Fire Departments Charge for Service, Asking Accident Victims to Pay Up
Victims, Insurance Companies Complain Fire Departments Are Double-Dipping for Services Paid by Taxes
By SARAH NETTER, ABC News
Feb. 4, 2010
Already banned in several states, the practice of charging to respond to house fires and car accidents -- dubbed a "crash tax" or an "accident tax" -- has horrified victims and earned the ire of insurance lobbyists who say their member companies are being targeted to make up for budget shortfalls.
"Part of the sales tactic when municipalities consider this is, 'Hey, don't worry, it's going to go to insurance,'" Jon Zarich, director of government affairs for the Insurance Institute of Indiana, told ABCNews.com. "But it's the homeowner that's responsible once coverage runs out."