Insurance Companies Ordered To Refund Massachusetts Motorcyclists
Posted by Maria Allen on Nov 06, 2010 | No Comments »
It seems the easy ride has ended for a dozen insurance companies as they’re being forced to send out refunds to Massachusetts motorcycle owners who got the short end of the stick on their premiums.
The state recently came to a settlement with five auto insurance companies after it found they overcharged motorbike owners tens of thousands of dollars for insurance.
The settlements mean motorcycle owners who were overcharged will be getting a total of $12.1 million in refunds from the five insurance companies. The investigation was spearheaded by State Attorney General Martha Coakley after she received a complaint from just one motorcycle owner.
It turns out the five insurers were using un-depreciated and inflated values on the vehicles when calculating owners’ premiums and overcharged them by more than $12 million.
The state found that a dozen auto insurance companies used inflated motorbike values when pricing out premiums and weren’t depreciating the value of the bikes when customers renewed their policies each year.
A couple that lives in Lynnfield filed the complaint after their 1999 Harley Davidson motorcycle was valued at $20,000 for each year from 2003 to 2008. However, the bike was nine years old by 2008 and the value of it should have been less than $12,000 by then. As it turned out, the couple paid over $1,500 more than they should have for insurance.
Consumers Affairs reports the Attorney General’s Office found more than 100,000 insurance policies that are due a refund.
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Tags: Insurance Companies, Refund