A recent analysis ranks Florida as the most expensive state in the nation for automobile insurance.
The national average rate for full coverage car insurance is $1,682 a year in 2022. With an average premium of $2,560 per year, or $213 a month, a recent analysis from insure.com ranked Florida as the most expensive state in the nation for automobile insurance. That’s a 23 percent increase in rates from 2021, making the Sunshine State about 52 percent more expensive than the national average. Ohio’s average insurance premiums of $1,023 a year, ranking the Buckeye State with the cheapest car insurance rates.
Several factors—such as driving record, gender, age, location, credit score, and the type of vehicle—will also influence car insurance rates. However, drivers in no-fault states such as Florida and Michigan traditionally pay more for auto insurance than drivers in other states.
Florida’s “no-fault” law means that, in the event of a car accident, both parties turn to their auto insurance policies to make claims, regardless of who was at fault. To cover this, all Florida drivers must have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance included in their car insurance policy. Personal injury protection insurance pays for 80 percent of the medical bills that may incur as a result of the accident, and 60 percent of any lost wages, with a cap at $10,000, depending on the classification of injuries.
In 2021, a majority of Florida’s state lawmakers made an effort to address that issue with the passage of (SB 54), co-sponsored by state Sens. Danny Burgess (R-Zephyrhills) and Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg) that would have repealed the state’s “no-fault” insurance law.
Gov. DeSantis vetoed (pdf) the bill, however, saying that the measure did “not adequately address the current issues facing Florida drivers” and could have unintended consequences that would be bad for consumers and the car insurance market.
According to a report (pdf) commissioned by the Office of Insurance Regulation, the repeal of the “no-fault” law through SB 54 would have raised car insurance rates by 13 percent or approximately $202 per vehicle annually. And the liability premium would go up nearly 20 percent for motorists who purchased medical payment coverage with a $10,000 limit.
Another factor that drives up the cost of auto insurance in each state is the number of false insurance claims filed each year, which cost insurance companies billions. Florida is one of the highest in the nation for auto insurance fraud, accounting for an estimated 15–35 percent of the average driver’s auto insurance premium.
