United States
                       Securities and Exchange Commission
                              Washington, D.C. 20549


                                 SCHEDULE 13D

                  Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                              (Amendment No. 4)


                           Preferred Income Fund, Inc.
                                (Name of Issuer)


                                   Common Stock
                         (Title of Class of Securities)


                                    74037G-10-6
                                   (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)



                                  May 14, 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).















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CUSIP No.: 74037G-10-6                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 4
                                            May 28, 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                             2,533,900
         SHARED VOTING POWER                                 0
         SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER                        2,533,900
         SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER                            0

11.      AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

               2,533,900

12.      CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES
         CERTAIN SHARES    [    ]

13.      PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
           25.1%

14.      TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON
           [HC]













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CUSIP No.: 74037G-10-6                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 4
                                            MAY 28, 2003




ITEM 1.  SECURITY AND ISSUER

     This Schedule 13D relates to the shares of beneficial interest (the
"Shares"), of Preferred Income Fund, Inc. (the "Fund"), a Maryland 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 c/o Flaherty & Crumrine, Inc. 301 E.
Colorado Blvd., Ste 720, Pasadena, California, 91101.


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.  This 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 10,081,681 Shares are outstanding.  Based upon such number, the Reporting
Person beneficially owns 25.1% of the Fund's outstanding Shares.

     (b) The Reporting Person is the beneficial owner (through its insurance
subsidiaries as listed below) of 2,533,900 Shares, over which it has sole
power of disposition and voting.  Such number of Shares represents
approximately 25.1% of the outstanding Shares.

                                              Shares              Cost

  The Commerce Insurance Company             2,429,200        $36,486,953
  American Commerce Insurance Company           84,700          1,165,453
  Commerce West Insurance Company               20,000            279,231

                    Totals                   2,533,900        $37,931,637





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CUSIP No.: 74037G-10-6                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 4
                                            May 28, 2003


     (c) During the period from May 6, 2003 through May 14, 2003 the
Reporting Person has effected the following sales in the shares of Common
Stock, all of which were made on the New York Stock Exchange (see attached
Annex A).  All transactions prior to May 6, 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.



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
























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CUSIP No.: 74037G-10-6                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 4
                                            MAY 28, 2003




                                            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.



May 28, 2003                               THE COMMERCE GROUP INC.









                                     Gerald Fels
                                     Executive Vice President &
                                     Chief Financial Officer


































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                                                   ANNEX  A
                                            Item 5 (c) - Information


From  05/06/03 - 05/14/03
PFD        74037G-10-6            PREFERRED INCOME FUND




COMMERCE INSURANCE COMPANY
    SALES

 TRADE         SETTLEMENT         SHARES           SALE PRICE
  DATE            DATE             SOLD             PER SHARE            CONSIDERATION
                                                            
05/06/03        05/09/03          17,700            $16.0172            $   282,783.17
05/07/03        05/12/03          10,900             15.9051                172,921.47
05/08/03        05/13/03          10,000             15.9008                158,600.55
05/08/03        05/13/03             200             16.1000                  3,211.84

COMMERCE SALE TOTALS:             38,800                                $   617,517.03


AMERICAN COMMERCE INSURANCE CO
    SALES

 TRADE         SETTLEMENT         SHARES           SALE PRICE
  DATE            DATE             SOLD             PER SHARE           CONSIDERATION
                                                            
05/08/03        05/13/03           4,100            $15.8600            $    64,872.89
05/09/03        05/14/03          39,800             15.8374                628,707.02
05/12/03        05/15/03          11,400             15.8582                180,319.02
05/13/03        05/16/03           3,600             15.8028                 56,743.42
05/14/03        05/19/03          12,400             15.7919                195,314.40

AMERICAN COMMERCE SALE TOTALS:    71,300                                 $1,125,956.74

NET CONSOLIDATED SALE TOTAL:     110,100                                 $1,743,473.77

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