Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. took the lead among the largest homeowner insurers in the US seeking premium rate increases for roughly the first nine months of 2024.

The country's third-largest homeowner insurer had a calculated weighted average rate change on its owner-occupied homeowner policies of 14.0% from rate filings approved through Sept. 27, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's RateWatch application. In total, Liberty Mutual had a double-digit calculated rate increase across 34 states, with the largest change taking effect in Montana at 44.1%.

The insurer has multiple rate increases in Montana so far in 2024. The first round of increases for its two largest underwriting units in the state — Safeco Insurance Co. of America with 24.0% and American Economy Insurance Co. with 35.0% — took effect April 22. An additional 13% rate hike will apply to both units' renewal business, effective Oct. 23.

The rate information is sourced from disposed owner-occupied homeowner rate filings collected by S&P Global Market Intelligence that are submitted to the Department of Insurance in various states. The analysis is limited to rate filings of each state's 10 largest homeowner underwriters based on 2023 direct premiums written plus any of the country's 10 largest homeowner underwriters outside the state's top 10, excluding state-backed insurers of last resort like Citizens Property Insurance Corp. of Florida.

The effective rate change is the average of the cumulative changes by renewal business effective date for each insurer weighted against respective calendar year direct premiums written reported within the National Association of Insurance Commissioners property and casualty regulatory statements. For year-to-date 2024 figures, 2023 direct premiums written were used. The calculations are based on rate filings entered into the database through Sept. 27, 2024, for 49 states plus the District of Columbia. Wyoming has been excluded as a limited number of rate filings are available within the database.

Read more about S&P Global Market Intelligence's RateWatch.

American Family Insurance Group had the second-largest calculated effective rate change during the period at 13.7%. The insurer boosted rates across 41 states, with a double-digit calculated increase occurring in 26 of them. The insurer's three largest weighted average rate increases occurred in Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois, at 30.3%, 27.4% and 27.3%, respectively.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the country's largest homeowner underwriter with roughly an 18% market share in 2023, had a calculated effective rate increase of 10.3% through Sept. 27. The insurer has boosted rates in 38 states in 2024, with the calculated increases ranging from 30.0% in Connecticut to 3.0% in the District of Columbia.

Two out of the remaining 10 largest private homeowner insurers in the US also have a calculated effective rate increase greater than 10% in 2024: The Progressive Corp. with 13.0% and Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. with 11.1%.

Progressive's 50.8% increase in Virginia was the highest calculated change during the period among the nation's largest homeowner underwriters. An average rate increase of 26.0% went into effect March 17 in Virginia, followed by a 19.9% rate hike scheduled to become effective on renewal business in November.

– Download a document with the top homeowner insurers' 2024 effective rate change by state. – Download a template to analyze rate filings across select entities, lines of business and states over a selected period.

Montana, Nebraska rise above the rest

The largest homeowner insurers in Montana have collectively boosted their rates by a weighted average of 21.2% through Sept. 27, the highest calculated increase in the US, followed closely by the 21.1% change in Nebraska. The 19.0% hike in Washington was the third-highest calculated increase. In total, 30 other states have seen a double-digit increase in their homeowner rates.

The states with the lowest calculated weighted average increase so far in 2024 are Texas, Vermont and Florida at 3.1%, 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Florida's calculation does not include any changes by the state-backed insurer of last resort. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is the largest homeowner underwriter in the Sunshine State with $3.21 billion in direct premiums written in the business line in 2023. The insurer is seeking a statewide average increase of 13.5% on its homeowners multiperil policies that will become effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Overall, the Florida homeowners market has seen improvement following legal reforms in 2023; however, back-to-back hurricanes may hamper the recovery. The state's regulator noted that as of Oct. 9, 15 companies have requested rate decreases in 2024 impacting 1.5 million residential policies. Twenty-nine additional insurers' rate filings show no premium change this year affecting 1.9 million residential policyholders. The current 180-day average rate change request in 2024 is 0.9%, compared with 8.1% during the same period in 2023.

For roughly the first nine months of 2024, the national average rise in owner-occupied homeowner rates was 9.7%, compared with a full-year calculation of 12.4% in 2023.