The first numbers on the state of the 2018 Commercial Automobile insurance marketplace in Massachusetts are in…
As with our review of the private passenger auto insurance marketplace, Agency Checklists now takes a look at the current state of the commercial automobile insurance marketplace in 2018.
All of the data presented here is provided courtesy of the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers and represents the state of the market as of February 2018, the latest date for which there is complete data available. For those unfamiliar with the Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurer, “CAR” is the official statistical agent for motor vehicle insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
A look at the market as a whole
According to the 2016 Report from the Division of Insurance, total Direct Written Premium totaled $835,081,080 dollars in 2016, with a total of 212 companies writing commercial auto in the Commonwealth.
Of that number, the top 20 companies wrote approximately $547,057,695 dollars in Direct Written Premium, essentially commanding a 65.5% share of the market place.
The remaining 192 companies wrote $288,023,385 in Direct Written Premium which translated into a 34.5% market share.
Safety emerges at the top of the list for 2018…
While MAPFRE/Commerce ended 2017 at the top of this list, at the beginning of 2018, it is Safety that is sitting at the top of the list.
This mirrors the pattern seen over the past year or so. If our readers may remember, in December 2016, Safety briefly had risen to the number one spot to overtake Commerce in the commercial auto insurance sphere. this was reversed by the end of 2017, however, with Commerce coming in at number one on this list. All in all, however, the first and second largest insurers’ difference in this marketplace is almost negligible.
The list of the top 20 Commercial Auto Insurers in Massachusetts ranked by Premiums from highest to lowest as of February 2017:
| COMPANY | PREMIUMS | MARKET SHARE |
| 1. SAFETY | 21,895,974 | 16.03% |
| 2. COMMERCE | 21,661,762 | 15.86% |
| 3. ARBELLA | 14,836,305 | 10.86% |
| 4. TRAVELERS | 12,340,153 | 9.03% |
| 5. PLYMOUTH ROCK | 8,857,931 | 6.48% |
| 6. TOKIO MARINE & NACHIDO | 6,908,419 | 5.06% |
| 7. LIBERTY MUTUAL INS | 6,116,097 | 4.48% |
| 8. FIREMAN’S | 6,022,123 | 4.41% |
| 9. PROGRESSIVE | 5,328,370 | 3.90% |
| 10. HANOVER | 4,892,945 | 3.58% |
| 11. TWIN CITY FIRE INS | 3,260,026 | 2.39% |
| 12. UTICA | 2,996,960 | 2.19% |
| 13. ZURICH | 2,493,022 | 1.82% |
| 14. NATIONAL GRANGE | 2,397,917 | 1.76% |
| 15. SELECTIVE INSURANCE | 2,317,199 | 1.70% |
| 16. FARM FAMILY | 1,568,324 | 1.15% |
| 17. AMERICAN CASUALTY | 1,402,078 | 1.03% |
| 18. EMPLOYERS MUTUAL | 1,270,796 | 0.93% |
| 19. N&D MUTUAL | 1,154,488 | 0.85% |
| 20. HARLEYSVILLE INS | 842,170 | 0.62% |
Graphs from Februay 2018, February 2013 and February 2008 depicting the evolution of this marketplace over the past decade
The following charts list the market share for the top ten commercial auto insurance writers in Massachusetts as of February 2018, followed by the top ten writers by market share five years ago as of February 2013, and then finally, as of February 2008.
These graphs are provided for those interested in seeing how the Massachusetts commercial automobile insurance market has evolved over the past decade.
FEBRUARY 2018
And how the market share distribution looked just five years ago:
FEBRUARY 2013
Now compare the above graphs with the top ten commercial auto insurance companies in Massachusetts from a decade ago:
FEBRUARY 2008
