Big rate hikes are coming to Georgia if you have Allstate insurance, Commissioner Ralph Hudgens says. So big, his office has issued a “consumer alert.”
Beginning May 22, Allstate automobile insurance rates will go up 25%. But there’s more. That’s the baseline. Hudgens’ office is saying some policyholders could see a spike as much as 58.3%.
Hudgens told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he was “deeply concerned” but that the law does not allow him to intervene unless the rate hike is proven to be legally excessive. He is asking his staff to have AllState prove the hike is necessary.
The AJC also reported the following:
“Georgia adopted a ‘file and use’ system in 2008 to promote competition and lower rates among insurance companies,” Hudgens said. “This rate filing appears to promote neither.”
Before “file and use,” commissioners had to approve increases. Under the 2008 change that Hudgens supported, the commissioner can review the rate changes after they’re made just to make sure they aren’t either excessive or inadequate to keep the company in business, and to make sure they aren’t discriminatory.
The commissioner at the time, John Oxendine, warned that it would lead to a spike in auto insurance rates.
The company held 11% of the policies for Georgia drivers in 2015.