Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. Teen Driving Bill Advances
Jul 30 2006 // Teens longing to get out on the open road would have to hang up their cell phones and log more hours in behind-the-wheel training before they would be able to get their drivers’ licenses, under a bill passed by the...
Commerce Net Earnings Down in 2d Quarter But Up for First Half
Jul 28 2006 // The Commerce Group, Inc. reported 2006 second quarter results showing net earnings were $58.6 million, or $0.86 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $62.6 million or $0.92 per diluted share for 2005. Included in...
Mass. Fair Plan plays catch-up on reinsurance, rates
Jul 24 2006 // The biggest increases are in store for coastal Cape Cod, where the Fair Plan has become the leading property insurer rather than the insurer of last resort as intended. News Currents Last summer when the Massachusetts Fair...
Insurers Blocked in Deposing Abuse Victims in Western Mass.
Jul 24 2006 // A Superior Court judge in Springfield, Mass. has for now blocked more than 100 people who say they were molested by priests from having to tell lawyers about the abuse they say they endured. Judge John Agostini ruled...
Mass. Fair Plan to Refile Next Week
Jul 21 2006 // The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (the Fair Plan) will submit a request for new rates by the end of next week, just under the deadline. Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler...
Mass. Escapes Worst of Beryl
Jul 21 2006 // The National Hurricane Center discontinued its tropical storm warning for southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod early this morning as Tropical Storm Beryl weakened and moved north toward Nova Scotia. The storm passed...
Contractor Fined in Mass. Building Collapse
Jul 21 2006 // Federal workplace safety regulators have fined a demolition contractor more than $164,000 for alleged safety violations, including numerous violations at a building collapse in Holyoke, Mass. that killed one worker and...
Plymouth Rock Adds Tow Service for Mass. Auto Insureds
Jul 21 2006 // Boston-based auto insurer Plymouth Rock has introuduced a new service for customers whose vehicles are unable to be driven after an accident. Known as “Tow And Go”, the service provides accident-related towing...
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...
