United States Securities and Exchange Commission Washington, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 13D Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 2) John Hancock Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund (Name of Issuer) Common Stock (Title of Class of Securities) 41013J-10-7 (CUSIP Number) The Commerce Group Inc. 211 Main Street Webster, MA 01570 (508) 943-9000 (Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications) June 16, 2003 (Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement) If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of Rule 13d-1(e), 13d-1(f) or 13d-1(g), check the following box: [X] The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes). Page 1 of 6 CUSIP No.: 41013J-10-7 THE COMMERCE GROUP, Inc. SCHEDULE 13D AMENDMENT NO. 2 JUNE 30, 2003 1. NAME OF REPORTING PERSON S.S. OR I.R.S. ID NO. OF ABOVE PERSON The Commerce Group Inc. ID# 04-2599931 2. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (a) [ ] (b) [ ] 3. SEC USE ONLY 4. SOURCE OF FUNDS [WC] 5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL [ ] PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) 6. CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Massachusetts NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH SOLE VOTING POWER 2,191,500 SHARED VOTING POWER 0 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 2,191,500 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 11. AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 2,191,500 12. CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES [ ] 13. PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 30.2% 14. TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON [HC] Page 2 of 6 CUSIP No.: 41013J-10-7 THE COMMERCE GROUP, Inc. SCHEDULE 13D AMENDMENT NO. 2 JUNE 30, 2003 ITEM 1. SECURITY AND ISSUER This Schedule 13D relates to the shares of beneficial interest (the "Shares"), of John Hancock Patriot Preferred Dividend Fund (the "Fund"), a Massachusetts business trust registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). The principal executive offices of the Fund are located at 101 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02119-7603. ITEM 2. IDENTITY AND BACKGROUND (a) - (f) This Schedule 13D is being filed by The Commerce Group Inc. (the "Reporting Person"), a corporation formed under the laws of Massachusetts. The Reporting Person is a corporation whose principal offices are located at 211 Main Street Webster, MA 01570. No material changes have taken place with respect to director or officer information of the Reporting Person. ITEM 3. SOURCE AND AMOUNT OF FUNDS OR OTHER CONSIDERATION This item is not applicable. The Schedule 13D reports sales of shares rather than purchases. ITEM 4. PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION No material change has taken place since the previous filing. ITEM 5. INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER (a) The Fund's reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission report that 7,257,200 Shares are outstanding. Based upon such number, the Reporting Person beneficially owns 30.2% of the Fund's outstanding Shares. (b) The Reporting Person is the beneficial owner (through its insurance subsidiaries as listed below) of 2,191,500 Shares, over which it has sole power of disposition and voting. Such number of Shares represents approximately 30.2% of the outstanding Shares. Shares Cost The Commerce Insurance Company 1,998,200 $21,960,700 American Commerce Insurance Company 176,500 1,935,585 Commerce West Insurance Company 16,800 199,147 Totals 2,191,500 $24,095,432 (c) During the period from May 14, 2003 through June 16, 2003, the Reporting Person has effected the following sales of Common Stock, all of which were made on the New York Stock Exchange (see attached Annex A). All transactions prior to May 14, 2003 were reported on previous Schedule 13D filings. (d) No person other than the Reporting Person has the right to receive or the power to direct the receipt of dividends from, or the proceeds from the sale of, the shares of Common Stock owned by the Reporting Person. (e) It is inapplicable to state the date on which the Reporting Person ceased to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of the Common Stock. Page 3 of 6 CUSIP No.: 41013J-10-7 THE COMMERCE GROUP, Inc. SCHEDULE 13D AMENDMENT NO. 2 JUNE 30, 2003 ITEM 6. CONTRACTS, ARRANGEMENTS, UNDERSTANDINGS OR RELATIONSHIPS WITH RESPECT TO SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER The Reporting Person does not have any contract, arrangement, understanding or relationship (legal or otherwise) with any person with respect to any securities of the Fund, including, but not limited to, the transfer or voting of any such securities, finders' fees, joint ventures, loan or option arrangements, puts or calls, guarantees of profits, division of profits or loss, or the giving or withholding of proxies. ITEM 7. MATERIAL TO BE FILED AS EXHIBITS Annex A Item 5(c) Information SIGNATURE After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct. JUNE 30, 2003 THE COMMERCE GROUP INC. Gerald Fels Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Page 4 of 6 ANNEX A Item 5 (c) - Information FROM 05/14/03 - 06/16/03 PPF 41013J-10-7 JOHN HANCOCK PATRIOT PREFERRED DIVIDEND FUND AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY SALES TRADE SETTLEMENT SHARES SALE PRICE DATE DATE SOLD PER SHARE CONSIDERATION 05/14/03 05/19/03 5,600 $12.7677 $ 71,271.77 05/14/03 05/19/03 500 12.7677 6,363.55 05/15/03 05/20/03 300 12.8000 3,827.82 05/16/03 05/21/03 2,000 12.7000 25,318.81 05/19/03 05/22/03 800 12.7000 10,127.52 05/19/03 05/22/03 6,800 12.7000 86,083.95 05/19/03 05/22/03 400 12.7000 5,063.76 05/20/03 05/23/03 400 12.6895 5,059.56 05/20/03 05/23/03 5,200 12.6895 65,774.31 05/22/03 05/28/03 800 12.7000 10,127.52 05/23/03 05/29/03 1,400 12.7424 17,782.52 05/23/03 05/29/03 700 12.7424 8,891.26 05/28/03 06/02/03 1,800 12.9500 23,236.91 05/28/03 06/02/03 3,500 12.9500 45,182.87 05/30/03 06/04/03 1,000 13.2200 13,179.38 06/02/03 06/05/03 4,000 13.1158 52,300.74 06/03/03 06/06/03 10,900 13.7108 149,004.73 06/04/03 06/09/03 6,300 13.5038 84,817.96 06/05/03 06/10/03 2,700 13.4000 36,070.31 06/09/03 06/12/03 600 13.5000 8,075.62 06/13/03 06/18/03 1,600 13.4500 21,454.99 06/16/03 06/19/03 5,400 13.4056 72,170.85 06/16/03 06/19/03 8,900 13.2767 117,801.10 AMERICAN COMMERCE SALE TOTALS 71,600 $938,987.81 Page 5 of 6 ANNEX A Item 5 (c) - Information - (continued) FROM 05/14/03 - 06/16/03 PPF 41013J-10-7 JOHN HANCOCK PATRIOT PREFERRED DIVIDEND FUND COMMERCE WEST INSURANCE CO SALES TRADE SETTLEMENT SHARES SALE PRICE DATE DATE SOLD PER SHARE CONSIDERATION 06/06/03 06/11/03 1,000 $13.4100 $ 13,369.37 06/11/03 06/16/03 2,200 13.5245 29,664.51 COMMERCE WEST SALE TOTALS 3,200 $ 43,033.88 NET CONSOLIDATED SALES TOTAL 74,800 $982,021.69 Page 6 of 6