Massachusetts AG Faults Insurers’ Rate Hikes

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey says two of the state’s largest homeowners’ insurance companies won excessive and unwarranted rate increases of about 9 percent by taking advantage of last winter’s record snowfall.

The Boston Globe reported on Dec. 1 that Healey’s office found that rate filings from Mapfre USA Corp. and Safety Insurance Co. put too much emphasis on recent storms, ignoring longer-term trends that are traditionally used to calculate rates. Healey says the companies also requested rates to meet higher profit targets.

Both companies recently implemented average increases of about $100 on the average state premium of $1,150. Healey’s analysis showed that Mapfre should have actually lowered rates this year while Safety’s increase should not have exceeded 3 percent. Mapfre declined to comment. Safety did not return calls for comment.