Arizonans airing anger and personal stories of unwarranted rate hikes on popular social media communities
Luke Jones (Flickr)
The I-10 in Phoenix
May 31, 2023
Arizonans expect temperatures to increase this time of the year but no one anticipated the rapid rise in home and car insurance rates and Valley residents are asking why.
Insurance rates have skyrocketed across the country but Arizonans are puzzled by the large increases in a short amount of time of their home and auto insurance premiums.
On one Phoenix Reddit community, members have taken to the popular site to share their recent experiences and are expressing their anger and confusion over insurance rate hikes.
Most on the site shared stories of increases in auto and home insurance despite having no accidents, damages or tickets that would explain such an increase.
Some residents noted that they may just go without insurance if the costs get too high, prioritizing things like rent and food first, in an already heavily inflated economy where basic necessities are expensive.
But many do not believe that premium increases are due to inflation and can point to personal costs that are even higher from the insurance carriers than overall inflation rates.
The data validates their uproar, as insurance premiums are rising with seemingly no end.
A recent study from Bankrate shows that the average American auto insurance premium increased by $95 from 2022 to 2023. Arizona premiums saw an average increase of $67, ranking us 15th in affordability. Bankrate also predicts that rates will continue to rise as long as inflation remains a continuing issue in our country, citing a statement from Assistant Vice President of State Affairs for National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Jon Schnautz.
“Inflation is manifesting in the cost of repair parts, labor and medical care,” Schnautz told Bankrate.
One Reddit community member conveyed that insurance companies will always “just blame” inflation for their price increases—when it’s actually greed.
Northeast Valley News spoke with local Insurance Producer and Agency Owner Silvio Soza about why he believes insurance premiums are on the rise. Soza is an Agency Owner under Farmers Insurance and has operated his business in Tempe, Arizona for more than two years.
“The truth is everything has gone up in price causing the insurance companies not to want to write insurance so it doesn’t hurt their bottom line. Huge companies have the advantage of so much money, they prefer to sit on their money instead of taking risk, after all, insurance is about risk,” Soza said.
Soza also told Northeast Valley News that mega insurance carriers do not want to take on any more risk than necessary—with reconstruction costs high most companies don’t want to take on the risk of more claims than they are willing to pay out.
He also acknowledged that consumers are not being protected from what he believes are price gouging tactics.
“Insurance is just a promise on a piece of paper, they love you in great times but when things are bad you’re a bum. Insurance companies make prices higher so they are not attractive, therefore consumers do not go with them. It keeps that facade of them still in business, when they are truly not taking risk. We do have an insurance departments in every state that is not stepping in,” Soza said.
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Greed—not inflation, true motivation behind skyrocketing car and home insurance rates say Arizona residents
Arizonans airing anger and personal stories of unwarranted rate hikes on popular social media communities
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