Wondering why your car insurance rate has become so costly? Car insurance rates can get expensive for a number of reasons, including:

• Inflation
• Your age
• Your gender
• Location
• Driving history
• Credit score
• And more

In this article, we’ll explain why car insurance has gotten so much more expensive over the last few decades, as well as why it might be more costly for you. This important info can help you discover strategies to significantly reduce the cost of your car insurance:

Inflation
In 2020, the price of car insurance was over 375 percent higher across the board than in 1985. Why has car insurance increased in price over the years? From 1985 to 2020, inflation in the cost of car insurance measured an average of 4.85 percent per year. 

This means that, for example, car insurance that cost only $500 per year in 1985 would cost $2,393.55 annually in 2020. If you’re shocked that your car insurance costs way more now than it did a decade (or three!) ago, inflation is likely the most important reason why.

Your Age
Being a young driver can massively increase the cost of car insurance. In fact, age is probably the most common and significant reason for expensive car insurance. 

Why? The data shows that young drivers (under the age of 25) are more likely to get in car accidents than more mature, experienced drivers (typically considered to be those in their thirties and above). When insuring youthful drivers, insurance companies have to account for the higher likelihood that they’ll have to pay for the expensive consequences of a car accident.
On the bright side, once you surpass the age of 25, your car insurance will almost certainly get more affordable. So if this is a factor for you, rest assured that you can look forward to cheaper insurance in the future.

Your Gender
Men almost always pay more for car insurance than women. That’s because men are more likely to have DUIs and to get into accidents, especially very dangerous accidents. 

This is particularly true for young men—past the age of 30, the gender divide in car insurance rates is less consistent.

Location
If your location has a record of many/costly car insurance claims, you’ll be forced to pay more for car insurance. Once again, insurance companies are trying to maintain profitability, so they’re accounting for the higher probability that they’ll have to pay you more for future insurance claims.
Note that your location isn’t necessarily determined by your city or town. It’s frequently chosen based on your zip code. So if you’re wondering why your friend who lives in a different neighborhood has more affordable car insurance, that may be why. People living in cities also pay more for car insurance than those in small towns and in the country.

Driving History
Drivers who don’t violate traffic laws typically pay less for car insurance. As long as you pay them on time, parking tickets aren’t a concern. What will really increase the cost of your car insurance are moving violations, especially more than one. Car insurance companies are accounting for the fact that drivers with many moving violations and unpaid parking tickets are more likely to file insurance claims.  Furthermore, an additional factor is your driving history. At-fault accidents will significantly raise the insurance rate. Insurance companies check the number of at-fault accidents in the 3 previous years.

Credit Score
Even if you have a history of being a good, safe driver, a low credit score can contribute significantly to your insurance rates.
This depends on your state, however. Some states prohibit insurance companies from using credit scores to determine your insurance rate: Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California. 

Other Factors
These factors also contribute to high car insurance rates:

• The type of car you drive
• A gap in insurance coverage
• A history of costly past claims
• Getting off of your parents’ auto policy (being on your parents’ insurance can make it 66% cheaper)
• Costly coverage options (optional coverages can add $1,000+ per year)

Now that you understand the causes of high car insurance rates—from systemic economic factors like inflation, to personal factors like your age, gender, credit score, and more—you have the crucial info needed to locate more affordable car insurance. 

Auto insurance can increase because of your own driving habits and also for reasons that are out of your control, like other drivers — and the economy.

Many factors can make your auto insurance continue to increase.

Insurance rates go up for all different kinds of reasons, some of the reasons you can control and some you cannot. Factors such as other driver’s unsafe driving, weather and the economy are all factors that you have no control over.

But, the one thing that you can control is your own driving habits, which is the one factor that is what causes auto insurance increases the fastest.

The Economy Increases Auto Insurance

While this one can’t be seen immediately it does have an effect on your insurance premiums.  An insurance company usually doesn’t just have their business dealings in auto insurance. They have investments, they are insuring businesses and homes and they themselves are usually owned by stock holders.

So when the economy takes a down turn and stocks start to fall, businesses fail and homeowners stop paying their insurance premiums insurance companies start to lose money. They have to still turn a profit so that their own stock holders don’t start selling their stock and they do this by raising rates on the clients they still have, including car insurance customers.

Statistics Increase Auto Insurance

Insurance is all about numbers and insurance companies love statistics.  Statistics show what categories of drivers are the safest, what geographic locations have the highest theft rates and what credit ratings are most likely to commit insurance fraud. A negative change in the statistics of any of the categories that you are in can make your insurance go up at your next renewal.

Other Drivers Increase Auto Insurance

Your driving record is not the only driving record that can make your insurance premiums go up. Drivers that are not even insured with your insurance company have a large impact on making insurance premiums go up, especially uninsured drivers. When an uninsured driver hits another driver that is insured with your insurance company, your insurance company has to pay out for the damages for their driver (if there is coverage).

This means that there is no other insurance company to reimburse your insurance company and getting the money that was paid out for the accident from the other person can take a long time. So to make up for the money they had to pay out, they increase everyone’s premiums.

