One of the moments we have been waiting for in Michigan is getting money back into our pockets from paying so much premium in car insurance, especially in the last decade. Mandatory fees, associated with an auto insurance policy in Michigan, include those from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA). The fee started at $3 per vehicle in 1978, but the MCCA has required us to pay quite a bit in fees per vehicle over the past decade with increasing costs over time. The assessments per vehicle over the years are as follows:
2011 = $145
2012 = $175
2013 = $186
2014 = $186
2015 = $150
2016 = $160
2017 = $170
2018 = $192
2019 = $220
2020 = $100 (Michigan Auto Insurance Reform began)
2021 = $86
On December 6, 2021 Director Anita Fox with the Department of Insurance and Financial Services released a notice stating the MCCA will be returning approximately $3 billion of excess surplus funds to its member insurance companies (MCCA letter to Director Fox). Insurance companies will then refund policyholders that had a policy in effect on 10/31/21 at 11:59 p.m. EST. The amount refunded to these policy holders will be $400 for every car that was subject to the MCCA fee at this time. The amount for historical vehicles is 20% or $80 of the refund per car. The MCCA is anticipating to distribute this surplus to its member insurance companies, at the earliest March 9, 2022. Insurance companies will have no longer than 60 days after receiving the funds to issue out the refund checks to individual qualifying policy holders. Each insurance company will have more information available as they identify a specific timeframe and the steps to issue these refund checks.
Last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor and Director Fox worked together to give partial refunds to Michiganders for “staying safe and staying home”. We are grateful to see that the auto insurance reform is working and it is starting to provide lower rates and even refund premiums. It may take time because we know these processes do not happen overnight. Unfortunately, we can never get back the time and money that was spent, but we will be happy to recover whatever we can and we are hopeful for the future of Michigan’s car insurance rates.