Help Keep Premiums and Auto Repair Costs Down — Write to Your Legislators Today!

As a constituent, I’m writing today to urge you to oppose the auto body labor rate-setting provisions in the Senate Ways and Means budget. While perhaps well intended, these provisions would have negative implications for Bay Staters.

If passed, the Senate Ways and Means budget provisions would create an auto body labor rate advisory board mandated to set a minimum labor rate, something that no other state in the country does. This mandate would increase auto repair costs and may well negatively impact insurance premiums. In fact, according to estimates by the Automobile Insurers Bureau, this amendment will cost policyholders at least $57 more in premiums annually.  I can’t afford to pay more for my car insurance.

As it is, Massachusetts repair shops take, on average, significantly longer to complete repairs than their counterparts in other states. Without setting constraints on cycle times, a mandate for a higher labor rate is just a handout to auto repair shops, rewarding them for their inefficiency without providing any additional value to consumers.

Please oppose the auto body labor rate provisions and help keep insurance premiums and auto repair costs down in our state. Thank you for your time and attention.