Allstate of Pennsylvania has issued a new rate proposal for its property and casualty insurance lines. The company is seeking to raise its rates due to the unprecedented frequency of national disasters befalling the state. These disasters have placed the insurer under enormous financial pressure as it attempts to mitigate the damage caused by this year’s multitude of storms. The insurer is asking state regulators for approval to raise its rates by an average of 20% for the 195,000 policies in effect in Pennsylvania.
This year’s storms have caused damage on a massive scale. Several states have been affected by disastrous weather earlier in the year and others have suffered the coming of hurricanes and tropical storms. Pennsylvania is one of the states that have been most affected by recent events, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by insurers.
Allstate is the only insurance company proposing rate increases, according to state regulators. While the company is looking for approval to raise rates by an average of 20%, many policyholders may end up facing increases of 50% or more depending on where they live. The company notes that some consumers will be eligible to receive reduced premiums, but regulars believe that such an offering will be rare.
As has become the norm for rate proposals entering the double-digits, state regulators will be investigating the necessity of such increases and the proposal is likely to be open to public opinion in the near future.
