Auto insurance costs too much! Learn why here READ MORE
Insurance
2021 Legislative Update
- FCAN Releases Economist Review of FLOIR Commerce Presentation
FCAN released a new review of the Florida Department of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) letter to the Chair of the House Commerce Committee on April 2, 2021. FCAN is concerned about the use of NAIC data to support legislation and sought an independent opinion from economist Birny Birnbaum on the letter signed by Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier.
Mr. Birnbaum is an economist and former insurance regulator with 30 years of experience with insurance data collection and analysis. He has been involved with the Market Conduct Annual Statement (“MCAS”) from the germ of the idea through its initial and subsequent development and implementation. He participated in the development of MCAS data elements, definitions and ratios.
FCAN Press Release
Birnbaum Review of FLOIR Letter to House Commerce Committee
- Legislature still considering SB 76 and HB 305 that will hurt consumers and raise rates. SB 76 is the "roof" bill that, among other things, allows insurers to depreciate your roof, so if your roof is half way through whatever the design life is, then you only get half the replacement value. That would leave many consumers without roofs if they are damaged by hurricanes. This and the other bad things in the bills are justified by saying there are too many lawsuits in Florida, despite our conservative Governor, Legislature, and Judges. Florida was taken OFF the list of Judicial Hellholes two years ago for that very reason plus last year's AOB bills.
Call your legislators and tell them to vote NO on SB 76 and HB 305.
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Auto Insurance Costs Too Much!
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5th highest auto insurance rates in the US, averaging over $1,800 per year
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23% uninsured drivers-costs us all
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Insurance rates make no sense!
Why does insurance cost so much?
That's a darned good question.
FCAN and Consumer Federation of America are conducting research into insurance pricing and have produced some surprising results. For instance, our data shows some companies charging "Female motorists with perfect driving records often pay significantly more for auto insurance than male drivers with identical driving records." 1 What? Don't we all understand that men are the more aggressive drivers and are higher risks on the road? It goes even further. According to the same study, "GEICO charged young female drivers more than young male drivers in nine of ten cities. " They can’t explain why. Our research is showing other anomalies in the pricing of auto insurance. A second analysis concluded, "Progressive and Farmers usually charge the same rates to someone who drives only 2,500 miles a year as they charge someone else who drives 22,500 miles a year."2 We all know that insurance companies ask us the mileage often, even check odometers, and never fail to get us to estimate our commute to work. But then they don't even use the information? It doesn't make sense. Right! So what are they doing? Unfortunately, we don't know. Insurers today use highly sophisticated computer programs to price their insurance products, and the exact algorithms are top secret proprietary information. We call those "black boxes."
The rates make no sense?
We know that insurers use information like credit scores, level of education, and employment status to determine what to charge -- even though they cannot show how those factors affect your driving. But even those things don't explain the results shown in our studies. You may find this startling, but our experts, so far, don't have a good answer. We think it may be that the insurers cannot control their own
1) https://consumerfed.org/press_release/large-auto-insurers-charge-40-60-year-old-women-higher-rates-men-often-100-per-year/
2) https://consumerfed.org/press_release/major-auto-insurers-provide-no-discount-low-mileage-drivers/
3) http://protectingyourpocket.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/09/26/progressive-geico-often-charge-rich-bad-drivers-less-survey-says/
GEICO Charges 20 year old women more than men?
This can't be legal, right? They can't just make up numbers
Lower Rates for Good Drivers FCAN is pushing for a new type of auto policy based on a person's actual driving record. We are pushing for basic auto insurance for low and moderate income Floridians with good driving records that will cost less than the computer priced policies. If you don't have any accidents or tickets, why should you be paying a higher rate? It just makes sense: basic insurance for good drivers at reasonable rates. We’ll have less uninsured drivers and another incentive to drive safely.
What you can do now:
Email Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier at InsuranceCommissioner@floir.com Ask for an explanation of the rates and ask for basic insurance for good drivers.