Declarations

Rate Battle War of Words

“High commercial auto rates can cause significant harm to small businesses. We believe Progressive’s proposed increase is unjustified and an unfair rate hike on small businesses across Massachusetts.”

—Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who urged state insurance regulators to reject a request by Progressive for a 23.5 percent rate hike for commercial auto coverage. Coakley’s office says Progressive’s rates were excessive and not justified by the company’s claims history. Progressive wrote $22 million in commercial auto premiums last year — about 3 percent of the Bay State’s market. The rate hike, if approved, would be Progressive’s fifth in four years.

Gas Explosion

“Your senses kind of get stunned. It puts you on edge.”

—Jason Soke, who lives near the site of a fatal natural gas explosion in Allentown, Pa. that killed five people, leveled two homes and ignited an row of neighboring houses earlier this month. Soke was watching TV when he heard and felt the explosion. It rattled his windows and he went to the third floor and looked out and saw flames and smoke, he said. An initial investigation on the cause of the blast has focused on cracks in an underground gas line.

Keeping Agents Happy

“These results clearly show that insurance companies are trying very hard to keep their sales forces happy. The index shows a definite trend of agents viewing their companies in a more positive light.”

—Kathy Weinheimer of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY), which released a new annual survey that showed New York agents give their carriers good marks for honesty and fair treatment — but agents still feel they’re underpaid.