AG: Mass. Businesses Overcharged On Auto Rates

Attorney General Martha Coakley says Massachusetts businesses have been overcharged by nearly $1 billion on commercial auto insurance premiums over the last seven years.

Coakley sent a letter Monday asking state Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy to lower auto insurance rates for businesses. Murphy said his office is still reviewing Coakley's data.

The attorney general says a review by her office found commercial rates were inflated by about $150 million per year - or more than 20 percent from 2004 to 2010.

Massachusetts Insurance Federation executive director James Harrington says commercial auto insurance rates have actually fallen nearly 30 percent since 2004 due to competition.

Coakley says her office's figures are based on data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Automobile Insurers Bureau. She says the overcharges hurt industries including trucking, construction and sales.