Nevada auto insurer seeks rate hike

Tuesday, July 11, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

Home insurance

State Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman said she approved rate increases effective Aug. 16 for three companies that provide homeowners insurance.

Fire Insurance Exchange, which covers 100,000 homes, and Mid-Century Insurance Co., which has 100 policy holders, will be permitted to raise rates by 5.2 percent. Farmers Insurance Exchange, which has 2,000 customers, will be allowed to raise rates by 3.5 percent.

The last rate change for Fire and Mid-Century was a decrease of 1.4 percent. The last change for Farmers was a drop of 0.1 percent. Both of those were in June 1999.

CARSON CITY -- The Progressive Group of Companies, which writes policies for 28,539 autos in Nevada, is asking state Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman to raise rates by 5.9 percent statewide.

The group covers five Progressive companies and wants the rates to take effect Aug. 10 for new business and Oct. 4 for renewals.

The group proposes some of its biggest increases in the coverage required by state law. It wants to raise rates by 11 percent for bodily injury and by 12 percent for property damage.

If approved, it would boost the cost of protecting against uninsured motorists by 15 percent. State law, however, does not require that coverage. The group plans to drop the premiums for collision by 4 percent and comprehensive by 7 percent. Medical payments would remain unchanged.

There would be different increases, depending on where customers live.

For semi-urban Las Vegas, where the group insures 3,308 vehicles, there would be a 9.5 percent increase in bodily injury, 10.2 percent for property damage and 13.5 percent for uninsured motorist. But there would be decreases of 0.9 percent for medical payment, 0.1 percent for comprehensive and 5.3 percent for collision.

For the north and east suburbs of Las Vegas, the increase would be 10.3 percent in bodily injury, 11.1 percent on property damage and 13.8 percent on uninsured motorist. The company, which covers 3,099 cars in this area, is proposing to drop medical payments by 0.5 percent, comprehensive by 7.8 percent and collision by 4.3 percent.

In the south and west suburbs, where 3,250 vehicles are covered, there would be increases of 9.2 percent in bodily injury, 9.9 percent on property damage and 13.3 percent on uninsured motorist. The company plans to reduce rates by 1.2 percent for medical payment, 8.6 percent for comprehensive and 5.7 percent for collision.

The companies have more than 30 percent of their statewide business in these three areas.

The companies in this group are Progressive Northwestern, Progressive Casualty, Progressive Specialty, Progressive Preferred and Progressive Halycon.