RateWatch: Auto and Homeowners Rates Increase Moderately in 2013

Perr&Knight Compiles Countrywide Rate Changes

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Mar 12, 2014, 07:00 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Personal auto insurance companies increased their rates by an average of 2.5% countrywide in 2013, according to figures compiled from Perr&Knight's RateWatch. The 2013 increase is in line with a five year trend of annual average rate increases between 2% and 4%, and was lower than the 2012 countrywide rate increase of 3.7%.

The five states with the highest overall increases in 2013 were Michigan at 8.6%, Georgia at 5.2%, New York and Delaware at 4.3%, and Nevada at 4.1%. No states experienced an overall reduction in rates between 2012 and 2013; however, 2013 rates in North Dakota remained at 2012 levels overall.

Figures compiled for homeowners show that insurance companies increased their rates by an average of 5.1% countrywide in 2013, while renters insurance rates were up 2.6% and condominium insurance rates rose 2.9%. Annual average rate increases have varied between 5% and 7% for homeowners insurance, 2% to 4% for renters insurance and 2.5% to 6% for condominium insurance over the last five years.

The five states with the highest overall increases in 2013 for homeowners insurance were Oklahoma at 12.1%, Florida at 11.0%, Kentucky at 10.9%, Kansas at 10.3% and North Carolina at 10.1%. The only state experiencing a double digit increase in renters or condominium rates was North Carolina where rates increased 18.7% for each. Two states, California and Hawaii, experienced overall decreases in homeowner insurance rates in 2013 of -3.4% and -0.7%, respectively. Insurers in California also decreased their overall renters rates by -1.8% and condominium rates by -1.4% in 2013.

"Overall, there were moderate rate increases for both auto and homeowners insurance in 2013.Our RateWatch product provides visibility into these changes by accumulating the approved rate changes extracted from the public rate filings of companies representing about 80% of the personal insurance premiums written," said Tim Perr, Perr&Knight's CEO.

For more details about RateWatch, please contact [email protected] or 310.230.9339, ext. 3.

About RateWatch

RateWatch is a series of unique competitive intelligence reports which accurately monitor rate change activity by state and line of business for the largest insurance groups, enabling subscribers to quickly determine the rate actions of individual insurance companies as well as the overall marketplace. Perr&Knight's expert analysts spend thousands of hours each year mining insurance company rate filings to determine the approved rate change down to the underwriting company program level, making RateWatch the most accurate product of its kind.

About Perr&Knight

Perr&Knight is a leading provider of insurance consulting services and a strategic resource for insurance companies wishing to reduce their fixed costs while increasing the efficiency and value of their insurance operations. Our insurance support services include Actuarial Consulting, Competitive Intelligence, Data Services, Insurance Technology, Regulatory Compliance, Product Design and Risk Services.

SOURCE Perr&Knight