Allstate cuts
isle auto rates

The overall reduction is
5.4 percent, but individual cuts
will vary widely

Star-Bulletin staff

Allstate Insurance Co. said today it is cutting premiums for automobile insurance in Hawaii by 5.4 percent.

Although the overall reduction is 5.4 percent, the decreases to individual customers will vary significantly, the company said.

Allstate covers 62,290 automobiles in Hawaii, making it the state's third largest auto insurer behind State Farm Insurance Co. and AIG Hawaii Insurance Co.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based company said today's action is part of its overall strategy of improving its competitive position in Hawaii's auto insurance market. Allstate said the move was planned before Hawaii's Legislature passed a no-fault auto insurance reform bill earlier this year.

"This is a measure of our already stated commitment to the Hawaii insurance marketplace and to growing our business there," Chuck Chambers, Allstate regional vice president, said in a statement.

While some of the Legislature's requirements are included in the new rate structure, there will be more modifications at the start of next year, as mandated by the Hawaii law, Allstate said.

By reducing some mandatory coverages and making other changes to the Hawaii no-fault law, legislators created a structure that they said will require Hawaii no-fault insurers to roll back rates up to 25 percent from Jan. 1.

One of Hawaii's smaller auto insurers, Dai-Tokyo Royal State Insurance Co., last week announced a new rate schedule that it said would bring its no-fault rates down 13 percent, starting this month. Dai-Tokyo said it decided not to wait until Jan. 1 to cut rates.

Allstate's Chambers said changes in the law to reform auto insurance helped it to lower the rates.