Fewer Americans are driving without auto insurance, suggesting market penetration has increased in the past year, according to a new report from the Insurance Research Council (IRC).
In its “Uninsured Motorists” study, the IRC found that the number of uninsured motorists peaked in 2009 at 29.9%, and has been declining moderately ever since. In 2012, just 29.7 million were driving without insurance.
Despite the decline in uninsured motorists, however, the cost to insurers has increased 75% over the past 10 years—roughly $14 per insured individual in 2012.
And some states are more at risk than others. In these 10 states where uninsured drivers are the highest in numbers, producers have the opportunity either to sell more new policies to those going uninsured or to protect current clients by making sure uninsured motorist coverage is in place.
To calculate these numbers, the IRC compared the number of claims filed under the injury portion of uninsured motorist coverage with the number of claims filed under the bodily injury liability coverage. The percentages reflect the ratio of uninsured motorist claims frequency to bodily injury claims frequency.
The top 10 states include:
1.
Oklahoma: 25.9%
2.
Florida: 23.8%
3.
Mississippi: 22.9%
4.
New Mexico: 21.6%
5.
Michigan: 21.0%
6.
Tennessee: 20.1%
7.
Alabama: 19.6%
8.
Rhode Island: 17.0%
9.
Colorado: 16.2%
10.
Washington: 16.1%
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