Car Insurance Rates Expected To Rise 5% This Year After Double-Digit Gain in 2021
Americans who depend on their cars to get around are already feeling the financial pinch from the highest gasoline prices in more than seven years, and now they face a 5% spike in auto insurance rates in 2022, according to a new report from Insurify.
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Average rates in the U.S. are expected to rise to $1,707 per year in 2022 from $1,663 in 2021, according to Insurify, an insurance comparison shopping website. Insurify analyzed more than 40 million auto insurance premiums in its database to produce this most recent report — and this year’s projected 5% increase comes on top of a 12% increase last year.
Insurify based its projection on estimated inflation rates as well as a continued rise in reckless driving, which has become more frequent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The State in Which You Live Can Influence Insurance Costs
Location plays a big part in how much you can expect to pay for auto insurance. Drivers who live in urban areas pay an average of $1,666 a year vs. $1,472 a year for those in rural areas.
The most expensive state for car insurance is Michigan, at an average of $2,858 a year, according to Insurify. New York and Rhode Island come next, with both averaging $2,321 a year.
The least expensive state is Hawaii, with an average of $824 a year — which might be a rare category where Hawaii is the least expensive state concerning anything. North Carolina is the second-cheapest state for auto insurance at an average of $924 per year, followed by Maine and Vermont, which both average $945 a year.
In terms of the three most popular vehicles in the U.S., the Ford F-Series pickup truck is the least expensive to ensure at an annual average of $1,619. The Honda Accord costs an average of $1,855 a year to insure, and the Honda Civic costs an average of $1,962 a year.
Women, on average, pay 9% less for their car insurance than men — and 14% less than non-binary policyholders. Unmarried homeowners spend the least on their auto insurance, paying an average of 8% less than married renters and 18% less than unmarried renters.
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Bundle Insurance Policies to Save
If you want to lower your rate, one option is to bundle polices together, CNBC reported. For example, buying your auto and homeowners insurance from the same provider can save you an average of 8% per year, Insurify estimates. But nothing beats good old-fashioned bargain hunting.
“The best way to find a lower rate is to shop around and get quotes from multiple insurers to find the one that gives you the best deal,” Tanveen Vohra, insurance specialist at Insurify, told CNBC.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Car Insurance Rates Expected To Rise 5% This Year After Double-Digit Gain in 2021
