Allstate, state farm raising auto policy rates

By Terrence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News

Aug. 19--AUSTIN -- Two of the state's largest auto insurers -- Allstate and State Farm -- are boosting their rates to beginning the rise number of claims.

State Farm filed for addition of 2.4 percentage and 7.3 percentage, respectively, for its two auto insurance subsidiaries, State Farm Mutual and State Farm County Mutual.

Kevin Davis, a spokesman for State Farm, said mon that the addition are the first in about five years for State Farm Mutual, which has 2.9 1000000 customers. State Farm County Mutual, which has 200,000 client, last had an addition in Dec that averaged 5.1 percent.

County mutuals in many cases sell insurance coverage to higher-risk drivers.

Increased claim costs for both subordinate led to the higher rates, which go into consequence Oct. 27, Mr. Davis said.

Allstate also filed notice of an addition in rates for its two subordinate with the Texas section of Insurance. Customers of Allstate Indemnity will see an addition of 3.6 percentage, while those insured person with Allstate County Mutual will have a 5.5 percentage increase.

"Our costs have been going up in two areas, hit frequency and bodily injury badness," said Bill Mellander, a spokesman for Allstate. "These addition will help us computer address those rise costs."

Mr. Mellander said the last addition in auto rates was in Dec and was about 1 percentage for each subordinate. "We've had very stalls pricing for quite a while," he added. The new rates were effective in late July.

Allstate Indemnity insures 694,000 drivers in Texas, while Allstate County Mutual provides insurance coverage for 435,000 drivers.

Consumer grouping criticized the rate hikes, expression the companies are earning adequate net income with their electric current premiums.

"It is unfortunate person that State Farm and Allstate are choosing to raise rates on drivers at a time when Texans are struggling to keep up with rise costs of gasoline, food and housing," said Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer group active in insurance issues.

"Drivers in Texas deserve rate relief, not additional burdensome rate increases from their insurance companies."

Insurance industry spokesman Jerry Johns said auto rates in Texas have remained at a "reasonable level" in recent years compared with other states.

"The auto insurance market in Texas is highly competitive, with companies battling it out in the marketplace for the best price, innovative products and discounts," he said.

Under Texas' file-and-use law, insurers may raise rates once they have notified the insurance department. The agency then reviews the new rates and may object if it deems the increases excessive or unjustified. Both rate filings are now under review by the department.

Rate increases

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