Ohio Auto, Homeowners Insurance Rates Increase in 2009

The average rates for the top 10 homeowners insurance providers in Ohio increased by 9.7 percent in 2009, according to the Ohio Department of Insurance. The average rates for the state’s top 10 private passenger auto insurers increased 2.8 percent in 2009.

The homeowners rate increases were largely the result of weather-related losses in 2008. Storms caused insured losses of more than $1.4 billion throughout Ohio in 2008.

Despite the rate hikes, “Ohio still has some of the lowest insurance rates in the nation,” according to Ohio Insurance Mary Jo Director Hudson said.

Ohio has the 11th lowest auto insurance and sixth lowest homeowners insurance average premiums in the country, according to the most recent figures from the NAIC.

Based on 2007 data released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in December 2009, Ohioans pay nearly $282 less for homeowners insurance than the United States average, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute. The average homeowners insurance expenditure in Ohio in 2007 was $540 compared to the national average of $822.

Based on current rate activity and industry data, insurance department analysts expect the 2010 rate activity to continue similarly as it did in 2009. Average homeowners insurance rates will likely increase and average auto rates are once again expected to increase slightly.

Changes in auto insurance rates are associated with medical costs, weather-related claims, the number of cars on Ohio roads and repair costs, while changes in homeowners insurance rates can be attributed to building and material costs and weather-related claims, the department said.

State Farm was the largest homeowners insurance group in Ohio in 2009, with 23.1 percent of the market, followed by Allstate, with 11.3 percent. The top 10 carriers represented 73.4 percent of the homeowners insurance market share in the state, according to the insurance department.