Big auto insurer weighs joining Mass. market

Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett said yesterday he wants to bring the low auto insurance rates offered by Geico Corp. to Massachusetts, the only state where the company does not already sell policies.

"It's crazy for us not to be in Massachusetts," Buffett said in his first public comments about the state's automobile insurance market. "It's costing people in Massachusetts plenty for us not to be there."

Like many national insurers, Geico, a subsidiary of Buffett's Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has shunned Massachusetts because companies here are not allowed to set their own rates and because of the way high-risk drivers are assigned to insurers. Some companies say they are unfairly saddled with too many of those drivers.

But national insurers are reconsidering doing business in Massachusetts since state insurance commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes said last month the state will move to "managed competition" in 2008, allowing insurers to set their own rates subject to regulatory approval. She also wants to revamp the system for distributing high-risk drivers to eliminate "the opportunity for system manipulation that currently exists."

Buffett stopped short of saying Geico was coming to Massachusetts, but he indicated he believes the state is moving in the right direction with its reform proposals.

Geico, known for its gecko and caveman television commercials, is the nation's fourth-largest auto insurer, covering more than 12 million vehicles nationwide. It is able to keep premium prices down by selling directly by phone and over the Internet instead of through agents.

Geico stopped selling policies in New Jersey in 1976 because of concerns about that state's hostile regulatory climate. Returning in August 2004, the company has taken New Jersey by storm. It has signed more than 600,000 customers in less than three years, becoming the state's third-largest automobile insurer. Geico officials say the average annual savings of its New Jersey policyholders is more than $750 over previous insurance coverage.

While Burnes's moves are attracting the attention of national insurers, they still have concerns. Many, including Geico, set drivers' rates in other states by using socioeconomic factors such as education, occupation, home ownership, and credit history.

Some critics of Geico's rate-setting practices say it is unfair to charge more for auto insurance because someone has poor credit, does not own property, did not graduate from college, or has a low-paying job.

Burnes said last month she would view with "extreme skepticism" any rate proposal based on such factors. Burnes declined to comment yesterday on Buffett's comments.

Geico uses socioeconomic information, along with driving history, vehicle type, and vehicle usage, to assign drivers to one of its subsidiaries, all of which have different base rates. A driver determined to have favorable rating characteristics is assigned to a subsidiary with lower rates.

Buffett said he understands the concerns about the company's rating system, but added that insurers are trained to examine any information that can predict the likelihood a driver will have an accident and file a claim. The better a company can match rates and risks to drivers, he said, the more equitable its prices.

While Buffett said socioeconomic factors are useful tools, the inability to use them would not necessarily prevent the company from entering the Massachusetts market.

"We can adjust to it. It just means your rates won't be quite as equitable," he said. "Anything that is a level playing field, we're fine with."

When Burnes said last month that she wanted to revamp the state's insurance system, she solicited comments from insurers. Geico did not submit any suggestions, but the Progressive Group of Insurance Cos., the nation's third-largest automobile insurer, did respond.

Adam Kornick, a product manager at Progressive, said he was aware that socioeconomic rating factors were controversial in Massachusetts, but urged Burnes to allow their use.

"Our preference would be to use any and all predictive variables in a transparent and consumer-friendly fashion," he wrote.

Stephen D'Amato, a consultant to the Center for Insurance Research in Cambridge, said consumers would benefit from having Geico and other national insurers selling polices in Massachusetts. But he said the companies should not be allowed to use socioeconomic factors to set rates.

He also said insurers should not be allowed to use the socioeconomic factors to decide whether to insure someone in the first place, a practice that Burnes's July statement indicated she might allow.

Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com.