Saturday’s Post 12.10.11 – New Hampshire officials have reported no complaints regarding the rate increase affecting State Farm policy holders. The rates were raised by 0.2 percent on average in August. An official of the State Insurance Department said that they have only received one query related to the increase; the misunderstanding was between a quoted rate and the actual premium rate. Further; it was reported that no official complaints had been made after the rates were revised. State Farm’s regional spokesman said that the increase did not affect all types of coverage. Some premiums were set to go up while others had been revised drop after renewal. Auto Insurance Medical coverage would increase for some customers and drop for others. Generally,car insurance collision and most comprehensive coverage were set to go down. The rates would not be apply to all policy holders, rates would vary depending on the type of coverage discounts, make of car, mileage and the driver.

The New Hampshire rate revision was followed by rate cuts in other cities such as Alabama, Georgia and Pennsylvania. State Farm reported a decrease in the amount of claims in all these states and this was what triggered the rate reduction. The firm saw it wise to pass on the savings to the policy holders by announcing a rate reduction. State Farm made an official statement announcing that Pennsylvanians should expect a cut of a little less than  1 1/2 percent. The change is to start the Monday after christmas. The total will save customers nearly $17,000,000.00.  State Farm also slashed rates in Alabama by 2 percent. These changes took effect in November and policy holders were expected to save above $10 million annually. Georgia was also a beneficiary of the rate cuts, State farm reduced the premiums by a little over 2 percent. This will have a huge impact on the consumers as it  could save them $23 million yearly.

-Mike

Michael E. Dortch
President &  Managing Agent
InsureDirect.com
Corporate Home Office
618 South Broad Street
Lansdale, Pennsylvania  19446
(800) 807-0762  ext. 602