MAPFRE Enters Mass. Life Insurance Market

MAPFRE U.S.A. has begun selling a term life insurance product in Massachusetts, where MAPFRE’s subsidiary, Commerce Insurance, is the largest auto and home insurance carrier.

MAPFRE said it is seeking to leverage its dominant position in the Massachusetts personal lines market by offering life insurance to customers in conjunction with the company’s network of independent agents.

Massachusetts customers who purchase a life insurance policy from MAPFRE will also get a discount on auto insurance with Commerce Insurance. MAPFRE said it plans to roll out its life insurance product in additional states later this year.

MAPFRE U.S.A. is the 19th-largest provider of personal auto insurance in the U.S. and is part of the MAPFRE Group, a global insurer with business in 47 countries.

Frank Mancini, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, welcomed the insurer’s announcement. “When a company offers new and different products for their agents to offer to customers, it is a good thing,” he said.

He added that in Massachusetts, where independent agents are battling against “the Geicos, the Allstates and the Esurances of the world,” it’s good for agents to have more products to sell.

“Some agents that currently don’t offer life insurance might say, ‘You know something? Commerce is a very recognized brand in Massachusetts. People know them, people do business with them for auto and homeowners, and so why not life insurance?'” Mancini said.