NJ Assembly Speaker (DUMmie) speaks out against Geico

Philadelphia Business Journal ^ | 03/09/06 | Staff

[kevinm13]

Legislation was introduced in New Jersey Tuesday that would bar insurers from using drivers' education or profession in setting automobile-insurance-policy rates.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Neil M. Cohen, D-Union, introduced the bill in response to published reports that Geico of Washington, D.C., used such information in setting prices.

"I found out about this practice the same way everyone in New Jersey did -- by reading the newspaper," Cohen, chairman of the financial institutions and insurance committee, said. "And just like everyone else, I was outraged."

Cohen's bill, A-2819, would prohibit insurers from assigning less-favorable rates to drivers based on their education level and/or occupation. It would also prevent insurers from requiring any educational or occupational information as part of an application for coverage or continued coverage.

[kevinm13]

First it was Maryland legislators trying to tell WalMart how to cover its employees for healthcare in Maryland, then litigation that forced WalMart to stock products in its pharmacies that it did not need or choose to sell, now NJ Dummies want to restrict how GEICO does business. Of course somebody who is employed is a better risk than somebody who is unemployed. And white collar workers who have been educated are usually better than blue collar workers without a lot of education but that is only a bias on my part. Why shouldn't GEICO be able to ask whatever it takes to accept, properly rate or reject a potential customer?

I'm sure there will be plenty more where this came from under the Gov. Corslime regime.

[cripplecreek]

That reminds me. I saw a cop car sitting under a Lexus today, looked to me like the cop wasn't paying attention when the Lexus stopped.

I hope the cops profession isn't taken into consideration when he buys car insurance.

[L98Fiero]

They are calling drivers ed an "educational level"?

Are they sill allowed to discrimiante based on gender in insurance rates?

[stylin_geek]

Yah know, if the cost of doing business in a State exceeds the revenues, then the business leaves the State. Here we are, with an example of a law that could very well lead Geico to stop offering insurance in NJ.

[Jim Pelosi]

Your opinion smacks of elitism. I work in the military with only a HS education. That means you're a better driver than me? I've been stuck behind enough Oriental Ph. D's who can barely see over the steering wheel to know that isn't true.

[TheOracleAtLilac]

Tacklin' dem tuff issues !

[js1138]

Does traffic school count as drivers ed?

[tfecw]

"Are they sill allowed to discrimiante based on gender in insurance rates?"

or age?

[TheOracleAtLilac]

Hey, you don't like GEICO's criteria ?

Don't buy their insurance !

[DaiHuy]

Yes and they also use your credit score to determine rates

[DaiHuy]

Yes and they also use your credit score to determine rates

[yobid]

I thought GIECO was a big Dem supporter? Are they eating their own again?

[Siena Dreaming]

Isn't GEICO a Warren Buffett-owned company?

[MontanaBeth]

And white collar workers who have been educated are usually better than blue collar workers without a lot of education but that is only a bias on my part.

Better than what? Better at what? Why do you have bias against your part?

[stylin_geek]

And white collar workers who have been educated are usually better than blue collar workers without a lot of education but that is only a bias on my part.

You need to read a bit more carefully before going off.

[Tzimisce]

If you do this, the insurance companies are going to assume that we're all rotten drivers and charge us the highest amount.

It's the only smart thing to do. Good to know that we'll all suffer thanks to this guy's institutionalized PC....

[ozoneliar]

No surprises here. NJ continues along the slow decline into socialism.

[bk1000]

'Nicest people in the world to deal with'

Ha! I had been driving a company car for several years and let my private coverage lapse. Prior to that I had had the same insurance carrier for decades. When I needed private coverage again I called Geico at the insistance of their TV ads. They wanted $4500/yr to insure a '95 Jag.(the car only cost $20K!) My old carrier took me back at less than one tenth that amount. You can have Geico. They are crooks in my book!

[andy58-in-nh]

This is a typical liberal approach to business: shake them down by threatening expensive legislation or litigation. In this case, a business is being threatened because it dares to operate on a rational basis.

Insurance companies are, at their foundation, in the business of risk assessment. This involves the development of methodologies (e.g. - empirical, actuarial, historical, regional) designed to identify the nature and extent of various types of risk by category. The purpose of such categories is to allow the company to properly discriminate between acceptable and unacceptable risks and to price their products and services appropriately.

To Liberals, this is a presumptively illicit trade, involving as it does unequal treatment of people seeking insurance against risk. NJ was one of the last states to move to market rating for auto insurance - Massachusetts is now the LAST state left to set auto rates (no competition). NY has competition - but also incredibly complicated insurance regulations. Guess which states have the highest premiums in the country - inflicted fairly, of course, on all?