State Farm Cutting Homeowners Rates in Louisiana

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has approved an overall base rate decrease of 3.5% for homeowners policies issued by State Farm Insurance Co. in Louisiana.

State Farm provides homeowners’ coverage to more than a quarter of a million policyholders in the state, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

The LDI reported that homeowners premiums overall in Louisiana have risen by 1% year-over-year for the past six years. The department said it is a direct result of Louisiana adding 31 new insurers writing homeowners coverage in the state during that period.

State Farm previously this year had been approved for a 2.3% decrease in auto insurance rates in Louisiana.

The company also has implemented decreases of 4.5% in 2018 and 6.5% in 2019, for a total rate reduction of 13.3% over the past 18 months. State Farm provides auto insurance for more than a million Louisiana policyholders.

Donelon said State Farm’s auto insurance rate reductions have led to decreases by other major insurers in the state’s private passenger market.

In a statement released by the LDI, Donelon said he believes State Farm’s homeowners rate decrease will produce a similar result in the state’s homeowners insurance market.

The effective dates of State Farm’s rate reductions are May 1, 2020, for auto policies and July 1, 2020, for homeowners policies.