Why auto insurance costs are rising at the fastest rate in 47 years, over 20% increase from the prior year
Why auto insurance costs are rising at the fastest rate in 47 years, over 20% increase from the prior year
While car prices dip lower and gradually come back down to pre-pandemic levels, more Americans are still feeling the financial pinch from car ownership — because of insurance.
Hmm, it's almost like we should focus considerably more on simple vehicles instead of complex subscription shit boxes that we have, to cut down cost of manufacturing/materials/parts/labour and now insurance...no big money in that though.
Or you know ...public transport is also pretty damn good option over any of this. Something drastic would have to change for trains/buses/etc to become commonplace in NA though, at least in some EU countries and a few other countries in the world there's a bit of hope.
In the US, electric vehicles are only affordable for wealthy drivers. In China, they are building cheap electric cars, like $16,000 cheap. But tarrifs to protect our stagnant auto industry will keep these cars out.
It's maddening isn't it, and probably not that different between US and Canada.
I don't think you even need to go as far as China to see autoindustryasshattery in effect, just look at our Southern neighbors in Mexico who aren't getting fair share on the produced vehicles while parent companies/dealerships reap profits, but that's probably a different conversation altogether.....I mean something is seriously fucking wrong when a car dealer is also one of the biggest grocery chains and god knows what else (that one is Canada, not US)
In the US, electric vehicles are only affordable for wealthy drivers.
Here's 14 used EVs for under 5k. Yeah, they're not the greatest whizbang self driving blah blah blah, but I put almost 100k miles on a 2011 Leaf and had little issue with it, and my kid is still driving it to this day. It's all you need if you're just running around town doing errands. Rent something for long trips.
My insurance bill is higher per month than my monthly payment on my car is. This is after shopping around for insurance.
My rates jumped quite a bit too and I’m 36 years old. Two vehicles and a house. Zero tickets and accidents on top of that.
Last few years we were paying ~ 2k a year for home and auto with two cars. We're both in the 40-50 age range with perfectly clean driving records.
Last year it jumped to 3600 (we use a broker) and we shopped around and it was still the cheapest plan. Our agent said it's because all the COVID relief/incentives expired. Funny how that never came up in conversation or was ever reflected in a bill.
The Insurance industry has realized how hard it is to prove collusion.
For corporations tho. It's much easier to prove for these schmucks legally required to buy our services.
TL;DR: A bunch of dumbasses forgot how to drive during the pandemic, so now accidents are up and so is insurance.
Also we have to drive massive and super expensive cars so accidents are worse and more expensive.
Car manufacturers can't secure their shit and insurance companies have to punish everyone because of their incompetence.
One manufacturer in particular that wanted to save a buck on immobilizers, namely Hyundai Motor.
But it’s the same with homeowners. People live in areas prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires, only for the rest of our insurance to skyrocket right after another mass claim somewhere in the south or west.
Bought a house in 2021, registering my insurance at the new address DOUBLED my rate. $220 a month for 2 cars. No accidents, nothing, just bought a house and changed address.
Yeah, I moved 12 miles away once and it would have doubled my insurance. I just made a deal with the apartment owners that they would grab my insurance bills and I would keep my address there on insurance forms. I moved from that new place a couple years later into a new apartment, and the insurance was still much higher than my original zip code (though not doubled). I just kept my insurance at the first place for the next 6 years, because there was no impact on a daily basis.
It wasn't until I bought a house and was forced to change my address for house insurance that I finally "moved" away from that first apartment.
I did the same and it more than halved it moving from a southern to a northern state.
And yet, car insurance is too cheap in the U.S: https://thewaroncars.org/2024/03/19/122-car-insurance-is-too-cheap/
Cars are quite simply way too expensive, both on an individual and societal level.
My work had to change auto insurance providers after they increased their premium by 350% at renewal time. No specific explanation given of course - "rising costs through the industry". Apparently the new provider is about double the original rate. Got us all worried it would happen to our cars too. No ones mentioned anything since though. Only a matter of time I suppose.
Also why people are driving less and not buying cars.
maybe giant death machines are hard to insure?
I don't drive, and because traveling is always a direct cost to me ($20 Uber each way to the mall just to watch a movie hurts), I'm not convinced when my friends tell me how much money I'm saving. But with stuff like this, maybe I am actually saving money...
Get a ebike
Average annual cost of car ownership is something like $12000 depending on how you calculate it. That is enough money for you to take one of those $40 round trip Ubers to the mall almost every day, and any of those style trips you can replace with transit or active transportation is even more money in your pocket, if you can swing it with your locale (don't want to assume)
A lot of work you could do on a car yourself prior to 2018 is now impossible because everything in the car has sensors that talk to the on board computer. Replacing a side mirror should not involved sensor hookups.
You say that, but vehicle and collision sensors on mirrors are legitimately an amazing safety feature that should be standard on all models. Those sensors have personally saved me a couple times when someone comes up next to me when I'm trying to change lanes.
Interesting. I'm college age with a clean record and I have a motorcycle that I'm insuring for $210/year. Granted, it's a 2006 Suzuki GZ250, not exactly a fast motorcycle, but I've looked at the rates for other bikes with my provider and even a new literbike is around $400/year.