Auto Insurance Question

[kgtest]

I need to look at switching. Been with SF forever. I wasn't happy when they added an accident surcharge after filing a glass claim a while back.


$985 to insure a 2013 Camry that drives 25k/yr
$1057 to insure a 2014 Silverado
$1660 for Home Insurance on 1990 two story.



I like how it only costs me $72 more to insure a vehicle that costs 2x to replace.


I feel like the biggest factor is probably miles driven/year next to prior accidents/points.


If you drive low miles and have zero points, it would be easy to shop around.



My wife has been driving 3 years now at like 25k mi/year. You would think experience would account for something.



I used to validate the rate sheet changes for an auto insurer years ago. I think there were sometimes over 100 different variables that went into the rates. It all started with the zip code the driver drives in though.

 

[scrabbler1]

I get that, but it does not seem to work that way in practice.

Instead it seems that if you have a claim, they raise your rates because you're a higher risk. And, even if you don't have any claims, they raise your rates because they need to spread the risk of other claims across the insured base.

But, I have yet to have an insurer call me and say: You haven't had any claims in xx years of driving. We'd like to reduce your rates.

In my years in the industry, we often filed for rate decreases when the projected losses were smaller than the projected premiums. With my previous car, the one I owned from 1992-2007, sometimes my overall rates went down, sometimes they went up. The Comp and Collision rates went down as the car aged, sometimes offsetting all increases in No-Fault and Liability. In my current car, there has been a general increase, mainly because Comp and Collision have not gone down much as the car aged, while No-Fault and Liability have gone up.

My insurance company has discounts which rise as I stay clean and with them over the years, once introducing an additional longevity discount which helped to offset other increases.

 

[Rustward]

Has anyone bothered to compare this "rate creep" to inflation?

 

[scrabbler1]

Has anyone bothered to compare this "rate creep" to inflation?

Inflation is one of many factors which influence auto insurance rates. It does put upward pressure on rates, for sure. But that upward pressure can be offset by factors which put downward pressure on rates, such as a car's declining book value, the aging population, technology improvements, and auto safety improvements.