3rd Look 2019: A Bi-Monthly Look At The Private Passenger Auto Insurance Marketplace in Massachusetts

A bi-monthly look at how the Massachusetts private passenger auto insurance marketplace is shaping up this year

The latest 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 MAY 2019, the latest date for which complete data on the private passenger auto insurance marketplace is available.

An overview of the private passenger marketplace in Massachusetts

The following is the latest data from the Division of Insurance with respect to the Private Passenger Auto Insurance Marketplace in Massachusetts, as of 2017:

The Total Direct Written Premium for all 52 insurers in the private passenger auto insurance marketplace in 2017 was $5,188,109,343
The top 20 insurers enjoy a 90.1% share of the marketplace
Total Direct Written Premium for the top 20 writers totaled $4,673,828,363 in 2017
The remaining 32 companies claimed Total Direct Written Premium of $514,280,980 representing a 9.9% 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 market share, please refer to the following Market Share Reports, Agency Checklists has published:

Shift and trends of note during this latest look at the private passenger auto insurance marketplace

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, increasing its market share as noted in the following charts from 5.4% in 2014 to 13.10% in 2019.

It’s market share, however, continues to be less than half that of the state’s largest private passenger writer, MAPFRE, which claims just under 25% of the market share in Massachusetts. With MAPFRE’s announcement this year of its renewed focus on leading the Masssachusetts marketplace, however, the insurer has made clear that it has no plans to cede any of its market share here.

In addition to MAPFRE and GEICO, other interesting shifts and trends to note from this latest look include:

Progressive. The Ohio-based insurer continues to increase its market share here in the Commonwealth, as the seventh largest private passenger auto insurer in Massachusetts.
Safety and Liberty Mutual’s tussle for the third spot on this list. Last look Liberty occupied this spot, this time around its Safety.
Arbella and Plymouth Rock hold steady in their positions.
USAA moved up three positions from the 12th to the 9th largest private passenger auto insurer as of May 2019.

Two new auto insurance entrants in 2019

Other interesting developments in 2019, include the appearance of auto insurers Midvale Indemnity and Trumbull on this list. As of May 2019, Midvale Indemnity, a subsidiary of the American Family/Homesite Group of companies, has logged a total of 14 policies so far this year. Trumbull, on the other hand, makes its first appearance on the list and already has 574 exposures listed.

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. The following market share numbers are based on the 2,077,365 exposures so far in 2019:

COMPANY NAME	EXPOSURES	MARKET SHARE
1. COMMERCE/MAPFRE	503,193	24.22%
2. GEICO	267,815	12.89%
3. SAFETY	187,682	9.03%
4. LIBERTY MUTUAL	183,641	8.84%
5. ARBELLA	161,478	7.77%
6. PLYMOUTH ROCK	130,055	6.26%
7. PROGRESSIVE	97,804	4.71%
8. TRAVELERS OF MA	73,064	3.52%
9. U S A A	68,367	3.29%
10. METROPOLITAN	67,269	3.24%
11. AMICA MUTUAL	64,216	3.09%
12. HANOVER	60,878	2.93%
13. QUINCY MUTUAL	35,633	1.72%
14. ALLSTATE	32,028	1.54%
15. NORFOLK AND DEDHAM MUTUAL	26,571	1.28%
16. VERMONT MUTUAL	23,390	1.13%
17. NATIONAL GRANGE	20,628	0.99%
18. PREFERRED MUTUAL	13,270	0.64%
19. OCCIDENTAL INS	11,683	0.56%
20. STATE FARM	7,982	0.38%
21. INTEGON	6,458	0.31%
22. GREEN MOUNTAIN	6,211	0.30%
23. ELECTRIC	4,865	0.23%
24. BANKERS STANDARD	4,861	0.23%
25. IDS	4,753	0.23%
26. ESURANCE	4,463	0.21%
27. FARM FAMILY	3,484	0.17%
28. PURE	2,862	0.14%
29. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL	1,347	0.06%
30. HARLEYSVILLE WORCESTER	822	0.04%
31. TRUMBULL	574	0.03%
31. MIDVALE INDEMNITY	14	0.00%
31. AMERICAN FAMILY	6	0.00%

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 March 2019, followed by a graph from five years ago in March 2014, as well as another one from ten years ago in March 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.”

MAY 2019

MAY 2014

Finally, the top 10 private passenger auto insurance companies in Massachusetts a decade ago, or the third month during the second year of “Managed Competition”.