Insurance companies that worried I-15 reconstruction would cause more accidents and higher auto coverage rates say they have been pleasantly surprised.

Some insurers and municipal police departments are reporting greater numbers of accidents since the road work began. But those accidents were less severe overall as motorists took to surface streets and were forced to slow down.Other insurance companies haven't seen the increase in accidents anticipated when the massive highway project began in April last year.

"If you would have said a year ago our frequency of accidents would have increased because of I-15, I would have said absolutely," said Mike Arnold, who manages auto claims for State Farm Mutual Automobile Co. in Utah. "Yet the number of claims we are receiving now is down compared to last year, and the severity of some claims is down a little bit. It's a surprising result."

As a result, State Farm has lowered auto rates in Utah in June by 7.8 percent and again this month by 4.2 percent.

MetLife Auto & Home recently announced an average rate reduction in its automobile policies in Utah of 3.5 percent.

Even among companies that have raised rates this year, the increases are relatively modest.

Farmers Insurance, for example, said an increase in claim costs last year led them to raise rates on auto policies by an average of 5 percent, effective May 1.

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"We have seen a fairly significant number of claims being reported this year," said Brian Braddock, Utah state executive director for Farmers. But the mishaps are not severe.

Greg Johnson, state claims manager for Utah Farm Bureau Insurance Co. in Sandy, said accidents reported by policyholders have settled to normal levels after a 20 percent spike in the month following the start of I-15 work.

As a result, the bureau is planning no rate increase.

"We were expecting difficulties as the road work went on," Johnson said. "But like after a difficult adjustment, people got used to it."

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