Globe News published an article that said three Massachusetts insurance companies have agreed to issue $11.1 million in refunds to settle allegations that they overcharged customers for motorcycle insurance over the past eight years.
The three insurance companies are Safety Insurance Co., Mutual Insurance Co., and Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Co. – What these insurance companies were guilty of was basing premiums on inflated values for the vehicles, instead of using current book values.
Let me give you a for instance, which is actually true, one of the insurers calculated its premiums for a 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic from 2003 to 2008 based on the assumption the vehicle was worth $20,000. That particular bike without additional aftermarket add-ons was never worth that much. By 2003 the value of that particular bike had fallen to $12,000.
Under terms of the settlement, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Safety Insurance agreed to refund $7.2 million to policyholders, Liberty Mutual promised to return $3.1 million, and Quincy Mutual said it would return $800,000. They also agreed to pay the state $510,000.
Tens of thousands of policies were allegedly affected, and the average refund will amount to about $300. This is very troubling that these overcharges occurred, and these cases certainly underscore the importance of transparency in auto insurance rating.
I encourage anyone who may have their motorcycles insured by these companies to investigate if you were over charged. Come to think about it check all of your insurance companies to make sure you aren’t getting the shaft with high premiums because they didn’t use book value to give you a quote on your vehicle that was correct.
I’m looking out for all of us. We have to stick together and share information that will benefit everybody in the long run. This isn’t to say that all are suspect but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
These are insurance companies that fall under the umbrella of Mutual Insurance Co., and if you have coverage with any of these companies please check your policies.
United States
- Acacia Life Insurance Company
- American Family Insurance
- Amica
- Ameritas Life Insurance Company
- Auto-Owners Insurance
- Boston Mutual
- CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company
- Church Mutual Insurance Company
- COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services
- CUNA Mutual Group
- Enumclaw Insurance Group
- FM Global
- Guardian Life
- Hastings Mutual Insurance Company
- HCSC - Blue Cross Plans of IL, NM, OK and TX
- Illinois Mutual
- Liberty Mutual
- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
- MiddleOak
- Missouri Employers Mutual
- MTL Insurance Company
- Mutual of America
- Mutual of Omaha
- Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
- New York Life
- North Carolina Mutual
- Northwestern Mutual Life
- Ohio National Life Insurance Company
- PEMCO
- Penn Mutual Life
- Physicians Mutual
- SBLI USA Mutual Life
- Security Mutual of NY
- Sentry Insurance
- Shelter Insurance
- State Farm Insurance
- UNIFI Companies
- Union Central Life Insurance Company
- Western & Southern
- John Hancock Mutual Life
- Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
- MONY (was Mutual of New York)
- Principal Financial Group
Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Co., has agents in four states, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. You can check for agent locations by clicking the link and go on their website.
Goldie~Regulator for Life!
Iron sharpens Iron…especially on Steel!
Popularity: unranked [?]
