Auto Insurance Increases - anyone else seeing this?

[Bambam]

For the past 3+ payments (every six months), our auto insurance has went up anywhere from 10-17%. Our cars nor driving records have changed. I call and ask why the increase, and they say - prices of used cars, repairs, time of repairs, etc, all are going up, so insurance rates are going up as well because they have to.  They do wait to call me back like they are actually looking for some reason, but I'm wondering where/when this is going to slow down. 

Are others seeing this? Is it time to start shopping around for new auto insurance again? I hate doing that, but if this is just our company (Farmers), then I totally will. 

 

[elegantlion]

It's not just you. Both SO, me, and my mom & son saw siginificant increases. My mom called around for quotes to switch, everything was either close or higher, same on her homeowners policy as well. We have American Family, my mom contacted State Farm and Farmers. 

I had a No fault accident last year (like 100% not my fault), that was going to affect rates if I change companies. My car was totalled and my "new" car is older and should be have been lower cost to insure. (went from 4x4 Explorer to mini van). 

Even my life insurance (State Farm), which is a whole life policy my dad took out when I was a kid (like early 1980s) had a payment due. For years, it has paid for itself. It's ridiculous. 

I live in the mid-west. We haven't had a major natural disaster in our area, not even major storms in the last year. 

[GoVanGogh]

Ours just went up 40%. No accidents or claims of any sort. Two of the three vehicles are older, high mileage. 

[Idalou]

State Farm- no increases here on ours, I've renewed both on t be past 4 months. I think they did increase about $15 once during the pandemic.

[Bootsie]

Auto insurance rates have been rising across the board.  Some companies lowered rates in 2020 when people were driving less--no work commutes, no summer vacation driving, etc.  So, some of the increase is simply getting back to that level.  But, the cost of auto repairs has increased tremendously in the past couple of years.  I have seen numbers as high as a 23% increase this past year, following a 15% increase the following year.  So, even if your chances of getting in an accident have not increased, the amount it will cost the insurance company if you are in an accident has increased dramatically.  

[Bambam]

6 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Auto insurance rates have been rising across the board.  Some companies lowered rates in 2020 when people were driving less--no work commutes, no summer vacation driving, etc.  So, some of the increase is simply getting back to that level.  But, the cost of auto repairs has increased tremendously in the past couple of years.  I have seen numbers as high as a 23% increase this past year, following a 15% increase the following year.  So, even if your chances of getting in an accident have not increased, the amount it will cost the insurance company if you are in an accident has increased dramatically.  

Yes, we did have a decrease in 2020 and maybe early 2021. 

And that is the reason they have given for the increase - increased cost of repaira, increased value of used cars so if car is totaled they are paying way more out than before, actual time of repair is longer. 

Locally it seems the price of used cars is coming down, so I'm hopeful that means possibly the insurance increases will stabilize or slow the rate of increase. 

[stephanier.1765]

Yep, us too. It's crazy and a big hit to the wallet.

[klmama]

Yes, ours went way up.  We switched to Progressive.  

[kathyl]

Yes, ours is going up, too.  And our homeowners insurance went up.  

The insurance company also gave similar reasons as other people here said.  

We are going to be shopping around for both.

[Frances]

2 hours ago, Idalou said:

State Farm- no increases here on ours, I've renewed both on t be past 4 months. I think they did increase about $15 once during the pandemic.

We just got an email from our State Farm agent telling us that they are raising rates on all auto policies across the board.

[KSera]

Y’all are scaring me. We’re about to insure two more drivers, and I was worried enough about that before knowing rates are rising. 

[Ottakee]

I am in Michigan so have sky high insurance all the time .   Calling around and switching helped me as I could get an educators discount 

[SHP]

Ours went up and we contacted a broker to see if they could find us a new company with lower rates and learned no one will cover one of our cars so we are stuck. 

[Ting Tang]

Yes.  😞  Our new normal is everything is super expensive. 

[Ting Tang]

21 minutes ago, SHP said:

Ours went up and we contacted a broker to see if they could find us a new company with lower rates and learned no one will cover one of our cars so we are stuck. 

May I ask what vehicle cannot be covered and/or why?

[rebcoola]

Ours went up a lot to.  We searched around but it was basically the same quote everywhere.

[Tree Frog]

Ours just went up 12%. We looked around and everything else is either the same or higher. Every year we get a phone call wanting to reassess our insurance. It seems to me just an excuse to find a reason to raise our rated. Every year they've called, our rates have gone up.

