“This resubmission was made after looking into their concerns,” she says.

The insurance department has 45 days to approve or deny the filing, but the clock starts again if regulators come back to the insurer with questions, adds Quirk, who says she could not talk about the details of the filing because they remain proprietary until Donelon approves or denies the request.

In the filing, State Farm indicates it plans to use the new rates on renewed policies starting Oct. 1 and on new policies starting mid-August. If approved, the rate increase would bring in an additional $32.7 million to the insurer.

Quirk says the request was made so the insurer could “move toward rate adequacy” in Louisiana.

Last year Donelon rejected State Farm’s request for a 19.1 percent hike but later approved a 9.9 percent average statewide increase.

According to Highline Data, State Farm was the top writer of homeowners’ insurance in Louisiana in 2010 with 28.6 percent of the market, followed by Allstate Insurance Group (13.4 percent), Liberty Mutual Insurance Group (6.5 percent), Louisiana Farm Bureau (5.9 percent, and Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (5.3 percent).

Highline Data is owned by Summit Business Media, which also owns National Underwriter and PropertyCasualty360.com.