Huge losses from national disasters prompt industry to jack up prices and pull back from some markets; ‘worst possible scenario’ for consumers
After Allstate suffered billions of dollars in losses and failed to get the rate increases it wanted, it resorted to the nuclear option.
The insurance giant threatened last fall to stop renewing auto insurance for customers in three states that hadn’t given in to its demands, which would have left those policyholders scrambling for coverage. The states blinked.
In December, New Jersey approved auto rate increases for Allstate averaging 17%, and New York, a 15% hike. Regulators in California are allowing Allstate to boost auto rates by 30%, but still haven’t decided on its request for a 40% increase in home-insurance rates after the insurer refused to write new policies.
For many Americans, getting insurance for both their cars and homes has gone from a routine, generally manageable expense to a do-or-die ordeal that can strain household budgets.
The only two states that don’t require some form of car insurance are New Hampshire and Virginia.
So I guess we’re all fucked in the other states?
So Virginia is weird. You can technically drive without insurance but you have to pay a one time fee to DMV and register as uninsured. In truth though you will not likely get an auto loan without it. And good luck if you get in an accident. I’m guessing that this is a hold over for vehicles that are “farm use” or for “antique vehicles” that might need to use the roadways occasionally but don’t really need expensive coverage.
You also have to pay the uninsured motor vehicle fee when you renew registration, so that comes out it $500/year or $40/mo. So you end up paying 1/3 to 1/2 of insurance and don’t get any coverage.
In Va, it’s not a 1 time fee, it’s a $500 fee on top of your yearly registration.
But that exemption it’s also going away this year in July. After that insurance will be required.
I didn’t know it was annual. Wow that’s even worse.
That was kind of the point, they want people to have insurance.
Car insurance costs more than $500 a year generally.
Technically you are not required to have auto insurance. The law (most states if not all?) requires “financial responsibility”. This can be achieved by filing a bond with the state instead of paying for insurance.
However, insurance is far and away the most cost effective way to meet financial responsibility requirements. The coverage is greater and the costs are much cheaper.
Or, don’t drive. Spend the money on investing in mass transit and walkable cities and then you don’t have the cost of insurance, a vehicle, maintenance, or fuel. If only it were that easy…
It isn’t that easy. I would love it, but suggesting it’s easy is ludicrous. It would take an incredible amount of money and time and effort and, in general, it is an effort worth making. But it won’t help those of us who live well outside city limits down a country road.
Agreed, it’s not easy, and I don’t suggest it is.
I’m in a similar boat, living in a suburb in county land where the closest grocery store is 15 minutes away. There’s no chance in hell Phoenix will move away from cars in my lifetime.
My only option is to move to a city with infrastructure already built. Housing will be more, but not having the costs associated with car ownership vastly outweighs the cost of housing increases. But again, it’s not that easy.
The truth is, there is no easy answer to the rising costs. Public companies must make a profit. If there are more frequent losses and those losses are more expensive, the only thing to do is raise premiums.
Making the companies “public” like Citizens doesn’t fix things either, it just makes them susceptible to politics, which will always come back to bite.
Get hit by someone that’s totally irresponsible in New Hampshire and tell me you’re not fucked!
Obviously. I’m just saying- what are you supposed to do if you need insurance but no one will insure you and this is happening to huge numbers of people? I’m sure the Fuck Cars folks would tell us to just not drive. I live in a semi-rural subdivision down a country road from a four-lane highway, two miles from the nearest bus station. It was -16 this morning when I woke up.
For starters you are supposed to demand better transit. While expensive, there is no reason you can’t get great transit to your sub division - and since it is great transit everyone could get rid of a car (not all cars: you keep the SUV to tow the boat!) and save money overall.
I believe the reason is in the first part of that sentence. Who’s going to pay for it? We’re not inside city limits. There’s only a city bus. There isn’t a county bus and there never has been.
That is a political problem. Those can be fixed. I don’t know how, but they can be fixed.
If you don’t know how, what makes you think anyone else does?
You and your fellow citizens are. That’s why it’s called public transit. There should be a light rail for you that’s accessible. Obviously there’ll still be some commuting you have to figure out yourself but most of the world has figured out getting a train from suburbs to city.
How? No one is collecting funds.
Light rail going off a highway miles out of city limits, down a country road and into a subdivision?
My last job was 10 minutes by car even further away from the city than I am and the only access road was on the highway. Have fun with that.
I have a rider on my insurance specifically to cover additional costs incurred if I get in an accident where the other party is at fault, but has no insurance themselves. It doesn’t cost that much more… yet.