[SHP]

2 hours ago, Tree Frog said:

Ours just went up 12%. We looked around and everything else is either the same or higher. Every year we get a phone call wanting to reassess our insurance. It seems to me just an excuse to find a reason to raise our rated. Every year they've called, our rates have gone up.

Our home insurance has gone down as a result of the phone calls. But, we have made improvements that decreased our risk of fire, such as replacing all the electrical wirering and outlets. I am sure once the cosmetic improvements are completed it will go up.

[SHP]

5 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

May I ask what vehicle cannot be covered and/or why?

Not just my car, but many of the Kia's and Hyundai models that are easy to steal and being stolen are no longer eligible for new policies. We have full coverage which may be part of why we cannot get a new policy. 

[Idalou]

7 hours ago, Frances said:

We just got an email from our State Farm agent telling us that they are raising rates on all auto policies across the board.

No letter yet from ours. Maybe we lucked out for a while? We're paid up until 2024 on all the vehicles and home insurance with SF. Hopefully they won't send us another bill!

Edited July 16, 2023 by Idalou

[Soror]

Ours was going to go up 15%. We shopped around with a different broker and are now paying 22% less. We have 2 teen drivers and multiple vehicles. It was a huge increase. Our broker said they tried to get us a better rate. I don't think they tried that hard. 

[BakersDozen]

State Farm - significant increase despite long-term policy with no claims and older vehicles. Phone calls yielded nothing so I'll be walking into an office this week and hope for an answer that makes sense.

[Tenaj]

8 hours ago, Soror said:

Ours was going to go up 15%. We shopped around with a different broker and are now paying 22% less. We have 2 teen drivers and multiple vehicles. It was a huge increase. Our broker said they tried to get us a better rate. I don't think they tried that hard. 

We had a similar situation.  Our broker just couldn't get us better rates (four cars,two teen drivers) but when I shopped I found a better deal immediately.  Then our broker wanted another chance -lol!

[historically accurate]

Ours went up about 10% with American Family. We called a few places - we have super old cars (2005 & 2008), but we have full coverage on the 2008 due to having teen drivers (both of whom are still are on a permit though). Every other place came in very close to the new price. 

[easypeasy]

YES! Ours is auto-debited every 6 months and I just realized last debit a few weeks ago that it has absolutely skyrocketed. Very frustrating bc we all have clean driving records, excellent grades in school for the kids, no wrecks... like, what are they hiking our rates for??

We need to shop for insurance, but are about to apply for a home loan and don't want dings to our credit when the auto insurance checks it (what a stupid system THAT is...).

Our homeowner's policy for our rental properties (different company from our auto) also increased by over a third!!!!!! With ZERO claims in the past 10 years!!!!!! 🤢 Our homeowner's for our house hasn't increased as much, but the benefits have decreased... so... 🫠

I feel like we are being financially held hostage rn until we buy a new home.

Edited July 16, 2023 by easypeasy

[mommyoffive]

17 hours ago, Soror said:

Ours was going to go up 15%. We shopped around with a different broker and are now paying 22% less. We have 2 teen drivers and multiple vehicles. It was a huge increase. Our broker said they tried to get us a better rate. I don't think they tried that hard. 

Who is your new provider?

[carriede]

Yep, and we switched because of it. I feel like it's all just a game you have to play. 🙄

Edited July 17, 2023 by carriede

[Soror]

5 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Who is your new provider?

Argh I can't remember for sure. I've not got in all the paperwork and I'm on a little anniversary trip away from home. Maybe it was BNI?? It is a broker so they have lots of companies they use. He says it was the best with teen drivers. 

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, Soror said:

Argh I can't remember for sure. I've not got in all the paperwork and I'm on a little anniversary trip away from home. Maybe it was BNI?? It is a broker so they have lots of companies they use. He says it was the best with teen drivers. 

Happy Anniversary.  I hope you have a great trip.

[Ausmumof3]

I think it’s logical because end costs are going up. There’s also been a higher than usual road toll here, I’m not sure if that’s just Australia or applies more globally but it’s possible they have more claims. There was also loads of claims from two major weather events here last year and that’s also potentially a global phenomenon.

[TheReader]

Not just you. When ours jumped drastically, we called and asked. Thought perhaps being decades-long customers, there'd be *something* they could do. Not only nope, they didn't even attempt to try. 

We shopped around, found a better rate with a still respectable company, and haven't looked back. 

