How to Deal With Rising Auto Insurance Rates

The higher premiums are, in fact, pushing drivers to shop around for lower rates, according to recent findings from J.D. Power. “They’re actively looking for a better deal,” Mr. Crewdson said.

The share of households shopping for auto insurance in the prior month averaged 13 percent in March, the highest since mid-2021, according to J.D. Power, which based its findings on daily online surveys of up to 1,000 consumers. The average switch rate — households who changed insurers in the prior month — ticked above 4 percent in March, compared with an average of 3.6 percent for all of 2022 and 3.4 percent for 2021.

If you’re looking to buy a car, you can help keep insurance costs down from the start when car shopping, by focusing on models that are less costly to insure, Mr. Bell said. Rather than a large pickup truck or S.U.V., consider crossover vehicles, he said, which tend to be less expensive to insure.

If your car is an older model with a lower value, you could cut your premium by reducing collision coverage, which pays to fix or replace your car when it’s damaged in a crash with another car or an object like a fence, and comprehensive coverage, which covers the theft of your car and damage from things like branches falling on it.

Insurers also offer usage-based insurance, which involves having a device in your car that monitors your mileage and driving habits. The insurer then factors the data into your premium. If you are a safe driver and comfortable sharing data with your insurer, or if you are driving less, you could benefit. “It’s a way to save money, for some people,” Mr. Bell said.

Here are some questions and answers about how to lower your car insurance premiums:

Would improving my credit score help?

Raising your credit score may help lower your premium. Paying your bills on time and avoiding maxing out your credit cards — keeping what credit bureaus call “utilization” low — can help increase your score. You should also limit the number of new credit card accounts you open and loans that you take out. You can check your credit report for accuracy free by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.

Some insurers don’t use credit scoring in setting premiums — CURE Auto Insurance, for instance, says it does not — so it’s worth asking about when you are shopping for coverage.