RateWatch: Personal Auto Rates +2.1%

SANTA MONICA, CA -- Dec. 23, 2014: Personal auto insurance companies increased their rates by an average of 2.1% countrywide over the 12 month period from 4th Quarter 2013 through 3rd Quarter 2014. Homeowner insurers increased their rates by an average of 3.5% countrywide over the same period.

The 3 states with the highest overall auto insurance increases over this period were Michigan at 5.2%, Georgia at 4.7%, and Rhode Island at 4.2%. For homeowners, the states with the highest average rate increase were Kansas at 8.5%, Texas at 7.8% and Montana at 7.7%. In addition, homeowner insurers in Florida and Hawaii implemented small rate decreases on average over this period of -0.5% and -1.3% respectively.

During the period, the top 5 insurance groups by premium for personal auto were State Farm, Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive, Allstate and Farmers Insurance. These companies took rate changes of 2.4%, 1.2%, 1.7%, 2.5%, and 2.0% respectively. Likewise for homeowners, the top 5 insurance groups by premium were State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Farmers Insurance and USAA. These companies took rate changes of 3.8%, 1.9%, 7.0%, 5.2%, and 1.3% respectively.