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MA AGO receives $14.6M in refunds through settlement with Commerce Insurance

Published on 7/8/2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MA AGO receives $14.6M in refunds through settlement with Commerce Insurance 
07 July 2014 

The Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA) is pleased to announce to its membership that the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has reached a settlement with Commerce Insurance Company similar to those previously attained with 18 other companies with regard to overcharges relating to Collision and Comprehensive coverage. The settlement with Commerce for approximately $14.6 Million, is the largest to date bringing the total recovered to $57.4 Million returned to the motorcycle owners of Massachusetts! 

Over the past 4 years, the AGO, led by Attorney General Martha Coakley, Mathematician Burt Feinberg, Investigations Supervisor Arwen Thoman, and Chief of the Insurance & Financial Services Division Glenn Kaplan, the AGO has settled with 19 insurance companies and generated refunds on more than 150,000 Massachusetts policies. Commerce, which was aquired by MAPFRE in 2008, is the largest writer of automobile insurance in Massachusetts, and as a result, today’s settlement will provide refunds to more than 40,000 policyholders! 

According to the settlement, Commerce allegedly overcharged certain customers between 2002 and 2011 by using inflated and un-depreciated motorcycle values to calculate insurance premiums. Although Commerce changed its business practices in 2005, in an effort to comply with required rating procedures, the AG’s investigation found that some overcharges occurred even after 2006. 

Under the terms of the settlement, Commerce will pay $14.6 million in refunds and $325,000 to the Commonwealth. Later this month, Commerce will begin sending out refund checks ranging from less than $50 to more than $12,000 per consumer, with an average check around $360. 

To be eligible for a refund, policyholders must have purchased Comprehensive, Collision, and/or Limited Collision coverage for a motorcycle during certain time periods (typically between 2002 and 2010), and their motorcycle must have been overvalued by their insurance company.  Policyholders can check their refund eligibility online (Commerce policies will be available in a week or so):  

          http://www.motorcycle.ago.state.ma.us/motorcycle_insurance/process_request.action

A listing of the insurance companies included in all current settlements and their distributions is in the following picture:
 
 
 
Policyholders who believe they were due a refund, but have not received one, can contact MyRefund@MassMotorcycle.org – the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association is happy to work with the AGO to assist you in obtaining your refund if due. 

The Massachusetts Motorcycle Association would like to thank Arwen, Glenn, Burt, and the entire MA AGO team for their dedication and continued support of motorcyclists! 

For more information, please contact MyRefund@MassMotorcycle.org, or see http://www.MassMotorcycle.org, or http://mass.gov/ago/motorcycles 

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© 2014 Massachusetts Motorcycle Association 
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