4th Look 2021: The MA Commercial Auto Insurance Marketplace

Our fourth update of the year features the latest CAR data as of May 2021

The following is Agency Checklists’ fourth bi-monthly update on the current state of the Commercial Auto Insurance marketplace. Every two months, Agency Checklists reports on the latest data to give a snapshot of the current state of the Commercial Automobile insurance marketplace in Massachusetts.

All of the data presented here is provided courtesy of the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers and represents the state of the market through May 2021. For those unfamiliar with the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurer, “CAR” is the official statistical agent for motor vehicle insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

An overview of the U.S. commercial auto insurance marketplace as a whole

According to the latest data from The National Association of Insurance Commissioners and outlined in our 2021 report, the Commercial Auto Insurance marketplace is the seventh-largest line of insurance in the U.S. As of March 2021, the Direct Written Premium for the top 25 commercial auto insurers in the U.S. was approximately $45,788,021,304.

Of this group of the nation’s largest commercial auto insurers, Liberty Mutual was the only company based in Massachusetts who made the list. The Boston-based insurer is the fourth-largest writer by market share. In 2020, it reported $1,689,377,411 in Direct Premiums Written and $1,762,177,865 in Direct Premiums Earned nationwide, representing a 3.69% share of the enitre U.S. Commercial Auto insurance marketplace.

An overview of the Commercial Auto insurance marketplace

According to the latest data on the Commercial Auto Insurance marketplace in the Commonwealth, there are currently 193 companies that are licensed to write commercial auto insurance here.

The latest figures from the Division of Insurance (based on 2019 data) state that the Total Direct Written premium for the entire marketplace was $916,026,841 in 2019, an increase from 2018 when it was $855,021,922.

Commercial Auto Filing Rate Withdrawn

In an update to those who work in this marketplace, CAR issued the following Executive Update with respect to commercial auto insurance rates:

In light of Filing Guidance Notice 2021-A issued by the Division of Insurance on March 11, 2021, CAR has withdrawn its commercial rate filing applicable to commercial policies with effective dates of July 1, 2021. This withdrawal includes the Commercial Automobile Insurance Manual Rules and Rates, and the Commercial Experience Rating Plan, originally filed on January 12, 2021

For those interested in learning more or in contacting CAR, please continue on to read the full notice here.

A look at the state of the Commercial Auto Insurance Marketplace

Seven of the top 10 commercial auto carriers operating in the Commonwealth are headquartered in Massachusetts. The following is the complete list of Commercial Auto insurers through May 2021.

Company	PREMIUMS	MARKET SHARE
1. COMMERCE	66,533,342	16.22%
2. SAFETY	52,437,718	12.78%
3. ARBELLA	47,381,322	11.55%
4. TRAVELERS	34,506,176	8.41%
5. PROGRESSIVE	30,492,731	7.43%
6. PLYMOUTH ROCK	23,034,931	5.62%
7. FIREMAN’S	17,988,226	4.38%
8. TOKIO MARINE & NACHIDO	14,275,457	3.48%
9. HANOVER	12,288,939	3.00%
10. LIBERTY MUTUAL INS	11,810,082	2.88%
11. ZURICH	11,089,568	2.70%
12. SELECTIVE INSURANCE	9,958,199	2.43%
13. UTICA	7,060,828	1.72%
14. NATIONAL GRANGE	6,872,903	1.68%
15. TWIN CITY FIRE INS	6,784,639	1.65%
16. EMPLOYERS MUTUAL	4,504,805	1.10%
17. AMERICAN CASUALTY	4,332,806	1.06%
18. FARM FAMILY	4,086,962	1.00%
19. GREEN MOUNTAIN	3,989,795	0.97%
20. US FIRE	3,945,235	0.96%
21. N&D MUTUAL	3,598,322	0.88%
22. FEDERATED MUTUAL	3,451,879	0.84%
23. GREAT AMERICAN	3,362,377	0.82%
24. BANKERS	2,587,400	0.63%
25. CENTRAL MUTUAL INS	2,572,889	0.63%
26. MERCH MUTUAL	2,230,058	0.54%
27. NEW HAMPSHIRE	2,119,902	0.52%
28. QUINCY MUTUAL	1,951,599	0.48%
29. MIDDLESEX INS CO	1,498,042	0.37%
30. HARLEYSVILLE INS	1,385,707	0.34%
31. OLD REPUBLIC	1,358,313	0.33%
32. GEICO	1,263,061	0.31%
33. ARCH	1,192,136	0.29%
34. MOTORISTS	1,062,779	0.26%
35. PREFERRED MUTUAL	989,535	0.24%
36. STATE AUTO	916,570	0.22%
37. CINCINNATI	862,325	0.21%
38. NEW YORK AND GENERAL INS	657,142	0.16%
39. LANCER INSURANCE CO.	503,628	0.12%
40. ATLANTIC SPECIALTY	477,405	0.12%
41. PENN MNFCT ASSC INS	365,150	0.09%
42. STAR INDEMNITY	265,800	0.06%
43. QBE	227,179	0.06%
44. PENN LUMBERMENS	213,644	0.05%
45. SOMPO AMERICA	198,239	0.05%
46. BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY	194,663	0.05%
47. GREENWICH	165,411	0.04%
48. AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE	165,063	0.04%
49. EVEREST NATIONAL	157,175	0.04%
50. CHURCH MUTUAL	134,495	0.03%
51. ARGONAUT INSURANCE COMPANY	92,479	0.02%
52. AMICA MUTUAL	91,867	0.02%
53. RLI	78,886	0.02%
54. IMPERIUM	70,876	0.02%
55. AXIS REINSURANCE	57,897	0.01%
56. PROTECTIVE	57,133	0.01%
57. AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE	52,741	0.01%
58. SECURITY NATIONAL	52,005	0.01%
59. STARSTONE NATIONAL	36,492	0.01%
60. STATE FARM	32,081	0.01%
61. CUMIS	27,065	0.01%
62. MITSUI SUMITOMO	23,975	0.01%
63. HARCO NATIONAL	23,398	0.01%
64. GUIDEONE	19,974	0.00%
65. MARKEL	5,955	0.00%
66. ALLIED WORLD SPECIALTY	3,132	0.00%
67. HDI GLOBAL	375	0.00%
TOTALS	410,228,883	100.00%

Shifts & trends in the Commercial Auto Insurance Marketplace

The following three graphs show the evolution of this marketplace over the past decade.

The goal is to present a side-by-side comparison on how this Marketplace has shifted during this highlighted period.

In order to give some perspective on the shifts in the Marketplace, the three graphs depict the Top Ten Commercial Auto insurers for the month of May 2021, followed by the same graph from five years earlier in May 2016, and then finally from a decade ago in May 2011.

For example ten years ago in May 2011, Travelers Indemnity was the largest commercial auto writer in Massachusetts with a 16.0% market share. Five years later in May of 2016, it was Safety Insurance who wrote the most with a 16.1% market share. As of May 2021, it is now Commerce who is the largest commercial auto writer with a 16.2% market share.

May 2021

May 2016

May 2011

2021 Market Share CAR Commercial Auto Reports

Compare all of our 2020 CAR Commercial Auto Market Share Update Reports

For those interested in reviewing all of our bi-monthly updates throughout 2020 to get a sense of how the Commercial Auto Insurance marketplace has evolved over the past year, please find links to Agency Checklists’ five other updates below: