Car insurance in Massachusetts

Posted on September 25, 2014

Here is some pertinent information about Massachusetts car insurance rates, annual premiums, discounts and related state laws, along with some useful tips on how to choose the Massachusetts auto insurance coverage package that works best for you.

Massachusetts Minimum Liability Coverage

The minimum required auto insurance in the state of Massachusetts is low as compared to other states. Massachusetts drivers are required to insure each owned vehicle with $20,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP), $40,000 in per-accident coverage and $5,000 in coverage for property damage. Insurance carriers would say that Massachusetts requires 20/40/5 in car insurance.

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Massachusetts

A Massachusetts driver caught without insurance faces fines of up to $500, if no previous convictions are on record. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and given one year in jail. These are stiff penalties compared to other U.S. states, which explains why Massachusetts has the lowest percentage of uninsured vehicles in the United States. More than 95% of vehicles in the state of Massachusetts are insured.

Auto Insurance Rates in Massachusetts

The average annual car insurance premium for the state of Massachusetts in 2016 was $1,325, not far at all from the national average of $1,347 per year. Factors taken into account when insurance agents figure car insurance premiums include local weather conditions, commercial economy, percentage of uninsured vehicles, population density and neighborhood crime rates. Other influences on annual auto insurance premiums are the driver’s age, gender, marital status, driving record, and physical or mental health, among other things.

State laws also play a role. For instance, Massachusetts is one of twelve “no-fault” states. States with no-fault laws tend to have higher premiums than other states. Details regarding no-fault laws will vary from one no-fault state to another.

Low Cost Car Insurance Programs in Massachusetts

Some auto insurance providers in the state of Massachusetts develop their own merit rating plan by which premiums are adjusted based on driving records. They do this by setting surcharges and credits as a part of the Safe Driver Insurance Plan.

Also, most major auto insurance companies offer discounts to reward or encourage responsible driving practices. Available programs include Accident-Free discounts, Good Driver discounts, Good Student discounts, Multiple Auto discounts, Multiple Policy discounts and Vehicle Safety discounts, among others.

Obtaining Auto Insurance Quotes in Massachusetts

Recent comparison studies and customer satisfaction ratings suggest that Massachusetts drivers prefer some of the nation’s top auto insurance providers such as Allstate, Progressive, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual, State Farm and 21^st Century Insurance. In fact, Massachusetts features many auto insurance carriers, all offering competitive rates. Call around and comparison shop. Ask the agents about available discounts. Customize your own optimal Massachusetts car insurance package. It’s as good as putting money in the bank.

Massachusetts Car Insurance

Looking for Massachusetts car insurance? This page provides everything a Massachusetts driver needs to know. Here’s where you can find fascinating facts about the state of Massachusetts, and learn how Massachusetts drivers can reduce the cost of auto insurance premium rates between zip codes.

As of 2015, the state of Massachusetts had an estimated population of nearly 6.8 million. Despite being ranked only 44^th among states in square miles, Massachusetts ranks 15^th in total population and 3^rd in population density.

The median age of Massachusetts residents is about 39.4 years. The poverty rate in Massachusetts is stabilized at around 11.5 percent. This rate is noticeably lower than the national average poverty rate of 13.5 percent. The unemployment rate in Massachusetts is a nice low 3.6 percent, as compared to the national average unemployment rate of 4.4 percent.

Only about 3.9 percent of drivers in Massachusetts are driving uninsured vehicles. Massachusetts actually has the lowest rate of uninsured drivers of any state in the nation. This important statistic has a positive effect on Massachusetts car insurance premium rates.

Many drivers in the state of Massachusetts wonder about the statewide “average” annual premium for Massachusetts car insurance. But Massachusetts statewide averages are not entirely useful to the majority of Massachusetts drivers. Statewide averages are not an accurate way to estimate your personal Massachusetts car insurance premium rates. You will notice, for example, that there are big differences in premium rates between zip codes within state of Massachusetts. Another thing is that statewide averages are based on drivers that don’t exist. After all, you have to type in something in order to get an online car insurance quote.

