Mass. motorcycle owners win settlement

BOSTON – Massachusetts motorcycle owners will receive more than $2.8 million in refunds as a result of settlements with two insurance companies that allegedly overcharged thousands of policyholders, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week.
Coakley’s office has reached similar settlements with 15 other insurance companies since 2010 for a total of 17, returning more than $42.8 million to Massachusetts consumers.
According to the two settlements, both filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Encompass Insurance Co. of Massachusetts, a subsidiary of Allstate, and Amica Mutual Insurance Co. allegedly illegally overcharged Massachusetts customers, using inflated and undepreciated motorcycle values to calculate insurance premiums.
Encompass will pay policyholders approximately $2 million and Amica will pay more than $800,000. The two carriers will also make civil payments to the commonwealth totaling $93,600.
Combined, Encompass and Amica are required to send out more than 10,000 refund checks before February, with an average check of approximately $280. •