A state-by-state survey of car insurance rates reveals that Louisiana is the most expensive place in the nation to insure your vehicle, while Maine is the cheapest.
According to
Insure.com, an insurance information resource, the average annual premium in Louisiana is a whopping $2,699, while in Maine it is $1,500 less at just $934.
Following Louisiana for most expensive insurance are: Michigan, $2,520; Georgia, $2,155; Oklahoma, $2,074; Washington D.C., $2,006; Montana, $1,914; California, $1,819; West Virginia, $1,816, and Kentucky, $1,725.
After Maine, the least expensive states are: Iowa, $1,028; North Carolina, $1,085; Ohio, $1,106; New Hampshire, $1,112; Idaho, $1,133; Vermont, $1,176; Indiana, $1,183; Washington, $1,226; and Arizona, $1,227.
Insure says several factors weigh in on why rates vary so much — including the number of insurers competing for business, driving conditions, and the number of drivers who are uninsured.
In the case of Louisiana, drivers who get in accidents end up filing more bodily injury claims than drivers in other states.
Michigan, the second most expensive, is the only state in the nation that guarantees unlimited, lifetime personal injury protection benefits for treatment of injuries from a car accident — a factor that drives up rates.
Insure.com says Maine's restrictions on young drivers and its “graduated licensing program’’ — in which teens must complete a state-approved driver’s-ed course before applying for a learner’s help keep rates down.
The second cheapest state, Iowa, has low rates thanks to its rural, slower pace of life.
"I don't think we're as rushed to do things," Paul Pohlson, president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, told Insure. “Maybe we don't have as much road rage."
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