January 14, 2010 – The Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA) has just learned that the Office of the Attorney General has announced the recovery of $11.1 Million Dollars in motorcycle insurance overcharges.
As stated in their Press Release on January 14th, 2010, “The settlements, which return $11.1 million to consumers, stem from an investigation that the Attorney General’s Office began over a year ago, after a consumer filed a complaint with the office’s Insurance & Financial Services Division.”
The settlements cover alleged overcharges going back to 2002 and require the insurers to pay 6 percent interest to consumers on the alleged overcharges. Average refunds to consumers are anticipated to be approximately $300 with some consumers receiving thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands of policies are believed to have been affected.
Read the Press Release (below). Contact Chairman@MassMotorcycle.org if you have any additional questions.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Office of the Attorney General
ONE ASHBURTON PLACE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02108
(617) 727-2200
(617) 727-4765 TTY
www.mass.gov/ago
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT:
January 14, 2010 Amie Breton (617) 727-2543
ATTORNEY GENERAL MARTHA COAKLEY RECOVERS $11.1 MILLION IN MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE OVERCHARGES FOR CONSUMERS
Insurance companies overcharged consumers on premiums by overstating & failing to depreciate motorcycle values
BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office entered into settlements with Safety Insurance Company (“Safety”), Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (“Liberty”) and Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company (“Quincy”) resolving allegations that they overcharged consumers for motorcycle insurance by using incorrect motorcycle values to calculate premiums. The settlements, which return $11.1 million to consumers, stem from an investigation that the Attorney General’s Office began over a year ago, after a consumer filed a complaint with the office’s Insurance & Financial Services Division.
“We are pleased that Liberty, Quincy, and Safety cooperated with our investigation and worked closely with our Office to reach settlements that return the alleged overcharges to affected consumers,” said Attorney General Coakley. “However, it remains troubling that these overcharges occurred, and these cases certainly underscore the importance of transparency in auto insurance rating. Both consumers and regulators need to have access to information showing how premiums are to be calculated so that consumers can be protected and are not overcharged.”
Auto insurance companies are required to calculate premiums by following the rules in their rating manuals. The settling insurers’ rating manuals required the insurers to use current motorcycle book values to calculate the collision and comprehensive premiums charged to consumers. However, rather than using current book values to calculate premiums, the settling insurers in many cases allegedly used motorcycle values that were inflated and out-of-date. For example, one of the settling insurers calculated premiums for a 1999 Harley Davidson Road King Classic based on a $20,000 value in each year between 2003 and 2008. In fact, the insured motorcycle’s book value was significantly less than $20,000 in 2003, and by 2008, the motorcycle’s value had depreciated to less than $12,000. Still, the consumers were being rated in 2008 as if their motorcycle had a $20,000 book value.
Under the terms of the settlements filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, it is anticipated that Safety will return $7.2 million to policyholders; Liberty will return $3.1 million to policyholders; and Quincy will return $800,000 to policyholders. The three insurance companies will also make payments to the state totaling $510,000. The settlements cover alleged overcharges going back to 2002 and require the insurers to pay 6 percent interest to consumers on the alleged overcharges. Average refunds to consumers are anticipated to be approximately $300 with some consumers receiving thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands of policies are believed to have been affected.
These cases were handled by Investigations Supervisor Arwen Thoman, Mathematician Burt Feinberg, Economist Bryan Lincoln, and Assistant Attorney General Glenn Kaplan, all of Attorney General Coakley’s Insurance & Financial Services Division.
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