But unless you are, for instance, a 32 year old married female driver in the state of Massachusetts, with a clean driving record, a full time job, and a 2017, 4-door Nissan Rogue with All Wheel drive, dual air bags, and antilock brakes, which you drive less than 25,000 miles a year, a statewide average will not mean much to you. Even if this “average” driver fits your description to a T, your personal car insurance quote will still depend on the Massachusetts zip code in which your car is primarily parked.

For those who really need to know, the statewide “average” premium rate for a car insurance policy in the state of Massachusetts was about $1,302 last year, according to data from insure.com. This figure is slightly above the national “average,” which was about $1,224 at that time.

Drivers in the state of Massachusetts can reduce premium rates even further by getting a few online quotes for Massachusetts car insurance, from a few different major car insurance websites. Get quotes from several zip codes in Massachusetts, using your own personal demographics. Compare quotes from the zip codes in your area.

Read on and discover all you need to know about car insurance in the state of Massachusetts. This article includes a list of both the cheapest and the priciest zip codes in the state to purchase Massachusetts car insurance, as well as a list of the largest car insurance carriers in Massachusetts, the types of car insurance coverage that Massachusetts drivers need, and some very unusual Massachusetts state traffic laws. Look here to read all about Massachusetts car insurance.

Best Car Insurance Companies In Massachusetts

Recently, some researchers ran a statistical report and posted it. This report provided a list of the top ten car insurance companies in the United States, in terms of total revenue earned. According to the researchers, the top ten car insurance carriers in America are Allstate Insurance, State Farm Insurance, Geico, Progressive Insurance, Nationwide Group, AAA, Liberty Mutual Insurance, 21^st Century Insurance, GMAC, and AIG, in that order. This top ten list ranked auto insurance companies by the dollar amount of annual premiums written, which is an indication of their market share.

Shown below is a list of the top ten Massachusetts car insurance companies, based on each company’s total market share in Massachusetts.

Rank	Company	Premiums ($)	Market Share (%)
1	MAPFRE North America Group	$1,128,776	24.24
2	Liberty Mutual Insurance	$616,186	13.23
3	Safety Group	$455,946	9.79
4	Arbella Insurance Group	$432,117	9.28
5	Geico	$374,566	8.04
6	Plymouth Rock Companies	$322,181	6.92
7	MetLife Auto & Home Group	$211,214	4.54
8	Progressive Insurance Group	$157,091	3.37
9	Amica Mutual Group	$137,809	2.96
10	Hanover Insurance Group	$134,933	2.9

We also ran a customer review study to see which Massachusetts car insurance companies were the state favorites. Customers were asked to review each company based on customer service, claims service, and value for the price. The results showed that the favorite car insurance companies in Massachusetts for customer service were Geico, Progressive Insurance, and Liberty Mutual, in that order. For claims service, drivers in Massachusetts prefer Liberty Mutual, Geico, and Progressive Insurance, in that order. For dollar value, drivers in Massachusetts favor Progressive, Geico, and Liberty Mutual, in that order.

There is, of course, no such thing as The One Best Massachusetts Car Insurance Company. Each auto insurance carrier does things a little bit differently, but all reputable insurance companies are competitive, so the major ones tend to keep up with each other’s deals and offers. Do not be surprised to find that all car insurance carriers get customer complaints, and all of them occasionally get sued.

In any case, drivers in the state of Massachusetts are advised to compare car insurance quotes between zip codes if they want to achieve even greater cost reductions on Massachusetts car insurance premiums.

What Types Of Car Insurance Do Massachusetts Drivers Need?

The minimum liability requirements for car insurance in the state of Massachusetts are $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident for bodily injury inflicted on others, plus $5,000 for property damage liability, $8,000 in personal injury protection (PIP), and the same liability limits for uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance (UMI). The mandatory UMI is one reason why Massachusetts has such a low rate of uninsured drivers. Unfortunately, the legal minimums for Massachusetts car insurance are typically too small to cover the cost of an accident.

United States insurance experts suggest that Massachusetts drivers (as well as drivers in every other state) buy more than the minimum auto insurance coverage required by state law. The recommended coverages for all drivers in America is $100,000 for personal injury protection, $300,000 in per accident protection, and at least $50,000 insurance coverage against property damage.

Massachusetts drivers who need additional insurance can purchase comprehensive and collision coverage. These coverages will pay the cost of repair for vehicles that are damaged by collisions, inclement weather, fires, floods, and flying objects, as well as vandalism and car theft, among other misfortunes.

