Senate Bills 328 and 329 would reduce premiums and make it easier to regain lost coverage
LANSING, Mich. (May 29, 2025) — Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) has introduced legislation aimed at lowering auto insurance costs for Michigan drivers. Senate Bills 328 and 329 will make insurance more accessible and protect customers while reining in the windfall profits insurers have enjoyed at customers’ expense.
“Car insurance rates in Michigan are too high. Insurance company profits are soaring, along with our costs as consumers. It’s time for the Legislature to stand up to these unjustifiably high car insurance rates,” said Sen. Irwin. “People shouldn’t be penalized for having a lapse in coverage because they are sick or otherwise unable to drive. For people coming back into the market for car insurance, we need to make it easier, not harder, for them to pay into the system.”
Senate Bill 328 would provide direct cost relief for drivers, mandating premium reductions of at least 10% without reduced benefits. Senate Bill 329 would bar insurance companies from charging a reinstatement fee or higher rate as a result of a lapse in coverage. People who hit hard times due to illness or unemployment often find it hard to maintain continuous auto insurance coverage while they are struggling to make ends meet. When they try to do the right thing by getting covered again, they often find that they have to pay even more than they were before. Under Senate Bill 329, drivers would still be required to carry insurance; the bill would simply remove a major barrier to restoring coverage.
Michigan’s high auto insurance costs lead to one in five Michigan motorists going uninsured, a higher rate than the national average of one in seven, according to the Insurance Research Council. More uninsured drivers lead to higher rates for the remaining insured drivers statewide, particularly in high-cost locations. This can trigger a “death spiral” where more drivers drop insurance as rates become unaffordable, causing even higher rates.
Policy interventions that lower premiums are a proven way to interrupt this feedback loop of higher costs and rising uninsurance. From 2020 to 2022, Michigan reduced its uninsured rate by 6%, more than any other state. A key factor to this success was a temporary ban on penalizing drivers when they seek to become insured again after a lapse in coverage. By permanently banning this practice and lowering extortionate premiums, this legislation would reduce the number of uninsured drivers in our state.
These bills have been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, Insurance, and Consumer Protection for consideration.