Oregon's Favorites: Insurance Companies and DINK's

More favor for those who aren't suffering financially, more power to insurance companies...

Courtesy: theinsurancecompanysucks (Very worth checking out)

(SALEM, Ore.) - As the economy worsens, more jobs are lost and more unemployment extensions are granted. But Oregon is proud to announce that the state's new insurance law saved financially sound Oregonians more money.

The law's existence in the first place however, in its initial form, by principle favors people who have more and punishes those who have less.

A recent survey by the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) Insurance Division revealed that, "Thousands of Oregonians are enjoying lower insurance premiums as a result of a year-old credit scoring law."

Who is saving the money? Oregonians who are doing better financially, that's who. Not the hard working family in the private sector struggling with bills; more like the dual-income no kids set (DINK) who work in state government; the folks who your tax dollars guarantee a job for.

Some of us don't think that is right.

As stated in the DCBS news release issued this week, "many insurance companies look at a consumer's credit history to decide whether to issue an auto, home, or other personal insurance policy or how much to charge."

Again, for those who are suffering and strapped, this news is a joke. What the state needs to do be doing is taking the power away from insurance companies and giving it back to the people. The current arrangement is the total opposite of that.

Oregon states that this practice of screening a person's financial credit for car and home insurance is known as 'credit scoring' or 'insurance scoring'.

Under the preexisting circumstances, once a policy is purchased, insurers are prohibited from using credit information to raise premiums.

The law allows consumers to request a rerating with the potential to lower premiums. Again, for Oregon residents who are on top, the news is good. For the majority of residents, it is simply a way for people who are doing well financially to save even more.

In fact I believe the whole 'mandatory auto insurance' idea is only a scam that forces billions of your hard earned work dollars into private insurance company coffers. Of course, who is going to pay tens of millions of dollars in annual advertisement bills so they can develop funny lizard commercials?

Think about it. The entire American television industry is dependent on two industries; big pharma and insurance companies. Collectively, Salem residents pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to insurance companies every single day for the right to drive. Many if not most will never be in a serious crash, yet they will pay tens of thousands of dollars over their lifetimes to a private insurance company, a relationship mandated by law, just 'in case' they are in a crash. Bear in mind that minimum insurance isn't much. We're talking about a policy that pays a maximum, for example, of $20,000; that makes it legal to drive here.

Now, tally the number of crashes that take place in Salem every day and the amount of damages incurred. On some days the toll resulting from uninsured drivers would be high but not every day. It would be a fraction of the amount spent each day on accidents that didn't happen.

How much would it cost to have a government program that paid at least that much? If insurance companies can get away paying so little, twenty grand, then the whole system and problems with non-insured drivers could be handled.

It's all a racket, and lower income families would have more to care of their family's needs if it weren't for mandatory insurance.

Then imagine if we had government healthcare. If our politicians really cared they would find a way to cut the greedy ridiculous insurance industry off at the legs.

What is taking place, and I don't mean to mimic a broken record, is the expanded role of insurance. No insurance company should be able to examine a person's credit history to determine if they are a good driver. They should simply be able to examine your driving history. Anything else is ridiculous.

Oregon's DCBS states that the law allows consumers to ask their insurer to re-price or "rerate" their auto or homeowner policy once a year if the insurer used the consumer's credit history to price the policy when it was originally issued. Insurers must lower the price if the consumer qualifies for a better rate based on their credit history; insurance companies cannot raise premiums as a result of the rerating."

So in the end if you are having a hard time financially, this news means nothing to you; however it does mean more horsepower for private insurance companies delivered by the state of Oregon. "The law is working as intended and people who have improved their credit profiles are being rewarded with better rates," said Senator Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from the Portland/Beaverton area. She chaired the Senate Consumer Protection and Public Affairs Committee in the 2009 Legislature, which passed Senate Bill 377.

The survey of key auto and homeowner insurers showed that discounts were given in more than 8,000 instances since the law took effect Jan. 1, 2010. Collectively, those who requested a rerating saved more than $800,000 in premiums – nearly $100 per request.

Once a year, maybe $100 per request.

The law does not require companies to notify consumers of their right to request an annual rerating. Why on earth not?

Apparently some companies do so voluntarily. That's downright heartwarming. This 'letting people know' part seems like a simple matter that could have been addressed; in a way that would restore consumer confidence. That is a sad aspect of a plan the state is quick to hold out like a big accomplishment. Oregon's DCBS says a typical policyholder with good credit and multiple policies (for example, multiple cars and a home) could potentially save several hundred dollars over the term of their policies.

So much for the poor. "You may want to talk to your insurance agent or company about how to request a rerating," DCBS Insurance Division Administrator Teresa Miller said.

"There is nothing to lose and families with good credit may well save money."

In Salem the ultimate slap in the face is the fact that the city 'Cherriot' buses do not ever run on weekends. So even those who favor public transportation are screwed if, like so many of us, they have to work on Saturday or Sunday. It is the final part of a trap to force people in this city to buy a car and write that check so the insurance companies gets their cut of your life too.

We have people starving, swelling the homeless shelters, environmental health hazards everywhere, a nation facing recession, food banks running lean, our military getting blown up in Afghanistan, lizard commercials... and Oregon is trying to spread layers of sugar on ugly non consumer friendly laws that favor the wealthy, what else is new.

Oregon is in the dark ages as far as its connection with the local populace is concerned. Great news for people who own their homes and have a small fleet of gas guzzlers to motor about in, so much for the rest of us...

Source of original release: The Department of Consumer and Business Services

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 65 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com