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More drivers are shopping for new car insurance due to rate increases

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Insurance rates are increasing, but vehicle owners aren’t sitting still waiting for the situation to change. A new study from LexisNexis showed that more people are shopping around for car insurance, switching companies to save money and get better coverage options.

The study showed that more than 40 percent of insured drivers had shopped for a new policy in 2023, up almost 5 percent from the year before. Insurers spent less on advertising, which could have played a role, but the main driving force is that people want to save money, and they are not hesitant to make a move when they find something better.

This situation presents some challenges for insurance companies, even the ones that are taking on more customers than they lose. There are more multi-generational households as families move in together to save money. That has driven up the number of drivers on each policy while reducing the number of new policies. Beyond the potential lost revenue, insurers could miss risk factors for people in multi-driver households.

Because of that shopping around, insurers have seen a drop in their customer renewal rates, with the average renewals dropping from 83 percent to 80 percent. Many of the customers making moves between coverage options are those with clean driving records and low-risk drivers, leaving insurers with “the rest” of the driving population that costs more to insure. LexisNexis pointed out that insurers need to focus on pricing and satisfaction for the lower-risk vehicle owners to avoid ending up with a pool of expensive-to-insure drivers.

If you’re considering changing insurance companies, doing plenty of research up front would be wise. Consider your current deductible, coverage limits, and benefits before making a move. If you save a few dollars on insurance premiums but end up with a larger deductible or fewer coverage options, you won’t have saved anything if you get in a wreck.

Study: Insurance claims have become significantly more severe since 2020

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We’ve been hearing about rising car insurance rates for a while now, but while it’s easy to blame corporate greed for the increases, some of the blame lies in the fact that insurance claims have become significantly more severe over the past four years. LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ recent study found that the costs for bodily injury and property damage claims have climbed steadily in recent times, contributing to the rise in premiums.

Since 2020, claims for bodily injury have risen in severity by 20 percent, while material damages coverage increased 47 percent. Parts and labor shortages contributed, as did increases in the costs of medical care. As LexisNexis pointed out, the more severe accidents have raised questions about minimum coverage limits and whether they are adequate to cover the increased costs.

There are 43 states plus Washington, D.C., that require $25,000 or less in coverage, while four states have $30,000 minimum coverage limits. Three others have minimums of $50,000, barely covering the average new vehicle price in the United States.

Total loss claims have increased 29 percent since 2020, and over a quarter of collisions in 2023 resulted in totaled vehicles. These claims are more expensive for the insurer and can be customer service headaches for drivers. Almost half of the people surveyed said they were dissatisfied with their experience following a total-loss accident, and 40 percent said it took a month or longer to receive payment for their claim.

Another factor contributing to the severity of claims is the fact that a greater number of people are getting legal help from an attorney. A majority of study respondents – 85 percent – said an attorney had approached them after an accident. Around 60 percent had been contacted by two or more lawyers, and more than half of the people who obtained legal help received more money from their settlements.

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato and GMC Acadia driven | Autoblog Podcast #837

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Plus some sad discontinuation news and rumors

Continue reading Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato and GMC Acadia driven | Autoblog Podcast #837

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato and GMC Acadia driven | Autoblog Podcast #837 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2024 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why the Fourth of July is summer’s deadliest holiday on the roads

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Independence Day is about fireworks, parades and picnics, sure, but there’s another reality — and it’s a sad counterpoint to what’s supposed to be a celebration of freedom. The Fourth of July is the deadliest summer holiday on the roads.

This is partly because the holiday is pegged to a specific date. Though it can come on a weekend or be weekend adjacent, some years it falls midweek, on Thursday in 2024 for example. You don’t always get a long weekend like Labor Day or Memorial Day, so driving travel can be more concentrated, sometimes even down to the one day. A lot of drinking and other bad decisions can be concentrated on that day too. And more than those other holidays, Fourth of July events coast-to-coast bring out huge crowds. 

