Why Have NY Car Insurance Rates Gone Up?
There are 3 certainties in life, death, taxes, and rising auto insurance rates. For those with good driving records and good to excellent credit, you might have come to expect rather small renewal increases or no increase at all on your NY auto insurance. Yet over the past few years and the last year in particular, standard renewal increases at up to ten percent have become the norm even if you haven’t had any claims.
Why Are NY Car Insurance Rates Rising?
There are a multitude of factors that determine an auto insurance rate such as driving record, age, credit rating, area in which you live among others.
But the two biggest factors contributing to recent rate hikes appear to be inflation and an increase in the rate and severity of auto accidents. Disruptions in supply chains and labor shortages have caused used cars to increase by over 30 percent compared to the prior year. Associated parts and cost of labor have also increased significantly in the same time span causing insurance company payout reimbursements to skyrocket for both repaired and replaced vehicles.
Insurance companies are in the profit business and many are actually losing money on their auto insurance lines because of these high cost payouts. So, even if you haven’t had a claim in 10 years, you are still sharing in these costs with rate increases.
Rest assured, most of those who are submitting at-fault claims are receiving big premium hikes, much greater that for those with clean driving records. In fact, some are even receiving non-renewal notices.
Increased costs coupled with an increase in the number and severity of accidents nationwide have been the major ingredients to the recent rate increase recipe.
What Can I Do To Curb My Auto Insurance Rates?
- Bundle Policies – If you currently have your car insurance with one company and home insurance with another, you should check on bundling both policies with one company. Most insurers offer significant discounts for bundled policies, particularly for auto.
- Check Your Current Policy Coverage – You may be paying for policy endorsements you don’t need such as rental reimbursement and towing. A higher collision deductible can make a big difference in premium on high priced vehicles. Comprehensive and collision coverage can be eliminated on older cars that don’t have much value.
- Get Quotes With Other Carriers – Contacting a reputable agency for NY car insurance quotes can result in significant savings. Agencies that have access to multiple carriers often find the “sweet spot” insurer for your exact circumstances.
- Maximize Your Discounts – Maybe you missed some eligible discounts when you took your policy out or circumstances have changed, now making you eligible. Typical car insurance discounts include safe driving, accident free, multiple vehicle, multiple policy, safe vehicle, passive restraints, daylights, defensive driving, driver training, good student, student away, affinity, anti-theft, paperless, and automatic EFT payment plans.
Will Car Insurance Rates Continue to Rise?
At this current point, one would expect rates to continue to rise until inflation and supply shortages subside, possible for another year or two. Until then, reaching out to an insurance agent to discuss your specific scenario can give you better insight as to the pricing on your current policy and possible alternatives to reduce your rate with an adjustment of coverage or switch to a different insurer with better pricing for you.
If you have any questions regarding auto, home and business insurance options, please contact us, we’re always glad to help. The NY Insurance Hub serves Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Latham, Cohoes, Watervliet, Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs, surrounding Capital Region areas and all of New York State from NYC to Buffalo.