Tricia Griffith
President And Chief Executive Officer at Progressive
Thanks, Doug. Good morning, and welcome to Progressive's third quarter conference call. We appreciate you joining us. During our second quarter call, we discussed the challenges we were facing as our customers return to normal driving habits as the country opens in the pandemic and as supply constraints contributed to an unprecedented increase in vehicle valuation. In the third quarter, those challenges continued with the added effect of the most expensive storm in Progressive's history, Hurricane Ida. The result of these challenges is our first quarter with an above 100 CR in 20 years. In true Progressive fashion, we are facing these challenges head on to do what's needed to meet our publicly stated goal of a 96 combined ratio on an annual basis. As part of our efforts to ensure we meet our 96 targets, we are taking rate increases across our product lines.
While objections and regulator scrutiny are part of the revision process, the pressures on the insurance pricing are real. The entire industry has been buffeted by the headwinds of higher severity, post-pandemic increased frequency and weather-related catastrophes. Regulators take their mandate of adequate rates seriously. And as such, we've been able to work with regulators to increase rates to meet the rising costs. Year-to-date through the third quarter, we have placed in-market increases in aggregate of five points in Personal Auto, three points in Commercial Lines and eight points in Property. In Personal Auto, during the third quarter, rate increases were effective in 20 states, which had an average increase of about six percent So we're taking the changes in the environment seriously and reacting decisively. We have more revisions and process across our suite of products as we work to ensure the rest of 2021 and 2022 meet our calendar year objectives.
Underwriting is another lever that we are using to address profitability. We continue to use this lever in Commercial and Personal Lines to ensure we write exposures accurately and that meet our underwriting targets. In Personal Auto, our 8.7 model, which is now in states representing about 40% of our premium further advances the science of underwriting. In homeowners, where profitability has been under pressure for several quarters, we are taking additional steps to hasten our progress to meet our profit objectives. In states with high cat exposure, we have changed our underwriting roles to reduce our exposure, including targeted nonrenewals. While nonrenewals are not our preferred path, there are times where we need to use nontraditional methods to meet our targets. While we take steps on the profitability side of the business, we continue to see strong growth.
Personal Lines written premiums grew seven percent, while Commercial Lines and homeowners both saw double-digit year-over-year written premium growth in the third quarter. Personal Lines and homeowners recorded PIF growth of eight percent and 13% in the quarter, respectively. Commercial Auto continues to capitalize on the macroeconomic environment with its third straight quarter of double-digit PIF growth, largely due to growth in the for-hire trucking segment. Though our underwriting actions often have the unfortunate side effect of reducing growth, our product managers continue to scour the competitive landscape to find profitable growth opportunities. Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank Mike Sieger, our Claims President; and Jeff Charney, our Chief Marketing Officer, for their contributions to Progressive and to offer my congratulations on their planned retirements.
While I'm confident that their replacements are up to the task, Mike and Jeff's presence will be greatly missed. Thank you, and I'm ready to take the first question.