There are plenty of reasons for the double-digit increases in auto insurance rates seen in South Carolina and elsewhere in the U.S., but that doesn’t make paying the bills any easier.
Having coverage is both a prudent financial decision and a legal requirement, but there are several ways to keep the expense as low as possible.
The peak COVID-19 pandemic years gave vehicle owners a little break from rates that typically go up year after year and had increased by 33 percent from 2013 through 2018 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For the next four years, premiums stayed in a narrow range, but this year they took off again. According to the BLS, rates in July were 18 percent higher than a year earlier, and a Washington Post report claimed rates in South Carolina were up by 47 percent.
“I think the methodology might be questionable,” said Russ Dubisky, executive director of the industry-funded SC Insurance Association, referring to the newspaper article.
It’s hard to disagree, because the idea that auto insurance rates increased 47 percent in South Carolina while falling 24 percent in Georgia seems more than odd. But Dubisky said rates probably did increase in the Palmetto State by a percentage in the upper teens, and that’s still a lot.
Depending on what you drive, which company insures your ride and the coverage carried you may or may not have seen a huge premium increase.
My household insures two cars through State Farm, and nothing has changed with our coverage or claim history. This year the cost of insuring my car is up 13 percent from 2022, while the premiums on my wife’s car are up just one percent.
Your rates may have gone up a little or a lot, but it’s always a good idea to look for savings. Here are some tips:
- Big picture first: Review policies and make sure everything is correct. Do you drive as much as the insurer assumes you do? Do they list household members (such as a child) who no longer live in your home?
Many people now work at home, at least some of the time, and drive less than they used to before the pandemic. If there’s been a large reduction in miles driven yearly, that should result in a lower premium.
If you won’t be using a vehicle at all for weeks or months, you can tell your insurance company it’s temporarily out of service. That’s worth a big discount, but you can’t drive it at all during that time.
- Review coverage: It’s important to have enough insurance, but not too much. Those with vehicle loans usually have coverage required to protect the lender, but there’s discretion for the rest of us.
Premiums decrease if deductibles are increased, and fall if optional coverage is dropped, but it’s also important to have deductibles you can afford. You might be willing to pay for comprehensive coverage each year in case you hit a deer or your car gets caught in flood water or pounded by hail, or you might not.
Personally, I keep comprehensive and collision coverage on my family’s cars, but both are optional if you don’t have a loan.
- Shop around: How would you know your insurance premium is a fair deal unless you see what other companies would charge?
Different companies offer discounts for different things, which can complicate things, but making a few calls or going online could find a better insurance deal.
It’s particularly easy for those who don’t own a home to shop their auto insurance around. Homeowners typically get a “bundle” deal by having home and auto insurance with the same company, and those rates can be hard to beat.
