Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the steep drop in the number of miles driven has greatly reduced the number of accidents and claims paid by insurers.
Lara ordered insurers last year to reduce premiums, a move that saved customers $1.75 billion last year, but they didn’t cut their prices enough to reflect the decline in claims.
“My order saved California drivers more than $1.75 billion last year — the most in the nation. But while millions of us stayed home helping to fight the spread of the virus and reducing the risk of accidents for our essential workers, insurance companies continued to collect inflated premiums,” he said in a prepared statement. “The bottom line: Insurance companies overcharged consumers and need to do more to make it right and help Californians recover.”
He said the overcharges for last April alone came to $220 million.
The commissioner told car insurers to report to him by April 30 their plans for refunding additional premiums to California drivers. His department said a review of the 10 largest insurers in California, representing 80% of the market, showed that they cut rates by 9% between March and September last year. However, the state’s analysis showed they should have cut rates 17%.
Claims for property damage and bodily injury fell more than 40% during that seven-month stretch, the department said.
Lara’s announcement came a day after one of the major insurers, State Farm, announced it was returning $400 million worth of car insurance premiums to its 3.5 million California policyholders, citing “better than expected claim results.”
The refunds will average $100 per policy and cover the second half of 2020, the company said.
“State Farm is once again returning value to our California customers while remaining financially strong to keep our promises now and in the future,” said Tom Conley, State Farm’s senior vice president. “This additional dividend is another way we’re making adjustments based on driving behaviors to minimize impacts and help our customers.”
In a statement, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association said “auto insurers voluntarily provided more than $14 billion in refunds and credits to policyholders for reduced driving during the pandemic.” They said insurers would review their books and report the data to Lara’s office.
“Insurers continue to work with policyholders to adjust their policies in 2021,” said Mark Sektnan, APCIA’s vice president. “Policyholders are encouraged to communicate any reduction in their driving habits to their insurer to discuss adjustments in premiums if those changes have not already happened automatically.”