Connecticut Auto and Home Insurance Rate Cuts Span 38 Filings

Rate cuts after years of increases

For the first time in several years, Connecticut's insurance regulator has a list of rate cuts to announce instead of more increases. The Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) said on Oct. 16 that its review of recent filings turned up 19 personal auto filings from 14 companies and 19 homeowners filings from 16 companies that lower rates for at least some policyholders.34 Trade publications and local outlets followed with their own coverage over the next week. Their accounts match on the numbers, though they read the meaning a little differently.125

In auto, the biggest single figure is Farmers Casualty Insurance Co.'s average decrease of about 14%.12 Two affiliated State Farm companies filed an overall average cut of about 8.4%. A Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. filing lowers rates by about 6% for roughly 11,500 policyholders.15 Travelers, Hanover and Utica also filed auto decreases for some drivers, but the department gave no percentages for them.6

In homeowners, Liberty Mutual and its affiliates cut rates by about 5% on more than 30,000 policies. Nationwide, Merrimack and Utica also filed decreases.25 Commissioner Josh Hershman called the filings "a positive development." He also said Connecticut families are still struggling to afford coverage and that the department will keep requiring rates to be actuarially justified.3

Relief for some customers, not everyone

Every account of the announcement repeats the department's own warning. Rate changes depend on the insurer, the coverage and individual rating factors, so many households will not pay less.15 Insurance Business told agents what that means in practice. Customers with recent claims, higher-risk vehicles or homes in exposed areas could still see increases, even from a carrier that filed an overall cut.2

The department's own records back that up. The Money Overview went through the state's filing data and found three Liberty Mutual entities moving in different directions this year. Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. recorded a 3% homeowners decrease in April. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. recorded a 6.5% increase in June. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. recorded a 10% decrease in October.6 So knowing which brand you're insured with tells you little about where your own premium is going. The press release also gave no effective dates, which means any savings will arrive at each policy's next renewal.6

The best reading is that this marks a change in direction, not a return to old prices. The cuts come after years of increases. CID's latest annual rate review shows homeowners insurers asked for an average 9.1% increase in 2025 and the department allowed 8.7%. The average request in 2024 was 14.4%.8 CT Insider reported that homeowners rates across all companies rose 13.5% in 2024.9 Even a 5% cut on a policy that rose that much leaves the premium well above where it was a few years ago.6

The auto numbers don't line up

The biggest disagreement in the coverage is over auto insurance. CID's announcement suggests Connecticut drivers are getting a break. Insurify, which tracks consumer quotes, projected in August that Connecticut would have the steepest full-coverage increase of any state in 2026, about 15%. Kentucky and West Virginia were next at about 8% each.2124

The two pictures can both be accurate. They measure different things. CID is counting individual filings that include decreases for some customers. Insurify tracks median quoted prices for drivers aged 20 to 70 with clean records and average or better credit.21 The department's 2025 figures also show steady upward pressure. Personal auto rates rose an average of 4.1% in 2025, down from 8.9% in 2024.8 Within that total, liability rates rose 7.8% while physical damage rates fell 1.1%.8 The department says the increase in crash frequency that began in 2020 has continued into 2025.8 That points to injury and liability claims, not repair bills, as the main source of pressure.

That split matters for how far the cuts reach. A filing can lower average rates while liability-heavy groups still pay more. National data shows the same pattern. AutoInsurance.com found that the national full-coverage average fell about 2% in the second half of 2025. Over the same period, premiums rose 35% for drivers with a DUI, 22% for drivers with low credit and 17% for teen drivers.22 It described the shift as insurers moving away from broad rate hikes toward pricing aimed at specific risks.22 Connecticut's announcement fits that description. It promises cuts to "certain consumers," not to everyone.

How the national market got here

The national cycle explains why carriers can cut now. Insurify estimates full-coverage auto premiums rose 46% from 2022 to 2024. They then fell 6% in 2025 as claims dropped and insurers competed for new customers.2721 That relief appears to be fading. Insurify says the national average rose 1% in the first half of 2026 to $2,237, and it expects 32 states to finish the year higher.21 It also found that insurers are sometimes cutting rates in expensive markets and raising them in cheaper ones. Washington, D.C., New York and New Jersey all saw drops of at least 5% in the first half of the year.2123

Insurers' financial results tell the same story. CT Insider, citing AM Best, reported that U.S. property and casualty insurers made $35 billion in underwriting income in the first nine months of 2025, compared with $3.7 billion a year earlier.9 Back in January, analysts told the paper that homeowners shouldn't expect premiums to fall in 2026, because carriers were still building reserves against future catastrophes.9 Travelers CEO Alan Schnitzer said two profitable years had followed two years of underwriting losses.9 Some insurers now appear willing to give part of that recovery back to win customers. Insurance Business says carriers are pricing more competitively after several years of steep increases, especially in auto.2

This article's view is that Connecticut's cuts are mostly a competitive move by carriers whose finances have recovered, not a sign that claims costs have eased. The liability trend in the state's own data hasn't reversed, and neither has the weather risk facing homeowners.89

Health insurance is still rising

The cuts look smaller next to health insurance, where the same regulator approved double-digit increases a month earlier. In September, CID approved an average 11.3% increase for individual plans and 15.1% for small-group plans in 2027. Insurers had asked for 16.2% and 17.8%.1213 The department said its review saved more than $100 million and kept insurer profits under 1% of premiums.14 About 220,000 residents are enrolled in these plans: 157,000 with individual coverage and 63,000 with small-group coverage.15

These increases come on top of last year's, when regulators approved 16.8% for individual plans and 11% for small group.11 Anthem asked for 12.8% on individual plans and received 8.8%. ConnectiCare Benefits asked for 22.7% and received 16%.11 Insurers pointed to rising medical costs, higher-than-expected use of care, the expiration of enhanced federal ACA subsidies, and new state coverage mandates under Public Act 26-33.12 Hershman said that an increase is still an increase, even after the department cuts what insurers ask for.12 Attorney General William Tong called the trend "completely unsustainable."15

For small businesses, the 15.1% small-group increase is almost twice the 8.2% rise in employer health costs that Mercer projects nationally. Hartford Business Journal noted the comparison isn't exact, because many large employers self-insure under federal rules.13 The market is also shrinking. ConnectiCare Inc. is leaving the individual exchange, and UnitedHealthcare has absorbed Oxford Health.14 Open enrollment through Access Health CT begins Oct. 23.13

What to watch

Taken together, the coverage shows Connecticut households dealing with two very different insurance markets. In property and casualty insurance, where carriers are competing and profitable again, some customers are seeing small cuts. In health coverage, costs are driven by medical spending and the loss of federal subsidies, and premiums are rising by double digits again.112

For homeowners and drivers, the advice in the coverage is consistent. Read your renewal notice, ask your insurer or agent whether a cut applies to you, and compare quotes from other carriers.62 The main question for 2027 is whether more carriers follow, which local coverage expects if claims data stays favorable.7 Insurify's projection points the other way. If its forecast for Connecticut holds, these filings will be a short break in rising prices rather than the start of a lasting decline.21