Cheaper Car Insurance Quotes in February
Auto Insurance Rates Drop 1% for Drivers Comparing Prices Online
Mar 5, 2009
The one-month drop in average annual auto insurance premiums quoted by Insurance.com in February 2009 doesn’t necessarily mean that car insurance rates will continue to decrease in 2009.
However, the fact that quoted car insurance rates dipped an average of 1% from January 2009 and 1.2% when compared with the prior quarter in 2008 is encouraging. This is particularly good news for consumers searching online for cheapest car insurance rates.
The following analysis presents selected data on the lowest average annual car insurance rates that were quoted to consumers by over a dozen of America’s leading auto insurers via Insurance.com. Statistics below reflect quotes from 46 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, but exclude Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York.
States with Biggest Decreases in Quoted Auto Rates
The following list shows the average quoted annual car insurance premium for February 2009, ranked by states with the largest percentage decreases in premium costs.
- Vermont … US$1,257 (down $168, -11.8% from January 2009)
- District of Columbia … $2,880 (down $272, -8.6%)
- New England … $1,534 (down $116, -7%)
- Pennsylvania … $2,183 (down $108, -4.7%)
- South Dakota … $1,453 (down $67, -4.4%)
- Kansas … $1,664 (down $73, -4.2%)
- North Carolina … $1,620 (down $63, -3.7%)
- Alabama … $1,582 (down $59, -3.6%)
- West Virginia … $2,020 (down $74, -3.5%)
- Rhode Island … $2,388 (down $82, -3.3%).
Other States Experiencing Cheaper Car Insurance
Online auto insurance quotes in this study also fell or remained the same in the following states.
- Missouri … US$1,934 (down $59, -3%)
- Arizona … $1,912 (down $55, -2.8%)
- Colorado … $1,639 (down $46, -2.8%)
- Montana … $1,612 (down $46, -2.8%)
- Florida … $2,007 (down $55, -2.7%)
- Washington … $1,848 (down $46, -2.4%)
- Oregon … $1,610 (down $30, -1.9%)
- Minnesota … $1,632 (down $30, -1.8%)
- Indiana … $1,503 (down $19, -1.2%)
- Tennessee … $1,563 (down $13, -0.9%)
- Maine … $1,348 (down $10, -0.8%)
- Missouri … $1,624 (down $14, -0.8%)
- New Mexico … $1,862 (down $15, -0.8%)
- Louisiana … $2,613 (down $18, -0.7%)
- California … $1,829 (down $10, -0.6%).
Consumers looking for discounted car insurance quotes in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio and Texas experienced little or no changes in average annual premiums from January 2009.
Cheapest Online Auto Insurance Quotes by State
As of February 2009, the following states offer the lowest cost online auto insurance quotes among the jurisdictions observed in this study. Shown below are both the average annual premium quoted and the percentage difference from the national average annual rate for February 2009.
- Vermont … US$1,257 (33.4% less than the national average quoted rate of $1,888)
- Ohio … $1,318 (30.2% less)
- Maine … $1,348 (28.6% less)
- Iowa … $1,367(27.6% less)
- Wisconsin … $1,376 (27.1% less)
- Idaho … $1,382 (26.8% less)
- South Dakota … $1,453 (23% less)
- Indiana … $1,503 (20.4% less)
- New England … $1,534 (18.8% less)
- Illinois … $1,540 (18.4% less)
- Tennessee … $1,563 (17.2% less)
- New Hampshire … $1,568 (17% less)
- Alabama … $1,582 (16.2% less).
Trend of Lower Car Insurance Quotes Continues in February
Average annual car insurance rates had increased in 8 of the past 12 months. Lately, consumers who compare auto insurance quotes online do have a right to be more optimistic that premiums are starting to stabilize – at least in the short-term. This is because average premiums in this study have gone down in 3 of the past 4 months ending with February 2009.
Sources for this Article
This article presents independent calculations and insights based on online auto insurance quote data provided by Insurance.com’s RateWatch for Car Insurance.
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