Lawmakers are getting ready to consider changes to the state’s no-fault auto insurance law. At the same time, a court battle over access to information about a fund drivers pay into continues.
When a person files a personal injury claim in Michigan, and the claim is more than a half-million dollars, the auto insurance company is reimbursed by a state-created fund administered by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. It’s basically an insurance policy for insurers.
The association is facing a lawsuit that says it should provide more information about how it comes up with an annual fee that ultimately gets passed on to drivers. Plaintiffs in the case say it’s not clear how the MCCA sets the annual fee. It was $175 dollars per vehicle last year. Their suing because they say that information is important as lawmakers consider changes to the state’s auto insurance law.
A court has ruled that the public has a right to request information about the rates. But the MCCA is appealing that decision.
“Literally 90 percent of what was required to be disclosed under the judge’s recent ruling is already out there for public consumption,” says Pete Kuhnmuench, who represents auto insurers with the Insurance Institute of Michigan. He supports the appeal.
“We believe to just further politicize this whole structure does nothing to benefit the consumers who rely on that fund for their benefits to be paid,” he says.