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If there’s something that everyone wants to know about car insurance, it’s how much it costs.
There isn’t a universal formula. The amount you’ll pay for car insurance is affected by a number of very different factors, from the type of coverage you want to your driving record to where you live. And every company has different parameters to determine how much you’ll pay for your auto policy.
With so many options available — and the potential to save money by comparison shopping and leveraging discounts — making any impulsive decisions on your auto policy can be expensive.
If your car insurance renewal is around the corner, or if you haven’t shopped for quotes in a year or more, use this time to look at what you should expect to pay. A good starting point to figure out whether you’re overpaying for auto insurance is to consider the average cost of car insurance.
Average Car Insurance Cost by Company
The average cost of minimum car insurance is $565 per year, while full coverage car insurance costs an average of $1,674 per year, according to the latest data from Bankrate.
To find the best car insurance company, get quotes from at least three or four insurance companies to compare prices, coverage options, and any additional perks. Below you can compare average annual rates across several insurance companies.
USAA is the cheapest company for full coverage car insurance with an annual average rate of $1,225, followed by Erie Insurance and Travelers.
MetLife is the most expensive company for full coverage auto insurance at $2,123 per year on average, followed by Farmers and Allstate.
Auto-Owners is the cheapest car insurance company for the minimum required coverage, at an annual average car insurance rate of $382, followed by USAA and Amica.
MetLife is the most expensive car insurance company for the minimum required coverage, at $821 per year on average, followed by Farmers and Allstate.
Allstate
$1,921
$696
Amica
$1,378
$405
Auto-Owners
$1,351
$382
Geico
$1,405
$433
Erie
$1,233
$409
Farmers
$2,000
$808
MetLife
$2,123
$821
Nationwide
$1,485
$501
Progressive
$1,509
$582
State FarmTravelers $1,325 $469 USAA $1,225 $384
$1,457
$539
Average Cost of Car Insurance by Coverage Type
The type of car insurance coverage you get and how much of it will determine the amount of your auto premium. Liability insurance is the bare minimum coverage you need to drive in most states, and it covers the property damage and injuries to others if the accident is your fault — up to your covered limit.
Then there are optional types of coverage that protect your vehicle, like comprehensive and collision, which aren’t required by law but most people have. Having a combination of liability, comprehensive, and collision insurance is usually referred to as “full coverage” insurance.
Below you’ll find the average annual premium for common types of car insurance coverage.
Your state and the local area you live in can have an effect on your auto insurance rate. Data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows the average car insurance cost varies significantly across state lines; prices in the most expensive states are more than two times higher than those in the cheapest ones. Below you can compare average annual rates in every state.
Maine is the cheapest state for full coverage car insurance with an annual average rate of $765.
Louisiana is the most expensive state for full coverage auto insurance at $1,638 per year on average.
North Dakota is the cheapest state for minimum coverage car insurance with an annual average rate of $304.
Florida is the most expensive state for minimum coverage car insurance with an annual average rate of $964.
Your rate is determined by dozens of different factors, and those factors vary across insurance companies. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly every insurance company is analyzing to determine your premium, but here are a few commonly known ones that influence the price you pay for car insurance, according to experts we spoke to and the Insurance Information Institute.
Location: Your location plays a significant role in your auto premium. Every state has specific minimum requirements for auto insurance, so your state’s laws will influence how much coverage you need to buy in order to legally drive. Additionally, many insurance companies see drivers who live in urban areas as more susceptible to vandalism, theft, and accidents. That can lead to higher rates compared to those living in suburban or rural areas, according to III.
Vehicle: The cost of your car affects the cost to insure it. A luxury car, for example, will be much more expensive to insure than a conventional sedan or SUV. The amount you drive your car also plays a role in your rate; the more miles you drive, the more chance for accidents. You’ll pay more as a result.
Coverage Type and Amount: The type of coverage you choose and the limits and deductibles you pick will play a role in the cost of an insurance policy.
Driving History: A good driving record can lower your auto insurance rate, and a bad driving record will do the opposite. New drivers also typically pay more because they’re less experienced and more likely to get into accidents.
Credit History: If you’ve ever applied to open a line of credit or gotten a mortgage, you know that credit scores matter, a lot. That same principle applies to auto insurance, except it’s a credit-based insurance score (slightly different from a credit score). Insurance companies often use insurance scores — which are based on your credit history — to help determine your rate.
