Auto Insurance

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The Boston Globe Consumer Beat Column.

The question is taking on new urgency now as state officials begin efforts to revamp the Massachusetts auto insurance system. One of the chief reasons the average premium in Massachusetts costs more than $1,000 a year is the fact that drivers here file more auto insurance claims than anyone else in the country. Getting to the root of the problem -- the key to finding a way to improve the situation -- is not so easy. Based on interviews with highway safety, insurance, and law enforcement officials, there is no single cause for the high level of accidents here. It

State’s auto insurers to seek 3.7 percent rate cut.

Massachusetts automobile insurers plan to seek a 3.7 percent reduction in their rates for 2007, according to three officials involved in the deliberations, making it the second year in a row the companies have asked state regulators to cut the size of their premiums. The industry request means drivers will be guaranteed a rate reduction next year, and the odds are very good that the size of the cut will be much bigger when the state insurance commissioner sets the final rate in December. A reduction of 10 to 15 percent is possible, which would shave $100 to $149 off

Auto Insurers in Massachusetts Raise Rates, Sue and Flee as Claims Rise

Massachusetts drivers, who file more property damage and theft claims than drivers anywhere else in the country, are facing double digit rate increases and a growing reluctance by insurers to continue writing policies in the state. Massachusetts drivers, who file more property damage and theft claims than drivers anywhere else in the country, are facing double digit rate increases and a growing reluctance by insurers to continue writing policies in the state. Since June, nearly a dozen companies, including The Travelers Companies and The Hartford, have issued court challenges to the state's insurance regulatory system. Another, Fireman's Fund Insurance,

Sacramento, Calif., judge upholds new auto insurance regulations.

-In a rebuke to the insurance industry, a Sacramento Superior Court judge yesterday said insurers must stop using customers' ZIP codes as their primary criteria for setting auto insurance rates. The preliminary ruling by Judge Loren McMaster upholds new regulations ordered by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, although the insurance industry will be given a chance to present oral arguments against the rules in a court hearing this afternoon. The Association of California Insurance Companies, American Insurance Association and Personal Insurance Federation of California had sued to block the regulations, complaining that the changes would arbitrarily push rates higher for some

Rates Aside, Poll Finds Massachusetts Auto-Insurance Providers Vary in Quality.

Massachusetts auto insurance companies may all look the same when it comes to their base rates, but a handful of carriers do a far better job at customer service and processing claims than their competitors, according to a survey released yesterday by a nonprofit consumer organization. Boston Consumers' Checkbook, in its latest issue, reports that Amica Mutual Insurance Co., USAA, Plymouth Rock Assurance, and Electric Insurance were all rated highly by their customers in handling claims. By contrast, Encompass and Fireman's Fund were given low ratings, while most other companies received fairly average scores. Massachusetts residents tend to focus more