AUTO INSURANCE COMPETITION A BIG SUCCESS IN BAY STATE

Trade Group Hails Report by National Insurance Regulator Group PRESS RELEASE, BOSTON:“The verdict is in and it is remarkable: Since the introduction of competition, consumers in Massachusetts have seen their auto insurance rates decline by the most of any state in the nation,” said James T. Harrington, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Insurance Federation (MIF.) “Polling has been clear that competition is very popular with Massachusetts consumers but now we know, too, that industry regulators throughout the country agree that the remarkable decrease by an average 12.7% for auto…

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MIF supports use of standard hurricane models in the Massachusetts homeowners insurance market

PRESS RELEASE: Massachusetts Insurance Federation Executive Director James T. Harrington refuted claims made  by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office in a letter to the State Rating Bureau of the Division of Insurance in which the Rating Bureau is requested to initiate proceedings to review homeowners’ insurance rates currently in effect. “We believe such proceedings would be unprecedented and are certainly not warranted by anything in the letter from the Attorney General’s office,” Harrington said. “Her claim that insurance companies in this state are using untested and unsupported hurricane models that…

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Massachusetts insurance agents rally against use of socioeconomic factors to price insurance coverage

Massachusetts insurance agents have come together to oppose the use of credit score and other socioeconomic factors when determine the cost of auto insurance. The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) will be campaigning to bring the matter before Congress, where the group hopes legislators will ban what they call a “discriminatory practice.” More than 1,400 agencies representing MAIA are currently mobilized to gather signatures from registered voters for a petition that will bear their concerns to lawmakers. The campaign has won the support of Attorney General Martha Coakley, who…

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Agents in Massachusetts push for insurers to discontinue their use of credit score

Independent insurance agents in Massachusetts are looking to bar credit scores from playing a part in the pricing of auto insurance. The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) is leading the charge, hoping to gain enough support from the public and insurance companies to ensure that factors like occupation, education and credit score do not contribute to the overall cost of insurance. Unfortunately, a number of prestigious insurance companies have rallied against the proposal. MAIA holds that auto insurance prices should be dependent upon an individual’s driving record, not their…

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