COMMERCE PRICES MASS. REFORMS:

The Commerce Insurance Company, the largest writer of private passenger auto insurance in Massachusetts, has updated its estimate of the financial impact of the proposed reform of the residual market system in the state to reflect changes in the rules being proposed. Its revised numbers indicate that additional expenses would be lower than originally thought and that the financial impact of any increased share of the residual market deficit would be more than offset by a few other components of the new plan. If Commissioner Julianne Bowler approves the revised plan as recommended by Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR) effective Dec. 1, 2004, company officials estimate that their additional expense, if any, for the next 15 months would be approximately $600,000. In related news, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, which had earlier announced it was leaving the state’s auto market, agreed to stick around after a meeting with state officials who reassured the company over efforts to reform the system. The proposal was the subject of a public hearing on Oct. 29.