Homeowners insurance in Massachusetts

The home insurance market in Massachusetts

Massachusetts homeowners paid $4.03 billion in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

No state looks quite like this one. MAPFRE, through its Commerce Insurance subsidiary, leads with under 10%, and Massachusetts-based regional carriers (Safety, Andover, Arbella and Plymouth Rock) hold four of the top 10 spots; by the Division's count, half of the 10 largest writers in 2024 sold only regionally, mostly in the Northeast. State Farm, the national leader, is absent: Commissioner Michael Caljouw said in March 2026 that it will return to the state in 2027, and that more than 100 companies now write homeowners coverage, up from 90 in 2021. The table also leaves out the FAIR Plan, which wrote 8.4% of 2024 home premiums by the Division of Insurance's count.

What drives home insurance costs in Massachusetts

NAIC's average HO-3 premium in Massachusetts was $2,134 in 2023, about 23% above the national $1,737 and the 8th highest among the states and D.C. by our ranking of NAIC's table. The Division's annual report for 2024 found that homeowners paid about $3.9 billion for home coverage that year, 12.7% more than in 2023. CommonWealth Beacon notes that homes here are expensive to rebuild and that heavy downpours increased 71% between 1958 and 2010, and the Massachusetts Insurance Federation says global reinsurers shed riskier business after several years of catastrophe losses.

Underwriting has tightened on the coast. The Division found that 14 of the 25 largest insurers took steps over five years to reduce climate-related exposure, including cutting coverage near the coast. Statewide nonrenewals rose from 3,483 in 2022 to 9,248 in 2023 and more than 13,000 in 2024. A U.S. Senate Budget Committee staff report put Massachusetts' 2023 nonrenewal rate at 1.51%, fifth highest in the nation; in Barnstable County about 1 in 16 policies was not renewed that year, and in Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard) about 1 in 9.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

We found no Massachusetts statute setting a hurricane deductible trigger. Insurers file their own, and the Division reports that the FAIR Plan and all but four of the 25 largest insurers used mandatory wind deductibles in 2024, up to 5% of Coverage A (dwelling). In coastal areas, 58% of their policyholders carried one. Read the definition on your declarations page: a "named storm" deductible can apply to a tropical storm, while a "wind" deductible can apply to any windstorm. Say your Coverage A is $600,000 with a 2% named-storm deductible: you pay the first $12,000. Run your numbers in the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator and see hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained.

Fire policies in Massachusetts must carry the standard policy provisions of M.G.L. c. 175, §99, and two rules on keeping your coverage matter most:

• Nonrenewal: at least 45 days' written notice with the specific reasons (c. 175, §193P). If your agent receives the notice, the agent must send you a copy within 15 days.
• Cancellation: five days' written notice (10 days for nonpayment, 20 days to your mortgage lender), with reasons. Once the policy has been in force 60 days, cancellation is limited to nonpayment, fraud or material misrepresentation, a crime or willful act that increases the hazard, physical changes that make the property uninsurable, or a finding by the Commissioner that continuing the policy would violate the law.

Flood and other gaps

Homeowners policies exclude flood, and the Division calls flood insurance take-up in Massachusetts relatively low. FEMA data show about 56,500 NFIP policies in force as of September 30, 2026. Barnstable County has the most, about 9,600, followed by Suffolk County (Boston), Essex and Plymouth, each with roughly 8,000 to 9,500 (our calculations from FEMA's community figures). See NFIP flood insurance explained.

If you can't find coverage

The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, the Massachusetts FAIR Plan, was created by the legislature in 1968 and covers the whole state. It sells HO-2, HO-3, HO-5, HO-4 and HO-6 homeowners forms, dwelling fire policies and commercial property, with up to $1,000,000 on Coverage A and up to $500,000 of liability. It is not a state agency and uses no taxpayer money; if losses exceed its resources, it can assess member insurers with the Division's approval. A reorganization effective April 4, 2024 made it a stand-alone association that issues policies as a direct insurer and builds its own surplus.

The plan has grown and moved toward the coast. It had more than 173,000 policies in fiscal 2024, up from 158,660 a year earlier, its biggest one-year jump since 2007. About 4 in 10 homes on Cape Cod and the Islands are now insured there, and those areas plus Bristol and Plymouth counties hold about 55% of its policies. Since 2025, new policyholders must insure at least 90% of their home's reconstruction cost, up from 80%.

Its rates have not been raised since 2006; the Division denied a 2013 request. A two-year ban on rate filings, agreed in 2024, expired in March 2026, and the Commissioner said that month he did not expect a filing in the short term. Its minimum named-storm deductible is mandatory: 2% to 5% across Dukes and Nantucket counties and in Barnstable County within half a mile of the coast, 2% elsewhere in Barnstable, 1% or 2% within half a mile of the coast in the rest of the state, and a dollar amount of up to $5,000 further inland. A clearinghouse lets private insurers, through your agent, offer to take FAIR Plan policies back. See FAIR plans explained: the insurer of last resort for homes.

Claims rules and deadlines

The unfair claims law (M.G.L. c. 176D, §3(9)) requires insurers to acknowledge claim communications reasonably promptly, affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss, and settle promptly once liability is reasonably clear, but it sets no day counts. The standard policy is more specific: once you submit your sworn proof of loss, the insurer has 30 days to pay, and interest at 1% over the prime rate runs on an agreed amount that remains unpaid after that.

If you and the insurer disagree on the amount, the standard policy sends it to three disinterested referees, Massachusetts' version of the appraisal clause. You must sue within two years of the loss; if the amount went to referees within that time, you have at least 90 days after the award. For unfair claim handling, M.G.L. c. 93A, §9 requires a written demand at least 30 days before suing; a court can award double or treble damages for a willful or knowing violation, plus attorney's fees. That is a question for a lawyer; see bad faith claim handling: what it means and what it doesn't.

Discounts and mitigation programs

We found no state mitigation grant program in Massachusetts, which was not among the nine states IBHS listed in July 2025 as running FORTIFIED grant programs. Discounts for shutters, a newer roof or other wind protection are set company by company. In March 2026 the Commissioner said he wants every homeowners insurer to give some financial reward for mitigation, whether a discount or a deductible waiver. Ask your agent for the insurer's wind credit schedule before you re-roof; wind mitigation inspections and discounts explains what insurers look for.

Where to get help

The Division of Insurance Consumer Services Unit is at 1 Federal Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02110-2012; call 877-563-4467 or email [email protected]. The FAIR Plan is at 2 Center Plaza, Boston, MA 02108-1904, 617-723-3800 or 800-392-6108 toll free in Massachusetts. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department and the nonrenewal action plan. Neighboring state guides: Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.