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Talk of the bay: Don't tie rates to education, Job, state says

By Times staff
Published April 3, 2007

Using someone's occupation or educational level to determine their auto insurance rates, while legal, unintentionally harms minorities and low-income people. So says a report issued Monday by the state's Office of Insurance Regulation. The report cited a recent St. Petersburg Times story that showed differences in education and occupation produced dramatically different premiums for people with similar driving records and vehicles. OIR spokesman Bob Lotane said the report was released to make policymakers aware of the issue, and that's what happened. Within hours, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink had this to say: "Just because something might be legal doesn't make it right. I don't see how someone's job reflects on how they drive or what rates they should pay." While the Florida Insurance Council called the report "entirely bogus and unsubstantiated," OIR general counsel Steve Parton said regulators are drafting legislation that would make auto insurers show that the factors they use don't disproportionately impact minorities or low-income people.

Did he just make a lot, or a lot more?

Getting the true value of CEO pay packages is a bit like rolling dice. When Progress Energy last week reported CEO Bob McGehee's compensation for 2006, the company's hometown North Carolina newspaper, Raleigh's News & Observer, said he was paid nearly $10-million last year. But the AP put the figure at $7.9-million. That's a big difference. The Observer noted McGehee's pay was more than twice as much as his 2005 compensation, thanks to new disclosure rules that require more scrupulous pay reporting. "There was a huge amount that was under the radar screen," Duke University corporate law professor James Cox told the Observer.

[Last modified April 2, 2007, 23:47:08]