The nation's average annual auto insurance expenditure is down for the second year in a row, according to a recent study by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. On an individual state basis, 36 of the 51 jurisdictions saw decreases from 1998 to 1999, and of those with increases, 10 were two percent or less. Of the five jurisdictions with increases of more than two percent, all are states requiring that regulators approve insurers' premium rate requests, and four are in the New England area, where states are noted for their adversarial relationship with insurers.
Declining expenditures are largely a result of reduced bodily injury and property damage claim frequencies, according to Roger Kenney, associate vice president of research for the Alliance of American Insurers. Rising insurance costs in prior approval states is a product of regulation, he explained.
