A sharp rate hike by Illinois’ largest property insurer has drawn outrage from the state’s governor and spurred lawmakers to consider tightening insurance regulations.
State Farm, which provides one third of homeowners’ insurance policies in Illinois, increased rates by 27 percent on average in August, citing inflation and intensifying extreme-weather events.
Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said the “unfair” price hike was based on projected catastrophe losses that were “entirely inconsistent” with the state Department of Insurance projections. He accused State Farm of using Illinois ratepayers to make up losses from disasters in other states and called for lawmakers to add “commonsense consumer protection” to its insurance rules.
State Farm denies that it factors other states’ circumstances into Illinois rates.