You Make Auto Insurance Increase

The only factor that you have any real control over is your own driving habits and how safe of a driver you are. Drivers that cause accidents and are ticketed for unsafe driving are going to be charged higher insurance rates. Insurance companies want to collect as much premium as they can on these unsafe drivers before they cause the accident that they are at high risk to.

Driving safe and obeying traffic laws will keep your insurance premiums down. Also if you are a good driver and go a certain period of time without a ticket or an accident, not only will you be paying lower rates, you could also qualify for good driver discounts that could decrease your premiums even further.

How the crime rates, number of uninsured motorists and the weather in your state can determine your auto insurance premiums – plus car insurance rates by state.

This vehicle will see a change in its insurance premium if it moves from one state to another.

The price of auto insurance is determined by many different factors. It can go up or down depending on your age, driving record, credit score, the type of car you drive and also your gender. But, did you know that how much you pay for car insurance also depends on where you live?

When an insurance company sends a request for the base premium for a state or specific area to the state Insurance Commissioner, they are using the statistics of claims filed or potential for claims being filed in a location. They want to make sure that they are not going to pay out more in claims payments then they are going to be collecting in premium. So if a certain location has a higher chance of having a claim, they want to make sure that they are charging a high enough premium.

Crime Rates

The crime rate in your state can have an impact on your insurance premium, specifically car thefts and vandalism. If you live in a state where you have a higher chance of getting your car stolen or damaged, the higher your insurance premiums will be to offset the claim payout of having to fix or replace your vehicle.

Liberal Monetary Awards

We have all see commercials for personal injury lawyers advertising their services to obtain financial compensation for those that have been injured in an accident. The high awards that these lawyers get for their clients end up increasing the premiums for everyone.

In the states that have judges that award higher monetary compensation and also have more lawyers advertising their services to help obtain these high awards, like Louisiana, they see the highest premium increases due to this factor.

Weather

You never know when Mother Nature is going to get ugly and cause damage. Statistically there are states, such as Oklahoma, that have a higher chance of seeing this happen than others and insurance companies keep track. States that are in “tornado alley”, flood prone states and severe weather states all have their premiums increased to compensate for the likelihood of a weather related claim.

Uninsured Drivers

Even though there are laws protecting those of us that are insured from them, uninsured drivers are everywhere. Not only are they a higher danger to us on the road, they are also one of the causes of our increased auto premiums. Because a driver that is not insured has no insurance company to pay for the damages that they cause, the victim’s uninsured motorist or collision coverage has to pick up the bill. This uncompensated claim payout then is spread out through all of that insurance companies customers for them to pay for in the form of higher premiums. Statistically some states have higher numbers of uninsured motorists driving up insurance premiums.

State by State Case (2017 updated)

While the insurance premiums can even vary within a specific state due to all of the above factors, there isn’t the room or the time to cover every single town and city across the nation. So instead we have provided the chart below for you to compare where your state stands in average premium rates.

Most Expensive States , Least Expensive States (2011 data)

Data courtesy of Insure.com

Looking for the cheapest car insurance in Pennsylvania? Check out these auto insurance companies according to our independent research in the Keystone State.

Finding the Best Rates in the Keystone State

Looking for the cheapest car insurance in Pennsylvania?

It could be difficult – especially if you had to call every company in the state. Getting quotes from 30+ carriers would be a pain. But don’t worry. We’ve done all the hard work for you.

Our sample rates give you a good idea of what companies charge, compared to each other, in the Keystone State. The list compiles 20 cheap car insurance companies. Notice I didn’t say ‘best’, I just said cheap.

Every driver is different. What you see below is a sample of male and female drivers throughout the state. Quotes listed are for more than the minimum auto insurance package required by law in Pennsylvania. In other words, if you get minimum liability limits from these companies, you might pay less money than what’s listed below.

Also, prices listed are NOT the same as the price you will receive from the companies below. These are NOT actual quotes from insurers. This list should serve as a general guide to help you shop – to help narrow your choices when shopping for car insurance in Pennsylvania.

*NOT an exhaustive list of PA insurance companies. Companies listed are those with the largest market share, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance.

Note:

*NOT an exhaustive list of PA car insurance companies. Companies listed are those with the largest market share, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance.

Rates collected in 2008.
All data is courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance.
For more information, view our Disclosure.

Looking for the cheapest auto insurance in Ohio?  Check out the 25 cheapest insurers from our independent research in the Buckeye State.

Crusin' for Cheap Car Insurance in Ohio

Looking for cheapest car insurance in Ohio?

Getting quotes from 50+ car insurance carriers would be a waste of a good weekend.  But don’t worry.  We’ve laid the groundwork for you. Our sample rates from Ohio give you a good idea of what insurers charge their customers.  The list compiles 25 cheap car insurance companies.  Notice how I didn’t say ‘best’, I just said cheap.

Every driver is different.  What you see below is a sample of male and female drivers throughout the state, ages 19-70.  Quotes listed are for more than the minimum car insurance package required by law in Ohio.  In other words, if you get minimum liability limits from these companies, you might pay less money than listed below.

Prices listed are NOT the same as the price you will receive from the companies below. In addition, these are NOT actual quotes.  This list should serve as a general guide to help you shop for car insurance in Ohio.

Rates published in April 2008.
All data is courtesy of the Ohio Department of Insurance.
For more information, view our Disclosure.