Detroit Drivers Hit with Highest Insurance Premiums

Mar 22, 2011, 13:52 by David Hope

Detroit drivers and drivers across the entire state of Michigan are facing the highest motor vehicle insurance costs in the country. Among the states with the highest insurance rates for U.S. drivers is the state home to the country's largest automakers, an insure.com survey indicated.

Researchers at insure.com said a 40-year-old male with no accidents or tickets on his record pays $2,541 per year for insurance, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.

That is the highest rate in the country, insure.com said.

The lowest rates are paid in Vermont. The same driver who would pay $2,541 in Michigan would pay $995 per year in the Green Mountain State, researchers said.

Rates in Michigan surged 21 percent from last year's insure.com survey, but industry analysts said the requirement to carry unlimited coverage for personal injuries was the main reason rates were high in the state.

In a separate survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Michigan was found to have an average car insurance cost of $1,032, which ranked the state 11th most expensive in the nation.

The association survey is based on the costs of policies purchased in each state whereas insure.com figures in pricing policies from six companies in each state and adjusts that for location and vehicle type, the newspaper said.

Source: UPI