A 22% year-over-year increase in auto insurance costs is pushing more car owners to seek out cheaper policies or, sometimes, take even more drastic measures.
More customers are shopping around and switching auto insurance companies this year, indicating that people are finding better — or cheaper — alternatives to their previous insurers, according to a new report from J.D. Power and TransUnion.
Another (more surprising) effect of rising car insurance costs is the tendency of drivers to return newly purchased cars after realizing that monthly vehicle costs are too high when an expensive policy is factored in.
How car insurance customers are coping with rising prices
In March, the rate of people buying new car insurance rose to 13.5%, the highest level since J.D. Power began tracking this data in September 2020.
High prices appear to be the reason for the record level of browsing, as a growing share of auto insurance shoppers cite cost-related factors as the reason they are looking into their options.
In the first quarter of 2024, 14.6% of insurance shoppers said the primary reason they were buying was for a rate increase (not related to a claim). According to J.D. Power, that share has nearly doubled in the past two years.
Meanwhile, the share who said they were shopping because the fare was too high increased from 16.9% to 21.3%.
“These reasons for shopping are indicative of a more ‘active’ shopper, looking to switch insurers, rather than passively controlling prices,” J.D. Power said in the report.
The 30-day switching rate — which refers to the number of people switching auto insurance companies — increased to 3.9% in the first quarter, compared to 3.6% at the end of 2023, according to J.D. Power.
Car insurance prices are skyrocketing
According to Kelley Blue Book (KBB), the average cost of auto insurance (for a six-month policy) is $828, up from $677 a year ago.
Because of these higher costs, the car valuation company reports that some drivers of newly purchased vehicles are actually taking their cars back to the dealer when they find out how much insurance costs.
“We’ve heard from a number of buyers who are refusing to buy a car – or return one – because they can afford the car, but not the insurance for it,” Sean Tucker, senior editor at KBB.
Prices are rising because cars on the road today are more expensive to repair and replace than they were a few years ago. Insurers are faced with large numbers of costly claims and pass these costs on to customers.
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