Website Spotlight: The Zebra

As Americans look to stay on track with their 2019 budgeting goals, new research published today reveals that car insurance rates are on the rise for 4 out of 5 (83%) U.S. drivers.

Americans are paying more for car insurance than ever before:

• Current rates are 23% higher than in 2011 ($1,470 on average)
• Over this time, some states’ rates increased more than 80% – only 10 states had a net rate decrease
• Insurance companies are adopting technologies to monitor driver behavior, which has the potential to benefit safe drivers and provide extensive data about driving trends

In The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance report, they analyzed more than 61 million car insurance rates across all 34,000 U.S. zip codes to examine how each rating factor affects car insurance pricing. They looked at what trends are causing car insurance rates to skyrocket or plummet – weather? distracted driving? – and where that’s happening nationwide.

I had a chance to do an interview to learn more.

What contributes to rising insurance costs?

Car insurance costs vary quite a bit based on where you live, but rates are rising for most Americans. Why? 

a. A lot of it has to do with weather — fires, floods, wind and hail damage, etc. Bad storms can increase the number of claims in a certain area and cause insurers to raise rates. 

b. If you live in an increasingly populated area, that increased traffic also causes more crashes and claims, and possibly more vehicle theft. c. Finally, people are engaging in riskier behavior — they’re driving more, driving faster, even using their phones while driving, all of which  increases risk of collision.

(See page 5-6 of the full report for more info on this.)

How can monitoring drivers help?

You might have heard of “pay-per-mile” or “telematics,” or “usage-based insurance” (UBI). While all slightly different, each describes the use of technology to monitor how, where, and/or how much a person drives to assess their risk and price their insurance policy accordingly.

These insurance programs use smartphone sensor technology or physical devices you plug into your vehicle to record your driving. These technologies send data about your speed, distance, hard braking and acceleration, the time of day or night you drive, and even the smoothness of the roads to determine what you should pay for car insurance.
Major insurance companies have their own products and programs – Snapshot from Progressive, Drivewise from Allstate, etc., and several newer companies like Metromile and Root exclusively provide usage-based insurance policies. 

People who don’t drive much or far could save a lot of money by opting for a UBI policy, but they might not be the best fit for folks with long commutes, rougher roads, or unexpected trips.

How does the Zebra fit in?

The Zebra is a car insurance search engine where people can compare car insurance quotes from hundreds of companies for free. Drivers can even compare UBI policies based on their expected mileage to see if that coverage would work best for them. Check out TheZebra.com.

More insights into the state of the auto industry