The United States is known the world over for being full of motoring fanatics with people loving the old and new models, taking them apart and putting in modern add-ons to improve performance, washing them to keep them clean on an almost daily basis and loving their motorsport.
With all of this in mind, you would almost expect the US to be relatively cheap in terms of car insurance. You would also expect that annual insurance prices would be relatively similar across the country. However, there are some significant variations in car insurance rates by state with many far more expensive than others.
Comparing nine states in the US – Wisconsin, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Ohio – we see a difference of $369 between the most expensive, (Washington) and the least expensive, (Wisconsin).
In recent months, however, it’s appearing that the average insurance costs across the whole country are decreasing dramatically. A study on the Auto Insurance website shows that the average price has dropped from $1,015.90 in December 2012 to $974.40 in May this year. This study has been well received around the country especially in the more expensive states – which are predominantly in the south, with states such as Florida and Texas still over the $1,000 mark.
States such as New York, ($1,245) and California, ($1,068) – two of the most populated – are also among the highest annual premiums. One justification for this is that the busier the area, the more likely it is that accidents will inevitably happen. Rush hour traffic combined with other jams and general congestion all lead to accidents, especially when drivers are stressed or rushing to get to or from work.
Having insurance on your vehicle, as we all know, is essential. Unfortunately, we all know that it’s not cheap either and in many cases people have received quotes that are higher than the overall value of their vehicle. One reason for the significant fluctuations across America is the nature of the state, with those in more rural areas seeing far fewer accidents than the major, highly populated states where more drivers are on the roads.
Another reason being banded around is that the compensation culture that has developed in recent years has affected the mentality of the drivers and, subsequently, they’re now claiming for more personal injuries than ever before and insurers are reacting accordingly by putting their prices up.
It’s hard to say that this is an understandable reaction on both sides, but with finances tight in the majority of states people are looking for easy money wherever possible and they take ‘advantage’ – if that’s the word – of the accidents they’re involved in by claiming off the insurance of the driver at fault.
