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US insurance rate filings face regulator objections that slow approvals
In the past year, state regulators issued more than 35,000 objection letters across 20,183 approved homeowners, personal auto, and commercial property filings, extending median approval times to between 13 and 56 days depending on whether objections were raised.
A new report finds that nearly half of US property and casualty rate filings drew at least one formal objection from state regulators over the past year, slowing the approval timeline for insurers. According to Insurance Business, those objections added a median 38 days to the process, with regulators issuing more than 35,000 individual objection letters across filings in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
Insurance Business reports that approval speed worsens sharply once a filing attracts scrutiny. Homeowners rate filings cleared in a median 13 days when regulators raised no objections, but took 56 days once an objection was issued. Personal auto faced the steepest shift, moving from a 9-day median approval to 52 days after an objection, nearly six times longer.
The same analysis also highlights line and jurisdiction differences. Homeowners was the most contested line overall at a 53.2% objection rate, followed by personal auto at 50.7% and commercial property at 34.3%. It also found that where a filing is submitted can matter more than the insurance line, with Wisconsin clearing most filings in under a day, while California and New York ranked among the slowest, with median approval times of 252 days and 220 days respectively for the slowest lines in each state.
Insurance Business adds that the delays often reflect repeat questions rather than new issues, making them potentially avoidable. Bryan Rehor, ZestyAI's senior director of regulatory and government affairs, said many causes of delay recur from filing to filing, and carriers that anticipate those questions and provide supporting evidence upfront may be able to avoid objections entirely.