N.Y. MetLife Auto Customers See Fraud Dividend

N.Y. MetLife Auto Customers See Fraud Dividend

NU Online News Service, Dec. 23, 11:46 a.m. EST--Metlife Auto & Home auto policyholders in New York state will see a rate reduction of 6 percent on their policies in 2005, the company said, a move the state's regulator called a "fraud-fighting" dividend.[@@]

The move came after New York's Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio met last month with a group of insurers to discuss rate reductions in light of reduced losses resulting from state insurance regulatory reforms targeting fraud.

Mr. Serio asked MetLife and 12 other auto insurers, cumulatively serving more than 60 percent of the state's drivers, to meet with him to discuss possible rate reductions. He said "compelling industry data" indicated losses had dropped substantially between 2002 and the third quarter of 2004.

Last week, Washington D.C.-based GEICO announced a 6 percent rate reduction for the typical policyholder next year. State Farm and Progressive cut auto insurance rates earlier this year. Meetings with other carriers are continuing.

The new MetLife rate structure will go into effect Feb. 1 for most first time customers and starting on April 1 for those renewing existing policies.

The Warwick, R.I. subsidiary of New York-based MetLife insures about 275,000 passenger vehicles in New York, which translates into almost 3 percent of the state's total market share as of December 2004.