Latest Massachusetts Headlines

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

Mass. Bill to Ban Texting While Driving Includes Insurance Surcharges

Jan 25 2008 // The Massachusetts House has approved a bill banning drivers from talking or texting on cell phones while behind the wheel, despite opposition from a lawmaker from a city where authorities say a man sending a message struck...

Mass. Regulator Subpoenas Municipal Bond Insurers

Jan 25 2008 // Massachusetts’ top securities regulator on Wednesday said he issued subpoenas to a pair of municipal bond insurers, seeking information on how much the firms disclosed to cities and towns about their exposure to...

Mass. Insurance Department Launches Agent Finder Web Site

Jan 24 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes today unveiled AgentFinder, a Division of Insurance Web site designed to make it easier for Massachusetts consumers to find insurance agents and insurance products in...

$458M Big Dig Settlement Reached; Criminal Charges Dropped

Jan 23 2008 // The main management consultant and contractor on Boston’s $15 billion Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig) has agreed to pay more than $407 million to resolve civil and criminal liabilities in connection with the...

Lawrence, Mass. Fire Destroys City Block, Leaves 150 Homeless

Jan 22 2008 // About 150 people were left homeless in Lawrence, Mass. as a massive blaze that started in an empty downtown nightclub early Monday quickly spread through 15 buildings, including apartments and a home for the mentally...

Travelers Settles With States Over brokers’ Contingent Commissions

Jan 13 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in nine states and the District of Columbia over how it paid brokers.The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys general in...

Travelers Settles With States Over Brokers’ Contingent Commissions

Jan 13 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in nine states and the District of Columbia regarding how it paid brokers.The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys...

Mass. Insurance Chief, AG Differ Over How to Regulate Auto Rates

Jan 11 2008 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes and Attorney General Martha Coakley are at odds over how best to regulate the state’s new competitive auto rates.Coakley thinks some insurers are being stingy with...

Mass. Horse Farm Charged with Workers’ Comp Premium Fraud

Jan 10 2008 // Update: On Nov. 3, 2008, Christopher Mersereau and his corporation, Stoneymeade Farm LLC, located in Concord, Mass., entered into an agreement with the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley resolving charges originally...

Mass. Mandatory Health Plan Enters Cost Control Phase

Jan 9 2008 // Massachusetts is facing a daunting goal as it enters the second year of its grand experiment of extending health care coverage to nearly all citizens — reining in spiraling costs that could threaten the landmark...

Web Site, Ads to Help Agents Keep Mass. Auto Market Share

Jan 9 2008 // Massachusetts independent insurance agents, who now write more than 80 percent of the auto insurance market in the state, are getting some marketing help to protect that market share as they enter a new competitive rating...

Great American Insurance Fights Mass. AG Bid-Rigging Charge

Jan 7 2008 // The Massachusetts attorney general has accused Great American Insurance Group of bid-rigging for what she says was a fake price quote it submitted in 2004 to a Norwood technology firm.Attorney General Martha Coakley last...

Mass. Bills Would Ban Text Messaging by Drivers

Jan 4 2008 // The death of a 13-year-old Taunton, Mass. boy last month has prompted new calls to ban text messaging while driving.Craig Bigos of New Bedford told police he was sending a text message to a friend when he swerved and...

Travelers Settles with States over Brokers’ Contingent Commissions

Jan 3 2008 // The Travelers Cos. Inc. will pay $6 million to settle investigations in 9 states and the District of Columbia over how it paid brokers.The St. Paul-based company said it had reached agreements with attorneys general in...

Mass. High Court Upholds 2006 Home Insurance Hike for FAIR Plan

Jan 3 2008 // The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the 2006 rate increases for the state’s homeowners residual market insurer, the FAIR Plan, against a challenge by the attorney general that the increases violated a...

Top Insurance Stories in 2007 in East

Dec 31 2007 // New leaders tackled old issues and the region battled fire and rain.1. No day at the beach Insurance markets for coastal properties continued to challenge insurers, agents, policymakers and property owners, despite an...

Mass. Fines Safety Insurance over Home Policy Non-renewals

Dec 28 2007 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office reports it reached an agreement with Boston-based Safety Insurance Co. over allegations that the company violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law by...

Mass. Attorney General: Cut Workers’ Comp Rates Again

Dec 27 2007 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants workers’ compensation insurance rates to come down again in 2008.Coakley says small businesses can’t afford to pay too much for the insurance. The rates are...

Mass. Wants Insurers to Notify Consumers When Payments Made

Dec 27 2007 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes has issued a bulletin calling on insurance companies to send written notification to consumers when a settlement payment in any third-party liability claim is made to...

Driving History in Mass.

Dec 23 2007 // Thirty years ago, the last time Massachusetts tried to introduce competitive rating into private passenger auto insurance, Democrat Michael Dukakis was governor. That experiment lasted about seven months before being...