Age: Data shows the more driving experience you have, the less likely you’ll get into an accident, and driving experience is usually correlated with age. Insurers usually see older, more experienced drivers as less of a risk on the road compared to teenagers or people under 25, and therefore will usually charge less.
Gender: Auto insurers are allowed to set rates partially based on gender in nearly every state. According to III, women often pay less for coverage because men tend to get into more accidents.
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(Bloomberg) — Crippled by a winter storm, Texas and other states are becoming a hotbed of insurance claims, with analysts expecting a hefty bill for losses.
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
LAS VEGAS — Class-action lawsuits were filed in Nevada against 10 major auto insurance companies Tuesday, contending that the companies charged excessive insurance premiums during the pandemic by failing to account for a drop in driving and crashes.
The lawsuits acknowledge that some insurers provided discounts over the emptier roads and drop in accidents and claims, but the discounts did not offer “any meaningful relief that actually reflects the reduction in cars on the road and reduced driving during the pandemic,” according to the court filings. The rates that were charged violate state law against excessive premiums, the lawsuits contend.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Nevada insurance customers against State Farm, USAA, Geico, Acuity, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, Progressive, Travelers, Nationwide and Allstate.
“The filing of a lawsuit does not substantiate the allegations within the complaint,” State Farm, the country’s largest auto insurer, said in a statement. “We’ve recently learned about the filing, and it is premature to comment at this time.”
“Nationwide is taking the longer view while continuing to monitor consumer driving behaviors and how they impact future miles driven and accident frequencies. We know customers want fair rates and agents are seeking stability,” the insurer said in a statement Wednesday.
The company said it is “building additional benefits of the slowdown into future rates, on a state-by-state basis” and is taking lower miles driven or accident claims into account in rates for renewing policies. The company said some of that is being “offset by higher repair costs driven by more high-speed crashes and higher auto repair shop costs.”
The discounts provided by insurers to reflect pandemic driving conditions varied, from $50 to $100 one-time refund from Acuity, a 25% reduction in bills from March 20 to May 31 from State Farm, to a 15% credit from Geico only when renewing a policy between April 8 and October 7, according to the lawsuits.
“I believe that the rates should have been cut something in the order of 50-60%,” said Robert Eglet, lead counsel for the law firm Eglet Adams, which filed the lawsuits. “These discounts that were given were just totally woefully inadequate.”
His comments are similar to those made by the Consumer Federation of America in September, which said that the relief provided by insurers was not enough and said state insurance commissioners who regulate the industry had failed “to prevent windfall auto insurer profits as auto claims dropped when driving and auto crashes declined.”
In Nevada, after the governor ordered the closure of nonessential businesses, the Nevada-California border, which sees traffic backups when tourists pour into Las Vegas for weekend trips and other getaways, had 66% less traffic in April 2020 than in the same month in 2019, according to the lawsuits, along with a 60% drop in automobile accidents in southern Nevada in March 2020 when compared to the previous year.
Eglet, whose firm represented several thousand victims of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting in a lawsuit against MGM Resorts and the state of Nevada and a wide-ranging lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and sellers, said it was premature to estimate the total dollar amount of the claims across the lawsuit but said it was “well into the millions.”[Most read] Column: Gov. Cuomo and the science of political decay »
Nevada Division of Insurance declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Eglet said he was not aware of other class-action lawsuits filed in other states making similar arguments but predicted more may follow because of other drops in driving patterns and rates of premium relief across the states.
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
Three bills currently working their way through the Florida Legislature are designed to tackle the rising costs of homeowner roof claims, the costs of attorney fees in homeowner’s claims and issues surrounding notice to insurance carriers.
The proposed legislations come less than two years after Florida enacted an assignment of benefits law for homeowners’ property claims. But these latest efforts are meant to address the increasing costs of homeowners insurance due to market forces that were not addressed by the 2019 AOB bill. While these bills are preliminary and not law yet, it shows a shift in the legislature to reel in the liberal rules of lawsuits relating to property insurance claims.
Among the bills currently being considered is Senate Bill 76, which amends Florida statute (627.428) to award attorney’s fees for claims arising under the lodestar fee. Deviation from this method would be reserved for only rare and exceptional circumstances that competent counsel could not be retained in a reasonable manner.
The lodestar method determines what a reasonable fee for an attorney would be and requires the following determinations:
The number of hours reasonably worked on the case;
A reasonable hourly rate to apply to the related hours.
