Car Insurance Rates Debate Rev Up On Beacon Hill

BOSTON -- If you think you pay too much for auto insurance, you are not alone. It's how to fix the system that is forcing a fight on Beacon Hill.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported Tuesday that Attorney General Tom Reilly is attacking Gov. Mitt Romney's reform plan. A group headed by the auto industry has produced commercials blasting Romney's plan, but drivers in Massachusetts pay the fourth-highest car insurance rates in the country and Romney says he wants to change that.

The state sets one rate for all companies -- the only state to have a one-rate system.

"Good drivers in Massachusetts pay more for auto insurance," the TV ad said. "I live in the city. I am a reject."

"No one is rejected. Everyone is insured. There is a risk pool that everyone gets insurance from," Romney said. "It is a dishonest attempt to scare people, and it is shameful."

For months now, insurance companies have been pitted against each other . Romney wants to open up the system to encourage the big companies back to Massachusetts. He said that it will bring back competition.

"They are going to be able to look at what your education is, what your marital status is, if you own or rent a home. A whole set of factors that are discriminatory," Mass PIRG's Deirdre Cummings said.

Romney's plan would establish a competitive system, mandating a 5 percent reduction for clean drivers the first year and setting a 15 percent maximum hike for bad drivers. Drivers would have three years instead of six to wipe their records clean of violations, and there would be no automatic penalty for teenagers with clean records. If drivers receive five surcharges in three years they must undergo training or lose their license for 30 days.

The big companies dominating the industry in Massachusetts don't like Romney's plan and claim that rates will always be high.

"Our rates are higher here because we are an urban state. We are one of the most urban states in the country. We have the highest accident rates. We have more drivers per miles of road then other states. There is nothing in the governor's bill that attempts to address those costs," said John Donahue, of Arbella Insurance Group.

Romney said that his plan would eventually reduce rates for most good drivers, but his insurance commissioner could not and would not say how soon that would happen or by how much.

All of this, however, is unlikely to result in any changes in the system soon. The Legislature's session for 2005 ends Wednesday.