The folks at the Jerry insurance app took a hard look at NHTSA crash data along with Census Bureau info and came up with some numbers and charts that you might find sobering (literally) this Fourth, when a record 60.6 million Americans are expected to be traveling: 

  • There has been an average total of 429 fatal crashes nationwide on the Fourth of July each year between 2016-2022. That’s up 17% from the average in 2008-2015.
  • There were nearly 500 deaths by impaired drivers over a Fourth holiday weekend in 2022.
  • Nearly half the crashes, 47%, involved some combination of speeding, drinking and drugs. A third, 31%, involved speeding; a third, 32%, involved at least one driver under the influence of alcohol; and another 12% involved drugs. 
  • Three-quarters (73%) of car-crash fatalities on the Fourth are male. The majority had been drinking.
  • Over half (52%) of those killed in crashes are under 40 years old. Two-thirds (66%) of the deaths in that age group were in drinking-related crashes.
  • There’s a huge time-of-day uptick for deadly crashes, happening between 9 p.m. and midnight as people drive home from parties and fireworks shows. There’s another uptick after 1 a.m. when you add bar closings to that.
  • In some cities and states, the carnage is worse than others. Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit have the most fatal crashes, likewise California, Texas and Florida, which is not surprising given their size. (California alone registered three times as many fatal crashes as New York).
  • But when measured per capita, Detroit, Memphis and Kansas City are the worst. Also Montana and the Dakotas, perhaps because of greater distances driven. 
  • And the problem is not just cars — Mothers Against Drunk Driving points out that boating fatalities involving alcohol are also a big problem over the Fourth. The U.S. Coast Guard concurs that the effects of alcohol on judgment and reaction times are greatly amplified on the water.

To address the problem of young people drinking on the Fourth, MADD recommends using strategies from the Power of Parents Handbook, saying a five-year study concluded that the book helps teens become more likely to decline rides from impaired drivers and less likely to drive when impaired themselves. 

The Jerry app’s report features a dozen revealing charts. We’ve included two of them here, but for a deeper dive, you should check out the full report.

On the Fourth, fireworks aren’t the only risk. Have a safe and sane one.

2025 Buick Enclave changes trim names and pricing

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Continue reading 2025 Buick Enclave changes trim names and pricing

2025 Buick Enclave changes trim names and pricing originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 2 Jun 2024 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Second Drive Review: Moab made easy

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Continue reading 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Second Drive Review: Moab made easy

2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Second Drive Review: Moab made easy originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 9 May 2024 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These states have the highest rates of road rage gun violence

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Road rage on its own is bad enough, but things move to a whole new level of stress and danger when firearms are involved. While drivers in some states see very little traffic-related gun violence, a handful show alarming numbers of incidents that could make driving an actual life-or-death situation for some.

ConsumerAffairs dove into the data, finding the states with the most and least road rage, but the most interesting data points in the study come from its look at gun violence. There have been 2.08 incidents of gun-related violence per 100,000 residents in New Mexico, making it the worst state on the list. The “top ten” states with the most gun violence per 100,000 residents include:

  • New Mexico: 2.08/100k residents
  • District of Columbia: 1.64
  • Tennessee: 1.19
  • Wisconsin: 1.10
  • Arizona: 1.02
  • Texas: 0.98
  • Colorado: 0.81
  • Kansas: 0.68
  • Missouri: 0.66
  • Georgia: 0.61

It’s important to take these numbers in context, as the population varies wildly between some of the states on the list. New Mexico had just over two million residents in 2022, while Texas had a shade over 30 million. That could make New Mexicans look like gun-crazed lunatics due to the sparse population, and Texans look less dangerous, despite the fact that there are 15 times more people living there.

ConsumerAffairs shared some pointers on avoiding road rage, which are especially important in these shockingly violent times. If you’re sharing the road with an aggressive driver, back off and give them as much space as possible. Move over when you see someone tailgating, as it’s best to get out of the way rather than provoke them by brake-checking or slowing down.

Always be aware of your surroundings, and don’t hesitate to call the police if you’re experiencing harassment or if someone is following you. Remember, arriving alive is better than getting a few moments of satisfaction from responding to an aggressive driver or, worse yet, seeing the business end of their firearm.

Study: These are the most expensive vehicles to drive per mile

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Gas prices have climbed to record highs in some places, but the data show that vehicles with internal combustion engines are still cheaper to drive than EVs. In fact, according to a recent iSeeCars study, the 15 most expensive vehicles to drive per mile are all plug-in models.

iSeeCars looked at the number and cost of miles driven by different fuel types between November 2022 and April 2023. EVs were driven the least and were the most expensive to drive 1,000 miles. Gas cars were driven the most but were slightly more expensive to operate over that same mileage cycle. Breaking things down further by model, the most expensive vehicles to operate on a per-mile basis were all plug-ins, with the Porsche Taycan being the priciest.

