LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The rising cost of car insurance is causing headaches for many in the Las Vegas Valley.
Channel 13 has been hearing from residents who say their premiums have been going up — in some cases, going up significantly — in recent months.
Numbers from the state's Division of Insurance prove it.
Farmers Insurance policies for new customers went up an average of 20% in mid-March, according to the state. That's a group that includes over 47,000 policyholders. Other major carriers have put forth similar rate hikes.
"Over the past year in Las Vegas, the car insurance has gotten so expensive," says Mario Sanchez, a Las Vegas resident who, like so many others, has been feeling the pain.
Janet Ruiz of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group, says Nevada is behind only Michigan and Florida when it comes to states with the highest average premiums.
She says a number of factors contribute to why, but the fact that Nevada usually has a high number of fatal auto crashes for its population is one of the big ones.
While we're not yet three months into 2024, there have already been, as of Wednesday, 45 fatal crashes in Las Vegas alone.
"We have seen an increase in accidents and fatalities (nationwide) over the past few years," Ruiz says.
Las Vegas resident Anthony Jones says his insurance has gone up by close to $60 per bill in recent months. And he says he hasn't gotten a traffic ticket in years.
"Why should mine go up for somebody else's accident, you know?" Jones says. "I haven't gotten a speeding ticket in God knows how long."
Ruiz says other market forces have helped to drive up costs, including supply chain issues and long waits for repairs.
And don't expect those premiums to go down by any significant amount in the months ahead. Ruiz says the soonest that motorists could expect some relief would be 2025.
