Personal Auto Rates Rose 2.1%, Homeowners 3.5% in 2014: RateWatch

Personal auto insurance companies increased their rates by an average of 2.1 percent countrywide in 2014, according to insurance consulting firm Perr & Knight’s RateWatch reports.

The three states with the highest overall increases were:

• Michigan, 5.2 percent
• Georgia, 4.7 percent
• Rhode Island, 4.2 percent

Homeowners insurers increased their rates by an average of 3.5 percent countrywide in 2014.

The states with the highest overall rate increases were:

• Kansas, 8.5 percent
• Texas, 7.8 percent
• Montana, 7.7 percent

Two states implemented small rate decreases in homeowners in 2014, with Florida at -0.5 percent and Hawaii at -1.3 percent.

According to California-based Perr & Knight, during the past year, the top five insurance groups by premium volume for personal auto were State Farm, Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive, Allstate and Farmers Insurance. These companies took rate changes of 2.4 percent, 1.2 percent, 1.7 percent, 2.5 percent, and 2.0 percent respectively.

Likewise for homeowners, the top five insurance groups by premium were State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Farmers Insurance and USAA. These companies took rate changes of 3.8 percent, 1.9 percent, 7.0 percent, 5.2 percent, and 1.3 percent respectively.