Sixteen Illinois state legislators and nine consumer advocacy groups, including Consumer Federation of America, sent a letter to the Illinois Department of Insurance urging the Department to collect data on auto insurance premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic and urge auto insurers to provide additional refunds.

CFA’s analysis showed that in 2020 and early 2021, auto insurance companies earned massive profits of at least $29 billion by overcharging consumers as auto crashes and insurance claims fell. While most insurers provided some refunds, it was nowhere near enough, and consumers were shortchanged by an average of $125 per vehicle. In Illinois, consumers should have received an additional $896 million in premium relief.

The Department should issue a data call to collect information about auto insurers, rates and premiums, and losses since the beginning of 2020. It should then analyze the data to determine how much consumers have been overcharged. And finally, the Department should call on insurers to provide further premium givebacks to drivers.

The letter was signed by the Chicago Urban League, Consumer Federation of America, Financial Inclusion for All Illinois, Heartland Alliance, Illinois PIRG, Legal Action Chicago, New America Chicago, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and the Woodstock Institute