Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ProMutual to Increase Malpractice Insurance Rates
May 3 2001 // Beginning July 1 of this year, ProMutual, Massachusetts’ largest provider of malpractice insurance for physicians, will raise its rates for malpractice insurance an average of 14 percent across specialties. According...
Credit Insurer to Return $1M, Trim Rates for
Jan 2 2001 // An Atlanta-based insurance company has agreed to pay back $1 million to tens of thousands of Massachusetts consumers who were overcharged for credit insurance. According to a report issued by Georgia Attorney General Tom...
Mass. Commissioner Approves 8.3 Percent Auto Rate Cut
Dec 19 2000 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Linda Ruthardt sided with consumer advocates and called for a 8.3 percent overall decrease in personal auto rates for 2001. Following the decision, representatives from the auto...
Mass. P/C Insurers Ignore Tax Relief Options
Nov 30 2000 // Eight Massachusetts insurance companies have opted out of a state program that promises permanent tax cuts in exchange for five years of voluntary community investment, according to a report by the Massachusetts...
Massachusetts AG Urges Auto Rate Cuts
Nov 22 2000 // Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly joined the State Rating Bureau yesterday in urging state insurance regulators to cut personal auto insurance rates. The AG’s office called for a 10 percent decrease. The...
Mass. DOI Takes Over Troubled Framingham Lumber Insurer
Nov 3 2000 // A Framingham, Mass. company writing property and casualty insurance for the lumber industry was put into state receivership Wednesday after reporting large losses for the past few years. A note on the company’s...
As Incoming IIAA President, Hofmann Ready to Promote One Voice For Agents
Oct 23 2000 // “My goal is not to start any new initiative, but to bring a bunch of the things that we’ve got out there to conclusion and to fruition and up-and-running.” —Bill Hofmann” After spending the past...
Massachusetts Men Charged with Insurance Fraud
Oct 2 2000 // Albert F. Melchione, 71, of Rockland, Mass., and his grandson, Richard J. Melchione, Jr., 30, of Hull, Mass., have been indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and mail fraud charges in connection with a scheme to...
Mass. Regulators Back Auto Cut
Sep 25 2000 // Massachusetts regulators are recommending a 14.1 percent auto insurance rate cut for 2001. The recommendation, which contrasts with the industry’s suggested 2.5 percent increase, could lead to a final decision by...
Massachusetts Regulators Take Control of Auto Insurer
Sep 22 2000 // New England Fidelity Insurance Co. of West Springfield, has gone into receivership. It is the second Massachusetts auto insurer to go under this year. Industry officials said the failures of New England Fidelity and Trust...
Massachusetts Sues Four Insurers
Sep 21 2000 // The Boston Globe reported today that Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has sued four health-insurance companies for denying coverage to college students who were suffering from preexisting medical...
Hagerty Opens Classic Car Program to Massachusetts
Sep 18 2000 // Hagerty Classic Insurance has expanded its collector car insurance program into Massachusetts. Now available in 47 states, Hagerty’s program protects antiques, classics, show cars and trucks, street rods and customs,...
Mass. AG Promises Push for Auto Rate Cut
Aug 30 2000 // Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly said yesterday he will push for an auto insurance rate cut in 2001, but said it was premature to discuss how big a decrease is warranted. Rate hearings are scheduled to begin...
New Jersey Regulators Approve Sale of Savings Bank Life Insurance
Aug 8 2000 // New Jersey regulators have approved the sale of Massachusetts-style savings bank life insurance—a plain term and whole-life coverage not sold by agents. For decades it was available by law only to residents of...
WCRI Study: Medical Costs Lower in Mass. Workers’ Comp System
Jul 31 2000 // The costs of medical care for injured workers in Massachusetts are significantly lower than the other states reviewed in a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The study of eight states, representing 40...
Banknorth Enters Western Massachusetts with Agency Purchase
Jun 20 2000 // Banknorth Group will soon provide insurance products and services in western Massachusetts. The bank’s insurance subsidiary has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the Palmer Goodell Insurance Agency of...
Massachusetts DOI Web Site Blasted by Consumer Watchdog
Jun 13 2000 // The Massachussetts Department of Insurance plans to roll out a new web site next month, replete with a downloadable complaint form. But that hasn’t stopped a Boston attorney from declaring the site...
Massachusetts Governor Signs Countersignature Repeal
Jun 6 2000 // Gov. Paul Cellucci has signed legislation to repeal Massachusetts’ countersignature requirement, eliminating the requirement for the countersignature of a resident agent on policies placed by nonresident agents. The...
Mother/Son Clinic Operators Guilty of Insurance Fraud in Massachusetts
May 31 2000 // The operators of a Lowell, Mass. medical clinic catering to patients claiming injuries from automobile accidents have pled guilty to charges of operating a scheme to defraud automobile insurance providers between 1993 and...
Slavery & InsuranceExamining slave insurance in a world 150 years removed
May 15 2000 // Recently, in March 2000, Aetna, the nation’s largest health insurer, was criticized for participating in slave insurance 150 years ago. Aetna apologized and expressed its “deep regret” over participating...