ETA: we switched from Geico to AAA's insurance. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by TheReader

[mommyoffive]

12 hours ago, carriede said:

Yep, and we switched because of it. I feel like it's all just a game you have to play. 🙄

Who did you switch to?

[carriede]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Who did you switch to?

Switched from Geico to Progressive.

[kbutton]

I have read numerous times that poor driving has gone through the roof with Covid and stayed high. I bet that's not a small factor in changing rates.

[Pawz4me]

I read an article a week or two ago that said one reason for auto insurance rate increases is that newer cars have so many sensors and other safety equipment that often have to be replaced after even minor accidents that it makes repair costs much higher than with older vehicles.

[kathyl]

We also have GEICO.  I've had it since 1979, and my parents had it for a long time before that.  All of us, including our dc, with outstanding driving records, no tickets, etc.  Didn't matter.  Our rates went up at least 20%.  We will definitely be switching ASAP.

[Kassia]

25 minutes ago, kathyl said:

We also have GEICO.  I've had it since 1979, and my parents had it for a long time before that.  All of us, including our dc, with outstanding driving records, no tickets, etc.  Didn't matter.  Our rates went up at least 20%.  We will definitely be switching ASAP.

Our whole family was using GEICO with perfect driving records and rates went up enough that we had to switch.  We were very surprised at the increase.

[OH_Homeschooler]

On 7/15/2023 at 10:06 AM, Bambam said:

For the past 3+ payments (every six months), our auto insurance has went up anywhere from 10-17%. Our cars nor driving records have changed. I call and ask why the increase, and they say - prices of used cars, repairs, time of repairs, etc, all are going up, so insurance rates are going up as well because they have to.  They do wait to call me back like they are actually looking for some reason, but I'm wondering where/when this is going to slow down. 

Are others seeing this? Is it time to start shopping around for new auto insurance again? I hate doing that, but if this is just our company (Farmers), then I totally will. 

 

I recently switched from Farmer's to Geico for car and home insurance. I think premiums are going up everywhere but Farmer's is simply out of control.

I switched auto first a few months ago, and my agent actually gave me a guilt trip because I didn't ask him for ways to lower my rate. Except I HAD done that a year ago and he said all I could do was install their stupid driving app, so I did that. Then when I saw how much they were raising my homeowner's insurance a couple months ago, I decided to switch that too. Farmer's has made the homeowner's switch an absolute nightmare. They made a typo or something about my cancellation date being 3 weeks earlier than I told them (which I had in writing) and I've been having to provide documentation to my mortgage company to show I WAS insured that whole time, I've had to wait for refund checks, then apply them back to escrow multiple times. If I asked my agent a question he said to ask corporate, and guess who corporate told me to ask? I have no idea why Farmer's is so high but if it's because they have local agents, it is 100% not worth it. They are useless.

As far as savings, I have the same level of coverage. I added a teen driver and a second car when I switched to Geico and it's about $10 more per month than when I was the only driver with one car with Farmer's. I'm saving 40% on my homeowner's insurance. 

[Dmmetler]

Try a different company. We just got a bid from State Farm that was less than half what we'd been paying with a different major company-for better coverage. 

[Tenaj]

From these stories, I'm going to go with the assumption that you shop, they quote you a cheaper rate than what you've got, next year it rises, the next year goes up again, the next year  it goes up and within three or four years you start shopping, find a different company that quotes lower and start over.

That makes me sad because I like having a relationship with the local agents but maybe that's not possible any more.  (Sorry, I sound like a grumpy old lady - LOL).  We had the same insurance agent for probably 30 years then the rates went ridiculous and we switched four years ago and now are switching again.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Tenaj
grammar :)

[kathyl]

2 minutes ago, Tenaj said:

From these stories, I'm going to go with the assumption that you shop, they quote you a cheaper rate than what you've got, next year it rises, the next year goes up again, the next year  it goes up and within three or four years you start shopping, find a different company that quotes lower and start over.

That makes me sad because I like having a relationship with the local agents but maybe that's not possible any more.  (Sorry, I sound like a grumpy old lady - LOL).  We had the same insurance agent for probably 30 years then the rates went ridiculous and we switched four years ago and now are switching again.

That's the picture I'm getting, too.  And it makes me sad, too, because we've been with our insurance company for so long.  But it's also helpful to know that that's a pattern across the country and it's not just us, so we can plan accordingly.

So thanks to @Bambam for starting this thread.

