While most vehicle owners are used to seeing fluctuating gas prices – and trying to find ways to offset them – what they may need to pay more attention to is ever-changing insurance prices, according to a recent study.
Depending upon the month and the state, insurance rates can vary by nearly 50%. Hawaii saw a 47.9% difference between its cheapest month, December, and its most expensive month, March, last year.
Wyoming (39.7%), Washington, D.C. (35.3%) and Maryland (34.8%) were next in line with the largest variance in rates. Conversely, South Dakota had the smallest difference at 3.7% followed by Arkansas, Utah, Iowa and Kansas, which were all below 6%.
Complicating the issue is that there is no rhyme or reason to why – or even when – the rates are so disparate. The national median cost of a new full-coverage auto policy for a 35-year-old single male driver with a $500 deductible and a clean driving record was 7.5% cheaper in December than March, according to the website.
In the aforementioned case of Hawaii, it was nearly 48% cheaper in December than it was in March. December is often the least expensive month for insurance because new regulations or laws that could raise prices often go into effect at the beginning of the year.
That said, December was the most expensive month in 11 states, the study revealed. The study compared monthly premiums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“What’s most interesting is that there’s no discernible pattern to detect here,” said Mike Barry, spokesman for the nonprofit Insurance Information Institute, in a released statement.
“It appears as though the trend lines are all over the place, which doesn’t really lend itself to a clear-cut reason or hypothesis for why that’s the case.”
While December was most often the cheapest month, March was typically the most expensive nationally. It took top honors in Washington D.C. and 15 states: Alabama, Arizona, Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
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Combatting the wide range of rates to ensure the best pricing can be tough. It requires consumers to be extremely savvy about insurance trends, according to Eli Lehrer, president of the nonprofit research group The R Street Institute, who added knowing whether a state is lax or strict on how to increase rates can be implemented is extremely helpful.
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States with minimal rate regulation may allow insurers to change their rates whenever and however they please; however, in states with stricter rate regulation, insurers need to go through lengthy filing and approval processes to get rates changed.
Even simpler is tried and true method of getting multiple quotes.
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“All of this illustrates why it’s so important for consumers to regularly shop for car insurance,” said Laura Adams, senior analyst, InsuranceQuotes.com, who recommends getting at least three different quotes for insurance.
The insurance Biz is just a game of exploitation where the insurance industry tests to see how much they can abuse and discriminate against their insured. It’s a disgrace situation and eventually they will be forced to change by Federal regulators because it is so unjust as it currently exist.