House Passes Insurance Bill, Senate Expected to Follow

[Dumpling]

In a mailing that my Detroit State Representative sent during the
last election cycle, there was a promise that an effort would be made
to lower the insurance by some 20%.

Checking this drop against average rates in other states showed
that Michigan would go from having the most expensive auto insurance
in the United States to having the second most expensive insurance
in the nation.

I actually don't have much of a problem with the catastrophic claims
portion of the insurance bill - it is something like $200 out of the
[[Choose one! $1,200 per year for basic no fault if you shop for
insurance every year. $1,800 per year for basic no fault. $2,000+
per year for basic no fault if you do nothing to shop around. This
is with the excellent credit afforded by a steady job.)
If the catastrophic claims money does what it is supposed to then,
yes, perhaps the fund needs more transparency, but that would be
relatively low on the list of concerns.

We lose about as many Detroiters to auto-related accidents as to
homicides every year. There may be as many as five serious auto accident related injuries for every accident death. It is well worth
taking every care to prevent auto accidents.

My beef with Michigan auto insurance companies is not only do
they use credit ratings to set rates, not only did my monthly
auto insurance go up from about $100 per month to $150 per month
with the renewal year with no OWI, tickets, or other explanatory conditions having occurred, so that I am best off shopping around
for another policy with a different firm [[the firm I'm with now
readjusted the annual rate last year down from $2,000 per year
to $1,200 per year after I talked with a representative), I don't see
enough regular feedback from them with a goal of improving
everyone's understanding for improving driving safety.

Rather than credit records, things like a discount for having
one's tires and brakes checked and maintained periodically
would be preferable.

Some of the current legislative proposals [[Tlaib - no credit checks;
Dingell - more alcohol interlocks) are steps in the right direction.