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Are you paying higher car insurance rates simply because of where you live? A recent, mid-year study by insurance.com, not only reinforces this theory, but also shows that certain areas have lower car insurance rates.
Many factors are taken into consideration when a providers determines your rates: Credit score; driving record (of course); age; marital status; number of children; the type of car you drive; and others. But, the hardest one to change is where you live. In this case, you can actually pay more or less depending on others actions in your area. For example, Arizona drivers pay nearly $200.00 in additional yearly premiums to cover insurance fraud alone. Arizonans also pay additional premiums because of legal fees, the rising cost of car replacement, auto theft (Arizona having the fourth highest theft rate), and population density. Below is a breakdown of rate changes by state.
Here are the states actually paying lower car insurance rates compared to 2006. - Arkansa drivers payed an average premium of $2118.00 in 2006 and $1907.00 in 2007. That's an 11.1 % decrease.
- The District Of Columbia payed $2753.00 last year, but got a 9.9% decrease so far this year for a total of $1907.00.
- Iowa saw a 7.4% decrease in premiums after paying $1496.00 in 2006 and $1394.00 in 2007.
- Mississippi drivers payed $2021.00 in 2006 and $1893.00 so far this year for a decrease of 6.7%.
- North Carolina saw the best rate drop of all, with a whopping 16.2% decrease in insurance premiums. This leaves them with a 2007 average of $1945.00.
- North Dakota saw their annual premiums drop 9.5%.
- Nebraska payed $1702.00 in 2006 and $1579.00 so far this year. That's a decrease of 7.8%.
- Rhode Island drivers payed $2553.00 in 2006 and $2375.00 in 2007 , with a decrease of 7.5%.
- South Dakota saw significantly lower insurance rates with a drop of 9.6%.
- West Virginia drivers payed average car insurance premiums of $2367.00 in 2006 and $2163.00 in 2007.
Not all states are so lucky. Many drivers have seen a significant increase in their car insurance rates. Virgina car insurance rates have gone up 1%, Indiana is up 1.3%, Missouri is up 2.2%, Tennessee 2.6%, Connecticut 3%, Pennsylvanian 3.1%, Washington 3.6%, and Navada with the highest increase of 5.7%. It seems to me, a good way to lower car insurance rates is to come together and reduce crimes like auto theft in your community, but how do you do that...right? Crime doesn't pay, but we pay for crime. You may not have much control over where you live, but there are some other ways to reduce your insurance costs. - Shop around frequently using online car insurance companies, and take advantage of their free online quotes. I recommend comparing rates at least every six months. You'd be surprised at how quickly insurance companies change their rates. If your worried about the inevitable sales calls in the middle of dinner, just provide your email and home address, but not your phone number. I don't have any problem giving a false phone number, but that's just me. You could even set up a free email account and use it strictly for getting auto insurance quotes.
- Take advantage of all the car insurance discounts you have coming to you. Most carriers will give deduct your discounts automatically, but not all. Also, remember we are not infallible and neither is your insurance provider.
- Consider a car or truck that is cheaper to insure. Four door, family type vehicles, with all the safety features usually fair best. Some of the car with the highest insurance rates are Ford Focus, Hyundai Accent, Mazda 3, and Honda Civic. Some of the cheaper cars to insure are Chevy Suburban, Ford Explorer Sport Trac, and GMC Yukon.
- Consider combining vehicles into one policy, and combining different types of insurance with the same company. Many insurance companies offer multi-line discounts where you combine things like auto and home owners insurance with the same provider.
- If your credit rating is less than par, it may be worth while to work on raising your score.
- If you considering a move, check the list of states above or use the comment form below to ask about any state that is not listed.
Using the best car insurance company getting the best rates may seem to be an overwhelming process. I recommend keeping simple by periodically using the steps outlined here and sign up for our email updates to stay on top of the latest information.
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