BestWeek: Signs Point to Greater Competition Between Auto Insurers in Mass.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- Average Massachusetts automobile premiums are among the highest in the United States, but on April 1, 2008, Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes will transform the Commonwealth's private passenger automobile insurance industry by reversing a 30-year history of state-regulated rates. The state's so-called "fixed-and-established" system of setting private passenger automobile insurance rates will end and the industry will begin the transition to "managed competition."

Automobile insurers will be relatively free to determine their own rates, subject to regulatory oversight. But they will be prohibited from using socioeconomic factors for rating or underwriting, and credit scoring is banned at least for the initial year. A new A.M. Best Special Report looks at how this change may affect the marketplace.

In an excerpt published in Best Week U.S./Canada, A.M. Best anticipates that competition will accelerate, as well-capitalized regional or national writers follow Progressive's move into the state, as a result of the new system.

Also, in BestWeek U.S./Canada: With its newly refined methodology for rating life settlement-backed securities, A.M. Best takes a sharper look at mortality ratings and life expectancies to settle an important piece of an equation that directly affects investors' returns.

Also, in BestWeek Europe: A new report from Marsh Inc. claims that too many companies in London do not have a contingency plan to continue doing business in the event of a terrorist attack.

And in both editions of BestWeek: The Best's Global Insurance Composite Index finished the week of March 27 down 11.19% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 169 insurance stocks. The week's top stocks were Samsung Fire & Marine Co. Ltd., Industrial Alliance Insurance & Financial Services, Dongbu Insurance Co. Ltd., Chaucer Holdings plc and Meritz Fire & Marine Co. Ltd.

The bottom five stocks were Selective Insurance Group Inc., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc., XL Capital Ltd., First American Corp. and Ace Ltd.

BestWeek is published by A.M. Best for insurance professionals. To subscribe, please call A.M. Best's customer service department at [phone], ext. 5742, or e-mail your request to [e-mail].

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.