Auto insurance rates will increase 10 percent on Oct. 1 for Colorado policyholders of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. This follows an 11.5 percent increase the company got in February. Allstate Insurance Co. customers have been socked with three increases in 2002 that raised rates a total of 30 percent. State Farm is the largest auto insurer in Colorado, followed by Farmers Insurance Exchange, American Family Mutual Insurance Co., and Allstate.

American Family may raise rates in early 2003 and USAA might charge higher premiums by year's end, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI).

"Medical-related costs continue to go up," says Joyce Keyser Pickar, State Farm's government relations director.

"Property and casualty companies have increased rates across the board, as health care costs have increased by about 12 percent," says Deborah Collette, a spokesperson for the DOI.

"We are seeing double-digit increases in auto premiums on average," says Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. "We had slight decreases for a time, but that didn't last very long." Drivers must by law carry $130,000 in personal injury protection. Chiropractors, massage therapists and other alternative medical treatments are covered by the insurers.

Colorado's no-fault insurance law expires on July 1, 2003, and many hope that will spur action to address the insurance problems gripping the state. "The system is broken beyond repair. So we will have to pursue aggressive reforms or scrap it and start over," Walker says.