Our bi-monthly look at how the Massachusetts private passenger auto insurance marketplace is shaping up this year
The first numbers on the state of the 2019 private passenger auto insurance marketplace in Massachusetts are now available. As always, the data presented here is provided courtesy of the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers, the statistical agent for motor vehicle insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
All tables and graphs below reflect the current state of the market as of January 2019, the latest date for which complete data on the private passenger auto insurance marketplace is available.
A quick overview of the private passenger marketplace in Massachusetts
The Division of Insurance has yet to publish his market data for this year. Once that data is available we will include it on our bi-monthly updates. In the meantime, however, the following is a rundown of some of the numbers from an overview of the 2016 marketplace, the last date for which complete data has been made available by the Division of Insurance.
With respect to the Private Passenger Auto Insurance marketplace, the total Direct Written Premium for this line of insurance was $4,925,469,543 dollars in 2016, with the top 20 writing the vast majority of that with $4,607,077.606 dollars in Total Direct Written Premium or a 93.5% market share.
The remaining 29 companies wrote only $318,391,937 dollars in Direct Written Premium, representing a 6.5% market share.
For those interested in reviewing or comparing this marketplace with the national|private passenger auto marketplace, as well as a ranking of the largest insurers by Direct Written Premium and marketshare, please refer to our NAIC 2019 Market Share Report: The Top 25 Private Passenger Auto Insurance Companies In The U.S.
MAPFRE (Commerce) still the top private passenger auto insurer in Massachusetts; followed by a distant GEICO and Safety in second and third …
Over the past few years, the biggest shift in this marketplace has occurred with the arrival of GEICO. The direct writer, which started out as the fifth largest private passenger insurer in Massachusetts (reflecting the market as of December 2016), has grown its presence since entering the Commonwealth to become the second largest writer. It is a position that it has held for most of 2018. It’s market share, however, is less than half that of the state’s largest private passenger writer, MAPFRE, which claims just over 25% of the market share in Massachusetts. With MAPFRE’s announcement this year of its renewed focused on leading the Masssachusetts marketplace, however, the insurer has made clear that it has no plans to cede any of its market share here.
The following is a complete list of all the companies writing private passenger insurance in the Commonwealth, along with the number of exposures and corresponding market share.
COMPANY NAME |
EXPOSURES |
MARKET SHARE |
1. COMMERCE/MAPFRE |
128,766 |
25.56% |
2. GEICO |
54,167 |
10.75% |
3. SAFETY |
52,657 |
10.45% |
4. LIBERTY MUTUAL | 48,541 |
9.64% |
5. ARBELLA | 41,658 |
8.27% |
6. PLYMOUTH ROCK | 28,654 |
5.69% |
7. TRAVELERS OF MA | 19,607 |
3.89% |
8. USAA | 16,988 |
3.37% |
9. PROGRESSIVE | 16,839 |
3.34% |
10. METROPOLITAN | 16,703 |
3.32% |
11. AMICA MUTUAL | 16,607 |
3.30% |
12. HANOVER | 16,543 |
3.28% |
13. QUINCY MUTUAL | 11,287 |
2.24% |
14. NORFOLK AND DEDHAM MUTUAL | 7,586 |
1.48% (fn.1) |
15. VERMONT MUTUAL | 6,174 |
1.23% |
16. ALLSTATE | 5,866 |
1.16% |
17. NATIONAL GRANGE | 5,562 |
1.10% |
18. PREFERRED MUTUAL | 3,339 |
0.66% |
19. OCCIDENTAL INS | 2,681 |
0.53% |
20. ELECTRIC | 1,673 |
0.33% |
21. INTEGON | 1,647 |
0.33% |
22. STATE FARM | 1,523 |
0.30% |
23. GREEN MOUNTAIN | 1,315 |
0.26% |
24. ESURANCE | 999 |
0.20% |
25. IDS | 980 |
0.19% |
26. FARM FAMILY | 975. |
019% |
27. BANKERS STANDARD | 802 |
0.16% |
28. PURE | 603 |
0.12% |
29. HARLEYSVILLE WORCESTER | 278 |
0.06% |
30. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL | 276 |
0.05% |
31. ENCOMPASS | 0 |
0.00% |
1. Due to a formatting error, The Norfolk & Dedham Group® numbers were not included in the January CAR data. CAR has since received the data reported above that reflects their Massachusetts Private Passenger Auto market share through January 2019. Agency Checklists has updated the original article that showed no writings for the Group. As a result of these added exposures, the percentages shown for other carries are slightly less. |
Our look at the Private Passenger Auto Insurance Marketplace’s shifts and trends over the past five and ten years…
In order to give some perspective on the shifts in the marketplace over the past decade, the following three graphs depict the Top Ten Private Passenger insurers as of January 2019, followed by a graph from five years ago in January 2014, as well as another one from ten years ago in January 2009.
The goal is to present a more complete perspective on how the Massachusetts automobile insurance market has shifted during the past five and ten years, which includes the second year of “Managed Competition.”
JANUARY 2019
Now compare these graphs to the same date five years ago:
JANUARY 2014
Finally, the top 10 private passenger auto insurance companies in Massachusetts a decade ago, or the first month during the second year of “Managed Competition”.
JANUARY 2009