I'm curious why insurance companies were concerned about it. Do you have any further information? It just seems weird to me. I remember when I had my 91 Cavalier, it had one of those shift lights on the dash. I also knew this guy who had a late 90's Mustang that he had purchased new. He didn't own it anymore hen I knew him, but he used to brag about it all the time, and he would talk about how that stupid shift light would come on and he'd leave the car in a lower gear, which would cause the light to be on for an extended period of time.
The shifter on my Cavalier was to maximize fuel economy.