Governor Whitmer Wants To Give Michigan Drivers $5B In Insurance Refunds
Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants to put about 5-Billion-Dollars back into the pockets of Michigan's drivers.
On Monday Whitmer sent out a press release asking the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) to deliver refund checks to every Michigander with auto insurance. Shea says the refund is possible in part because of auto insurance reform that was signed into law by the governor in 2019.
The plan would return money to every Michigander with auto insurance from the MCCA which is reported to have the 5-Billion-Dollar Surplus that the Governor says should go back to drivers:
The over $5 billion surplus accumulated by the MCCA belongs to Michiganders and should be put in people’s pockets immediately with a refund check. As we stay-laser focused on growing our economy and ushering in a new era of prosperity we need to use every resource we have to help people thrive. A refund check to working families will help us continue to put Michiganders first and drive down costs.
The surplus reflects premium overcharges and is partly a reflection of the cost-saving measures implemented in the historic, bipartisan no-fault reform legislation I signed into
law in 2019. Since then, many Michiganders have experienced financial hardships during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now is not the time for the MCCA to withhold money owed to Michiganders. I urge you to move swiftly to return the surplus funds to policyholders in the form of lump-sum checks.
From the state of Michigan:
In May 2019, Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bill 1 into law, instituting historic, bipartisan reforms to fix Michigan’s broken auto insurance system. The bill saves drivers money by:
- Guaranteeing lower rates for drivers for eight years.
- Giving people the choice to pick their own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) options with coinciding PIP rate reductions.
- Increasing consumer protections by banning companies from using the following non-driving factors to set rates: ZIP code, credit score, gender, marital status, occupation, educational attainment, and homeownership.
- Setting fee schedules for hospitals and providers to prevent overcharging for auto-related injuries.