Compare and Switch

The car insurance quote you have not re-run since you bought the car

Between 2021 and 2023 the average American paid 221 dollars more per vehicle without changing anything. Then the index turned, and most people did not notice that either.

by The editors · August 24, 2026 · 8 min read

You chose this policy once, and it has renewed itself ever since. In 2023 the average American spent 1,281.60 dollars per insured vehicle on liability, collision and comprehensive together – 19.21 percent more than in 2019^[1]. In the single year from 2022 to 2023 the countrywide average rose 13.98 percent^[2].

Here is that run in full: 1,075.08 dollars in 2019, 1,047.76 in 2020, 1,060.23 in 2021, 1,124.45 in 2022, 1,281.60 in 2023^[3]. Somebody who last shopped around when they bought the car in 2021 was, two years later, paying 221 dollars more a year for the same thing – not because anything changed at their end, but because renewal is a decision the insurer makes and the customer merely receives.

And then it stopped

This is the part most articles on the subject have not caught up with. By mid-2026 the price of motor vehicle insurance was falling: the consumer price index for it dropped 0.3 percent in July 2026, after a 2.0 percent fall in June^[7]. A warning about relentless increases is now several quarters out of date, and repeating it would be the same mistake as never re-reading the renewal notice – just in the other direction.

What that means practically: a policy priced during the 2023 peak has had time to become expensive relative to what is now on the market. Which is precisely the situation in which a quote is worth the forty-five minutes.

The number is mostly about where the car is parked

The countrywide average hides an enormous spread. In 2023 the median state paid 1,114 dollars per insured vehicle – well below the 1,281 national average, which is pulled up by a handful of large, expensive states^[4]. At the top: Florida at 1,863.82 dollars, ahead of New York (1,752.55) and Louisiana (1,749.22)^[5]. At the bottom: North Dakota at 807.77, then Maine (856.28) and Idaho (863.96)^[6].

Same driver, same car, same record: more than a thousand dollars a year apart depending on the state. Almost none of that is something the driver did. It is worth knowing before you read a national average as a verdict on your own driving.

What the forty-five minutes is worth

Loaded with the national average against the median state, and three quarters of an hour of effort. To be clear about what this is: not a promise of a saving. Nobody can tell you what a quote will come back with, and we are not going to pretend the gap between two published averages is your gap. What the calculator gives you is the arithmetic – put in your own renewal figure and the best quote you actually receive, and it tells you what your hour was worth.

That last number is the honest test of whether shopping around is worth doing, and it is the one no comparison site shows you – because it is also the number that would occasionally say no.

What you can do about it

1. Get three quotes before the renewal date, not after

   Insurers price new business differently from renewals, and the leverage disappears the moment the policy auto-renews. Put a reminder four weeks before the date. Three quotes, same cover levels, same deductibles – if they are not the same, you are comparing two different products and the cheaper one is cheaper for a reason.

2. Take your own renewal notice to your own insurer first

   The cheapest switch is often not a switch. Existing insurers hold retention pricing they do not volunteer, and a competing quote in hand is the only thing that reliably unlocks it. This takes one phone call and costs nothing – and if it works, you have kept your claims history and your no-claims record where they are.

3. Re-check the deductible, it is the lever nobody moves

   The deductible was set once, probably at the default, probably when the car was worth more than it is now. Raising it lowers the premium and raises what you would pay after an incident – which is a real trade and only worth making if you have the cash to absorb it. Work out whether you do with the emergency fund calculator first; without a cushion, a higher deductible is a cheaper policy and a more expensive accident.

4. Check whether you are still insuring a car for more than it is worth

   Collision and comprehensive pay out the vehicle's value, not what you owe or what you paid. On an older car there is a point where the annual premium for that cover plus the deductible approaches what the insurer would ever hand over. That is arithmetic, not opinion, and on old cars it often comes out clearly – but it is your risk to carry, so run the numbers before dropping anything.

Frequently asked

Sources

1. 2023 Auto Insurance Database Average Premium Supplement: average expenditure 1,281.60 dollars per insured vehicle, 19.21 percent above 2019, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
2. Auto Insurance Database Report: countrywide average expenditure rose 13.98 percent from 2022 to 2023, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
3. Auto Insurance Database Report: countrywide average expenditure 1,075.08 dollars (2019), 1,047.76 (2020), 1,060.23 (2021), 1,124.45 (2022), 1,281.60 (2023), National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
4. Auto Insurance Database Report: median state expenditure 1,114 dollars per insured vehicle in 2023, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
5. Auto Insurance Database Report: Florida 1,863.82 dollars, New York 1,752.55, Louisiana 1,749.22 per insured vehicle in 2023, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
6. Auto Insurance Database Report: North Dakota 807.77 dollars, Maine 856.28, Idaho 863.96 per insured vehicle in 2023, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, retrieved August 24, 2026.
7. Consumer Price Index news release: motor vehicle insurance index fell 0.3 percent in July 2026 after a 2.0 percent decline in June, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved August 24, 2026.

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