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| Providence |
Thousands of Rhode Island drivers will see their auto insurance bills increase between 6 and 9 percent, on average, in the coming months, as premiums rise at the fastest pace in more than five years.
Insurance companies and industry officials blame the surge on lower gas prices and an improving economy, which has put more drivers on the road — and in turn has increased the number of accidents, including fender-benders and collisions during the record snowfall in 2015.
Nationally, consumers spent 6.6 percent more in May on auto insurance, the largest one-year increase since 2003.
As cars have become more sophisticated, equipped with cameras and sensors, the cost of repairing them has climbed, along with health care expenses for injured drivers and passengers, insurance executives say.
The uptick in driving was seen in US Department of Transportation figures released last week, which showed the estimated miles traveled in 2015 increased by 3.5 percent from the previous year.
And after declining for most of the last decade, traffic fatalities were up 7.7 percent last year.
Meanwhile, the estimated average payout for a bodily injury claim rose by 32 percent between 2005 and 2013, to $15,500, according to the most recent data from the Insurance Research Council, an industry group in Pennsylvania.
Some of the steepest increases are at companies that have relatively small shares of the Rhode Island market, but they still cover tens of thousands of motorists. Texas-based United Services Automobile Association, or USAA, has been raising rates on its more than 20,000 Rhode Island drivers by an average of 8 percent since May, the insurer’s first increase in eight years.The uptick in driving was seen in US Department of Transportation figures released last week, which showed the estimated miles traveled in 2015 increased by 3.5 percent from the previous year.
And after declining for most of the last decade, traffic fatalities were up 7.7 percent last year.
Meanwhile, the estimated average payout for a bodily injury claim rose by 32 percent between 2005 and 2013, to $15,500, according to the most recent data from the Insurance Research Council, an industry group in Pennsylvania.
But before consumers switch companies to avoid a rate increase they should make sure they can get comparable coverage and discounts, such as accident forgiveness, particularly if they have young drivers on their policies, Scott Simpson of Simpson Insurance, Pascoag, RI 401-568-0681 said.
“Consumers saved a lot of money with some of these companies with their low rates. Now it will be interesting to see if they shop around,”
What an interesting article. I hadn't realized the correlation between lower gas prices and higher insurance, but it makes a ton of sense! I still can't get my mind around how much bodily injury payout has risen. 32% in 8 years? Wow, what an increase! Really great information, though, really makes me think about insurance and what effects it.
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