Pinnacol Drops Rates 7.4% for 2018

Thursday, November 9, 2017 | 0

The board of directors for Colorado’s state-chartered Pinnacol Assurance approved a 7.4% rate cut for 2018.

At the same time, the carrier announced that its board also approved a $50 million dividend. Pinnacol said it has dropped rates and issued dividends for three consecutive years.

Pinnacol said in a statement that the 2018 rate cut is smaller than the 12.7% decrease the state’s Division of Insurance approved because it bases rates on a 10-year historical average, whereas the division’s rate is based on a two-year average.

Phil Kalin, Pinacol’s chief executive officer and president, said the longer-term average “minimized rater swings” and that the carrier has the ability to issue dividends when it has a strong year.

Pinnacol said in the statement that the $50 million dividend approved for 2018 amounts to a decrease of 8% in premium costs. The carrier plans to issue the payments by the end of April, “barring a significant and unexpected financial loss in the fourth quarter of 2017.”