Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Calif. AAA’s Pentis Joins Commerce Group to Run Operations Outside Mass.

Nov 7 2006 // The Commerce Group, Inc. in Massachusetts announced that Lawrence R. Pentis of California will join the company’s senior executive team. He will be responsible for insurance operations outside of Massachusetts as the...

Mass. AG Charges Husband, Wife with False Insurance Report

Nov 7 2006 // A husband and wife and her sister have been arraigned on charges alleging that they attempted to collect $24,000 in insurance proceeds by falsely reporting to their insurance company that their car, which they claimed was...

ACE Provides Pollution Cover for Mass. Brownfields Program

Oct 31 2006 // ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operating division of the ACE Group of Companies, been selected to participate in the Massachusetts Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital (MassBRAC) program, which encourages the...

Study Identifies High Costs of Doing Business in Mass.

Oct 30 2006 // A new study by a Boston-based think tank shows that Massachusetts firms in nine selected industries including financial services have costs that are on average 20 percent to 30 percent higher than similar companies in...

Third Quarter Earnings Drop Slightly at Commerce Group

Oct 27 2006 // The Commerce Group, Inc. reported 2006 third quarter net earnings were $56.5 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $59.8 million or $0.88 per diluted share for 2005.Included in the 2006 third...

Hanover Names Hussey as Mass. Personal Lines Underwriting VP

Oct 24 2006 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has appointed Michael Hussey as vice president of underwriting for personal lines business in Massachusetts. Hussey has 20 years experience in the property and casualty industry. He joined...

News Currents

Oct 23 2006 // Insurance issues take back seat in Mass. governor’s raceInsurance issues have taken a back seat to crime and taxes but there is evidence that the candidates locked in the race to succeed Massachusetts Gov. Mitt...

Mass. to Hear Revised High Risk Plan Nov. 10; April 2007 is Target Start Date

Oct 20 2006 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has set Nov. 10 for a public hearing into her guidelines for moving the state’s auto insurance system for high risks from a reinsurance plan to an assigned risk...

Johnston Honored as Mass. Insurance Professional of the Year

Oct 19 2006 // The Massachusetts insurance community has honored Daniel J. Johnston, president of the Automobile Insurers Bureau and a founder and executive director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts, as the fifth annual...

Suit Against N.H.- Mass. Crematorium Becomes Class Action

Oct 16 2006 // A judge has ruled that a lawsuit against the owners of the Bayview Crematorium in Seabrook, New Hampshire, where dozens of families believed their loved ones’ remains were mistreated, can be classified as a...

Mass. Panel Urges Jail Time for Worker Safety Failures

Oct 13 2006 // A legislative panel in Massachusetts is recommending that company officials face criminal charges if they have recklessly failed to protect workers who are killed on construction sites, according to a published report.The...

Masonry Firm Faces OSHA Fines in Deadly Mass. Scaffolding Collapse

Oct 3 2006 // A masonry contractor faces $119,000 in fines for alleged safety violations that led to a scaffolding collapse at a downtown construction site that killed three last spring, according to federal officials.The U.S....

Mass. Begins Historic Mandatory Health Insurance Plan

Oct 3 2006 // Massachusetts began signing up its poorest residents for low-cost health insurance , the first step in the state’s goal to be the first in America to require all citizens to have health insurance.“This is a...

Mass. Auto Rates Would Fall from 8% to 18% Under Latest Proposals

Sep 28 2006 // The two parties representing consumers have recommended that Massachusetts auto insurance rates be slashed next year — as much as 18 percent.The State Rating Bureau, a unit of the Division of Insurance, is calling...

News Currents

Sep 25 2006 // Mass. AG Reilly opposes FAIR Plan rate hikeMassachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly has decided to appeal Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler’s order allowing the state’s insurer of last resort – the...

10 Mass. AG opposes FAIR Plan rate hike

Sep 25 2006 // Reilly goes to court to block 12.4% rate hike10 Carbon neutral agent in Virginia Rutherfoord of Roanoke goes green10 Command performance in N.Y.Insurance mobile unit named best practice12 Conn. caught up in coastal...

Mass. AG Reilly opposes FAIR Plan rate hike

Sep 25 2006 // Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly has decided to appeal Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler’s order allowing the state’s insurer of last resort — the FAIR Plan — to raise home insurance...

Shaw Joins PMC Insurance in Mass.

Sep 21 2006 // Andrew Shaw has joined PMC Insurance Group, based in Needham Mass., as vice president. His responsibilities include new business development, agency relationship management and product expansion. Before joining PMC, Shaw...

N.J.’s National Atlantic, Commerce Group of Mass. in Talks

Sep 19 2006 // New Jersey property casualty insurer National Atlantic Holdings Company has confirmed that it is engaged in preliminary discussions regarding potential transactions with The Commerce Group, Inc. of Webster, Mass.The...

Mass. Housing Authority Corruption Defendant Pleads Guilty

Sep 15 2006 // Another member of the Asselin family has pleaded guilty in connection with a corruption probe into the Springfield Housing Authority in a deal that requires him to testify against a co-defendant, lets him keep his home and...