VaYank5150
Gold Member
Press Release on Tort Reform SavingsWhy Texas Auto Insurance Consumers Have Not Benefited from "Tort Reform"
A Response to the Texas Department of Insurance
Austin, TX -- Insurance Commissioner José Montemayor will soon announce his decision on "tort reform rate reductions". This announcement will be the last of five annual tort reform rate reduction decisions by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). As in the past, we expect TDI to claim hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to consumers from "tort reform." For private passenger automobile insurance, TDI has already claimed the following savings:
1996 $178.5 million
1997 $177.9 million
1998 $247.4 million
1999 $247.4 million
These claims are simply do not hold up under scrutiny. In fact, Texas auto insurance consumers have not seen reductions in premiums as a result of "tort reform." Rather, CEJ’s August 1999 report on Texas auto insurers profitability shows the following overcharges to Texas auto insurance consumers
1996 $728.9 million
1997 $1,193.3 million
1998 $960.4 million