Insurers offering $10.5 billion in rebates – but who is offering what?

Auto insurance companies in the US will offer about $10.5 billion in insurance premium rebates to their customers, the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) reports.

I.I.I. said in a release that it based its findings on an analysis of 14 auto insurers operating in America who recently announced premium refunds, discounts, dividends, and credits totaling $8.1 billion. These insurers cited reduced policyholder mileage and the receipt of fewer claims resulting from the COVID-19 crisis as the reason why they are offering financial relief.

The organization made a list of the 10 most notable insurers and their auto insurance refund measures:

• Allstate is giving its customers up to $600 million over the next two months through its “Shelter-In Place Paybacks” program.
• American Family will refund about $200 million.
• Farmers will receive a 25% reduction in their April premiums.
• The Hanover Insurance Group will return 15% of April and May auto premiums.
• Liberty Mutual will rebate about $250 million to customers, on top of offering a 15% refund on two months of auto premium.
• MetLife Auto & Home customers will be given 15% credit for April and May based on their monthly premiums.
• Nationwide is giving a one-time premium refund of $50 per policy for personal auto policies active as of March 31, 2020.
• State Farm has revealed an up to $2 billion dividend that will go to its auto insurance customers; it will appear as credit on their policies. On average, customers can expect to receive credit of about 25% of premiums for the period March 20 through May 31 – exact percentages will vary by state.
• The Travelers Companies is giving 15% credit to auto insurance customers on their April and May premiums.
• USAA will return $520 million to its members.

The other $2.4 billion in refunds, discounts, dividends, and credits is an estimated amount hypothesized by the I.I.I. based on the private auto insurance industry’s cumulative market share. Those discounts, according to the organization, are “forthcoming.”

“Insurers are again fulfilling their role as economic first responders by providing financial relief to customers when they need it most,” said I.I.I. CEO Sean Kevelighan. “If the rest of the nation’s private-passenger auto insurers are as generous as the companies the Triple-I knows about, we project insurers will be giving customer refunds, discounts, dividends, and credits totaling $10.5 billion.”