State Losing Another Auto Insurer
       Sentry/Middlesex Insurance Company officials informed the state this week that they intend to leave Massachusetts next year, fleeing the state’s highly regulated system that critics say lacks choices for consumers, according to the Division of Insurance. Sentry employs 170 people in their Westford office, and insures roughly 22,000 vehicles statewide, officials said. With its departure, Massachusetts will have 18 auto insurance companies, in addition to other smaller companies that insure certain “niches” and high-risk drivers, division spokesman Chris Goetcheus said.
       “This is another smaller market insurer that has decided that they can’t make a go of it within this market or this system,” Goetcheus said, noting that more than six companies have left the state within the last five years. “The bigger problem is that opponents of reforming the system claim we have a sufficient number of insurers.” In addition, Goetcheus said, five of the state’s largest companies insure 65 percent of the state’s drivers.
       Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler and Gov. Mitt Romney are pushing for the state to reform its auto insurance system, which directs the commissioner to annually set rates. Sentry officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment. The news follows a Boston Globe story Thursday claiming the state has overstated the disparity between the number of insurers here and in other states to make the case for auto insurance reform. Using data from the National Association of Insurance Regulators, Massachusetts has 36 companies, the Globe reported.