Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King has released an alert for consumers that Allstate Property & Casualty Company has filed an overall statewide automobile rate increase of 25 percent on their policyholders in the state.

Georgia has a dual-rate filing system that governs automobile insurance rates established in Georgia State Law. Under the system, the Insurance Commissioner only has the authority to approve or disapprove minimum limits policy filings, while all other filings can go into immediate effect under what is known as "file and use." The Allstate rate increase falls into the "file and use" category, not requiring the Commissioner's approval or disapproval.

In a statement, King said that he was "angry and disappointed that Allstate has chosen to exploit a loophole in state law to implement such a substantial increase in costs on hardworking Georgians when families are already struggling with historic inflation everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store. . . . This latest increase means Allstate has now bypassed our office to raise overall rates in Georgia by 40 percent in this calendar year alone. In response, I have begun conversations with our legislative leaders regarding changes to state law to give our office additional authorities to protect consumers from these types of inexcusable actions."