The reasonable amount of hours would be multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate creating the lodestar number.
Further, SB 76 would allow insurance carriers to limit coverage on roof claims. Under the provision, a carrier can include a roof surface reimbursement schedule endorsement to the insurance policy, which allows for reimbursement for repairs, replacement and installation based on the annual age of a roof surface type, unless the roof is less than 10 years old. The schedule also would provide reimbursement amounts of no less than 70% for metal roofs, 40% for concrete, clay tile, wood shaker, and shingle roofs, and 25% for any remaining roof types.
SB 76 also extends certain statutes to cover all property insurance claims instead of just a windstorm or hurricane claim, which would bar property claims if the insurer is not provided notice of claim or supplemental claim within two years of the date of the loss.
The bill, if passed, would add a statute (627.70152), which would affect all property insurance policy lawsuits. Specifically, the statute would require any claimant(s) to provide at least 60 days’ notice of their intention of initiating litigation against their insurance carrier prior to filing the lawsuit.
The notice must include:
The alleged acts or omissions of the insurer;
The insured’s demand;
Reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees incurred by claimants via calculation of the lodestar fee.
The new provision would give carriers the ability to inspect and evaluate the demand and allow the carrier to abate any lawsuit if said notice was not provided in compliance with the proposed statute. Attorney’s fees under this statute would provide a similar sliding scale structure as the assignee of an assignment of benefits related to property insurance claims and would be based on a demand to judgment quotient. SB 76 was approved by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee and is awaiting a hearing by the Judiciary Committee.
The Florida House of Representatives’ companion bill to SB76 – House Bill 305 – would amend the same statutes as SB 76, except it does not involve adding the claimant’s requirement to provide notice of intent to initiate litigation proposed in SB76. This bill is currently awaiting a hearing by the House Banking and Insurance Subcommittee.
The Florida Senate also introduced Senate Bill 212 as a standalone bill addressing just the attorney’s fees issue of reasonableness and multipliers. SB 212 would only entail adopting the lodestar fee for property insurance policy lawsuits. SB 212 is currently awaiting a hearing by the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Subcommittee.
These bills would provide insurers the ability to address the growing number of roof claims that were either not damaged by wind or hail or could be repaired yet facing litigation due to insureds, or their representatives, demand full replacement. Further, SB 76 would force claimants to provide notice to a carrier of their intent to file their lawsuit, giving the carrier an opportunity to re-evaluate the claim.
All three of these bills would go into effect on July 1, 2021 if passed and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
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New data about the growing risks of climate change to residential real estate suggests that the National Flood Insurance Program may have to raise its rates.
As first reported by the New York Times, hundreds of thousands of homeowners could see their flood insurance rates jump as early as this fall, according to new research from First Street Foundation. In the most flood-prone areas of the US, those rates should more than quadruple. Premium increases of more than $10,000 are necessary for the insurance on approximately 265,000 homes to match their corresponding level of risk.
Around 5.7 million properties currently have some level of flood risk, and the capped average annual loss is $3,343 (with an average NFIP premium of $902). That accounts for a difference of $2,441 per property, and suggests, according to First Street, that the current economic risk is 3.7 times higher than the level at which NFIP is now pricing insurance.
For those 4.3 million properties with substantial flood risk, the capped average estimated annual loss is $4,419 and the average NFIP premium is $981—accounting for a risk level that’s 4.5 times more than the current estimated NFIP premiums. In Special Flood Hazard Areas, or SFHAs, the economic damage underestimate is about 4.2 times that of current levels. And outside SFHAs, in regions First Street deem “specifically vulnerable to flood risk” since they haven’t been mapped by FEMA into a SFHA and are likely significantly underinsured, that number grows to 5.2 times. NFIP insurance is not required for properties outside of a SFHA.
Areas with the biggest risk underestimates include Florida, New Jersey, and South Carolina, as well as parts of Texas, Washington, and California.
“Because a great deal of flood risks exists outside of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s designated Special Flood Hazard Areas, this research reveals a vastly expanded mapping of economic risk associated with flood risk, and demonstrates the extent to which information asymmetries on flood risk contribute to financial market asymmetries, specifically in the form of underestimations of financial and personal risk to property owners,” the report states.
FEMA, which operates the NFIP, has not publicly commented on how its new anticipated risk rating system will affect premiums.
