Auto Insurance Rates Going Down in Louisiana
Two more carriers are planning to lower their auto insurance rates in Louisiana, the state’s insurance department reported in June.
Both Progressive Security Insurance Co. and Louisiana Farm Bureau have filed to reduce auto insurance premium rates in Louisiana. The two carriers are following in the footsteps of State Farm Insurance, which has implemented three rate decreases there in the past year.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon in early June approved Progressive’s filing for a 2.2% rate decrease on new and renewal auto insurance business. The decreases are expected to become effective in late summer.
Progressive is the second largest auto insurer in Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
Shortly after announcing Progressive’s intention to drop its rates, Donelon reported that the Louisiana Farm Bureau plans on reducing its rates by 4% on 220,000 automobile policies.
Louisiana Farm Bureau is the sixth-largest auto insurer in Louisiana. Its rate reductions are projected to take effect on Aug. 1 for new and renewed policies.
“Louisiana Farm Bureau’s request for a rate reduction is further indication of the downward trajectory for auto rates in Louisiana,” Donelon said in a media release. “In the last year, three of the top auto insurers in our state have sought rate decreases for Louisiana drivers. This reduction, along with those previously taken by State Farm and Progressive, further confirms that automobile insurance competition in Louisiana is moving premiums in the right direction.”
Louisiana Farm Bureau’s reductions, combined with the earlier reductions taken by State Farm and Progressive, mean more than 1,500,000 automobile policyholders will see lower insurance rates, the department said.
State Farm was approved for three rate decreases for coverage on private passenger vehicles during the past year. The total impact of the rate changes taken together is a decrease of 7.7 percent.
State Farm is the largest auto insurer in Louisiana with 1,000,000 policies but has lost about 100,000 policies in the state over the last two years, according to LDI.
Louisiana has some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. The 2017-2018 Annual Report for the Louisiana Property and Casualty Insurance Commission (LPCIC) shows the average annual auto premium per vehicle in Louisiana was $1,921 at the time of publication. Nationally, the average annual auto insurance rate is $1,470, according to thezebra.com.
In August 2018, Donelon formed the Louisiana High Auto Rates Task Force, with the aim of investigating the state’s auto insurance market and making recommendations to the Legislature for actions to lower rates.