The 10 most expensive vehicles per mile:

The higher purchase price, combined with the fact that higher-end luxury vehicles tend to be driven less, pushes their average cost per mile higher than other models. That point becomes more apparent when looking at the two Porsche’s average new prices, which land at $138,914 and $111,985 for the Taycan and Cayenne PHEV, respectively. They’re also the only two in the study with six-figure average price tags.

Hybrids, on the other hand, comprise most of the 15 cheapest vehicles to operate per mile. The Honda Insight had a per-mile cost of just $1.46, followed by the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid at $1.81 and the Toyota Corolla Hybrid at $1.86. iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said that hybrids are becoming more attractive for buyers as the cost gap between them and traditional gasoline models continues to shrink.

The 10 cheapest cars to drive per mile in 2024

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Automakers are increasingly stepping back from EV-only product roadmaps in favor of more hybrids and PHEVs, and recent driving cost data between November 2022 and April 2023 from iSeeCars shows that this might be good for buyers in more ways than one. While electric vehicles can save money on gas, they cost more and are driven less, which makes the cost per mile much higher than that of other fuel types. Hybrids were found to be much less expensive to drive, dominating the list of the cheapest cars to drive per mile.

The 10 cheapest cars to drive per mile

The Honda Insight was the least expensive in the iSeeCars study, at $1,463 per 1,000 miles, or $1.46 per mile. Other vehicles on the list include:

Hybrid vehicle pricing continues to fall, making them more comparable with gas models. Those more reasonable purchase prices, combined with in-town fuel savings, make them appealing for buyers looking to put some miles on the clock, driving down their average cost per mile. Only one PHEV made the top 10 list, with two in the top 15, including the Toyota Prius Prime in 12th place at $2.71 per mile.

EVs are more expensive to buy than other fuel types, and high-end models tend to be driven less, giving them some of the highest per-mile costs in the study. The Porsche Taycan was the priciest vehicle in the study, at $22.02 per mile. The Porsche Cayenne PHEV, with its six-figure average purchase price, was second most expensive at $14.68. iSeeCars attributes many of the higher prices to the cars’ extreme average purchase prices, all of which exceeded $48,000. The BMW i3 was the cheapest, while the Taycan was the most expensive, at almost $140,000 on average.

EVs are the most expensive vehicles to operate over 1,000 miles, according to iSeeCars

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It’s no secret that charging an electric vehicle is often less expensive than fueling a gas car, but many don’t think about the higher purchase prices. A recent iSeeCars study showed that people tend to drive EVs much less, making their cost per mile much higher than that of internal combustion vehicles.

iSeeCars’ research looked at the costs to operate various fuel types between November 2022 and April 2023, finding that EV owners not only drove far fewer miles than gas owners, but their average costs to operate those vehicles over 1,000 miles were much higher. People drove EVs an average of 10,256 miles during that period, seeing costs of $5,108 per 1,000 miles. In contrast, owners drove gas vehicles 12,813 miles, averaging $3,123 over the same distance. The costs per 1,000 miles for other fuel types in the study include:

  • Hybrids: $3,056
  • Gas Cars: $3,123
  • Plug-In Hybrids: $4,351
  • EVs: $5,108

EV owners may worry about range and spotty charging infrastructure, which could contribute to the smaller number of miles driven. The higher purchase price of each vehicle is spread over fewer miles, making them significantly more expensive to drive. iSeeCars’ study found an average EV price of $52,387, compared to the $40,009 gas buyers paid.

Higher-end EVs likely played an outsized role in that average price. The most expensive three-year-old model over 1,000 miles was the Porsche Taycan EV, which cost an average of $138,914 when new. The Porsche Cayenne PHEV was second, with an average purchase price of $111,985, and the Tesla Model S was third most expensive, at $96,394.

iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer pointed out that hybrids have become more popular as automakers electrify popular models. They’re also much cheaper to buy than EVs and offer better fuel economy, especially in the city. Brauer predicted that hybrids would become the dominant drivetrain in the industry over the next few years, outpacing gas models as more companies backtrack on EV-only strategies.