(Washington, DC) Acting Commissioner Thomas Hampton of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) today announced that the new taxicab insurance policy has effectively reduced insurance rates for the District's taxicabs.

"The lower rates reflect a more competitive marketplace for the District's taxicab insurance premium," said Hampton about the policy duration which was changed from two weeks to six months. "This is exactly what we wanted to see-a taxicab insurance industry that is more competitive and comparable to the rest of the country and the industry standards." Hampton said he had anticipated a reduction in the rates under the six-month policy.

For decades, the District of Columbia's taxicab insurance industry used the two-week policy. This meant that District taxi drivers had to pay a rate based on a bi-weekly basis. As the District was the only jurisdiction still using this, it was difficult to competitively price the insurance rates or attract more insurance companies to provide insurance to District taxicabs.

DISB issued two bulletins on Dec. 15, 2005, 05-IB-005 12/15 and 05-IB-006 12/15, which changed the duration of insurance policies from two weeks to six months and prohibited insurance companies from paying sticker or collection fees to taxicab companies. It also required insurers to submit premium rate filings based on their own loss and expense experience.