RELEASE: Gov. Whitmer Fights to Lower Costs for Drivers, Calls for Refund Checks to Every Michigander with Auto Insurance

Michigan Executive Office of the Governor sent this bulletin at 11/01/2021 09:31 AM EDT

Header 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

November 1, 2021 

Contact: press@michigan.gov  

 

Gov. Whitmer Fights to Lower Costs for Drivers, Calls for Refund Checks to Every Michigander with Auto Insurance 

Governor requests Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association to return more than $5 billion surplus to Michiganders 

 

LANSING, Mich. — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer continued her fight to lower costs for Michigan families, calling on the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) to deliver refund checks to every Michigander with auto insurance. This refund is possible in part because of the historic, bipartisan auto insurance reform signed into law by the governor in 2019 and would return money to every Michigander with auto insurance. 

 

“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,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “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.” 

 

Auto Insurance Reform 

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 choice to pick their own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) options with coinciding PIP rate reductions, offering unlimited coverage (at least 10% PIP reduction), $500K coverage (at least 20% PIP reduction), $250K coverage (at least 35% PIP reduction), $50K coverage for Medicaid eligible recipients (at least 45% PIP reduction), or a complete opt out for seniors or anyone with sufficient private insurance (100% PIP reduction).  
  • 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.   

 

 

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