"It's time to give our consumers more choice and the advantages that come with safe driving," the governor said in a statement. "The goal of the task force is to form a consensus for a fair and smooth transition to a competitive marketplace."

The task force will consist of Insurance Commissioner Julie Bowler; representatives from the legislature, the Attorney General's office, the Secretary of Economic Development; and the Director of Consumer Affairs.

Gov. Romney said he expected the task force's recommendations before the end of the year.

The governor also said that Ms. Bowler has directed the governing committee for the state's residual market, Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers, to revise the rules in an effort to achieve fair distribution of insurer losses generated by the state's high risk drivers.

The governors office noted a report performed for the Division of Insurance by Tillinghast, a Towers Perrin company found that losses within the CAR are not distributed equally among participating companies and rates do not properly reflect loss experience.

"We think the real story here is the residual market change," observed Frank Mancini, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents in Framingham, Mass.

Mr. Mancini said, "What the commissioner proposes moves us to an assigned risk system from our current system that is assigned agency. That structure has done a lot to reduce our market to only 19 carriers. The directive to move the system, we think, will do a lot to stabilize the erosion of the marketplace and maybe bring some companies back in."

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, based in Des Plaines, Ill., praised the creation of the task force.

"Reforming CAR and then changing the commonwealth's archaic insurance regulatory process will open the market to competition and encourage insurers to take another look at doing business here," said Frank O'Brien PCI vice president and New England regional manager in a statement.

Tami Stanton, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies state affairs manager for the Northeast U.S., based in Indianapolis, blasted Massachusetts insurance regulatory system, saying in a statement that system meant to protect consumers from overpricing has done the opposite.

"Massachusetts drivers should not have to suffer the ravages of excessive regulation," she said. "The time for reform in now and competition is the answer."