Report: R.I. eighth highest in nation for car insurance rates

RHODE ISLAND RANKED eighth highest in the country for its average car insurance premium of $1,656, according to Insure.com. / COURTESY INSURE.COM
RHODE ISLAND RANKED eighth highest in the country for its average car insurance premium of $1,656, according to Insure.com. / COURTESY INSURE.COM

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is the eighth most expensive state to insure a car, according to Insure.com.
Ocean State drivers pay an average of $1,656 a year, while Michigan drivers pay the most at $2,476. Connecticut was the only other New England state to place among the top 10 highest at an average premium of $1,690, ranking seventh.
Maine held the title of the cheapest state in the nation for car insurance with an average $805 premium.

Jeffrey McDonnell, president of the Maine Insurance Agents Association, said few large urban areas, paired with the highest number of insured drivers, keeps insurance costs down in Maine.

The car insurance comparison website surveyed rates from six major carriers (Allstate, Farmers, GEICO,
Nationwide, Progressive and State Farm) in 10 ZIP codes per state, as well as Washington, D.C., averaging rates for the 20 best-selling vehicles nationwide. Rates were compiled in January 2015.

Those models, led by the Ford F-series pickup, represented 40 percent of the U.S. new-car market in 2014.

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“The car you drive matters, of course,” Insure.com consumer analyst Penny Gusner said in a statement. “But where you live usually matters more.”

Last year’s best-selling car, the Toyota Camry LE, costs an average of $1,363 nationwide to insure for Insure.com’s sample driver, a 40-year-old single male homeowner with a clean record who drives 12 miles to work each day. But that same driver would pay as little as $843 in Maine and as much as $2,662 in Michigan, Insure.com said.
The website said that the other least expensive states after Maine were Ohio with an $843 premium, 36 percent less than the national average of $1,311; Idaho, $877, 33 percent less; Iowa, $886, 32 percent less; and New Hampshire, $905, 31 percent less.

After Michigan, the other top five most expensive states are: Montana, $1,886, 44 percent more than the national average premium; District of Columbia, $1,799, 37 percent more; Louisiana, $1,774, 35 percent more; and Florida, $1,742, 33 percent more.

The report said that one of the reasons Michigan has such a high rate is because of its no-fault auto insurance policies that guarantee unlimited medical benefits. Insurers pay medical claims up to $530,000, and the nonprofit Michigan Catastrophic Claim Association covers medical costs exceeding that threshold, Insure.com said.

The other New England states were ranked as follows: Massachusetts, 16th with $1,460, and Vermont, 45th with $957.

Other factors that influence rates can include high theft rates, widespread fraud and a higher concentration of drivers in urban areas, Gusner said. Those also mean rates change not just from state to state but from ZIP code to ZIP code.

“Your driving record and your car are the same no matter where you live,” Gusner said, “but change your ZIP code just a couple of towns the wrong way and your rates can double.”

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