In this video, Governor Hochul discusses her proposals to reduce vehicle insurance rates and combat fraudulent claims in New York State (5:54). She highlights that New Yorkers pay some of the highest insurance rates in the nation, attributing this to rampant fraud and excessive litigation costs (6:44).

Key points of her proposal include:

• Reforming tort laws (9:23) to prevent individuals who cause accidents (especially those driving under the influence, without a license, or committing felonies) from receiving large emotional distress or pain and suffering payouts from victims’ premiums.
• Establishing a cross-agency task force (10:28) and reimagining the Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Board to crack down on scammers.
• Strengthening penalties (10:52) for those who break the law.

She cites Florida as an example where similar reforms led to a significant drop in insurance rates (9:32). Matt Unger, co-owner of Tax Auto Body and Service, supports the Governor’s initiative, explaining how fraud manifests in repair shops and impacts honest customers through higher premiums and longer claim times (13:29).

Governor Hochul: “You can have a situation where someone causes the accident intentionally and gets a huge personal injury payout. So we’re putting the brakes on that fraud. Enough is enough here in the State of New York… I don’t want to have a system anymore that rewards dangerous behavior. So if you’re driving drunk, driving without a license or committing a felony at the time of the crash or cause the accident, you should not get a payday. I’m not sure who can argue with that. We’ll start by reforming our tort laws to protect people who play by the rules and insulate the personal injury system from abuse.”

Hochul: “We’re going to continue in the State of New York to find ways to reduce your cost of living. And if one of those drivers of high costs is your insurance rates, we’re going to peel back and find the causes. We’ve identified them and now we’re doing something about it in this session of the Legislature.”

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted her proposals to bring down costs of vehicle insurance rates and tackle fraudulent claims across New York State. The Governor is taking common—sense steps to battle fraud, limit damages paid out to bad actors and ensure that consumers, not insurance companies, are prioritized. These proposals build on Governor Hochul’s ongoing efforts to make the state more affordable and put money back into the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. I don’t know if any of you have been here before, but this is a second generation car repair, known as TACS. Matt Ungererand his brothers, and Matt is the oldest. What’s your name again? Kevin is the second oldest, and then Ryan is the baby. So, a family business. We had a great conversation about what they’re seeing as they see hundreds of vehicles come through this repair shop, you know, since 1979 and why car insurance rates seem to be just going higher and higher and higher.

And so I’ve talked a lot about affordability. This is my, you know, one of my top priorities: public safety and affordability. And I’m proud that last year we found ways to put money back in people’s pockets, upwards of $5,000. But now we’re trying to say, “What else is disturbing you? What is that bill at the end of the month or quarterly that is just driving you crazy because you don’t know why it’s going up?” So, I want to put a spotlight on this issue once again and acknowledge that some accidents really are just that – they’re accidents. But others are a result of a system that’s just riddled with bad actors and fraud and excessive greed that rewards criminals in illegal behavior. And that’s one of the reasons why New Yorkers pay some of the highest insurance rates in the entire nation, averaging $4,000 a year, which is a whopping $1,500 a year higher than the national average.

So, this doesn’t exist just because every New Yorker did something wrong, but because as I said, the rampant fraud, the runaway litigation costs that are also jacking up prices. You can have emotional distress payouts to the drivers who actually caused the accident in the first place. It doesn’t make any sense. And here’s how it happens: you have these uninsured drivers, scofflaw motorists, even drunk drivers. They’re all distorting the risk pool. So you have these owners of a business, three brothers, who have never filed claims. You know why? Because they fixed their own vehicles. And yet their premiums are going up higher and higher and higher. So you’ve got to just ask why. What’s going on here?

So, someone could be driving drunk without a license, cause an accident, and recover for emotional distress. Or a reckless driver who hits another car will sue for pain and suffering. And a driver who causes an accident can be entitled to—not just modest payouts—but literally millions and millions of dollars from the premiums of regular policy owners, which means all of you. So a drunk driver hits you while you’re crossing the street, turns around and sues you for emotional distress, or the person who rear ends you and is found 80 percent at fault, is then suing you for emotional distress.

Also, this is frightening because there’s been an increase in this, the number of criminals who are now staging accidents. You know, you’ll hear about this, how this is happening with more frequency. The purpose is to defraud drivers through our no-fault laws and collect outsized payments. And again, who do these costs get passed down to? All the motorists in New York.

So you can have a situation where someone causes the accident intentionally and gets a huge personal injury payout. So we’re putting the brakes on that fraud. Enough is enough here in the State of New York. Obviously this is taking on a big fight. It’s been a problem for a while. It’s getting worse, but nobody else is willing to stand up and say, “Why is this happening and how can we do something about it?”

So I don’t want to have a system anymore that rewards dangerous behavior. So if you’re driving drunk, driving without a license or committing a felony at the time of the crash or cause the accident, you should not get a payday. I’m not sure who can argue with that. We’ll start by reforming our tort laws to protect people who play by the rules and insulate the personal injury system from abuse.

Now, another state, Florida—and I have to admit this, I don’t usually follow the lead of Florida—but this is one area where they took a serious look at what was driving up their high insurance rates. They instituted very similar changes to these and over a one or two year period, the insurance rates literally plummeted. In some cases by 20 percent, and they gave a rebate back to the policy holders.

So I want to be very clear, if someone is involved in an accident, they’re still entitled to fair compensation for damages. That’s just how we’ll continue this. But what they’re not entitled to is millions and millions of dollars of additional compensation from suing the victims of an accident they caused. That’s the scope of the approach we’re taking here. Other states already have these in place, so it’s not new, it’s not earth shaking, and so should New York. We’ll also have a cross agency task force and reimagine the existing motor vehicle theft and insurance fraud board so our State Police and the Department of Financial Services continue to crack down on swindlers and scammers. I want to make it easier to prosecute those who are involved in stage accidents. Again, that number, if you look statistically across the nation, we’re becoming one of the highest. Also strengthen the penalties for those who break the law.

So let me wrap up by saying this: It’s really simple, everybody. We’re going to continue in the State of New York to find ways to reduce your cost of living. And if one of those drivers of high costs is your insurance rates, we’re going to peel back and find the causes. We’ve identified them and now we’re doing something about it in this session of the Legislature. So, I hope you all join me in that effort.

And I want to thank our friends here from TACS and hear from them directly, not just what it’s like to be three brothers running a business—they all get along really well, I already asked this question—but to find out what they’re seeing firsthand as they work in a very well-known, popular, reputable repair shop here as well.

So, Matt, take it away.

Sources: Governor.ny.gov , Midtown Tribune news

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