Latest Massachusetts Headlines

All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Mass. AG: There Was ‘Substantial Dispute’ Over Big Dig Ceiling Method

Jul 19 2006 // Investigators probing the fatal collapse of a ceiling in Boston’s Big Dig underground freeway leading to the airport have discovered documents showing there was a “substantial dispute” over whether the...

Mass. High Court: Gun Owners Must Lock Up Firearms

Jul 18 2006 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that gun owners may be negligent for shootings with their stolen firearms in specific situations, if they fail to properly lock up the weapons when they know someone...

Mass. Music Instrument Maker Gets $16.7 Million for Product Disparagement

Jul 10 2006 // First Act Inc. announced that it accepted a $16.7 million settlement payment stemming from a lawsuit in which a jury found that Brook Mays Music Co. had falsely disparaged the products of the bargain-priced musical...

Reinsurance Poses Dilemma for Mass. Fair Plan and Regulator

Jul 9 2006 // Last summer when the Massachusetts Fair Plan, the state’s involuntary homeowners insurance market, looked into purchasing reinsurance, the premium was about $17.5 million. The plan did not purchase the reinsurance...

Mass. Jurors Face Added Questions Before Going to Trial

Jul 7 2006 // Potential jurors in Massachusetts face greater scrutiny about their home lives, nationality and dealings with the court system under a new screening process that has just gone into effect. The updated “juror...

Mass. Unveils Proposed Employer Exemption from Health Mandate

Jul 6 2006 // Massachusetts officials have unveiled proposed regulations that would set the minimum a company would have to do to be exempt from a new $295 per-worker assessment as part of the state’s new health care law. Health...

Mass. Rejects 12.5% Fair Plan Rate Hike But Opens Door to Revised Bid

Jul 5 2006 // Almost 10 months after it was filed, Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler on June 30 disapproved the 12.5 percent average homeowners insurance rate increase submitted by the Massachusetts Property...

News Currents

Jul 3 2006 // Mass. agents seek 4% auto pay raise Massachusetts independent insurance agents have filed for a four percent hike in the commission they receive on private passenger auto insurance polices. If approved by Insurance...

Mass. agents seek 4% auto pay raise

Jul 3 2006 // Massachusetts independent insurance agents have filed for a four percent hike in the commission they receive on private passenger auto insurance polices. If approved by Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler, the increase...

Mass. Man Pleads Guilty to Workers Comp Fraud Charges

Jun 30 2006 // A Sutton, Mass. man pleaded guilty to worker’s compensation fraud and larceny over $250 in Worcester Superior Court, according to Attorney General Tom Reilly. Hal Tyree, 51, of Sutton pleaded guilty to one charge...

In Mass., competition not like a box of chocolates

Jun 19 2006 // Massachusetts Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, and the committee staffers who crafted his auto insurance competitive rating bill tried to sweeten the deal by throwing some bon bons into the box, including fraud fighting...

Lloyd’s forecast for Northeast: Storms, global warming threats are real

Jun 19 2006 // The prospect of another nasty hurricane season has everyone in the insurance industry braced for a white-knuckle ride. The spectre of a hurricane hitting a major Northeast population center is hardly the stuff of Hollywood...

IAG Acquires New Lloyd’s MA – Specialist Asian Insurer

Jun 15 2006 // Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) announced that it has acquired a newly-formed Lloyd’s managing agency and specialist Asian syndicate, Alba Group Pte Limited, to “support the development and management...

Mass. Proposal Would Phase-In Competitive Rating Over 5 Years; Retain Some Subsidies

Jun 5 2006 // Massachusetts would phase-in competitive rating of private passenger auto insurance over a five year period utilizing “flex band” rating while retaining certain subsidies and restricting how high liability...

Premiums to Start at $30-$140/Month Under Mass. Mandatory Health Plan

Jun 5 2006 // An analysis by the Romney administration found that many Massachusetts low-income residents will have to pay from $30 to $140 a month under state’s new mandatory health care plan, according to a published report. The...

N.J. Drivers ‘Clear Winners’ Under ’03 Reforms, Claims Industry Report

Jun 5 2006 // New Jersey drivers are the “clear winners” due to auto insurance reforms enacted by lawmakers in 2003 according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), which released a report about the...

Agency spreading good works in Mass., Conn.

Jun 5 2006 // GoodWorks Insurance, LLC, a Massachusetts insurance agency that promises to donate 50 percent of its profits to local charities, has expanded into Connecticut with a branch office in Granby. The Granby agency will sell...

New England’s flood recovery

Jun 5 2006 // Residents, business owners and public officials in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine faced the daunting task of cleaning up after the worst flooding since the 1930s. The floods came after nearly a week of...

Insurance Strategist to Lead New Mass. Health Plan Agency

May 30 2006 // Jon Kingsdale’s life is about to get a whole lot more complicated. The Romney administration has announced that Kingsdale will head up the new Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the independent state...

Mass. Liquor JUA Rewards Training Security Staff, Not Just Servers

May 25 2006 // The Liquor Liability Joint Underwriting Association of Massachusetts (LLJUA) and a security training company are teaming up to transform security staff into trained professionals in what is believed to be the first program...