RALEIGH -- A North Carolina senator is proposing some big changes to the way auto insurance rates are calculated. He wants to take away the state insurance commissioner's ability to control insurance rates.
If the bill presented in State Senate Tuesday is passed, North Carolina's business court would be in charge of deciding standard insurance rates, instead of the insurance commissioner.
Sen. Tony Rand said, "It is going to cost some people who are not a good risk to go up. But those people who are good risk should not have to subsidize for those people who are not."
Sen. Tony Rand says more than one and a half million drivers are a "bad risk to auto insurance companies." Those people are placed in what is called the reinsurance facility.
N.C. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long said, "We had to have a place to put people who could not afford the rates because of their driving record and the facility takes care of that."
Rand says to keep bad drivers insured other drivers have to pay about $250 million a year.
Sen. Rand said, "We shouldn't have to do that. Eighty-four percent of the people are having to subsidize the 16 percent. I don't think we should have to do that and I don't think this should be the case."
Rand is proposing a bill to reduce the number of drivers in the reinsurance facility.
It would also allow North Carolina's business courts to control standard insurance rates -- a job Insurance Commissioner Jim Long has done for the past 22 years.
"If you take the insurance commissioner out of the rate setting process, sure your rates may go up because under this legislation," Long said. "No longer would I be able to protect you from companies trying to charge too much money."
Rand's quote...
Rand's comment, that "your rates may go up" was spoken with the implication that "you" are one of the bad drivers being shielded and subidized. Drivers who are not in the re-insurance facility are not going to see their rates climb. Get hold of a copy of the bill.
This bill is entirely geared toward three ends: 1) Having bad drivers pay what they truly should be paying, rather than having good drivers subsidize them, 2) allowing the free market to set truly competitive rates in the state, and 3) allowing the Business Court to protect consumers from predatory practices by anyone tempted to take advantage of the revised system.
Ask yourself this one simple question - if the Insurance Commissioner is worrying about keeping bad drivers on the road and having YOU pay for it, how in the world is that to your benefit?
N.C. Senator proposing big changes for auto insurance
With no one to control the rates everyone's rates will go up. If it isn't broke don't fix it!
It is broken. The rates
It is broken. The rates could be lower without control. This is basic free market economics.
Insurance
Ok.....so we good drivers wont be subsidizing the bad drivers as much? So...does our insurance rate go down? The 84%of good drivers pay 250 Million extra a year to let 18%of bad drivers be able to afford to drive...... That means our rates should go down, but Jim said if he cant control the insurance companies then rates will go up anyway.
Whats the point, votes?
insurance
Has anyone ever witnessed decision by[committee] bussiness court. It's worse than what we have. The "bad" risks don't have insurance now; that's why you pay for uninsured motorist coverage. They won't with more heads involved. I lived in a state years ago that had a law which allowed confiscation of a vehicle involved in an accident if proof of insurance wasn't provided to the police at the scene. The ACLU took a case to the state supreme court and had the law thrown out. Now that I think of it, that law might help to fight ILLEGAL aliens.
bad for consumers
Taking Jim Long's ability to effect the rates we pay for car insurance in NC away and handing it to a "court" can only be bad for the consumer. If it isn't broke Senator Rand, no need to fix it.
Sounds Like Campaign Contrubitions Again
You can bet your sweet bippy this one is not for us. Makes you wonder who's buttering his bread. Same story over and over again. Hey, let's go vote, I'm backing my party 100%!
