With gas prices sky high, food prices soaring, and the possibility of across-the-board inflation, Illinois consumers need all the help they can get.
Instead of relief, however, they are getting hammered with higher insurance rates.
Allstate announced 10 percent and 11 percent rate increases for both homeowners' and auto insurance earlier this year in Illinois.
These price hikes get implemented without any check from the state, helping Allstate and other insurers rake in record profits while leaving consumers holding the bag.
No wonder Illinois is the insurance companies' favorite state.
But in California, the elected insurance commissioner not only rejected a proposed 9.3 percent homeowners' rate increase from Allstate, but ordered the company to cut its rates by up to 28.5 percent, saving Californians an average of $242 per policy.
This comes on top of an earlier California order for Allstate to cut its car insurance rates by 15.9 percent.
California not only protected its consumers from this ill-timed price hike, but actually forced a rollback on prices.
And the state will soon determine if Allstate owes policyholders huge sums in overcharges from recent years, citing the company's record profits and potentially dishonest rate hikes.
While Californians get massive rate relief, already cash-strapped Illinois consumers face ever-higher rates.
Californians have saved an estimated nearly $62 billion since insurance regulation took hold 20 years ago; it's time something was done to protect Illinois consumers.
Matthew Caris
Center for Justice and Democracy, Illinois
Chicago
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