high premiums. By pursuing a comprehensive safety and anti-fraud effort to improve our accident rate and deter criminal acts, we could cut insurance premiums by as much as 20 percent -- an average $200 per car per year. Read more.

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 former Governor Romney 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.

auto-insurance-summary.pdf

MASSPIRG's Deirdre Cummings and Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes discuss changes to the rules guiding auto insurance rates. The changes mean that many factors unrelated to how you drive—like your income and education—will play into the rates you pay, and some good drivers will wind up paying more. Find out what it means for you.