Commerce Insurance v. Commissioner of Insurance

The primary question presented in this appeal is whether G. L. c. 175, § 113H, as appearing in St. 1983, c. 241, § 17, prohibits the Commissioner of Insurance (commissioner) from approving or promulgating an assigned risk plan for high-risk drivers unable to obtain private automobile insurance in the voluntary market. We hold that she is not prohibited from doing so.

On December 31, 2004, after a series of hearings, the commissioner approved a structural change in the way private automobile insurance is written in Massachusetts for high-risk drivers in the so-called residual, or involuntary,…