Illinois should put consumers first on car insurance rate hikes

No driver needs to — or ought to — pay a better worth for auto insurance coverage than is critical. Lawmakers in our state have an opportunity to make it possible for doesn’t occur, and it’s as much as them to be sensible concerning the particulars.

Beneath the proposed HB 2203, launched final week by state Rep. Will Guzzardi and state Sen. Javier Cervantes, the state’s Division of Insurance coverage can be given broad authority to control auto insurance coverage fee hikes.

Tons of of tens of millions are at stake for Illinois drivers, who noticed auto insurance coverage premiums enhance by greater than $1.1 billion in 2022, the Illinois Public Curiosity Analysis Group reviews. Insurers additionally racked up $896 million in extra income through the first yr of the pandemic — when driving declined, although insurers level out that unsafe driving and accidents elevated.

Lawmakers should totally vet the proposal to ensure any new regulation helps shoppers proceed to profit from strong competitors amongst insurers.

For instance, we see no cause why Illinois ought to proceed to be one of some states that doesn’t prohibit insurance coverage charges which can be “extreme, insufficient or unfairly discriminatory.” The proposal would rightly repair that.

And like many shoppers, we’re not satisfied that non-driving elements — comparable to gender, credit score rating, sort of job or revenue — ought to play a job in setting insurance coverage premiums. Insurers level out that almost all states nonetheless enable the usage of such socioeconomic elements. Driving historical past “shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all,” Jeffery Brewer of the American Property Casualty Insurance coverage Affiliation informed us.

Perhaps not. However why ought to girls, as an illustration, pay extra for premiums than males, because the Solar-Occasions’s Stephanie Zimmerman reported again in 2019?

States have begun to ban the usage of varied socioeconomic elements in insurance coverage pricing— ‘‘It’s a problem that’s flown below the radar till not too long ago,” as Michael DeLong of the Client Federation of America informed us.

Let insurers make their case to lawmakers on this entrance. If the proof for this apply holds as much as scrutiny, so be it. If not, Illinois ought to comply with these different states’ lead.

Legislators also needs to tread correctly with two different provisions: giving the state authority to approve or reject fee hikes and to impose hefty charges on insurers — which can undoubtedly get handed on to clients — to fund implementation of the regulation. A dozen states now require prior fee hike approval, whereas others have lesser oversight, comparable to limits on fee hikes.

Illinois has a strong insurance coverage market now, with over 200 corporations — probably the most of any state — doing enterprise right here. Charges have historically been beneath the nationwide common, based on information from the Nationwide Affiliation of Insurance coverage Commissioners.

Our state ought to be certain charges stay as low — and honest — as potential.

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