The Kansas Insurance Department reports that Kansas ranks sixth lowest in the nation for average auto insurance expenditures, according to figures released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). This is the fifth consecutive year the state has been ranked as a leader in lower rates.
Information from the NAIC shows Kansans spent an average of $568 per vehicle for insurance in 2007, the last available reporting period.
That figure is down $11 from the previous survey average a year ago. Last year’s report had Kansans spending an average of $579. All figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
The ranking assumes all insured vehicles carry liability coverage but not necessarily collision or comprehensive coverage. Consumers in Kansas aren’t required to carry collision and comprehensive, but coverage may be required by a lending institution that carries the vehicle’s loan agreement.
In the latest report, North Dakota is lowest with an average auto insurance expenditure of $512, followed by Iowa, $518; South Dakota, $534; Nebraska, $554; and Idaho, $564. Behind Kansas regionally are Oklahoma, $646; Missouri, $658; and Colorado, $738.
The national average is $795.
The average cost of a policy that contains all three types of coverage (liability, collision, comprehensive) is $713 in Kansas, according to the report. The state ranks as the 10th-least expensive in the nation in that category.
The NAIC 2006/2007 auto database report, which contains the figures listed above, is designed to provide necessary information and analysis for insurance regulators, consumers and policymakers.
The average Garden State occupant paying 4 percent less in automobile insurance premiums in 2007 than the earlier year — and 9 percent less than the peak year of 2004, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners described this week. Nationally, rates fell by only 5.6 percent between 2004 and 2007.