Figures

-16%

The percentage that Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., Rhode Island’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer, plans to reduce rates on average. The company, which has roughly 14,500 policyholders, says it expects the rate reduction to save Rhode Island employers about $9 million in coverage costs over 12 months. The reduction, Beacon’s first since 1998, will be effective as of Oct. 1.

172

The number of Pennsylvania drivers’ licenses that were accidentally cancelled due to a bureaucratic error, according to the state Department of Transportation. The licenses have been restored, but residents who received notices that their licenses were canceled need to get new ones.

12.4%

The average statewide homeowners insurance rate increase approved in Massachusetts for the state’s residual market insurer, the FAIR Plan. The approval includes an average 5.7 percent increase for dwellings. The new rates will hit coastal property owners hardest, as much as 25 percent in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties (Cape Cod) where the FAIR Plan writes about 30 percent of the market. Most urban areas will see either no increase or modest hikes up to about 5.9 percent. The effective date for the new rates is Oct. 1. Commercial fire and allied lines rates will not change.

-3.7%

The recommended rate cut for private passenger auto insurance in Massachusetts made by the industry’s Auto Insurers Bureau for 2007. If approved, it would mean about $150 million in premium savings for drivers next year. Hearings into 2007 rates have begun. Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler approved an average 8.7 percent cut for 2006.

$11.2 million

The total jury award that an Atlantic Highlands, N.J., man received for injuries suffered when a cargo container fell off a truck and onto the driver’s side of his car. The state Superior Court jury awarded him $8 million for pain and suffering, $150,000 for hospital expenses and $1.1 million for lost wages. Dolan’s wife also received another $2 million for lost services.

$20,000

The amount emergency officials in Salem, N.H., are considering billing a driver’s insurance company for a car crash that caused a propane leak and shut down part of Route 28 for over a day. Officials estimated that the town spent that much in overtime to contain the leak. Town officials said claims typically are filed with a driver’s insurance company when a car hits a fire hydrant or telephone pole.