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No-Fault Insurance Costs Drivers, Group Says

Mass. Drivers Could Save $200M, According To Study

POSTED: 5:31 pm EST March 29, 2005

State lawmakers should repeal laws that require drivers to get "no-fault" auto insurance because it is more expensive, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights says.

The group says that a study found that premiums are 19 percent lower in states that have personal responsibility as part of their insurance. It also says that the cost of insurance fell in states that repealed no-fault laws.

Rates also rose 92 percent faster in no-fault states between 1998 and 2002, the group said.

"No-fault has failed to live up to insurers' promises of lower insurance rates. Lower premiums can be achieved by repealing failed no-fault laws and instituting strict rate regulation," said Harvey Rosenfield, who unveiled the study.

He said Massachusetts residents, for example, could save $200 million by changing the laws.

The author said that no-fault systems are more expensive because they end up paying to both victims of accidents and those at fault, because mandatory payments encourage more medical treatment and fraud, and because limiting responsibility leads to more reckless driving.

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