Voters for Savings

It's campaign time in Michigan and the laundry list of "To-Do" items is long for whoever is elected Michigan's next governor.

A report issued this week, however, suggests - correctly - that insurance reform must be high up on next year's priority list of needed reforms.

Michigan’s next governor has his work cut out for him. It is no secret that over the last decade Michigan’s economy has been in a veritable free-fall. Housing values slumped while businesses closed, residents fled and nearly a million jobs were lost. Unemployment in the state consistently ranks as one of the nation’s highest and on top of all of that Michigan was recently ranked as having the nation’s second highest auto insurance premiums.

A study released this week by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy outlines concrete and practical steps to begin reforming auto insurance regulation and perhaps put Michigan’s economy on the road to recovery.

Here's that study mentioned above by Lee Doren of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in a recent blog post.  His post and the more detailed report go one to say that "replac(ing) Michigan’s unlimited personal injury protection purchase requirement with more flexible options" should be tops on the next governor's list of agenda items when it comes to making auto insurance more affordable.

So, what say you Rick Snyder and Virg Bernero?  Insurance reform?  Cost savings?  More of the same?

Fraudsters and Scamsters, oh my!

It doesn't take long for eyes to glaze when detailed talk about no-fault insurance gets rolling.  It's not a surprise, really.  We all get insurance because we hope to never need it, so talking about it a lot is never a very attractive proposition.

I'm not gonna tell you this article is a great vacation-time read to take-in while drinking a Corona on a beach.  But it does shed important light on why insurance costs in Michigan are higher than most other states and why the Drivers for Savings solution is important.

Dennis Handley is an auto insurance fraud investigator in Michigan. For the most part, he is the insurance fraud investigator in Michigan—the other investigator is just part-time.

Handley investigates “questionable claims”—insurance claims that do not seem entirely valid—for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The NICB is a not-for-profit organization funded by property/casualty insurance companies, which, in its words, “partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies to facilitate the identification, detection and prosecution of insurance criminals.” It’s a partnership that does not always come easily.

As you might expect from someone who spends his day investigating fraud in Michigan’s auto insurance system, Handley tends to think there is a lot of it to be found: fraud that’s driving up premium rates and should be stopped with major reforms to Michigan’s unique auto insurance system.

Read the rest.  Join the Drivers for Savings community. Then, enjoy a nice beverage.