UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                  SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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                             PMA Capital Corporation
                (Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

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PMA Capital
A Specialty Risk Management Company

Mellon Bank Center   Suite 2800
1735 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-7590                                        PRESS RELEASE
- - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 For Release:  Immediate

     Contact:  Albert D. Ciavardelli
               (215) 665-5063

                        PMA Capital Corporation Announces
                        ---------------------------------
                     Date of Annual Shareholders Meeting and
                     ---------------------------------------
                        Proposals for Shareholder Action
                        --------------------------------


Philadelphia,  PA, February 2, 2000 - PMA Capital  Corporation  (NASDAQ:  PMACA)
today  announced  that the 2000 Annual Meeting of  Shareholders  will be held at
9:00 a.m.  Eastern  Standard  Time on  Monday,  April 24,  2000,  at 380  Sentry
Parkway, Blue Bell, PA. The record date for determining shareholders entitled to
vote at the Annual Meeting will be March 6, 2000.

The Board of Directors  approved the following  proposals to be presented to the
shareholders at the Annual Meeting:

     1.   Election of four directors (Messrs.  Frederick W. Anton III, Joseph H.
          Foster, James F. Malone III and L.J. Rowell, Jr.) to serve until 2003.
     2.   Approval  of an  amendment  to  the  Company's  Amended  and  Restated
          Articles of  Incorporation to reclassify and convert each issued share
          of the Company's Common Stock into one share of Class A Common Stock.
     3.   Approval  of an  amendment  to  the  Company's  Amended  and  Restated
          Articles  of   Incorporation   to  authorize  two  million  shares  of
          undesignated  Preferred  Stock,  $0.01  par value  per  share,  and to
          authorize  the  Board,  without  further  shareholder   approval,   to
          designate  one or more  series of  Preferred  Stock,  with  rights and
          privileges as the Board may determine.
     4.   Approval of the PMA Capital Corporation Annual Incentive Plan.
     5.   Ratification of the appointment of  PricewaterhouseCoopers  LLP as the
          Company's independent auditors for the year ending December 31, 2000.

The  Board's  approval  of  Proposals 2 and 3 is  conditioned  upon  shareholder
approval of both of the Proposals at the Annual Meeting. Proposal 2 will require
the  affirmative  class vote of two-thirds of the  outstanding  shares of Common
Stock,  and the combined vote of a majority of the outstanding  shares of Common
and Class A Common  Stock.  Proposal 3 will  require the  affirmative  vote of a
majority  of the  outstanding  shares of Common and Class A Common  Stock,  each
voting separately as a class.



Members of the Board of Directors,  executive officers and PMA Foundation own in
the   aggregate   approximately   7.30  million   shares  of  Common  Stock  and
approximately  2.49  million  shares of Class A Common  Stock as of December 31,
1999,  representing 55% of the voting power of the Company's outstanding capital
stock and intend to vote in favor of all of the above proposals.  As of December
31, 1999,  the Company had  outstanding  approximately  12.65 million  shares of
Common Stock and approximately 9.69 million shares of Class A Common Stock.

If the  proposals  are  adopted,  members of the Board of  Directors,  executive
officers and PMA Foundation will continue to own in the aggregate  approximately
9.79 million shares of Class A Common Stock  representing 44% of the outstanding
shares and voting power of the Company's capital stock.

The Company believes that the reclassification and conversion of Common Stock to
Class A Common Stock will  simplify the  Company's  capital  structure  and may,
among other things,  create a more liquid  trading market for the Class A Common
Stock.  However,  the Company  cannot  predict what effect the  reclassification
amendment  will have on the trading volume or market price of the Class A Common
Stock.

The  Company  has no  present  plan to issue any  shares of  preferred  stock if
Proposals 2 and 3 are approved.  If these  proposals are approved,  the Board of
Directors  intends  to adopt a  shareholder  rights  plan at its next  regularly
scheduled meeting in May 2000.

This press  release  contains  forward-looking  statements.  In  addition to the
cautionary  statements set forth with the  forward-looking  statements,  readers
should  evaluate the  forward-looking  statements in this press release with the
cautionary  statements  contained  in the  Company's  1998 Form 10-K,  quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, which are  incorporated by
reference in this press release.  The Company disclaims any obligation to update
forward-looking information.

Important Notice:
- - -----------------
All  shareholders of the Company are urged to read the Company's proxy statement
relating to the 2000 Annual Meeting when it is available because it will contain
important  information about the proposals described in this press release.  The
Company  intends to mail its  definitive  proxy  statement  to holders of record
sometime  during the last two weeks of March.  At the same time,  the  Company's
preliminary and definitive proxy statements,  and any other relevant  documents,
will be available for free at the Securities and Exchange  Commission's  website
(www.sec.gov).  Further,  when  they are  available,  the  Company's  notice  of
meeting,  proxy statement and 1999 Annual Report will be available for free from
the Company by contacting  Albert D.  Ciavardelli,  Vice  President--Finance  at
215-665-5063.

The proposals described in this press release are management proposals,  and the
participants in the solicitation relating to these proposals include the current
directors, nominees for director at the 2000 Annual Meeting and certain officers
of the  Company.  The  officers  of the  Company  who are  participants  in this
solicitation  include:  Frederick W. Anton III,  Chairman of the Board,  John W.



Smithson,  President and Chief Executive Officer,  Francis W. McDonnell,  Senior
Vice President and Chief  Financial  Officer,  and Albert D.  Ciavardelli,  Vice
President-Finance.


Certain Information Concerning Participants
- - -------------------------------------------
The security  holdings of the directors,  director nominees and officers who are
participating  in this  solicitation are available from the Company at the above
telephone number.


PMA Capital  Corporation,  headquartered  in Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  is an
insurance holding company,  whose operating  subsidiaries provide specialty risk
management products and services to customers  throughout the United States. The
primary  product lines of PMA Capital's  subsidiaries  include:  1) property and
casualty reinsurance,  underwritten and marketed through PMA Re; 2) managed care
workers'  compensation,  integrated disability and other commercial property and
casualty  lines of insurance  in the  Mid-Atlantic  and Southern  regions of the
United States,  underwritten and marketed under the trade name The PMA Insurance
Group;  and 3) excess and surplus lines coverages, underwritten  and marketed by
Caliber One.