By Jared Valanzola
For families across Massachusetts, every bill feels heavier than it did a few years ago. Groceries, gas, housing, and increasingly, auto insurance are all climbing at once. What many don’t realize is that rising insurance costs aren’t just another symptom of inflation - they’re part of what’s driving it.
Auto insurance premiums have surged 50% nationwide since 2020, including a 12% jump last year alone. In Massachusetts, the trend is even worse. Premiums have risen 40% in recent years, with drivers now paying more than $3,500 annually - about 20% above the national average.
This burden falls hardest on working families and middle-class households.
One major driver of these increases is excessive litigation - costly lawsuits that drive up settlements and legal fees. Those costs don’t disappear; they get built into everyone’s premiums.
The result is what many call a hidden “tort tax” or an added cost baked into insurance bills, whether you’ve ever been in a lawsuit or not. In fact, Massachusetts families pay more than $2,500 annually in these “tort taxes,” driven by excessive litigation.
The good news is that this isn’t a new problem and doesn’t require a new playbook. Congress should pass reforms that curb lawsuit abuse and prevent criminal fraud rings from exploiting loopholes for large payouts that are passed down to working Americans.
In 2005, Congress took a commonsense step to rein in this problem. The Graves Amendment established a clear rule: companies should be held responsible for their own actions, not merely for owning a vehicle.
That reform worked. But the economy has changed.
Rideshare companies now operate in a legal gray area, where they can be held liable for accidents simply because their app was used, not because they did anything wrong.
Updating the law to include rideshare companies would close this gap, protecting against unfair liability while preserving full accountability for real negligence. This sensible reform is based on fairness and maintains accountability – bad actors remain fully responsible for real misconduct, and legitimate accident victims retain their rights to justice and due process.
This is a real solution to the affordability crisis. States that have adopted similar reforms have seen insurance premiums drop by up to 10%, saving families roughly $400 a year—real money back in household budgets. These changes will cut costs for Massachusetts families by lowering premiums, stabilizing insurance markets, and reducing cost-of-living pressure.
At a time when families are asking for relief, this is a practical step lawmakers can take right now. Modernizing our laws won’t solve every affordability challenge, but it will make a real difference, lower costs, and bring greater fairness to the system for Massachusetts drivers.
Jared Valanzola is a Plymouth County Commissioner.