And so the mayor-elect's honeymoon ends, a week after Election Day.
"Insurance is a complex business, and one the city is ill-equipped to sustain," The News' editorial board says.
Mike Duggan's idea of setting up a municipal auto insurer draws prompt pushback from The Detroit News, which derides it in an editorial as "a risky enterprise that will drain the treasury without lowering premium costs."
Detroit’s new charter does include a provision that would allow the city to start an insurance company. But that doesn’t make founding one a good idea.
Insurance is a complex business, and one the city is ill-equipped to sustain. . . . A municipal auto insurance company would inevitably be a drain on a city treasury that is already too small to pay for core services.
Under the headline "Detroit has no business selling auto insurance," the paper's editorial board acknowledges the need to "to find ways to drive down Detroit’s punishing automobile insurance rates."
The high cost of policies is a detriment to living in the city, and are out of reach of many Detroit motorists. But the solution he’s considering is the wrong one. ...
There’s no reason to believe a city-owned insurance provider could offer cheaper rates. Urban areas are inherently more expensive to insure, and conditions in Detroit make coverage particularly costly. . . .
The new mayor should concentrate his efforts on areas where the city can be effective.
First would be aggressively attacking auto thefts. Preventing stolen cars by targeting both the thieves and the chop shops that buy their wares would help lower insurance costs. So would better maintaining traffic and street lights to reduce accidents and break-ins.
