‘Prohibits underwriting on the basis of sex, marital status, race, creed, national origin, religion, age, occupation, income, principal place of garaging of the vehicle, education, homeownership and credit information.’
In spite of 80 years of auto insurance history that is irrefutable, Massachusetts opens up its citizens to ‘Amateur night’. Presumably these lawmakers were elected? What idiots.
Good luck with this MA! What’s left to rate with, whether they have ten fingers and ten toes. Get a quote in Jersey and you’ll be rated on income, education, color of eyes, color of hair, is it bleached or natural !
Perhaps the insurance companies wil have to try something really new…they may have to actually only use the insured’s driving record as the rating basis, imagine that!
Non competitive rating based primarily on driving record was what the state had before. Watch what happens now – the domestics and consumer groups will keep chipping away until the “reform” looks exactly like the old system.
It was my impression that most states driving records were not complete. Many of the tickets or accidents were left off or downsized to accomodate the violator. These are not accurate or reflective of driving history or skills. What do we do now, charge everybody the same rate? That really makes sense.
About 1/3 of violations don’t show depending on what survey you read. Not sure if it’s still this way, but for years MA didn’t reciprocate MVR info so out of state violations would not show. This was particularly problematic due to the size of the NE states.
Most of you out of staters would be appaled if your state allowed insurance companies to use 6 years of driving history to surcharge you. MA also doesn’t not allow you to take a defensive driving class to reduce points either.. you get them and they are used against you for 6 years! The only tickets that don’t count currently are parking tickets!One speeding ticket 4 years ago causes you to be disqualifed for discounts.. most states ignore speeding tickets after 3 years but not MA… so good luck trying to keep a good driving record here.. remember, one ticket and 5 years of surcharges.
Yeah, and then they’ll complain when event recorders are used to collect speeding information. Driving record is only useful in identifying those who got caught. I can’t wait to see how this pans out and Massachusetts ends up with only a couple of carriers. Some competitiion. It amazes me what politicians will do for votes….any wonder that NC has the largest residual market in the US? No one ever notices how much they pay in surcharges, only that the “rates” are low…
Having lived in MA for 24 years, this is almost the same try at competitive rates that failed in the late 80’s. Same “MO”, so nothing will really change. Plus this time they’ve even taken rating territories out of the mix so it will be worse for non urban drivers.
After the first year, when the urban Boston drivers see their non-subsidized bills under this “new” system, like the last time, they will start screaming to their state Reps and the state will go back to the same old system and nothing will change.
By the way – MA still does not reciprocate with states other than in New England, but there are many states that do not reciprocate at all, not unusual.
STAT Guy,
It makes no sense to try and correlate credit scores to driving habits. I can’t see where you are coming from bringing in the NC market to this discussion.
STAT Guy,
It makes no sense to try and correlate credit scores to driving habits. I can’t see where you are coming from bringing in the NC market to this discussion.
The people who disagree with credit scoring don’t look at data, whoever produces it. They just “know” it’s the wrong thing to do. Statistics and proof be Da*&&^.
Headline is all about credit scoring, but looks like the real story here is that all drivers in the state with the same driving record get the same rate regardless of age or where they live. How sound is that? What are companies going to do the keep from insuring young drivers.
Another question? What are experienced drivers going to do to not pay for the losses experienced by young drivers?
They will do something. How about not drive? Humans complain about their insurance going up ten dollars per policy period. How will they feel when their rates go up by 50%. Maybe the social engineers in MA look at this as indeed a way to make people stop driving.
‘Prohibits underwriting on the basis of sex, marital status, race, creed, national origin, religion, age, occupation, income, principal place of garaging of the vehicle, education, homeownership and credit information.’
In spite of 80 years of auto insurance history that is irrefutable, Massachusetts opens up its citizens to ‘Amateur night’. Presumably these lawmakers were elected? What idiots.
Good luck with this MA! What’s left to rate with, whether they have ten fingers and ten toes. Get a quote in Jersey and you’ll be rated on income, education, color of eyes, color of hair, is it bleached or natural !
Perhaps the insurance companies wil have to try something really new…they may have to actually only use the insured’s driving record as the rating basis, imagine that!
Non competitive rating based primarily on driving record was what the state had before. Watch what happens now – the domestics and consumer groups will keep chipping away until the “reform” looks exactly like the old system.
It was my impression that most states driving records were not complete. Many of the tickets or accidents were left off or downsized to accomodate the violator. These are not accurate or reflective of driving history or skills. What do we do now, charge everybody the same rate? That really makes sense.
About 1/3 of violations don’t show depending on what survey you read. Not sure if it’s still this way, but for years MA didn’t reciprocate MVR info so out of state violations would not show. This was particularly problematic due to the size of the NE states.
Most of you out of staters would be appaled if your state allowed insurance companies to use 6 years of driving history to surcharge you. MA also doesn’t not allow you to take a defensive driving class to reduce points either.. you get them and they are used against you for 6 years! The only tickets that don’t count currently are parking tickets!One speeding ticket 4 years ago causes you to be disqualifed for discounts.. most states ignore speeding tickets after 3 years but not MA… so good luck trying to keep a good driving record here.. remember, one ticket and 5 years of surcharges.
Yeah, and then they’ll complain when event recorders are used to collect speeding information. Driving record is only useful in identifying those who got caught. I can’t wait to see how this pans out and Massachusetts ends up with only a couple of carriers. Some competitiion. It amazes me what politicians will do for votes….any wonder that NC has the largest residual market in the US? No one ever notices how much they pay in surcharges, only that the “rates” are low…
Having lived in MA for 24 years, this is almost the same try at competitive rates that failed in the late 80’s. Same “MO”, so nothing will really change. Plus this time they’ve even taken rating territories out of the mix so it will be worse for non urban drivers.
After the first year, when the urban Boston drivers see their non-subsidized bills under this “new” system, like the last time, they will start screaming to their state Reps and the state will go back to the same old system and nothing will change.
By the way – MA still does not reciprocate with states other than in New England, but there are many states that do not reciprocate at all, not unusual.
STAT Guy,
It makes no sense to try and correlate credit scores to driving habits. I can’t see where you are coming from bringing in the NC market to this discussion.
You wrote:
STAT Guy,
It makes no sense to try and correlate credit scores to driving habits. I can’t see where you are coming from bringing in the NC market to this discussion.
Spoken like a guy who hasnt read the data.
The people who disagree with credit scoring don’t look at data, whoever produces it. They just “know” it’s the wrong thing to do. Statistics and proof be Da*&&^.
Headline is all about credit scoring, but looks like the real story here is that all drivers in the state with the same driving record get the same rate regardless of age or where they live. How sound is that? What are companies going to do the keep from insuring young drivers.
Another question? What are experienced drivers going to do to not pay for the losses experienced by young drivers?
They will do something. How about not drive? Humans complain about their insurance going up ten dollars per policy period. How will they feel when their rates go up by 50%. Maybe the social engineers in MA look at this as indeed a way to make people stop driving.