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wombatofevil t1_iux036a wrote

I believe it's a historical artifact. MA used to have stricter regs than other states on what insurance companies could charge and some of the larger companies in the past (like GEICO) didn't want to submit. I don't know what changed, but more national companies are now offering policies.

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Ill-Telephone-7926 t1_iuz9mp9 wrote

I believe this is correct. As I recall, exactly zero national insurers operated in the state prior to deregulation, which began in 2007. The regulation was really extraordinarily strict. Pricing was fully specified by the state, including the points model for moving violations etc. Discounts could be offered to affinity groups, but only to the extent that they were actually profitable.

Here's a 2009 AG report on deregulation: https://www.mass.gov/doc/autoinsuranceexecsummarypdf/download

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