Addressing a crowd that has recently sparred with his division, the state insurance commissioner offered lighthearted words of support to the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) on Friday, reassuring the organization’s members that their opinions will always be considered.

Joseph G. Murphy, who has been commissioner since February, acknowledged recent tensions between his office and the association, but reassured members that his door was always open to the state’s insurance agents.
MAIA, which is in the midst of its annual convention in Boston, had unsuccessfully sued his predecessor over what it felt were anticompetitive regulations enacted during the switch to a more competitive auto insurance marketplace. Murphy was former Commissioner Nonnie Burnes’ deputy during that switch, and has been far less in the public eye. His speech to MAIA was a rare speaking appearance and an introduction for many agents and other professionals in the audience.

Murphy, who had been chief of staff in the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Insurance before going to the division, had been known as "the brains behind the bluster," said John Donahue, president and CEO of Quincy’s Arbella Insurance Group, during his introduction. Murphy would methodically work out legislative details with members of the industry, Donahue said, and that ethic has continued at his new role.

Although the 2008 change in Massachusetts’ decades-old form of auto insurance had many agents worrying for their jobs, Murphy noted in his speech that the state still has the highest penetration of agents, with "virtually no erosion" of those strong numbers.

Like Burnes before him, Murphy noted improvements to the marketplace in the past two years. The division claims consumer saved $477 million on their auto insurance since 2008, and noted that 12 new companies have entered the marketplace.

Murphy devoted part of his speech to discussion of the steps his office has taken to work through issues with state and federal health insurance regulations, including the successful fight against a number of health insurers that had intended to raise rates by double-digits. He also wasn’t above some mild ribbing toward his agent audience, joking that with his newly purchased retirement insurance policy, "All I have to do is keep up the payments for 15 years, and my agent can retire."

Murphy noted the giant impact and importance of the insurance industry to the state, adding that the industry employed more than 100,000 people, making it a huge economic engine to Massachusetts.

The state’s consumers needed agents to help them make good financial choices in the current tough economy, he said, and his office was willing to listen to the industry and work with them as much as possible.