Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Issues Update on Auto Insurance Filings Pursuant to Personal Injury Protection Reform (HB 119)

 

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) issued an update today, October 9, 2012, on company filings that include proposed rate indications and selections pursuant to HB 119, the Personal Injury Protection reform bill enacted this year.

As a result of the new law, insurers were required to submit filings to the OIR by October 1 that reflected at least a 10 percent reduction in rates due to savings from the bill, or provide an explanation as to why the company’s savings should vary.

The OIR’s news release, which contains a summary of the 134 individual rate filings it received from 147 companies, is reprinted below.

 

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass& Webb.

 

Office Provides Update on Auto Insurance Filings Pertaining to HB 119

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) today is providing an update on company filings that include proposed rate indications and selections pursuant to HB 119. The bill, passed during the 2012 Legislative Session, addressed fraud by making changes to the law affecting the mandatory Personal Injury Protection (PIP) portion of auto insurance. These filings were due to the Office by October 1, 2012 and required to reflect at least a 10 percent reduction in rates due to the savings from the bill, or provide a detailed explanation as to why the company’s savings should vary.

The Office has received 134 individual rate filings from 147 companies (some filings involve multiple companies within the same group). To provide a general overview of the outstanding company filings, the Office is providing a summary of the pending PIP rate filings for the top 10 largest auto insurance writers in Florida (see chart below).

 

Company Name	Earned Premium @ Current Level (000’s)	Company Indication	Selected PIP Percentage Change	Detailed Explanation (if required)
Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co.	$109,543	11.2%	0.0%	File #12-16208 (Explanatory Memorandum)
Allstate Insurance Co.	No data provided	N/A	-10.0%	N/A
Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co.	96,172	-5.8%	-5.8%	File # 12-16203 (Explanatory Memorandum)
GEICO General Insurance Co.	$501,628	-7.8%	-10.0%	N/A
GEICO Indemnity Co.	$285,575	-8.0%	-10.0%	N/A
Government Employees Insurance Co.	Included in GEICO General Insurance Co.	-7.8%	-10.0%	N/A
Progressive American Insurance Co.	$246,613	-0.8%	-10.0%	N/A
Progressive Select Insurance Co.	$180,372	-0.4%	-10.0%	N/A
State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co.	$644,862	22.0%	7.9%	File #12-15711 (Explanatory Memorandum)
United Service Automobile Assn.	$40,064	-0.2%	-10.0%	N/A

 

Please note that many of the companies above made comprehensive rate filings that combined the PIP rate changes with other auto insurance coverages, such as Uninsured Motorist and Bodily Injury. Therefore, the final percentage listed on the rate filing coverage page may differ from the rates above, which specifically apply to PIP coverage only. In addition, these are proposed rate changes, and the Office can accept or deny these rate changes.

To date, nine rate filings from smaller companies have been approved, which reflect savings associated with HB 119.  The public is welcome to review all PIP filings, which are found on the Office’s I-file Workflow System: http://www.floir.com/edms/.  To locate rate filings associated with HB 119, select the keyword “HB 119 – PIP Reform – 10-1-12 Rate Filing” and click “Search”. Click here to read a copy of the press release issued on October 1, 2012.

 

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