Is the homeowner's insurance market as competitive as commissioner says?

As the Oklahoma homeowners insurance market has come under intense pressure , Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has said that the market is highly competitive, citing the total number of insurers in the market — about 100 licensed to write policies and 50 actively doing so.

In October, in response to a critical letter from Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Mulready offered additional evidence of a highly competitive market: federal standards.

Oklahoma Watch’s investigation into the history of Oklahoma insurance legislation and measures of market concentration — that is, how economists quantify competition — revealed the shortcomings of those tools to evaluate competition in the Oklahoma homeowners market.

Why a firm count may not accurately show competition

Mulready has