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Term insurance is a pure risk cover payable only in case of death of the life assured and currently, the cover is extremely economically priced given that the key influencing factor is the expected mortality risk on the portfolio
Term life insurance premiums are likely to increase as reinsurers have revised their premiums upward. This is the premium which life insurers have to pay for re-insuring their risk.
Reinsurers increased their premium rates as the number of claims have been rising over the past year. The rise in re-insurers premium is primarily due to an increase in mortality rate during the covid-19 pandemic. Thus, with the increase in the reinsurers’ premium rates, insurers may raise the premium of term life insurance policy for buyers.
According to the earlier reports, premiums for term insurance plans were expected to rise by up to 40% in 2021 as insurers take into consideration the emerging risks.
Sonia Notani, CMO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited, said in the last 12 months, the pandemic has had an impact and the number of deaths has gone up globally. Reinsurers have a well-spread portfolio across geographies, enabling them to cushion the impact of any calamities or large incidents causing death. “However, this is a unique situation where the impact of the pandemic is global. This has impacted the mortality assumptions made by the reinsurers, causing them to re-assess the risk and modify assumptions,” said Notani.
Term insurance is a pure risk cover payable only in case of death of the life assured. Currently, the cover is extremely economically priced given that the key influencing factor is the expected mortality risk on the portfolio or in simple words, the incidence of loss due to death, an industry source said.
Reinsurers have become cautious of the decline in rates over the past few years. Karthik Raman, CMO and Head – Products, Ageas Federal Life Insurance said that the term life insurance market had become very competitive a few years ago which had led to a drastic drop in the premium prices by life insurance players backed by reinsurance. Reinsurers and insurers had made aggressive assumptions in terms of mortality which had led to term insurance premiums being priced low. “However, an adverse mortality experience over the past few years, which has intensified due to the Covid-19 scenario has led reinsurers to increase their rates resulting in an upward revision of term insurance premiums,” he added.
According to Bharat Kalsi, chief financial officer, Bajaj Allianz Life, “Across the life insurance industry, term plan premiums are being revised due to several reasons. One of them being the reinsurers revising their prices based on the actual mortality experience vis-a-vis what was expected. Despite this rise, I must add that term plan rates in India continue to be amongst the most affordable, even compared to markets like USA or Singapore.”
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – “We kind of panicked a little bit, rushed in the house and our dog was standing in about three- inches of water,” said Southlake homeowner Lori Cerami describing what she saw after leaving her home just long enough to take a warm shower at a friend’s house.
The family’s hot water tank burst in the attic sending water gushing through the canned lights onto their first floor.
She lost her daughter several years ago in a tragic accident. She could only think about one thing: the pictures hanging on the wall.
“Our daughter passed away a few years ago and I was immediately concerned about the irreplaceable pictures that I have of her, so I ran to the pictures of her to try and get them off the wall.”
Fortunately, most were saved.
In Grapevine, 78-year-old Sandy Silverman describes the two inches of water which flooded her apartment in two hours.
“From the ice maker,” Silverman says.
She is now living with her daughter who explained what happened.
“The maintenance man said it was the refrigerator, the pipe behind the refrigerator that supplies the water.”
They haven’t been back to the apartment.
“All we could think of was trying to get her to safety and try to get our photo albums and she’s 78, a lifetime of our most important documents. We just wanted to get out of her apartment,” says Stacie Silverman.
Those are just two stories. They seem endless.
The CBS 11 I-Team has received so many videos and pictures of homes flooded because of burst pipes.
And, as we warm up and your pipes thaw, we’ll likely see more.
Camille Garcia, with the Insurance Council of Texas, says, “Know your policy, know your deductible.” And remember, policies vary.
According to Garcia, your policy should likely include coverage for flooring, baseboards, dry wall, and paint.
It may also include personal property, hotels, additional living expenses and perishable food.
If pipes break, Garcia says, “Documenting the steps you’ve taken and the repairs you’ve done is really critical.”
Also:
–Make sure you take photos and videos of the damage and cleanup. –If you go to the home improvement store for supplies, save your receipts. –Log your clean-up hours –If you hire help, get references, and make sure they are reputable. –Save those invoices. –And, here’s what you should NOT do. “Don’t sign any contracts right now for extended damage repairs because you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” says Garcia. She says, as the temperatures warm, we may see more damage and more pipes break.
The Insurance Council of Texas is also asking all Texas residents to pack some patience right now as agents are dealing with all claims — homeowners, business and auto.
