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As Georgians struggle to cope with an ongoing recession, their car and home insurance rates are on the rise.

Hit hard by storms and losses on Wall Street, insurance companies have been hiking their rates this year in Georgia and in other sates.

According to the Georgia Department of Insurance, four of the largest insurance companies operating in Georgia are raising their average homeowners’ insurance rates by 5 to 11 percent this year, while auto insurance rates for about a dozen companies have gone up about 2.4 percent, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its Web site Saturday.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine told the newspaper consumers are doing better than in other states, where rates have gone up by double digits.