Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Police: Mass. Temp Agency Paid Cash to Avoid Taxes, Insurance

Mar 22 2010 // Two former owners of a temporary employment agency in Massachusetts have been charged with paying more than $24 million in unreported cash to employees as part of a conspiracy to avoid paying more than $7 million dollars...

Massachusetts Warns Car Dealers over Insurance Advice

Mar 15 2010 // Auto dealers in the Bay State must be careful of what they tell car-buyers about purchasing insurance, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance warns dealers in a newly issued bulletin. State law prohibits anyone without an...

Beecher Carlson to Refund $90,000 Under Massachusetts Settlement

Mar 7 2010 // Insurance brokerage Beecher Carlson will refund over $90,000 to Massachusetts clients who were not told the firm was receiving commissions from insurers in addition to client-paid fees, as part of a settlement with the...

Massachusetts Woman’s Family Sues Cosmetic Surgery Company

Mar 5 2010 // The family of a Massachusetts woman who died shortly after doctors started a cosmetic surgery procedure on her has sued the national company that was overseeing the operation. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Middlesex...

Mass. AG Coakley Opposes Proposed Workers’ Compensation Rate Hike

Mar 3 2010 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said she opposes an insurance industry request to raise workers’ compensation premiums by about four percent this year. She said the hike would put an “additional...

Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Premium Rates Could Rise

Mar 2 2010 // Massachusetts workers’ compensation insurance rates would rise an average of 4.5 percent under a new rate proposal submitted by the Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau. The bureau is the licensed...

Former Mass. Commissioner Singer Joins Everest Re Board

Feb 26 2010 // The Bermuda-based Everest Re Group announced the appointment of Roger M. Singer to its Board of Directors, effective February 24, 2010. He formerly served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for One...

Beecher Carlson to Refund $90K Under Massachusetts Settlement

Feb 25 2010 // Insurance brokerage Beecher Carlson will refund over $90,000 to several Massachusetts clients who were not told the firm was receiving commissions from insurers in addition to client-paid fees, as part of a settlement with...

Business Moves

Feb 21 2010 // OneBeacon, Tower Group Massachusetts-based OneBeacon Insurance Group has agreed to sell its personal lines business to Tower Group Inc. in a deal that comprises two affiliate insurers and two reciprocal insurance exchanges...

Massachusetts Settles with Five Auto Insurers over Unreported Appeals

Feb 17 2010 // Five more auto insurers in Massachusetts have reached settlements with the state’s attorney general over their failure to update at-fault accident information for drivers whom they insure. The companies involved in...

Mass. Supreme Court Rules Against Agents in Auto Insurance Lawsuit

Feb 16 2010 // The Massachusetts Supreme Court has sided with the state’s insurance commissioner in a heated lawsuit brought by the state’s insurance agents and Arbella Mutual Insurance Co. over how new companies are assigned...

Massachusetts City Seeks $1.3M from Water Contractor

Feb 11 2010 // The city of Gloucester, Massachusetts has filed a $1.3 million insurance claim against the company that ran its drinking water system during last summer’s contamination crisis that required a nearly three-week long...

Massachusetts Settles With Commerce over Insurance Appeals Errors

Feb 9 2010 // Massachusetts has reached a settlement with the Bay State’s largest auto insurer, Commerce Insurance Co., over its failure to report at-fault auto accident determinations made by the state’s board of appeals,...

Murphy Named Insurance Commissioner in Massachusetts

Feb 9 2010 // Joseph G. Murphy has been named commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. Murphy has served as first deputy commissioners since 2006, playing active roles in the implementation of the managed competition...

Massachusetts Encouraging Brokerage Agreements for Former ERPs

Feb 5 2010 // Most Massachusetts insurance agents who were appointed as exclusive representative producers (ERPs) under the state’s previous insurance regime have obtained voluntary contracts with insurers or have merged with...

Ratings Recap: Mass. Homeland/York, Rockhill, Paratransit, MGA,

Feb 3 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a” of Massachusetts Homeland Insurance Company and York Insurance Company of Maine under...

Massachusetts Woman Dies After Being Struck by Fire Hose

Feb 2 2010 // An 82-year-old Massachusetts woman struck by a fire hose that had come loose from a Cambridge fire engine that was responding to call has died. Cambridge police says Gertrude King died Thursday morning at Massachusetts...

Massachusetts to Allow Surcharge Appeals for Recalled Vehicles

Feb 1 2010 // Massachusetts insurance regulators will allow some Toyota drivers who were involved in accidents linked to unintended acceleration to appeal insurance surcharges assessed by their carriers. The move follows Toyota’s...

Couple Sues Massachusetts Hospital over Death of Children

Jan 27 2010 // The parents of two children whose aunt carried them onto a highway where all three were struck and killed, have sued a psychiatric hospital for allegedly failing to properly treat the woman’s mental illness. Ken and...

Massachusetts Safety Officials Warn of Home Oxygen Risks

Jan 25 2010 // Massachusetts fire safety officials have begun a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of home oxygen use. Fire officials say home oxygen use has been a factor in 24 fire deaths and 50 serious injuries in...