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
This is called a roof retrofit & many Floridians can do it. There is always a cost, but you have to spend $$ to make $$. Usually a 5-7 year breakeven should be expected. once you do that, your home has more value in sale. If you have this problem, then so does every home in the neighborhood so yours will have more sale value. Let USAssurance help you get your best scenario. All we need to start is your current Home Insurance Declaration pages & the wind Mitigation Inspection.
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
A Miami insurance agent has been arrested for allegedly stealing personal account information to file false insurance applications and collect commissions from the insurance company, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Financial Services.
An investigation conducted by detectives at the department’s Bureau of Insurance Fraud revealed that Daniela Chacon Labrador, a licensed life and health insurance agent from Hialeah, allegedly created and submitted applications for three accident/Illness insurance policies using falsified and fictitious information and the bank account information stolen from a client. As a result of the scheme, Labrador received approximately $1,789 in commissions from Combine Insurance Co. of America.
Labrador surrendered on Feb. 12, 2021 and was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail. She is charged with organized scheme to defraud, false and fraudulent insurance application, criminal usage of personal identifying information, and grand theft, all 3rd degree felonies. If convicted, she faces up to 40 years in prison. Individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. In a separate action, DFS has revoked Labrador’s license.
“Fraud continues to be a major problem in our state as it impacts the financial well-being of the victim and inflates insurance rates for all Floridians,” Patronis said. “I appreciate the dedication of my fraud detectives to hold fraudsters like this accountable, and we’ll continue working aggressively to fight the type of fraud that impacts consumers’ insurance rates.”
Please call Lee from USAsurance Powered by WeInsure & Calle Financial. 954-270-7966 or 954-606-5660 at the office. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com . I am Your Insurance Consultant about Home Insurance, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Car, Life Insurance, Mortgage protection, Financial Products, Business & Commercial Policies, & Group Products for business owners to give Employees benefits at no cost to the employer. My email is lee@myUSAssurance.com
TALLAHASSEE — Florida senators are moving forward with a proposal to do away with the state’s longstanding no-fault auto insurance system, with trial attorneys and insurers closely watching the debate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill (SB 54) that would eliminate no-fault, and its requirement that motorists carry personal-injury protection coverage, and instead mandate bodily injury coverage.
Sponsor Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said the bill would make Florida like 48 other states that have bodily injury insurance systems. He said he thinks it would help ensure that motorists have adequate coverage.
Before giving approval, the committee made changes to the proposal, including reducing required coverage levels for low-income people and students and raising the possibility that motorists could pay deductibles to have windshields repaired.
The windshield change to the bill came after insurers have complained in recent years about auto-glass businesses offering incentives, such as gift cards, to have motorists replace windshields. Currently, insured motorists do not have to pay to get windshields repaired.
Lawmakers during the past decade have repeatedly discussed moving away from the no-fault system, which requires motorists to carry $10,000 in PIP coverage to help cover medical bills. In part, they have pointed to fraud in the system.
Bodily injury coverage, which many motorists already carry, pays for injuries or deaths that drivers cause to other people in accidents. Under the Senate proposal, motorists generally would be required to carry a minimum of $25,000 in bodily injury coverage for the injury or death of one person and $50,000 for injuries or deaths of two or more people.
But under a change approved Monday, those coverage requirements would be reduced to $15,000 and $30,000, respectively, for low-income motorists and students. Low-income motorists would be defined as having incomes that are 200% or less of the federal poverty levels.
Eric Romano, president of the Florida Justice Association, which represents trial attorneys, questioned the change, saying the bill wouldn’t require proof that motorists meet the qualifications for the lower coverage amounts. He said it is essentially an “unenforceable honor system.”
While eliminating the no-fault system would affect millions of motorists across Florida, a major part of the debate about the bill involves potential changes to what are known as “bad faith” lawsuits. Such lawsuits can be costly for insurers and involve allegations that claims were not handled properly.
Insurers and their supporters are backing bad-faith changes in the bill, while they face opposition from trial attorneys.
The bill also is drawing attention from emergency-room physicians, as the PIP requirement has ensured $10,000 in coverage for medical care.
Burgess’ bill, which earlier passed the Banking and Insurance Committee, is slated to go to the Rules Committee and then could go to the full Senate after the annual legislative session starts March 2. A similar House bill (HB 719), was filed Feb. 3 by Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, but has not been heard in committees.
The Home Insurance Guru 