If your car insurance rates went up last year, you’re not alone.
Rates are on the rise.
Nationally, they’re up about 20 percent, but Las Vegas rates have increased even more.
Even more shocking is the average price of car insurance in Las Vegas compared with the rest of the state and the rest of the country.
Alyssa Connolly, author of the 2018 State of Auto Insurance Report, said that on average people around the country pay about $1,400 for car insurance for the year. In Nevada, the average is $1,800, but in Las Vegas, the average is $2,300.
Connolly said a lot of factors go into determining rates, including weather, traffic congestion, number of uninsured drivers and population.
“Population has gone up in Las Vegas,” she said “That leads to more drivers on the road. They get into more collisions and then the insurance companies raise their rates to account for those claims.”
While those factors could be found in just about every urban area of the country, Connolly said Las Vegas has some unique challenges, including a high rate of vehicle theft and a high rate of insurance fraud.
Connolly said it is important to know the factors and shop around for better insurance rates every six months to a year.
“There is a lot of things that consumers can do," she said, "They just need to get educated on some of those things impact insurance rates and they can take some control.”
Alyssa Connolly, author, 2018 State of Auto Insurance Report