The Massachusetts car insurance market has changed a lot over the last several years. Only four years ago, the state set auto insurance rates and coverage options (under its old fix-and-establish system) and there was no price competition among auto insurance companies.
In 2008, the law changed to allow price competition based on rating factors permitted by the state. Many new auto insurance companies started selling auto insurance in Massachusetts, and rates dropped so insurance companies could gain customers and market share. In addition, insurance companies started offering different coverage options to attract customers.
Now, the cost of claims & the desire to make a profit are increasing car insurance rates for many companies. Auto insurance buyers living in the state of Massachusetts need to know it’s now very important to shop your auto insurance each year, to make sure you are not paying excessive rates, and to choose the coverage options best for you.
This blog post will show you the companies selling auto insurance in Massachusetts, and the information needed to help you decide on the best car insurance company for you.
In my own experience shopping for auto insurance, even with my clean driving record & long history of having no claims, some auto insurance companies charge double the price (or more) of other insurance companies for the same coverage. If you look at customer satisfaction ratings and insurance company complaint records, companies charging more for their insurance are not providing better service or better claims handling.
Why pay more if you are not getting something more for your money?
Here is some rate increase information for a few Massachusetts auto insurance companies:
Quincy Mutual raised their auto insurance rates by 7.5 percent last month, after another rate increase of 5.6 percent increase last year. Quincy Mutual initially cut their rates by 10 percent in 2008. Quincy Mutual auto insurance rates are 3.3 percent higher than they were four years ago, before the state deregulation to encourage more competition.
Travelers insurance, including its subsidiary Premier Insurance Company of Massachusetts, has raised rates by more than 30 percent since January 2009.
Liberty Mutual and Plymouth Rock have raised rates by 18 percent.
Commerce insurance, the state’s largest auto insurer, and Progressive, a newer player in the market, have each raised rates by 16 percent.
The auto insurance rate increases listed above are averages. Some customers could see their rates go up even more sharply, and other customers might not see their rates increase much at all.
According to a Boston Globe article, which is the source of the information about the rate increases referenced above, auto insurance rates might increase further this year, because insurance companies sometimes raise them multiple times during the year. The rate increases may impact some customers harder than others, depending on driving history, where they live, and other factors. For more information, you can read the Boston Globe article about MA auto insurance rates going up again. The article indicates some of these rate increases might be unjustified and more than is needed.
How can you fight back against auto insurance company rate increases? Shop with all the companies offering auto insurance in your state, and switch to the company with the best combination of price, coverage, and service to meet your needs. Insurance companies know many of their customers don’t bother to shop with other insurance companies and keep renewing their same auto insurance — even when the rates go up.
Insurance companies will try to convince you lower priced companies provide inferior service or coverage. This is not true. Many of the best auto insurance companies have great rates, and paying more for your insurance does not mean better claims service, fewer denied claims, or more generous claims settlements. In fact, you can pay A LOT more money for your auto insurance, and still experience lousy service, or feel cheated by how a claim was handled.
By shopping your insurance once a year, and choosing a good insurance company with the right coverage for you at reasonable rates, you send a message to over-priced insurance companies they will lose customers if they don’t have competitive rates.
If everyone decided to shop each year, and give their business to good insurance companies with good rates, insurance companies charging too much will be forced to lower their rates or go out of business.
Every driver is unique, so no single insurance company has the lowest rates for everyone. The only way to find the company with the best rates for you is to shop with as many of the companies selling auto insurance in your state as you can.
The link below this paragraph shows the major insurance companies selling auto insurance in Massachusetts as of 2008. Eleven companies have entered the market after the 2008 deregulation, including the large national auto insurance company, Geico, which is not among the 20 companies in my blog article linked below, so be sure to get a quote from Geico, too.
Here are more Massachusetts auto insurance companies which may have low rates for you:
Chartis Insurance Company (American International Insurance Company / AIG)
Bankers Standard Insurance Company (ACE)
Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company (American National Insurance)
GEICO
Green Mountain Insurance Company (Concord Group)
Harleysville Insurance Company (Now owned by Nationwide Insurance)
IDS Insurance Company (Ameriprise)
Occidental Insurance Company
Praetorian Insurance Company (QBE)
Preferred Mutual Insurance Company
Vermont Mutual Insurance Company
Now you know the insurance companies selling auto insurance in MA, start getting car insurance quotes now. You can use the reviews on my website to help you decide which companies with low rates will be the best for you.
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