Apr 1, 2008 2:59 pm US/Eastern
A.G. Says Auto Insurance Web Site Misleading
BOSTON (AP) ―
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Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. (file image)
WBZ
Attorney General Martha Coakley said Tuesday that a Web site run by the Division of Insurance to educate consumers about the state's new auto insurance law instead gives them inaccurate rate comparisons.
The state's chief law enforcement officer called on Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes to revamp the Web site, but stopped short of asking Burnes to take it down.
"The Web site as it is currently maintained is not only not helpful, it's misleading," Coakley said at a news conference.
The Web site --
http://www.autoratecompare.doi.state.ma.us. -- which has received about 600,000 hits since it began operating in mid-February, allows consumers to enter personal data to get a sample premium quote from a specific insurer. The site advises consumers they must contact insurers directly to get accurate quotes, which "may differ significantly" from the sample quotes.
Coakley said drivers who rely on the Web site alone for comparison shopping need to contact insurance agents and several of the state's 19 auto insurers to get accurate rate quotes.
"It can only be a starting point into this process, not a final point," Coakley said.
Tuesday was the start of the new regulations to make the state's auto insurance more competitive. The state has said its shift to a so-called "managed competition" system could save drivers 10 percent or more on auto insurance rates.
Coakley has clashed previously with Burnes, as the commissioner oversees the market shift after three decades of strict regulation.
Coakley has said rate reductions planned by insurers would not drive premiums down as far as Burnes has estimated. She said Burnes lumped group discounts in her calculations, resulting in an apples-to-oranges comparison with previous years.
Coakley also has pressed insurers to lower their 2008 rates, arguing that initial filings last fall included extra profits and payments to agents that wouldn't have been allowed under old regulations.
Kim Haberlin, a spokeswoman for Burnes, declined to comment before the attorney general's news conference.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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