Unusual Massachusetts State Traffic Laws

It is illegal in Massachusetts to have a gorilla riding in the back seat of your car. (So the next time you take your pet gorilla to the vet, let the gorilla do the driving.)
It is illegal in Massachusetts for a taxi driver to have sex in the front seat of his taxi during his shift. (But what choice does he have? There’s a gorilla in the back seat.)
In Milford, it is illegal to peek into the windows of automobiles. (This is probably to spare Milford residents the unwelcome sight of a taxi driver having sex in the front seat while a gorilla watches from the back seat.)
In Nahant, it is illegal to excavate a city street. (Who knew that was legal everywhere else?)
On a more serious note, car insurance companies in Massachusetts are not allowed to factor in your credit score or your gender when calculating car insurance premium rates.

Best And Worst Zip Codes For Massachusetts Car Insurance

The car insurance premium rates of Massachusetts zip codes are influenced by factors such as population density, median annual income, median resident age, neighborhood crime statistics like the rates of car theft and vandalism, and other demographic elements that will change from one zip code to the next.

Here is a list of the four most costly zip codes to buy car insurance in the state of Massachusetts, where annual premium rates can be as low as around $900, or can climb as high as more than $3,100.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02302 (Brockton)	3,910	13.10%	13.40%

Brockton is a city in Plymouth County about 25 miles south of Boston. Brockton is home to roughly 95,000 residents, spanning across five zip codes. Unemployment in this Brockton zip code is nearly four times the state average of 3.6 percent. The poverty rate is a bit higher than the state average of 11.5 percent. Oddly, the next three zip codes are all about $18 cheaper in annual premiums than Brockton is, despite that all three have much higher poverty rates, and higher population densities.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02119 (Roxbury)	16,443	11.90%	32.30%

The population density is very high in this Boston neighborhood. The unemployment rate here is more than three times the state average. The poverty rate is fast approaching three times the state average. As a result, car insurance premium rates are also high.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02121 (Dorchester)	16,072	19.90%	34.30%

This Boston neighborhood used to be a separate town, but eventually became a part of Boston. Dorchester spans four zip codes. This zip code is home to about 28,000 people. As you can see, population density, poverty, and unemployment are all exceedingly high here.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02120 (Roxbury Crossing)	24,970	12.60%	21.20%

Roxbury Crossing is a transit stop near Roxbury College. The median resident age in this zip code is 23.2 years, more than 16 years younger than the state average of 39.4 years. The unemployment and poverty rates are high here, and the population density is even higher.

Here is a list of the four least expensive zip codes in the state of Massachusetts to buy car insurance. Annual premium rates can range from around $570 to about $1,185.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02667 (Wellfleet)	160	11.40%	12.20%

The median resident age here in Wellfleet is 57.9 years, more than 18 years higher than the state average. Population density is low, and the poverty rate is not too much higher than the state average. But what is going on with unemployment? Are we sure Massachusetts has such a low unemployment rate? In any case, Wellfleet is located on Cape Cod.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
02666 (Truro)	60	1.50%	16.50%

Truro is a town on Cape Cod, between Wellfleet and Provincetown. Truro is home to about 750 people. The median resident age here is 63.2 years, almost 24 years higher than the state average. Population density in this zip code is low, and unemployment is extremely low.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
01342 (Deerfield)	91	0%	8.20%

This rural, central Massachusetts zip code is a town in Franklin County with a low population density. The unemployment rate is unknown, but the poverty rate in this neighborhood is well below the state average.

Zip Code	Pop Density	Unemployed %	Poverty %
01468 (Templeton)	174	9.00%	8.00%

Templeton is a town in northern Massachusetts, with about 8,000 residents. Unemployment is relatively high in this Worcester County neighborhood, but the poverty rate falls below the state average, and the population density is low.

All in all, the state of Massachusetts is home to 682 zip codes in 14 counties encircling 512 cities, from Abington to Yarmouth and all the towns in between. Annual auto insurance premium rates run a vast range between the cheapest zip codes and the priciest zip codes in the state of Massachusetts.

Why not find out for yourself? Go grab some Massachusetts car insurance quotes today!

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