[Pawz4me]

11 minutes ago, Tenaj said:

From these stories, I'm going to go with the assumption that you shop, they quote you a cheaper rate than what you've got, next year it rises, the next year goes up again, the next year  it goes up and within three or four years you start shopping, find a different company that quotes lower and start over.

That makes me sad because I like having a relationship with the local agents but maybe that's not possible any more.  (Sorry, I sound like a grumpy old lady - LOL).  We had the same insurance agent for probably 30 years then the rates went ridiculous and we switched four years ago and now are switching again.

Yep, that's generally the way it works. There's a name for it but I've forgotten what it is. The theory is that the longer a customer stays with an insurance company the less likely they are to change, so the more their rates can be raised before the company risks losing the customer. We were State Farm customers for many, many years before they started following that practice. We finally gave up, shopped around and got insurance with another company for a few years. Then that company went up too much and we were able to go back to State Farm with newly reasonable rates. I figure in another year or two we'll need to shop around again. It's a very tiresome game.

[Bambam]

1 hour ago, Tenaj said:

From these stories, I'm going to go with the assumption that you shop, they quote you a cheaper rate than what you've got, next year it rises, the next year goes up again, the next year  it goes up and within three or four years you start shopping, find a different company that quotes lower and start over.

That makes me sad because I like having a relationship with the local agents but maybe that's not possible any more.  (Sorry, I sound like a grumpy old lady - LOL).  We had the same insurance agent for probably 30 years then the rates went ridiculous and we switched four years ago and now are switching again.

This has been our experience through the years as well. Switch, get lower rates, within a couple of years, you are back where you started. I was hoping that it wouldn't happen again because shopping for insurance is such a pain. Probably the companies know that. 

[elegantlion]

20 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I read an article a week or two ago that said one reason for auto insurance rate increases is that newer cars have so many sensors and other safety equipment that often have to be replaced after even minor accidents that it makes repair costs much higher than with older vehicles.

Unfortunately, those costs are trickling down to those of us with older vehicles. My car is a 2008 and my mom's is a 2002 and both of our rates increased. 

[Pawz4me]

35 minutes ago, elegantlion said:

Unfortunately, those costs are trickling down to those of us with older vehicles. My car is a 2008 and my mom's is a 2002 and both of our rates increased. 

Yes, that's the way insurance works. It's shared/pooled risk.

[elegantlion]

2 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Yes, that's the way insurance works. It's shared/pooled risk.

Yes, I get that. In the past, however, we've seen insurance prices go down as the cars get older. This is the first year we've had prices increase since we moved to this city in 2016. 

[Idalou]

5 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Yes, that's the way insurance works. It's shared/pooled risk.

But most cars lose value as they age, so the insurance companies have to pay out less. It was common to see prices remain the same and often decrease in vehicles older than around 15 years.

But also people can drop some of the optional coverages on 15 year old vehicles, too, to help lower costs.

[Idalou]

5 hours ago, elegantlion said:

Yes, I get that. In the past, however, we've seen insurance prices go down as the cars get older. This is the first year we've had prices increase since we moved to this city in 2016. 

Are you in a city that floods more so now than a few years ago, or has a lot of car thefts? That can increase rates even on older cars. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Idalou

[Bambam]

6 hours ago, elegantlion said:

Unfortunately, those costs are trickling down to those of us with older vehicles. My car is a 2008 and my mom's is a 2002 and both of our rates increased. 

But used car values have increased. We gave our oldest my old car worth maybe $8-9K probably 6 years ago when I got a new-to-me one. Last time I checked (about 4 months ago because I was curious), that car was worth $15K. No way. Used cars have never been an appreciating asset, but they were during COVID. Values are coming down here - very slowly, but they are still very high compared to pre-pandemic.  That "new-to-me" replacement car, which is now 6 years older - still worth very close to what we paid for it (according to online quote places and comparable cars for sale online). That is unbelievable. I would expect it to maybe have half the value we paid for it. 

But I'm the original poster, so I'm also concerned because an average of 12% increase 3 times in a 1.5 year period? That's huge, and definitely not anything I've seen before in 30+ years of driving and insuring cars - given that our location, cars, driving records, etc have all stayed the same. 
 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Bambam

[elegantlion]

25 minutes ago, Idalou said:

Are you in a city that floods more so now than a few years ago, or has a lot of car thefts? That can increase rates even on older cars. 

No, no real climate threats or large storms have come through. Car thefts are actually down since we moved here.