Gearing up for the introduction of competition among automobile insurers next year, Liberty Mutual Group plans to increase its Massachusetts sales force by 50 percent.
Liberty Mutual, the state's fourth-largest automobile insurer, said the 30 additional sales representatives are being hired in response to the state's recent move away from a system in which insurance rates were set by state regulators to one that allows insurers to compete for customers, through their prices and products.
The new system will go into effect on April 1. All insurers are required to file their proposed policy changes with the state's Division of Insurance by Nov. 19.
To keep existing customers and entice new ones, Liberty Mutual and MetLife Auto and Home of Warwick, R.I., last week announced improvements to their Massachusetts auto policies. The Hanover Insurance Group, based in Worcester, followed suit yesterday with its own policy enhancements, including the potential for customers who are good drivers to eliminate deductible payments if they are in an accident.
Insurers will "put their best foot forward" when competition arrives, said James MacPhee, Liberty Mutual's executive vice president and the general manager for the New England market. "Competition is tough, but we're up to the challenge."
Under the current system, which has been in place about 30 years, every insurer offered a roughly similar policy. With the introduction of competition, insurers have leeway to set their own prices and offer new benefits.
Hanover said it would not necessarily hike its customers' rates if they are in an accident. The company also plans to propose that it be able to pay customers who total their vehicles the difference between the car's value prior to the accident and what they still owe on their auto loan - "even if the loan is more than the value of the vehicle," the company said in a statement.
Hanover customers with good driving records also could potentially reduce their deductibles to zero. The insurer said yesterday that deductibles, which currently range from $300 to $1,000, would be reduced by $100 at each annual policy renewal if the driver avoided an accident during the prior period.
"It's a reward for being a safe driver," said Vincent Nieroda, Hanover's president of personal lines in Massachusetts. Potentially, the deductible "goes down to zero" for drivers with stellar records, he said.
Liberty plans to offer new features to customers with collision coverage, including longer rental-car benefits - Hanover is doing the same - and the introduction of replacement-value coverage in Massachusetts for cars that are less than one year old or have fewer than 15,000 miles. Most of Liberty Mutual's new features in Massachusetts are already available to customers in other states, the Boston insurer said.
Liberty already employs a sales staff of 61 working in 13 of the insurer's offices across Massachusetts. The company is hosting a recruitment event at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Nov. 16 to hire the additional staff.
MacPhee said Liberty insures about 300,000 Massachusetts drivers.
The new sales force will "accommodate the increased shopping activity we think will happen next year," he said.
Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.
