When an insurance company wants to change its auto or home insurance rates, it must file that change with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC).
Insurance rates are the base cost of insurance a company charges for the risk of a possible loss, such as a totaled car or storm damage to your home. It’s the basic building block that goes into determining premiums. Insurance companies take their base rate and apply their rating factors to determine your premiums.
The OIC does not set rates; it reviews and either approves or denies rate filings from insurance companies. Actuaries review the rate requests to ensure the financial and statistical data they provide is accurate and sufficient to justify a rate change.
Insurance company rate filings are available online.
Why do we approve rate increases?
State law requires insurance rates must be “reasonable, and not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.” Our actuarial staff reviews rate filings according to those standards.
Generally, rates increase when insurance companies can provide financial evidence that the costs to pay for claims and administrative costs is outpacing revenue from premiums.