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


                                        SCHEDULE 13D


                          Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                                      (Amendment No. 8)


                        John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II
                                      (Name of Issuer)


                                        Common Stock
                               (Title of Class of Securities)


                                         41013T-10-5
                                       (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 5




CUSIP No.: 41013T-10-5                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 8
                                            JULY 1, 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                             4,919,600
         SHARED VOTING POWER                                   0
         SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER                        4,919,600
         SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER                              0

11.      AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON

               4,919,600

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

13.      PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
           32.8%

14.      TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON
           [HC]


















Page 2 of 5



CUSIP No.: 41013T-10-5                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 8
                                            JULY 1, 2003


ITEM 1.  SECURITY AND ISSUER

     This Schedule 13D relates to the shares of beneficial interest (the
"Shares"), of John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II (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.  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 15,017,005 Shares are outstanding.  Based upon such number, the Reporting
Person beneficially owns 32.8% of the Fund's outstanding Shares.

     (b) The Reporting Person is the beneficial owner (through its insurance
subsidiaries as listed below) of 4,919,600 Shares, over which it has sole
power of disposition and voting.  Such number of Shares represents
approximately 32.8% of the outstanding Shares.


                                              Shares              Cost

   The Commerce Insurance Company            4,898,000          $53,043,469
   Commerce West Insurance Company              21,600              239,089

                  Totals                     4,919,600          $53,282,558


     (c) During the period from June 6, 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 June 6, 2003 were reported on previous Schedule 13 D
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 5




CUSIP No.: 41013T-10-5                      THE COMMERCE GROUP, INC.
                                            SCHEDULE 13D
                                            AMENDMENT No. 8
                                            JULY 1, 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.



July 1, 2003                               THE COMMERCE GROUP INC.










                                          Gerald Fels
                                          Executive Vice President &
                                          Chief Financial Officer














Page 4 of 5




                                                  ANNEX  A
                                         Item 5 (c) - Information
PDT   41013T-10-5    JOHN HANCOCK PATRIOT DIV FUND II

From 06/06/03 - 06/16/03


COMMERCE INSURANCE COMPANY
    SALES

  TRADE           SETTLEMENT         SHARES           SALE PRICE
  DATE               DATE             SOLD             PER SHARE          CONSIDERATION
                                                                     
06/06/03             06/11/03            57,300              $10.8087            $ 617,017.52

COMMERCE SALE TOTALS                     57,300                                  $ 617,017.52


COMMERCE WEST INSURANCE CO
     SALES

  TRADE           SETTLEMENT         SHARES           SALE PRICE
  DATE               DATE             SOLD             PER SHARE          CONSIDERATION
                                                                      
06/06/03             06/11/03             7,800              $10.8200             $  84,043.39
06/09/03             06/12/03            39,200               10.8131               422,285.68
06/10/03             06/13/03            13,800               10.8521               149,199.97
06/13/03             06/18/03            23,500               11.0511               258,748.70
06/16/03             06/19/03            29,600               11.0096               324,684.91

COMMERCE WEST SALE TOTALS               113,900                                  $1,238,962.65


NET CONSOLIDATED SALE TOTAL              171,200                                 $1,855,980.17











Page 5 of 5