NJ Auto Reform Bill Now Law
By Daniel Hays
NU Online News Service, June 9, 3:55 p.m. EDT?New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, at an open air ceremony beside the State Capitol in Trenton, today signed into law an omnibus auto insurance reform bill that industry groups said should help repair their fractured marketplace.
The measure, titled the Automobile Insurance Competition and Choice Act, was termed "historic" by the Alliance of American Insurers, while the Insurance Council Of New Jersey called it "meaningful reform."
Among the features of the bill are provisions to phase out the State's "take-all-comers" requirement for insurers and provisions to help fight fraud including the offering of rewards.
Also included are amendments to the current rules for approving rate increases to ensure that they are acted on promptly.
The bill revises the excess profits law to extend the look-back period for calculating these profits to take into account market fluctuations.
Richard Stokes, government affairs representative for the Alliance Northeast Region cautioned that "the harm done over 30 years won't be reversed tomorrow, or even next week. It will take time for the market to stabilize."
The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Inc. said the bill should "help restore competition."
John Tiene , president of the Insurance Council of New Jersey enthused that the bill was "meaningful auto insurance reform that will begin to untangle decades of complicated and burdensome regulations, give consumers more choice and encourage competition."
The Council noted that presently five of the six largest auto insurers in the nation do not write in New Jersey and 20 auto insurers have left in the last 10 years.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.