Car insurance rates in state soar
Cars weaving through traffic at 90 miles an hour beneath billboards touting personal injury lawyers are a fact of life in much of
Experts say you can blame those three factors for much of the spike in auto insurance premiums in
Approved car insurance rates jumped by 10.7 percent in
"There's a reason that people are starting to get cranky," said
Car insurance rates nationwide have risen steadily for a decade but have spiked since 2022, according to
But premiums would be a lot higher if auto insurers could get the rates that they want when you factor in their losses in recent years.
"The most important thing to know is that auto insurance prices go up when claims go up, that's the No. 1 driver," Sullivan said. "So the question isn't so much why your price is going up, it's why claims are going up."
Dangerous driving outlasts pandemic
Spending some time driving on the interstate highways in
A recent spate of wrong-way crashes and a series of high-profile highway deaths in
Deaths on Connecticut roads surged to 366 in 2022 -- the worst year for traffic fatalities since 1989, according to the state
Crashes at high speed cause more deaths, serious injuries and damage, driving up costs for all involved. And repairing that damage is more costly than ever due to the sensors, batteries and computers now standard in newer cars.
A windshield repair that could be done in a parking lot for a few hundred dollars a decade ago now requires recalibration of sensors and thousands of dollars in labor and parts. The worker who fixes that windshield is no longer a backyard tinkerer who is good with a wrench, but a highly skilled technician with extensive training -- and an hourly rate to match.
"Cars are becoming more and more complicated every single day," Sullivan said. "Every day an older car without sensors and things like that is being replaced by a newer car which is much more difficult to repair."
'Perfect storm' hikes insurance costs
The combination of dangerous driving and increasingly complex cars is creating "a perfect storm," for both policy holders and insurers," said
"Simple accidents are costing a lot more, and on top of that, you're seeing people driving at faster speeds," Somlan said. "So losses that are happening are actually causing more damage and more bodily injury."
Another factor driving up losses for insurers is auto theft, which has crept up in recent years in
"People think of homeowners first when they think of (weather damage), but that also has an impact on vehicles," Smolan said. "We've even seen in the Northeast, which was very uncommon in the past, some hail." The dents and windshield damage caused by hail can cost thousands to fix and repairs are fully covered by comprehensive policies.
Although
Another factor in premium increases relates to those jokey billboards advertising personal injury lawyers along the highways. Attorneys in private practice are taking on more accident cases than in the past, further driving up costs for insurers.
"The percentage of auto accidents that involve attorneys fighting for the last nickel, engaging doctors and chiropractors to make sure they can drive up the costs, that has risen substantially in the last several years," Sullivan said. "What used to be a quick and easy settlement is now a long and protracted fight."
State regulators moderate rate hikes
In all,
Insurers still want to do business in
"The industry is coming in and they're showing the losses," Bradner said. "We do need to make sure that the companies are there ... availability is critical."
And when you factor in the cost of living and our state's love of high-tech cars,
Even with our relatively high premiums,
"If we think they're being too aggressive on their trends, we push back on them," Bradner said. Since 2021, the state dialed back rate requests to the tune of
With so many companies vying for
"We have a very competitive marketplace in
Taking into consideration cost of living and insurers' losses in recent years, "
Smolan of
"If I haven't had a violation or I haven't had an accident and my car's a year older, I should be paying less, not more," Smolan said, echoing customer concerns about recent price increases. "We're trying to do our best to educate them on the reason why, but there's absolutely frustration with folks. Because again, it's just another expense that's increasing."
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