Good news for local resident of our lovely state, I for one am tired of seeing rates rise in this horrible economy. The cost of auto insurance in Massachusetts has fallen since the state stopped setting rates a little more than a year ago, the Division of Insurance has said. According to a state study, auto insurance rates dropped 8.2 percent from April 2008 to April 2009, compared with a 5.2 percent decline from 2006 to 2007. The state allowed insurance companies to start setting their own rates on April 1, 2008, under what officials called a “managed competition’’ plan. Previous to that, auto insurance had been highly regulated.
Since the regulations were relaxed, nine auto insurers have entered the Massachusetts market, including two of the nation’s largest – Geico and Progressive Insurance. Jason Lefferts, a spokesman for the insurance division, said the agency also found that during the last year the number of uninsured vehicles in Massachusetts fell and that fewer people were pushed into the state pool for high-risk drivers.
“What we found counters much of the criticism of management competition,’’ Lefferts said.
But some questioned why the Division of Insurance decided to release the findings late yesterday afternoon, just before the start of the Independence Day weekend for many people. They also wondered why the agency only posted online a one-page summary, rather than the full report. The summary did not indicate how much the average driver pays for insurance or how many drivers switched to new companies to save money.
“This is crazy,’’ said Deirdre Cummings, legislative director for Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group. “To put out a significant report at 4:30 p.m. on the eve of a holiday weekend is suspect. And to omit the supporting information leaves supporters and critics unable to review the findings.’’ Cummings said she is skeptical of the findings, because the Division of Insurance has a history of issuing skewed data to support the managed competition plan it created.