Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Mass. Police Officer Indicted for Insurance Fraud

Dec 7 2007 // A grand jury has indicted a Springfield, Mass. police officer in connection with insurance fraud and larceny. Prosecutors say Anthony Trabal was charged with motor vehicle fraud and two counts of attempted larceny for...

30% of Mass. Agents Expect to Lose Auto Business under New Managed Competition

Dec 6 2007 // Massacusetts insurance agents dealing with the switch to managed competition are expecting a lot of business movement as a result of the competitive system, with almost one-third (30.7%) predicting they will lose accounts...

Mass. Insurance Agents Support Managed Competition But Oppose Credit Scoring

Dec 5 2007 // Insurance agents in Massachusetts support the state’s move to managed competition in private passenger auto insurance but oppose insurers’ use of credit scoring in rating or underwriting. In an online Insurance...

Progressive Adding Second Mass. Auto License

Dec 4 2007 // A second major carrier has begun making inroads to the soon-to-be-deregulated Bay State auto insurance market, although it has stopped short of saying it will sell Massachusetts personal auto policies in 2008. The...

How Mass. Agents Feel About Managed Competition, Credit Scoring

Dec 2 2007 // Insurance agents in Massachusetts support the state’s move to managed competition in private passenger auto insurance but oppose insurers’ use of credit scoring in rating or underwriting. They are expecting a...

Business Moves

Dec 2 2007 // INAMAR, ACE Recreational Marine ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operating division of the ACE Group of Companies, announced that INAMAR, its marine marketing and underwriting division, will now be known as ACE Recreational...

Mass. Auto Insurers Get Into Gear for Competition

Dec 2 2007 // Most plan to cut rates as state moves ahead with plan for managed competition for 2008 Auto insurance carriers are looking to compete by rewarding drivers with good driving records, good grades, hybrid vehicles, property...

Encompass Adjusts Mass. Auto Rates for 2008

Nov 30 2007 // Encompass Insurance has further lowered its 2008 Massachusetts auto insurance rates for preferred risks by 5 percent, resulting in an overall statewide average decrease of 4.5 percent compared to the 3.4 percent in its...

18 of 19 Insurers Amend Mass. Rates; State Plans Outreach

Nov 29 2007 // Eighteen of the state’s 19 Massachusetts auto insurers amended rate filings for policies with April 2008 effective dates at the state’s Division of Insurance. The latest filings lowered rates from the origianl...

Mass. Auto Insurers Pressed to Lower 2008 Rates Even More

Nov 28 2007 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is pressing auto insurers in the state to lower their 2008 rates, arguing that their initial filings last week included more than $200 million in extra profits and payments to...

Arbella, MetLife, Main Street Amend Mass. Rates; OneBeacon Unveils Plans

Nov 28 2007 // Several Massachusetts auto insurers have amended last week’s filings to further lower rates and increase discounts for safe drivers while another revealed its plans for 2008 under the new managed care system. MetLife...

Mass. Businesses Not Offering Health Insurance Options Face Fines

Nov 26 2007 // More than five hundred businesses in Massachusetts that failed to offer insurance options to their employees under the state’s landmark health care law will be required to pay $5 million in fees. That’s far...

Mass. Liquor Liability Residual Market Lowers High Limit Rates

Nov 20 2007 // The Liquor Liability Joint Underwriting Association of Massachusetts (LLJUA) said it is lowering its rates for higher-limit coverage by more than 20%, effective immediately. Insureds buying coverage of $2 million per...

Mass. Drivers Get Taste of Competition; Insurers Cut Rates, Enhance Products

Nov 20 2007 // Drivers with good driving records, good grades, hybrid vehicles, property policies and pets are among those who could benefit under auto insurance rating plans filed for use in 2008 in Massachusetts. Indeeed, most drivers...

Hanover Among First to Tout Mass. Auto Rates; Vows Agent Appointments

Nov 19 2007 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. was one of the first insurers to tout its competitive rates and product filings at today’s deadline for auto insurers looking to compete in Massachusetts under the new managed...

Insurers File Mass. Auto Rates Today; Bill to Control Rating Factors Stalled

Nov 19 2007 // The auto insurance market in Massachusetts gets a glimpse of greater competition today when carriers disclose their proposed rates, but the big unknown is whether motorists honk for joy or hit the guardrail. The Patrick...

Spain’s Mapfre Sees Commerce as Portal to Expansion in U.S.

Nov 18 2007 // Insurer likes Hispanic market potential as well as solid performance of Mass. personal lines insurer The potential of the Hispanic insurance market is one of the factors attracting Spanish insurer Mapfre to its acquisition...

Peerless Insurance Returning to Mass. Auto Under Managed Competition

Nov 14 2007 // Liberty Mutual Group today announced that one of its companies – Keene, N.H.-based Peerless Insurance – intends to return to the Massachusetts private passenger auto insurance market next year after a 20-year...

Hanover Ready to Offer Connector Product in New Mass. Auto Market

Nov 9 2007 // As Massachusetts prepares to open up its private passenger auto insurance market to more competition, The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is ready to drive in with coverages it has been offering in other states but not in...

Liberty Mutual to Grow Mass. Sales Force by 50% to Handle Auto

Nov 9 2007 // Liberty Mutual, the state’s fourth-largest auto insurer, announced plans to add 30 sales representatives in Massachusetts – a 50 percent increase – by the time the state implements new managed competition...