Feb 11, 2009 6:00 pm US/Eastern
Advocates Try To Save Program That Saves Drivers $
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Opposition to elimination of the Auto Insurance Appeals Board is heating up on Beacon Hill. More than a hundred lawmakers have signed on to a bill that would save the board. They say it saves drivers tens of millions of dollars and makes millions for the state.
Massachusetts is the only state in which drivers can appeal car insurance surcharges if they're found at fault in an accident, until April Fools' Day -- that's when state Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes will eliminate the Auto Insurance Appeals Board, calling it costly and inefficient, and allow insurance companies to review appeals.
If drivers don't like the outcome, Burnes says they can shop for a better deal with a different company. But critics of the new system say that would force drivers to shop for a better deal with an accident which they don't feel is their fault. "It makes the insurance company the judge, the jury and the executioner all at once, not good for the consumer," said Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of the consumer group MassPirg, which has written the Insurance Commissioner opposing elimination of the appeals board as do many motorists.
Proponents of the current appeals process say it saves drivers about $25 million a year because 45 percent to 50 percent of them win their appeals; and the $50 fee they pay gives the state $2.5 million a year in revenue.
Representative Paul Donato, (D) Medford, says 107 lawmakers have signed on to a bill he's sponsoring to save the appeals board. "You're going to give this to the insurance company? The very insurance company that you're arguing to say 'don't give me a surcharge,' is going to do a review?" asked Donato, "this is a consumer advocacy bill." Representative Donato said he hopes the bill preserving the appeals process will make it to the Governor and that he will have second thoughts about eliminating it.
Insurance Commissioner Burnes issued a statement late today saying, "In less than a year, managed competition has demonstrated that choice is the best way for all consumers to identify the auto insurance that meets their individual needs at the lowest cost. The changes in the accident surcharge appeals process will similarly benefit consumers. The Division of Insurance will be vigilant in ensuring drivers are treated fairly by their insurance companies."
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