Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Occidental Agrees to Alter Rating System for Massachusetts Drivers

Apr 10 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said that Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina has agreed to make significant changes to the way it rates Bay State drivers. Occidental, which announced...

Push for Transgender Protection Grows in New England

Apr 9 2009 // For Ethan St. Pierre, allowing someone who is biologically female but self-identifies as male to use the men’s bathroom is a no-brainer. “Look at me,” said St. Pierre, who was born a woman but is now a...

Progressive Offers RV, Motorcyle Coverage in Massachusetts

Apr 6 2009 // Progressive said it will begin offering motorcycle and RV insurance in Massachusetts. The Mayfield Village, Ohio-based insurer said it will offer the coverage through its Web site as well as through independent insurance...

Direct Writers Reconsidering Massachusetts

Apr 6 2009 // As Managed Competition Marks Anniversary, Agency-Distributed Auto Insurance Faces New Rival It’s finally happened: Geico is entering the auto insurance market in Massachusetts. Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes...

Massachusetts AG, Insurer Reach Settlement on Policy Plans

Apr 2 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and a North Carolina insurance company have reached a settlement barring the company from using what Coakley described as unfair ratings practices. Occidental Fire and Casualty...

Massachusetts Enters Second Year of Car Insurance Experiment

Apr 1 2009 // For decades, Massachusetts had some of the nation’s highest automobile insurance premiums and was the last state to have rates determined by the government, not the open market. That changed one year ago this week,...

Esurance Exploring Massachusetts Personal Auto Market

Mar 24 2009 // Esurance, a San Francisco-based personal auto insurance direct writer, has taken preliminary steps to obtain a license to sell auto insurance in Massachusetts — although the company says it has no immediate plans to...

Geico to Sell Auto Insurance in Massachusetts

Mar 23 2009 // Geico is entering the auto insurance market in Massachusetts. State Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes confirmed in a statement Friday that the nation’s third-largest auto insurer has filed to begin selling...

Mass. AG Questions Insurer’s High Risk Insurance Auto Rates

Mar 23 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants a public hearing to review the auto insurance rates of a new company entering the market in Massachusetts. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina is...

Massachusetts Court Nixes Suit against Youth Soccer Groups

Mar 23 2009 // The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that a boy whose leg was broken when a goal post flipped over cannot sue nonprofit youth soccer associations for negligence. Dustin Welch was hurt on April 10, 1998, when a goal...

Mass. Commissioner Reverses Plan to Drop Auto Surcharge Appeals Board

Mar 19 2009 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes has reversed her plan to scrap the Bay State’s Board of Appeals — part of the long-standing system through which drivers could appeal insurance surcharges they...

Massachusetts Construction Jobs Drying up

Mar 17 2009 // The number of construction jobs in Massachusetts has fallen by about 10,000 positions in the past three months to the lowest level in a decade. The Boston Globe, citing state employment data, reports Monday that there are...

Massachusetts’ Attorney General Urges Insurance Chief to Keep Appeals

Mar 16 2009 // Attorney General Martha Coakley wants the state’s insurance division to maintain the appeals process for drivers who believe they were wrongly assessed surcharges for accidents. The Board of Appeals is slated to stop...

Massachusetts Registry, AAA May Join on License Renewals

Mar 13 2009 // The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles is close to an agreement with AAA that gives the auto club’s 2.3 million members a chance to renew licenses and vehicle registrations at no extra charge — even on...

Massachusetts Court Nixes Suit against Youth Soccer Groups

Mar 11 2009 // The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that a boy whose leg was broken when a goal post flipped over cannot sue nonprofit youth soccer associations for negligence. Dustin Welch was hurt on April 10, 1998, when a goal...

Journalists, Bloggers Watching Libel Case Involving Staples’ E-mail

Mar 10 2009 // For decades, U.S. journalists have been guided by what most considered an absolute defense to libel lawsuits: If a news report is true, it can’t be libelous. But a recent decision by a federal appeals court in Boston...

Mass. AG Questions Insurer’s High Risk Insurance Auto Rates

Mar 6 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants a public hearing to review the auto insurance rates of a new company entering the market in Massachusetts. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina is...

Mass. Man Pleads Not Guilty to Broken Tooth Insurance Charges

Mar 6 2009 // A Massachusetts man has pleaded not guilty to pocketing $36,000 in insurance payments by filing 21 fake injury claims for the same broken tooth. Tod Schaffer of Brookline was released on personal recognizance after...

Mass. Man Faces Insurance Fraud Charges Over Broken Tooth Claims

Mar 4 2009 // A Massachusetts man has been arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court in connection with allegedly submitting false dental injury reports to insurance companies in order to receive cash settlements. Tod Schaffer, 42, is charged...

Ray Named Treasurer at Rogers & Gray in Massachusetts

Feb 27 2009 // Robert J. Ray has been appointed vice president and treasurer of Rogers & Gray Insurance Agency in Massachusetts. Ray joined the agency in July 2008 as chief financial officer. He previously worked at Hub...