Auto insurance rates will rise an average of 3.7 percent beginning Dec. 8 for customers of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., which insures about one in three vehicles in Louisiana.

Rates for motorcycles and recreational vehicles will decrease by 0.1 percent, the company said.

The state's largest auto insurer said it will increase auto premiums for liability, collision and comprehensive coverage. Comprehensive covers losses from theft, storm damage, fire, vandalism and windshield damage.

The auto rate increase will generate $40.4 million annually from State Farm's 1 million customers, which averages out to about $40 per customer.

However, rates and increases will vary depending on a number of factors, including where a person lives, their coverage and the discounts for which they qualify. The increases start Dec. 8 and, for existing customers, take effect when they renew their policies.

The company's last automobile rate increase, 3.5 percent, took effect in February.

Auto insurance rates in Louisiana are, and have been, among the highest in the United States.

The highest rates in Louisiana are found in Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has said Orleans motorists paid 40 percent more for auto coverage than the average statewide. Louisiana ranked No. 1 or No. 2 from 2010 to 2013 in online insurance website Insure.com's auto rates survey before dropping to No. 7 in 2014.

BY TED GRIGGS

Baton Rouge Advocate
Nov. 16, 2014