Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Commerce Insurance Reports Earnings Decline for 4Q, 2007
Feb 4 2008 // The Commerce Group, Inc. reported 2007 fourth quarter net earnings were $19.6 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $59.4 million or $0.87 per diluted share for 2006. Commerce is in the process...
Arbella, Premier Get Green Light for 2008 Mass. Auto Rates
Feb 4 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes has upheld the 2008 auto insurance rate filings of Arbella Mutal, which proposed an overall rate decrease of 7.7 percent, and Premier (Travelers), which filed for an...
Mass. AG Loses Another as Hanover’s Auto Insurance Filing is Cleared
Jan 30 2008 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has lost another skirmish in the battle over regulation of 2008 auto insurance rates. Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes has upheld the rate filing of Hanover Insurance,...
10 Tips for Mass. Insurance Agents Moving into Competitive Market
Jan 29 2008 // Massachusetts independent agents are facing a challenge to hang onto their whopping 86 percent market share in personal lines as the state embarks upon a new competitive auto insurance system that will bring some of the...
Mass. Allows Rates and Commissions of 2 Largest Auto Insurers
Jan 28 2008 // The two largest auto insurance writers in Massachusetts have been given the green light to use the rates they filed for 2008 in rulings that characterize the state attorney general’s objections as...
Mass. Bill to Ban Texting While Driving Includes Insurance Surcharges
Jan 25 2008 // The Massachusetts House has approved a bill banning drivers from talking or texting on cell phones while behind the wheel, despite opposition from a lawmaker from a city where authorities say a man sending a message struck...
Mass. Regulator Subpoenas Municipal Bond Insurers
Jan 25 2008 // Massachusetts’ top securities regulator on Wednesday said he issued subpoenas to a pair of municipal bond insurers, seeking information on how much the firms disclosed to cities and towns about their exposure to...
Mass. Insurance Department Launches Agent Finder Web Site
Jan 24 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes today unveiled AgentFinder, a Division of Insurance Web site designed to make it easier for Massachusetts consumers to find insurance agents and insurance products in...
$458M Big Dig Settlement Reached; Criminal Charges Dropped
Jan 23 2008 // The main management consultant and contractor on Boston’s $15 billion Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig) has agreed to pay more than $407 million to resolve civil and criminal liabilities in connection with the...
Lawrence, Mass. Fire Destroys City Block, Leaves 150 Homeless
Jan 22 2008 // About 150 people were left homeless in Lawrence, Mass. as a massive blaze that started in an empty downtown nightclub early Monday quickly spread through 15 buildings, including apartments and a home for the mentally...
Travelers Settles With States Over brokers’ Contingent Commissions
Jan 13 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in nine states and the District of Columbia over how it paid brokers. The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys general in...
Travelers Settles With States Over Brokers’ Contingent Commissions
Jan 13 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in nine states and the District of Columbia regarding how it paid brokers. The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys...
Mass. Insurance Chief, AG Differ Over How to Regulate Auto Rates
Jan 11 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes and Attorney General Martha Coakley are at odds over how best to regulate the state’s new competitive auto rates. Coakley thinks some insurers are being stingy with...
Mass. Horse Farm Charged with Workers’ Comp Premium Fraud
Jan 10 2008 // Update: On Nov. 3, 2008, Christopher Mersereau and his corporation, Stoneymeade Farm LLC, located in Concord, Mass., entered into an agreement with the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley resolving charges originally...
Mass. Mandatory Health Plan Enters Cost Control Phase
Jan 9 2008 // Massachusetts is facing a daunting goal as it enters the second year of its grand experiment of extending health care coverage to nearly all citizens — reining in spiraling costs that could threaten the landmark...
Web Site, Ads to Help Agents Keep Mass. Auto Market Share
Jan 9 2008 // Massachusetts independent insurance agents, who now write more than 80 percent of the auto insurance market in the state, are getting some marketing help to protect that market share as they enter a new competitive rating...
Great American Insurance Fights Mass. AG Bid-Rigging Charge
Jan 7 2008 // The Massachusetts attorney general has accused Great American Insurance Group of bid-rigging for what she says was a fake price quote it submitted in 2004 to a Norwood technology firm. Attorney General Martha Coakley last...
Mass. Bills Would Ban Text Messaging by Drivers
Jan 4 2008 // The death of a 13-year-old Taunton, Mass. boy last month has prompted new calls to ban text messaging while driving. Craig Bigos of New Bedford told police he was sending a text message to a friend when he swerved and...
Travelers Settles with States over Brokers’ Contingent Commissions
Jan 3 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in 9 states and the District of Columbia over how it paid brokers. The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys general in...
Mass. High Court Upholds 2006 Home Insurance Hike for FAIR Plan
Jan 3 2008 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the 2006 rate increases for the state’s homeowners residual market insurer, the FAIR Plan, against a challenge by the attorney general that the increases violated a...
