Worcester Telegram, November 30, 2007
The change to “managed competition” among companies that provide auto insurance in Massachusetts is having the desired effect — a drop in rates — considerably more quickly than most people expected.

Overall, the rates are expected to fall at least 7.8 percent for policies up for renewal on April 1, according to state Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burns, a small but telling improvement from the 7.7 percent drop announced when the companies first filed their new rates last week. Since the late 1970s, state regulators set all auto insurance rates in Massachusetts.

Boston.com, November 29, 2007
Big national automobile insurers like Geico, Progressive, and State Farm Mutual Insurance appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude about Massachusetts’ move to managed competition.

Mass.gov, November 27, 2007
[Press release from the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation] Eighteen of the state’s 19 auto insurers today submitted amended rate filings for policies with April 2008 effective dates at the state’s Division of Insurance. The percentage change for the four companies that filed significantly lower rates today went from -3.7% on November 19th to -7.4%, offering further proof that managed competition is working for Massachusetts consumers.

boston.com, November 26, 2007
Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging the state’s automobile insurers to lower their 2008 rates, saying their initial filings last week included more than $200 million in extra profits and payments to agents that wouldn’t have been allowed by regulators in previous years. Coakley said the decrease would have been 11 percent if the extra profit and agent commissions were removed from the company filings.

The Standard Publishing Online, November 23, 2007
Massachusetts auto insurers this week filed a range of rate changes and products previously unimagined in the Bay State market, with some drivers slated for decreases of more than 20% and the vast majority of the population receiving lower premiums.

dailynewstribune.com, November 23, 2007
An editorial in the Waltham Daily News Tribune says that “the first round of auto insurance rates under Gov. Deval Patrick’s ‘managed competition’ reforms could have been better - and special interest politics on Beacon Hill probably had something to do with it.”

Carriers officially filed their initial rates with the DOI on Nov. 19. They may amend these filings by Nov. 27. These will be the rates they want to go to market with when the transition to Managed Competition begins.

My “moles” are telling me that most carriers will file some amendments, but they likely will not be that significant. So what you are seeing now is pretty close to what will be in effect in the spring. Of course, all this depends on the DOI approving these rate filings, which may be easier said than done.

Our quick review of the initial filings shows that some carriers have put in credits/endorsements that the Commissioner may frown upon, i.e. things that may be perceived as proxies for socioeconomic factors. We shall see.

And did you know that carriers only have to keep these rates in effect for the month of April 2008? They can re-file on February 15, 2008 and be out on the street with new rates on May.

Boston.com, November 21, 2007
In this new era of Massachusetts auto insurance, one thing is becoming clear: Drivers should compare policies, because rates and features are going to vary widely from company to company, as yesterday’s release of rate filings by the state’s five biggest automobile insurers indicates.

Insurance Journal, November 20, 2007
Drivers with good driving records, good grades, hybrid vehicles, property policies and pets are among those who could benefit under auto insurance rating plans filed for use in 2008 in Massachusetts. According to rate filings submitted to the state by insurers on Nov. 19, 70% to 80% of all drivers should see rate decreases beginning in April 2008, for an average rate decrease of about 7.7%.

Businesswire.com, November 20, 2007
As a result of the recent decision by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to move to managed competition, MetLife Auto & Home announced today that it has filed plans to provide Massachusetts auto customers with lower rates and enhanced coverages in 2008. The filings are subject to approval by the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, and are scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2008. The filing includes a request for lower rates for approximately 74% of the nearly 300,000 vehicles it currently insures. The safest drivers will see rate decreases of up to 20% or more.