AUGUSTA, GA. (WJBF) – It’s costing more to drive your car each month and each year. Car insurance is hitting the pockets of Americans hard.
With inflation at its highest level in more than a decade, the list of price increases continues to grow with annual costs of car insurance being another concern for many drivers.
“Right now I am in need of a new car, but I can’t afford to have a car payment, in addition to the high insurance rates, in addition to everything else that’s increasing,” Ashley Blocker said.
According to a recent study done by ValuePenguin, car insurance for Americans will experience an 8.4% increase this year alone.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s a whole lotta money to pay for, just for something to say, ‘well if this happens,’ or ‘if that happens,’ but you have to invest, you have to do what’s required,” Kristoffer Grundy said.
We spoke to Attorney and National Insurance Expert Dante Weston, partner at Donaldson & Weston who says this increase is nothing new.
“I’ve been practicing this area of law– dealing with insurance premiums, and insurance providers for over 15 years, and we have been promised our premiums will go down any day now, when X, Y, or Z occurs and in 15 years of tracking this, I’ve never seen the premiums go down.”
But Weston tells me there is something you might be able to do to get lower payment rates like bundling discounts on annual low-mileage, comparing other rates and more.
“One that’s not really talked about a lot is your credit score. So, in the United States 46 states allow insurance carriers to discriminate and charge additional premiums if the applicant’s credit score is lower. So, you’re getting charged a higher premium for your insurance if your credit is not as good.”
Still, people are worried the increase in cost might be around to stay.
“It’s something that you have to have when you’re on the road to be safe, it’s something that’s required, but it’s beginning to get to the point where some people may not be able to afford it with everything else increasing but the wages,” Blocker said.
Experts say if you want a lower payment rate, you’d have to compare rates, discounts, payment options and more.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.