Why Is My Auto Insurance Bill So High All Of A Sudden?

Perhaps you have recently received an unpleasant surprise upon opening your latest auto insurance bill. If you haven’t yet, you will soon. Here’s why your new bill is more expensive than your last one.

When Governor Jim Doyle and legislative Democrats were secretly crafting the state budget behind closed doors this spring, one of the questionable provisions they slipped into the document mandated new, higher auto insurance coverage limits. These mandates are forcing Wisconsin businesses and families to pay hundreds of dollars more for extra auto insurance coverage they can’t afford and in many cases don’t need.

Because of this change in the law, auto insurance bills up 20 to 40 percent are hitting mailboxes all over the state. Virtually overnight, Wisconsin will go from enjoying some of the lowest auto insurance rates in the nation to suffering some of the highest. An unfortunate side effect of these new expensive coverage mandates will be more uninsured drivers on the road. Motorists already struggling to pay their current minimum premiums will drop their coverage altogether.

These new higher auto insurance bills are coming at precisely the wrong time in this tough economic climate. When everyone is trying to do more with less, the legislature should be advancing policies that lower the cost of doing business and lessen the pocketbook burden on Wisconsin families. Instead, the Democrats in charge are making things worse.

I strongly disagreed with these new higher insurance mandates being inserted into the budget and I offered an amendment to have them removed. Unfortunately, this amendment failed and they are now state law, yet another reason why I voted “No” on the state budget.

Fortunately, legislative Republicans are introducing a bill to specifically repeal these expensive new insurance mandates. I am hopeful our efforts to bring auto insurance bills back down to earth are successful.