Auto Insurance

About Auto Insurance

Auto insurance broke away from carriage contracts in 1897 when Travelers sold a $1,000 liability policy, proving insurers could price motor-vehicle risk separately and scale coverage for this new technology.¹

As traffic density exploded, states layered on financial responsibility requirements, led by Massachusetts in 1925 when it mandated auto liability insurance before drivers could register a vehicle.² Insurers added fire, theft, and collision endorsements through the 1930s and rolled out medical payments coverage in the 1940s, so one contract could address both third-party liability and a driver's own injuries.³

Modern auto programs build on those pillars with credit scoring, crash avoidance data, and telematics that rates braking, mileage, and time of day, while carriers monitor emerging loss drivers such as EV-specific repairs and distracted driving trends highlighted in the 2025 LexisNexis U.S. Auto Insurance Trends Report.⁴

Coverage Highlights

Personal auto policies braid together liability, injury benefits, and vehicle protection so one loss, from a parking-lot scrape to a deer strike, does not spiral into a financial crisis.

• Liability & Guest Passenger: Covers bodily injury and property damage you cause, whether you sideswipe a contractor's van or a teen driver misjudges a merge with friends in the car.¹
• Personal Injury Protection / MedPay: Pays ambulance rides, follow-up care, and lost wages for you and your passengers regardless of fault, which keeps treatment moving while adjusters determine liability.²
• Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist: Steps in when a hit-and-run driver disappears or a state-minimum policy can't pay the medical bills and diminished value you suffer.³
• Collision: Repairs or replaces your vehicle after contact with another car or fixed object, from curb-strike wheel damage to frame work after a left-turn loss.⁴
• Comprehensive: Addresses theft, fire, hail, flooding, falling trees, or deer strikes, so glass claims and catalytic-converter thefts fall under the same coverage.⁵
• Endorsements & Gap Options: Rental reimbursement, OEM parts, roadside assistance, and loan/lease gap endorsements keep you mobile, protect vehicle equity, and ensure sensors or ADAS components are replaced to manufacturer specs.⁶

Rising Costs

Bodily injury severity jumped 9.2% and property damage severity grew 2.5% in 2024, according to LexisNexis, as heavier EVs, ADAS calibrations, and attorney involvement inflate every claim.¹ Even with NICB reporting a 17% drop in overall thefts, hotspots like D.C., California, and New Mexico still see theft rates more than twice the national average, so carriers continue to rate for garaging and security controls.² 2025 personal-lines outlook projects most U.S. auto accounts facing another 15-25% increase as insurers chase loss-cost trends and re-underwrite high-risk drivers.³

Cheaper Premiums

Continuous coverage, on-time payments, and bundling home or umbrella policies keep you in preferred tiers and leverage the competitive pricing WTW notes is still available for well-managed risks.¹

Enrolling in telematics, submitting defensive driving or mature driver certificates, and proactively shopping when LexisNexis shows shopping rates above 45% help you capture credits and keep underwriting data current.² Having an agent capable of leveraging multiple quotes after each rate cycle are the ones benefiting from easing rate growth.³

What We Do

We document garaging addresses, commute lengths, mileage patterns, lienholder requirements, and each driver's experience so we can map the right carrier tiers to every vehicle, from daily EV commuters to collector cars on agreed-value schedules.

Our team also reviews telematics results, accident forgiveness eligibility, OEM repair endorsements, and umbrella coordination to keep liability limits aligned with your assets. That diligence means your policy is set before the next lease turn-in, teenage driver, or cross-country road trip.