Firefighters and rescue workers help an injured motorist at the scene of a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 91 in Greenfield. Some agents note that Massachusetts is likely to see the arrival of new insurance giants, and that has them worried for their jobs.

assachusetts has been something of a haven for insurance agencies, like a nature preserve that kept agents roaming safely while other states’ agencies fell to massive consolidation over the decades.

But the start of managed competition in auto insurance in April might have signaled the beginning of open season on Massachusetts agencies.

Many insurance professionals around the state say the old system helped keep some agencies in business longer than they otherwise would have been. In the heavily regulated auto system, abolished this year, government officials set insurance rates and, if requested, helped small agents by assigning them to an insurance company.

That’s all changing: Agents will no longer have the option to get assigned to a company, and although it’s too early to pinpoint the future effects of managed competition, many are worrying about the number of new insurers.

Frank Mancini, president of the Massachusetts Association for Insurance Agents, said the estimated 10,000 property/casualty agents here write an unusually high amount of the common-wealth’s insurance – 80 percent of auto; 85 percent of homeowners; and 90 percent of commercial insurance. In most other states, those numbers hover around 30 percent to 40 percent, ac-cording to other agents.

Many Massachusetts agents work in small operations, he said, with some only writing auto insurance for the company. If that one company’s business diminishes, it spells trouble for all the small agencies it works with.

Some agents note that Massachusetts is likely to see the arrival of new insurance giants – like Progressive – that often eschew agents in favor of writing insurance directly.

“There will likely be major consolidation,” said Chuck Robinson, president of Rogers & Gray in South Dennis. As a large broker on Cape Cod – an area heavy in small agencies – Robinson said many of his fellow agents are anxiously planning their next moves, anticipating increased competition from new auto insurers entering the Massachusetts market.

As the largest agency on the Cape, Robinson doesn’t anticipate any trouble for his own business, but he’s already gotten contacts from smaller shops looking to partner up with a bigger agency.

“Just in the last 10 days, I’ve had three agencies call me and want to talk about their future,” he said.

Joseph Leahy of Leahy & Brown Insurance & Realty in Springfield said his agency. His agency decided to better weather changes in the market by finding more auto insurers to sell for, and it now sells four insurance companies’ products.

But he worries about how many of his peers will be forced into consolidation. He and other insurance agents complain about Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes’ decision to exempt newcomers to Massachusetts auto insurance from having to take on high-risk drivers for up to two years. That tips the scales in favor of large auto insurers who prefer direct writing over agents, he said, and Mancini’s MAIA is suing the commissioner over that rule.

“Our auto system bred a cottage industry,” Leahy said. “They’ve created a tremendous number of jobs. You get a Progressive or a Geico that comes in, they hire a handful of people and take the money out the door.”

Burnes said the consolidation of agencies was a possibility, although she knew some agencies had embraced the new managed competition system.

Long-term, she said, “The agents are going to have to be quite nimble and astute to compete.”