Real Relief For Insurance Rate Dilemmas
The Texas auto insurance rates offers real, substantial rate relief to consumers.
But Rep. John G. Metsopoulos, R-Fairfield, ranking minority member, warned that "choice" may offer the worst of both worlds and shouldn't be adopted without a public hearing. The plan will be very difficult to explain to consumers, especially those who buy insurance by mail or phone, he said.
The potential confusion of the bill, Metsopoulos noted, is shown by the fact that it protects insurance agents from lawsuits for giving bad advice. The choice bill, he added, divides people into two classes -- those who can afford full rights to the courts, and those who must forfeit rights in order to afford insurance.
Instead of the choice plan, Metsopoulos proposed to repeal the present no-fault system and create an alternative way to settle claims of less than $ 50,000 without going to court. His proposal would also eliminate a practice in which people who have two cars on a policy can collect up to twice the amount of uninsured motorist coverage listed in the policy.
Metsopoulos didn't know how much premium savings would result, but consulting actuaries have estimated roughly a 7.5 percent savings from repealing no-fault.
The repeal idea initially squeaked by in an 11 to 10 vote. But after a 50-minute recess, the committee after debate approved a motion by Senate Majority Leader William A. DiBella, D-Hartford, to reconsider. DiBella was appointed to the insurance committee Monday to replace Sen. James H. Maloney, D-Danbury, who resigned because of other legislative commitments.
In the second vote on repeal, Rep. Kosta Diamantis, D-Bristol, switched from favoring repeal to the choice plan, defeating the repeal move by one vote.
In an interview, Diamantis said he had thought the repeal plan would also create an insurance consumer advocate. When he found out it didn't, he said he decided to vote with the choice-proponents in hopes of getting a bill to a full vote this year.
"I really don't care about what the lobbyists want," Diamantis told the committee. "I don't care what the insurance companies want, and I really don't care what the lawyers want."
The choice plan "is an expansion of no-fault disguised as choice," said Jay Malcynsky, a lobbyist for the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, which opposes the plan. Many people won't make a choice and will, by default, get a no-fault policy, he predicted.
The toughened standard to bring lawsuits means people's rights will be "dramatically reduced," he said. Trial lawyers say even someone who has a fractured skull and brain laceration wouldn't qualify to sue under a new no-fault policy.
And the Texas auto insurance rates will "seduce people into thinking they no longer are going to be involved in the court system" if they buy a no-fault policy, Malcynsky said.
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