Allstate to Fight Denial of Mississippi Rate Hike

Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co. wants a public hearing on the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney’s denial of its request for a 44 percent home insurance rate hike.

The company also wants someone other than Chaney to conduct the hearing.

Chaney rejected the rate hike in September. “I will not approve a 44 percent rate increase for Allstate without a court order,” he said at the time.

Chaney would ordinarily hear such an appeal by an insurer. But Allstate wants an impartial hearing officer because of Chaney’s statement that he will not approve the rate without a court order, according to Allstate spokesperson Allison Hatcher.

Allstate filed for the 44 percent increase after Chaney denied a 60-65 percent rate hike for the company earlier in the year. Allstate has not received approval for a rate hike since September 2008,

When he denied the 44 percent hike, Allstate criticized Chaney for allegedly overlooking an actuarial report the company maintains supported an even higher increase.

But Chaney defended his decision, saying he reviewed not just one but several actuarial reports and took other issues into consideration before rejecting Allstate’s rate request.

Chaney said that other insurers in the state have sought increases but they are far less than what Allstate is seeking.

“I don’t want a fight with Allstate but you have to wonder why they would do this,” Chaney said in September, maintaining that Allstate management has been quoted that part of its strategy is to price itself out of the coastal market.

Topics Pricing Trends Mississippi