what a nut how did he get into politics
that guy is a nut case man that dont make any sense what he was trying to word , i had to translate the complicated stupidity out of it ,hes saying people whom are good drivers are paying for bad drivers ,and maybe so but lets leave things like that before it gets worse , the only insurance tony rand should be worried about is his medical insurance for the psychiatrist he needs too see . that is one crazy off the wall plan ,and if it happens an insurance wild manefesto of monopilization,insurance companys will all raise premiums to there liking even people with 30 years driving experience and no bad record will have outrageous premiums to pay because of a monopolization , hey while your at it tony rand try to raise the price of gas too to match things up with the insurance plan you nut case for a politician . i no that my insurance premiums are low because im a responsible driver also i no if i go out and get speeding tickets or a dwi my premiums will be high thats fair and square and those companys they need to drop those bad drivers and quit trying to squeeze blood from a lemon to make a dollar , how im suffering or paying for someone elses bad driving is a mystery too me my premiums are low and if i get tickets or a wreck my premiums are high ,driving is a privillege not a constitutional right but you as a tax payer pay for public transportation for state and federal use and also pay for roads and highways , that is unconstituitonal ,paying for a privillege with state and federal tax money .what tony rand needs too do is rework his bill to the senate to make those insurance companys whom carry those bad drivers to drop them and give us good drivers a rebate on our premiums .
How did you get on the internet?
Not making any sense? Have you tried proof-reading your response? THAT doesn't make any sense. Try using some PROPER punctuation, spelling and sentence structure. It's a wonder you're even capable to operate a computer with that 2nd grade English much less be worried about car insurance.
I'll break it down for you with this quote:
"N.C. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long said, "We had to have a place to put people who could not afford the rates because of their driving record and the facility takes care of that."
What that means is people's rates were so high because of their crappy driving that they couldn't afford to pay them. Now, while there are SOME people who would drive without insurance, the added financial burden would have been enough for a RATIONAL PERSON, who screwed up too much to maintain affordable insurance, to park their car and not drive anymore. MONEY would have been the deterring factor to a person's inability to drive instead of more cops to patrol the streets for traffic violations which means more taxes.
I haven't read the law but from the sounds of things this law would probably make my insurance stay the same (if being lowered were an option) or go up slightly. I'm one of those guys who gets a speeding ticket every 2-3 years and I've caused one accident (no one hurt) in the last 10 years. This law would shift the financial burden from people like you (however illiterate you are and "Safe" you claim to be) over to ME where it belongs.
Less of your money would go to lower the rates of that poor driver. More of your hard earned money could go in to say... continued education (I suggest reading and comprehension classes).
You should be thanking this politician and lobbying to get your grade school teachers fired for not doing a better job teaching you how to use the English language with a keyboard instead of a butcher knife!!!!
Auto
No Company writes the bad drivers you speak of. It's the state of NC that insures them at a loss. If you look at your auto policy you will see where it reads (clean risk allocation surcharge) that's a tax (subsidizing).If you take that off your rates would only drop. The NC reinsurance facility writes more new busniess than any other insurance company in NC. Bar none. Taken that fact We are the only state that has a rate bureau. We have not made any adjustments to the way this bureau is operated since it's inception around 40 years ago. We have a dictatorship at the helm of our insurance dept. Insurnce is not free market in NC like everything else. If it were some company could come in and charge very low rates and buy up all the business. I don't agree that politicians should run the insurance dept. I think it should be left up to free market. The same thing that has made this country great. If you are a capitalist you should understand that this would only save good drivers money. The minorities would pay the most that's why it will never change...
It would turn into a racial matter.
Tony Rand is 100% correct
It's ridiculous that the greatest majority of drivers have to pay higher premiums to provide insurance for high-risk drivers. If they can't afford the rates they SHOULD pay, then perhaps the high cost of insurance will do what the government consistently fails to do - get dangerous drivers off the road. For those who would then choose to drive without insurance, well....that's what huge fines and jails are for.
The Insurance Commissioner has done little beyond stifle competitive pricing and insure that bad drivers aren't paying what they truly should for their reckless behavior.
I think it time to check
I think it time to check Tony Rand's bank account. Even if the court is deciding the rate increases, do you not think that we will not continue paying for the high risk drivers?
If this is passed you will find your rates going up each year and the first time something major happens the insurance companies will cut and run.
I do hope this bill is turned down, I do not see anyway it is a win for the people paying for insurance.