Expert explains what's driving higher car insurance costs
Insurify CEO Snejina Zacharia discusses the factors pushing car insurance rates higher and how consumers can save.
Car insurance costs trended higher in the first half of this year after declining in 2025, with a new report projecting increases in over 30 states this year.
An analysis by Insurify found car insurance premiums fell 6% last year, with drivers in 39 states seeing a decline in average full-coverage premiums. However, in the first half of 2026, the average cost of full-coverage premiums rose 1% to $2,237, with 27 states having seen cost increases to date and 32 states expected to see increases by year-end.
"Unfortunately, this year, a majority of the states are trending up," Insurify CEO Snejina Zacharia told Gxstocks in an exclusive interview. "The severity of weather conditions and the severity of accidents have continued to be very strong."
"On top of that, we have seen a 45% increase in repair costs. Repair costs are a major driver of costs in the claims and claims history for the insurance industry, so carriers are adjusting that on a state-by-state level," Zacharia said.
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Washington, D.C., saw the largest decline in car insurance premiums in the report, though it remains the most expensive in the country. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
She added that the trend of higher repair costs began several years ago with the COVID pandemic and chip shortages, which have continued to rise amid the impact of inflation across the economy and tariffs on auto parts.
Zacharia said that some of the sharpest increases this year have been in states which historically have relatively low costs.
Among those lower-cost states noted in Insurify's report include West Virginia, which saw a 5% increase in the first half of the year, while drivers in Kentucky went from having paying $58 below the national average to $65 above the national average. Both Kentucky and West Virginia are expected to see rates rise 8% year over year, according to the projection for the end of 2026.
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Connecticut is projected to see the largest increase in car insurance premiums this year. (Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
"The sharpest increase that we predict will be in the state of Connecticut, a small state where the state is expected to get a 15% year over year increase in its car insurance. Just looking back five years, the state of Connecticut has increased rates 67%, and the majority of the states unfortunately have seen dramatic increases across the board," she explained.
Some parts of the country saw rates decline in the first half of the year, such as Washington, D.C., which was down 7% and is projected to end 2026 down 5% on a net basis from a year ago – though it still has the nation's highest average premiums at an average full-coverage cost of $3,955. The decline in auto thefts and fatal crashes contributed to the decrease.
New Mexico's premiums were down 6% in the first half of the year and that trend is expected to continue through the end of the year, finishing down 8% at a projected cost of $1,587. New York and New Jersey were each down 5% in the first half of the year and are projected to finish 2026 down 4% year over year with total costs around $2,900 each.
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Consumers looking to save should compare plans and consider steps like raising the deductible or changing coverage provisions. (Jonas Walzberg/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Zacharia said that some strategies consumers can use to obtain a lower insurance premium include increasing their deductible or making other changes to coverage within their policy.
"For example, if your vehicle is so old that the cost to insure it is almost more expensive than the cost to replace the vehicle, you probably don't need comprehensive and collision insurance because you will be paying almost as much year over year as your total vehicle cost," she explained.
"Also, every carrier will have different discounts for the customer, and this is another reason why it's important to shop. People often think that just because they've been with a carrier for 10, 15 years, that they're getting a loyalty discount," Zacharia said.
"Rates have been all over the place for so many of the customers across the board that you will never know how much is your fair rate or what is your best deal on your car insurance unless you have given yourself the ability to make that comparison apples-to-apples across top providers and some regional ones," she added.
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Zacharia said that Insurify's platform collects available discounts from 120 auto insurance carriers and can provide unique rates specific for individual customers.
