Massachusetts Auto Rating & Accident Prevention Bureau v. Commissioner of Insurance
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
453 N.E.2d 381 (1983)
- Written by Matthew Celestin, JD
Facts
Massachusetts passed a law that increased insurance surcharges for repeat offenders of drunk-driving laws. Based on an estimate by the Massachusetts State Ratings Board (the board)—which was based on the board’s analysis of two programs in other jurisdictions aimed at decreasing drunk driving—the Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance (the Commissioner) (defendant) lowered insurance rates on the assumption that the new law would decrease drunk driving and thus decrease insurers’ costs. The Massachusetts Automotive Rating and Accident Prevention Bureau (the bureau) (plaintiff), a group of insurers, filed an action challenging the Commissioner’s assumption. The bureau argued that the board’s analysis was based on programs too dissimilar to the new law and therefore that the Commissioner’s assumption was too speculative.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lynch, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 820,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
