For the past couple of years, I’ve been working to address the ever-increasing cost of property insurance in Oklahoma. Last year, I held an interim study on this because of all the concerns I’d heard from people who were overwhelmed with the increases in their homeowners insurance – I heard the same story from folks who were upset their car insurance rates kept going up even though they hadn’t made any claims. We were also starting to see news stories breaking about all these lawsuits against insurers whose policy owners said they were not getting legitimate claims paid.
I looked into those concerns during my study and beyond, and I filed some bold legislation to address the challenges with insurance that Oklahomans have been facing. My bills didn’t move forward, but the conversation did. I’m so glad the awareness and public concerns really pushed others to do something. It’s great when bringing attention to the challenges folks are facing can spur action to address it, in spite of a very strong corporate lobby – I can tell you the insurance companies themselves did not want to see change.
The end result was a bipartisan bill led by Republicans who pushed to change our “use and file” system for insurance rates to a “file and use” system. To put it more plainly, under the current system, an insurance company can decide to raise your rates and then just do it and send the information to the Department of Insurance later. Under changes we approved during the 2026 session, those same insurance companies will have to file their rate changes with the state first and then they can be analyzed by the state’s Insurance Commissioner who will have the authority to reject a rate increase if it’s excessive. That wasn’t a possibility before – rejecting a rate increase could only happen if it was determined a market wasn’t competitive and it didn’t ever happen. It’s a big shift.
Clearly, this is a very complex issue. There’s a balance in making sure insurance is affordable for people but still covers the things that need to be covered. We know our weather can be unpredictable, and there are certain risks there, but the bottom line for me is we must focus on consumers – the home owner who doesn’t understand the insurance market or why their rates keeping going up and wants to get the service they’ve paid for when they need it.
I’m also heartened that public pressure pushed Commissioner Glen Mulready to hold a public hearing – that’s an option he can take to look at rates and rate changes.
This is a big year in that the election cycle will usher in a new commissioner, and the person who holds that office will play a major role in terms of staffing and determining how aggressively reform will be pursued. There’s been little transparency for the public, and we need the new commissioner to be a watchdog and an advocate for consumers, holding insurance companies accountable.
Another reform I’ve championed is ending the use of credit scores in setting insurance premiums. I ran a bill to address this because I couldn’t believe that your insurance rates are so greatly affected by your credit rating. It’s unfair that someone might have a bad month because of a late bill and then wind up paying more for home or car insurance for years to come. The bill got a hearing, but it didn’t move forward this session. Other states have already outlawed this practice. We need to stop it in Oklahoma as well.
Another step we need to take is making sure the new law we passed this year will do enough to rein in unfair premium increases. We need to be able to tell if insurance companies are making excessive profits, because it impacts whether Oklahomans can afford where they live. We’ve heard about folks being priced out of homes they owned because of skyrocketing insurance costs. We need laws that make the system fair for consumers. Just know your voice matters – we did see change this year because of public concerns and awareness. The public must continue to hold public officials accountable, so the focus is on protecting consumers.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at 405-521-5636 or Julia.Kirt@oksenate.gov. We want to hear from you. Onward!
