Insurance rates for Ohio homeowners increase 9.7 percent

July 20, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Homeowners insurance rates jumped an average of 9.7 percent in Ohio last year, the fallout from historic storm damage and one of the largest increases in recent years, government regulators said Monday.

Premiums jumped in 2009 after a round of severe weather in 2008 that included remnants of Hurricane Ike battering homes and businesses and knocking out power to millions. Insurance companies paid out $1.4 billion in claims from that storm, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in Ohio history.

State Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson said she expects 2010 rates to be similar because of more weather-related claims and building costs.

A storm and tornadoes that ripped through northwest Ohio in early June caused at least $22.1 million in damage. Six people died in the tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes near Toledo.

Regulators will continue to monitor insurance markets and assure that Ohioans have access to competitive coverage, Hudson said.

Westfield Group showed a 15.9 percent premium increase in 2009, the highest among the state’s top 10 homeowners insurers, the government said. Nationwide Corp. was second with a 14.3 percent increase.

Nationwide’s rate increases were driven in part by nine significant storms in 2008, about twice the level normally expected, spokeswoman Liz Christopher said.

“We’re obviously sensitive to the pressures that households are facing in this economy ... and we’re look for ways to minimize those pressures by constantly evaluating our products,” she said.

Ohioans paid an average of $635 for homeowners insurance in 2009, according to estimates from the Ohio Insurance Institute, an industry trade association. The group projects an average of $653 for 2010.

Costs vary greatly among consumers because personal claims differ and not all insurance companies experience the same degree of losses, said Mary Bonelli, a spokeswoman for the trade association.

In a separate analysis, the government said the cost of auto insurance also rose in 2009 but at a much slower level. Car-insurance premiums increased an average of 2.8 percent and are expected to increase slightly in 2010, the government said.