An auto insurance group fighting to keep Massachusetts’ government-controlled auto insurance system intact is airing misleading commercials about New Jersey’s successful auto insurance reform.
[Disclosure point: I was the public relations consultant for the Coalition for Auto Insurance Competition, the organization that lobbied to reform New Jersey’s auto insurance system.]
The commercials, featuring several New Jerseyans, attempt to scare Massachusetts consumers by claiming that New Jersey’s reforms to increase consumer choice and market competition didn’t work.
The spots use three-year-old statistics about rates and fail to disclose the full names of the frowning, sad-eyed New Jerseyans, who, I imagine, were all smiles after getting their $2,500 appearance fees. The spots failed to disclose that, too.
New Jersey’s auto insurance market was once a disaster. Insurance companies were fleeing the state and consumers couldn’t find auto insurance. Thanks to the 2003 reform law, auto insurers are returning to New Jersey and actively competing for business. Consumers are benefiting from the competition and greater choice among insurers.
Of course, the Massachusetts groups that wants to keep the government controlled system doesn’t want Massachusetts drivers to know about New Jersey’s auto insurance reform success story. But is it necessary to use desperate scare tactics and mislead the public?
More information:
NJ 2005 Auto Insurance Report, NJ Dept of Banking (PDF)
Governor Richard Codey News Release
NJ Dept of Banking News Release
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