Allstate lowers
isle rates
Auto and home insurance
By Peter Wagner
premiums will fall, the
carrier announces
Star-BulletinAllstate Insurance Co. today announced new cuts to auto and home coverage rates, reflecting Hawaii's new insurance law, better driving and fair weather, company officials say.
Auto rates, to drop in July for new customers and August for renewals, will vary depending on coverage. Liability rates are to drop slightly, collision coverage by 14 percent and comprehensive by 9 percent.
The new rates will bring overall cuts in auto policies to 15 percent since last September, when a reduction of 5.4 percent was announced.
Allstate said customers with both auto and renters policies will qualify for a 25 percent discount on the auto policies.
Also to fall are "multi-line" insurance rates covering homeowners, condominium and renters policies.
Customers with auto and home or renters policies will receive a 10 percent discount on policies. Those with auto and condo policies will get a 5 percent reduction, the company said.
About 50,000 auto policies and 24,000 property policies will be affected by the changes, a company spokesman said.
Robert Quigley, underwriting regional manager, said the falling auto insurance rates reflect a change in Hawaii law several years ago allowing insurance companies to drop customers with poor driving records.
"We're trying to maintain preferred rates for preferred customers," said Quigley.
A separate company, Allstate Indemnity, covers drivers with bad records -- which don't qualify for the rate reductions.
Quigley said home insurance policies are falling because hurricanes have not been a threat since Iniki hit in 1992.
"Rates in Hawaii are really driven by the weather," he said. "If the wind blows, you're in trouble. If it doesn't, you do pretty good."
In related news yesterday, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. announced it will pay about $95 to each of its 119,000 policy holders, part of $11.3 million in dividends being returned in Hawaii.
The company reduced its rates by about 15 percent at the beginning of this year and returned $11.6 million in dividends last year.
