It Figures

1,600
The number of drivers Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says purchased car insurance from Liberty Mutual in response to a direct mail ad campaign she says was misleading. The ads promoted lower rates and special discounts not available in Massachusetts, according to Coakley, who filed a court order requiring Liberty Mutual to suspend the ads and pay a $50,000 fine. But Liberty Mutual said it made clear that its promotion did not apply in all states, company spokesman Glenn Greenberg said. He said the insurer has not received a single complaint from a Liberty Mutual customer and denied the company did anything wrong.

45 mph, 25 mph
The daytime and nighttime speed limits that would be imposed upon boats on New Hampshire lakes under a proposal reintroduced in the Legislature. The House passed it last year but it died in the Senate. Since then, four of the Republicans who voted against the bill have been replaced by Democrats, who now hold a 14-10 majority in the Senate.

$44 million
The savings that Insurance Superintendent Alessandro Iuppa calculated that Maine’s Dirigo Health Agency produced in its first year. The Maine Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether those savings were properly calculated. Last August, Superior Court Justice Roland Cole rejected an appeal of Iuppa’s 2005 decision but health insurers and businesses are still questioning the methodology used.

6-fold
The size of the increase in fourth quarter profit reported by Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., the nation’s largest insurance brokerage. The New York-based company said net income totaled $226 million, or 40 cents a share, in the October-December period, up from $35 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.

$1.1 million
The amount a federal court jury ordered a surgeon pay a Massachusetts man who lost part of his leg after a burn on his toe became infected. The jury found Dr. John Bookwalter negligent in the 2001 treatment of Charles Olanyk. The lawsuit alleged that Bookwalter treated the burn with topical cream and antibiotics. Bookwalter, who works at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, said his insurance would cover up to $1 million of the judgment.

$25.7 million
The Delaware Department of Insurance proposed budget for the next fiscal year which includes a 1.47 percent increase for inflation.

Topics Massachusetts