Personal Liability Umbrella

When it rains it pours. Especially, it seems once you’ve been at fault in a serious car accident. Do you have Umbrella Coverage? If you are unsure, then you probably don’t have a Personal Liability Umbrella policy.

A Personal Liability Umbrella Policy “sits-over” your home and auto liability limits. Coverage starts at $1,000,000 and provides you protection from lawsuits.

Coverage is relatively inexpensive to purchase. $1,000,000 of coverage, sitting over two autos and a home, would cost about $180 annually.

Umbrella Policies require underlying motor vehicle liability limits of $250,000 per person/$500,000 per accident.

In addition  to coverage limits, insurance companies provide legal defense. So, when you purchase higher limits you are also purchasing improved legal defense.

Auto Accident Surcharges in MA

In Massachusetts, unless combined damage is less than $500, drivers that are found “at-fault” are assessed points. If over $2,000 is paid out the accident is considered “major” and 4 points are applied to the driver’s driving record. If less than $2,000 is paid out then the accident is considered “minor” and 3 points are applied. If less than $500, there are no surcharge points.

There are two burdens of proof when it comes to an at-fault accident. The first burden of proof is with the insurance company. Who, in the accident, was more at fault. There are certain “rules of the road” that assit claim handlers when deciding fault. Some example of “at fault” accidents are: taking a left hand turn, pulling out of a parking space, leaving a stop or yield sign, rear-ending someone,  or being in a single vehicle collision. If you have broken one of these “rules of the road,” then you will, most likely, be found “at-fault” for the auto accident.

Once you have deemed found “at-fault” for an accident by the insurance, you will receive a surcharge notice from The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The second burden of proof is with the state. Unlike the insurance companies that deem someone at-fault (unless the accident is considered a 50%-50%) for an accident, the state will consider contributing factors in the accident when it comes to applying the surcharge.

In other words, if you rear end someone in an auto accident, your insurance company will find you “at-fault” for the accident and they will have to pay for damages. You will then receive a surcharge notice from the state. For a fee of $50 you can appeal the surcharge. If the accident was weather related, we always recommend our clients fight the surcharge. If there were other contributing factors, such as, ice, snow, rain, sun in the eyes, or the other vehicle suddenly stopped short because a family of ducks were crossing and you rear-ending the other party was unavoidable, then you stand a real good chance of winning the appeal. 

If you have been surcharged for an accident, and if you believe you were less than 50% at-fault, you may contact the Massachusetts Merit Rating Board to appeal.

Merit Rating Board @ 617-351-4400

Keep Insurance Costs Down

We suggest that homeowner and auto insurance should help insure you against catastrophic loss. Catastrophic losses are ones that destroy your home or liability or injury claims that leave you financially devastated. With this in mind, consider higher deductibles. Take the savings and invest in improved liability limits. Make certain that you have adequate Dwelling limits on your home so that you will be able to adequately re-build. Also, consider a Personal Liability Umbrella Policy. An Umbrella Policy “sits” over your home & auto liability insurance.

Moving to Massachusetts

Welcome to Massachusetts!

It’s a new day & age in Massachusetts auto insurance.  After 30 years of state set insurance rates we finally have competition. Well, “Managed Competition,” at least. Rates have gone down and new companies have entered the marketplace.

A few “fun facts” about Massachusetts:

  • Nickname:  The Bay State 
  • State Bird: Black-Capped Chickadee
  • State Tree: American Elm

A couple “not so” fun facts:

  • Massachusetts has the highest accident rate in the nation. 
  • Massachusetts has the 4th highest auto insurance rates in the nation.

Massachusetts Auto Insurance

Auto insurance and Registration (& Title) go “hand in hand” in Massachusetts. You cannot have one without the other. Massachusetts does not have insurance cards as proof of insurance. Instead you have your vehicle’s Registration. Your Registration is your proof of insurance. 

Massachusetts is a “Title state”, meaning that, in order to get your vehicle registered you must also get the vehicle titled in Massachusetts.

In order to get your new, Massachusetts Plates you will need to get paperwork from your insurance agent or company.

Johnson & Rohan Insurance , as well as other agencies, will have you sign an auto insurance application, and provide you with an insurance stamped, RMV-1 Form. 

Most Agencies offer free Registry of Motor Vehicles service.

If you are new to the state with out of state registration, the Registry will look for your original title and a total of $86 ($50 for your new MA title & $36 for your new, MA plates/registration).

If a bank/lienholder has the title to your vehicle then, perhaps, a memorandum title can be issued. If so, the Registry will require a copy of your existing Registration and, if owned less than 6 months, proof of sales tax paid.  

We recommend that you get a Massachusetts auto insurance quote through our website. Once you like the premium and coverage options that we show you, we will assist you with all aspects of Massachusetts insurance!?

MAIA Cautions Consumers About Progressive Quotes

On May 6, 2008 The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents issued a bulletin to member Agencies regarding their press release cautioning consumers about Progressive Insurance’s auto insurance quotes. As a consumer service, the bulletin is as follows:  

MAIA Cautions Consumers About Progressive Quotes;

Files Formal Complaint With DOI

Today, MAIA issued a press release to every daily newspaper in the state cautioning consumers about serious issues with quotes received from the Progressive Direct website. After initial reports of “dirt cheap” rates, MAIA took a long, hard look at the quotes produced by the site.

According to MAIA President and CEO Frank Mancini, “Our review of the quotes provided by Progressive reminds us of the old saying, ‘it it looks too good to be true, it probably is.’ Consumers should use extreme caution when requesting online quotes because a computer doesn’t ask the questions a live person would ask to be sure you are adequately protected.”

Since many of MAIA’s issues with the website are believed to be serious violations of the managed competition regulation, MAIA has also filed a formal complaint with Commissioner Nonnie Burnes and notified Attorney General Martha Coakley and Undersecretary of the Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation Daniel Crane of the violations.

The most flagrant violations include:

  • Progressive requires anyone requesting a quote to provide their social security number, gender, recent military service and marital status. The quote process also informs applicants that Progressive obtains credit reports and credit scoring information, which is prohibited in Massachusetts for both rating and underwriting purposes.

  • Progressive acknowledges that Massachusetts law requires that every insurer offer twelve-month term private passenger motor vehicle insurance policies at the consumer’s option, yet there is nowhere on the Progressive site where a consumer may exercise that option. When questioned on the phone about a twelve-month policy, a Progressive representative admitted that twelve-month policies are not available.

  • Comparative quotes of Progressive rates with the rates of other companies writing auto
    insurance in Massachusetts are inaccurate and use a policy term of six months which is not
    available from any other insurance company in Massachusetts. While other insurance company quotes include an indication of the impact of your driving record in terms of surcharges for atfault accidents and conviction of traffic violations and credits for good driving, the Progressive quote does not appear to include merit rating information.

We have posted the complete text of the MAIA press release on our website, and you may access it by clicking here.

It is imperative that the information in this press release be seen by as many consumers as possible, and we need your help with this. If you have contacts with your local daily and weekly newspapers, please walk the press release into your contact as soon as possible. Offer to answer any questions your contact or consumer reporters have, or refer them to us if you’re not comfortable in that role.

We have also posted a copy of our complaint letter to the Commissioner on massagent.com. You may access this document by clicking here.

Click here to see a copy of the MAIA’s letter to The Commissioner of Insurance, Nonnie Burnes regarding Progressive Insurance.