OKLAHOMA VOICE: GOP candidates vow to tackle soaring insurance rates, but differ on solution

OKLAHOMA CITY — The two candidates hoping to secure the Republican nomination for insurance commissioner are vowing to address Oklahoma's soaring property insurance rates, but differ on how to approach the issue.

Marty Quinn and Bob Sullivan, who will appear on GOP voter's Aug. 25 primary runoff ballot, both said their decades of experience in the insurance industry makes them uniquely positioned to bring Oklahomans relief.

A recent LendingTree analysis found that Oklahomans pay an average of $5,533 to insure their homes each year, the highest rate in the nation. In comparison, the average U.S. homeowner pays $2,628.

Sullivan, 41, of Inola, said Oklahoma's high premiums prompted him to run for insurance commissioner.

"The real reason for getting into this is my mother is on a fixed income and lives in the home I grew up in and wants to live in that home until her last day," Sullivan said. "Every year we have to have that conversation of whether or not she can afford to do that because of rising insurance costs and other inflationary factors as well."

Rising insurance rates are not only impacting seniors across the state, but also young families and first-time homebuyers whose monthly mortgage payments are ballooning because of rising insurance costs. It's making homeownership unaffordable, he said.

Sullivan said historically previous insurance commissioners and insurance companies have said Oklahoma has had higher rates because of the state's "severe weather exposure."

Sullivan, an independent agent and broker who works with clients in over a dozen states, said he's "always challenged that narrative." Other states face the same weather patterns, including severe wind and hail, he said.

He said Oklahoma's neighboring states have lower insurance rates. The Lending Tree report found that Kansas residents pay about $1,000 a year less on average than Oklahomans do. Arkansas residents pay about $1,600 less.

Sullivan said rather than weather, a lack of state oversight has a lot to do with Oklahoma's high rates.

That's why if elected, Sullivan plans to utilize House Bill 3781, which takes effect July 1, 2027, to help ensure insurers are setting fair premiums for Oklahoma property owners.

Current law allows insurers to implement new rates without advanced notice and only requires sending an advisory notice to the state Insurance Department. He said the new law will require insurers to submit proposed rate changes at least 30 days before they can take effect and empowers the insurance commissioner to examine the actuarial data if the rates seem too high or arbitrary.

"We were very laissez faire, so to speak, in how we approached insurance rate regulation in the state of Oklahoma before this bill," Sullivan said.

The law will bring the state's insurance system more in line with how neighboring states operate, he said.

Sullivan said his background in underwriting will be "very integral and very key to good consumer-focused advocacy and oversight (of) that process."

"I certainly think that the ability of the insurance commissioner in July 2027, when the law kicks in, to challenge those actuarial rates and prove that they are based in fact and based on the loss history in our state should yield some positive results for homeowners' rates," Sullivan said.

Sullivan also wants to create "a disaster savings accounts" to allow Oklahomans to put money into a savings vehicle with tax benefits to be used when a claim needs to be filed to either cover the deductible risk, make preventative repairs or replace an entire roof without filing a claim.

"I think if we can have a vessel and a vehicle like that available to policyholders, that people will be more mindful and intentional with how they how they maintain their homes, and we can I think improve the risk characteristics of our state," Sullivan said. "And certainly, I think it'll bring down the claims frequency in our state if people are paying more attention to the quality of their roofs and having that mindset."

Quinn, 66, of Owasso, has worked in the insurance industry for over 40 years and said he brings a "very broad base of experience to tackle the serious issues that we have in Oklahoma," which includes both consumer protection and affordability.

"We have a group of people across this state that cannot afford the insurance products that are out there putting major pressure on their mortgage payments, and we've got to make sure that we find solutions," Quinn said. "So, regardless of what has happened, the insurance is too high. We've got to find a way to get the price back down."

Quinn said there are a lot of signs that Oklahomans are having difficulty when it comes to claim time.If elected, he'd like to make the claims process "as painless as possible" while also simultaneously working on "affordability issues."

"You know something in the neighborhood of 60 to 70% of the claims are going to come from wind and hail, and so we've got to make sure that when we are paying for that claim, that has to be done as efficiently as possible with the best materials possible, as quick as possible, so that we can get those people back to a normal life," Quinn said.

He said HB 3781 will definitely allow future insurance commissioners to have "another set of eyes" on proposed rate increases, ask some questions and object if things don't look quite right, but "legal reform" will be the best tool to bring down homeowner and auto rates and deliver relief.

Quinn said when insurers know there's going to be significantly fewer claims filed that means those that are are less severe both in the type and the amount paid out. Consumers living in states whose legislators have cracked down on lawsuits have seen savings, he said.

"For us to reduce cost, we're going to have to have legal reform, plain and simple," Quinn said. "Now they can say whatever they want to say about it. But the fact is, if they want to reduce cost, legal reform, tort reform is going to have to be part of that equation. And as long as trial attorneys have more influence over the legislative body than the consumers who are picking up the tab, then it'll be difficult to get tort reform passed."

Currently, Quinn said if a company gets sued and has to pay $1 million on a bad roof claim, the insurer writes the check, but then every Oklahoma consumer sooner or later picks up the tab for that.

He acknowledged that legislative efforts to implement legal reforms have been a difficult sell, but Quinn said that lack of action translates to higher premiums. He said the insurance commissioner is in a position to advocate for needed change.

Quinn, who previously served 12 years in the Legislature, said he was involved in passing one of the biggest pieces of legislation dealing with "workers' compensation reform." He said it has saved employers hundreds of millions of dollars and brought those rates down. Critics say the changes have harmed workers who have been injured on the job.

"We can do all the other things," he said. "The fortified roofing. We can try to change the risk. Companies are trying to change coverages and deductibles to try to offset that. But the fastest way, and the one that will generate the most reduction in premium, is going to be legal reform."

The winner of Oklahoma's GOP Aug. 25 primary runoff will face Democrat Craig MacIntyre in November's general election.