Auto insurance rates to rise after discounts end

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Your next auto insurance bill may look a little different because a discount most companies started giving earlier this year is ending.

A temporary break in car insurance rates is coming to an end as many drivers are getting back on the road.

“It’s creeping back up now. and we’re seeing an increase in traffic which results in an increase in the number of accidents and claims being filed,” said state Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.

Donelon says many of you have already started to see your car insurance rates return to what they were before the pandemic.

“$215 million was returned in the form of credits and discounts in our state in the past six months. That’s about to run out. It has now run out,” Donelon said.

On top of that, Donelon says you can also expect to see an increase in your homeowner’s insurance but not because of COVID-19. That increase is due to a very active hurricane season this year among other large natural disasters nationwide.

“We anticipate probably on average a 10% rate increase for homeowners next year but not immediately. This will be coming in the summertime when those re-insurance costs for this upcoming hurricane season,” Donelon said.

Donelon says while you may not be able to avoid the insurance rates, you may be able to reduce your month to month payments by shopping around.

“There are savings to be had, one company to another and we have all of the major carriers competing with each other for our business,” Donelon said.

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