Survey Finds Car Insurance Rates Vary Widely : Auto coverage: Costs are found to be generally high. But the state review omits prices for major companies in many areas of California.
Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie on Tuesday released a new, and somewhat different, survey comparing auto insurance prices statewide, once again demonstrating not only that coverage can be very expensive but also that it pays for customers to shop around.
This time, in addition to giving price comparisons for 10 companies in each locality or ZIP Code listed, Gillespie gave an average price charged by all 61 companies that her department had surveyed, and then in each case showed the lowest price charged by any of the companies surveyed.
The result is in some respects a more revealing survey of the auto insurance market than the last one the commissioner released a month before the 1988 primary election. Gillespie’s surveys often have come shortly before elections.
But in some respects the survey is less revealing and less useful in that prices for specific major sellers, such as State Farm and Allstate, are not given for every area or type of policy listed, or even for most.
Also, many of the companies listed as the best bargains for specific localities are small sellers, such as Wawanesa Mutual, or carriers with specially restricted clienteles, such as USAA, and the average customer will find it difficult or impossible to buy from them. In that sense, the survey might be confusing or arouse hopes that cannot be realized.
Besides demonstrating that prices vary, sometimes sharply, even within the same ZIP Code, the new Gillespie survey shows once again that the neighborhood-pricing system, known as territorial rating, has led to tremendous differences in average prices between various parts of the state. For example, rural northerners in the state generally pay far less than urban southerners.
Due to Gillespie’s use of regional averages and rating examples that show the cost of coverage for families, the point is driven home more than in past surveys just how expensive auto insurance has become, even for “good drivers” with no accidents or citations on their record.
For instance, the survey reveals that a family of three good drivers, a 40-year-old couple with an 18-year-old son, driving two cars and buying fairly full coverage including liability, collision and comprehensive, will pay an average annual auto insurance bill in the Los Angeles-Orange County metropolitan area of $3,631.
But in the state’s northernmost counties, this average dips to $1,941.
These figures do not tell the entire story, either. There are parts of Los Angeles where the price for the family would be far higher than the region as a whole. In West Hollywood, for example, the family would pay an average $6,034 a year, in central Los Angeles $5,731, in Compton $4,780 and in Culver City $4,686.
The figures are for good drivers. Those with records of accidents or citations often would be charged far more.
Orange County averages, on the other hand, are less, under $3,000.
Other regional price averages for good drivers included $2,371 in the San Bernardino-Riverside area, $2,065 in the San Diego area, $2,007 along California’s central coast, $2,683 in the San Francisco Bay Area and $2,073 in the Sacramento area.
The averages vary by policy example. Good drivers with one car, buying only for themselves and only minimum liability coverage, pay quite a bit less. But such minimum coverage often provides scant protection, particularly for those with assets that can be lost in lawsuits.
The survey also showed price variations among companies, some of which are major sellers and some are not.
For instance, in Canoga Park the average price for the family of three with two cars would be $4,261 and the least expensive policy would be offered by Mercury General at $2,824. USAA would offer the policy at $3,610 and Reliance at $5,074. But prices for big sellers such as State Farm, Allstate and Farmers were not listed.
Khalid Al-Faris, the Insurance Department aide who was chiefly responsible for compiling the survey, said Tuesday that data have been obtained in each locality for the big sellers and could be released later, if there were numerous requests.
The Wawanesa company that is listed in many places as offering the cheapest insurance does only about $25 million in auto insurance business in the state, and it does not meet funding requirements that would permit it to sell to large numbers of new customers. So, most persons contacting it and trying to buy a policy probably would be turned down, Al-Faris said.
AUTO INSURANCE RATES COMPARED
The state Department of Insurance surveyed 61 of the state’s auto insurance companies and came up with average prices for each one of scores of California localities, as well as the low price offered by any company for those localities. The results illustrate the widely divergent auto insurance prices available in California, and the fact that prices are far higher in urban areas than rural and suburban ones. The low prices often are offered by companies that may be small sellers without broad authority to sell to masses of people, or by companies that have highly preferred clienteles and are not actually available to most would-be buyers. The Insurance Department selected nine examples of various kinds of coverage. Three of those examples are shown here, along with representative localities. THE RATING EXAMPLES (Drivers with no tickets or accidents in the last three years; all include some uninsured motorist coverage): Example 1: This is generally the minimum liability coverage that a 35-year-old driver of a single automobile can buy according to the state’s mandatory insurance law. It provides no more than $30,000 bodily injury coverage, $5,000 property damage and $1,000 medical payments. Example 2: This is a more normal policy, purchased by most 35-year-old drivers of a single automobile who carry insurance. It would give bodily injury liability coverage of up to $300,000, property damage of $50,000, $5,000 in medical payments, plus $100 deductible comprehensive coverage and $250 deductible collision coverage. Example 3: This is a full coverage family policy purchased by a 40-year-old husband and wife and their 18-year-old son, who drive a total of two cars. It would give bodily injury liability coverage of up to $300,000, property damage of $50,000, medical payments of $3,000, plus $100 deductible comprehensive coverage and $250 deductible collision coverage.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY Canoga Park 91303 $701 $582 Mercury Compton 90220 815 610 USAA Culver City 90230 757 572 20th Cent. Glendale 91206 505 421 Wawanesa Highland Park 90042 616 432 Kemper La Verne 91750 461 388 Mercury Long Beach 90806 575 465 USAA Long Beach 90815 496 316 Allstate Los Angeles 90001 1,026 484 Kemper Montebello 90640 524 421 Wawanesa Pomona 91767 469 319 Wawanesa San Gabriel 91776 494 421 Wawanesa Santa Monica 90401 669 432 Kemper Sherman Oaks 91423 731 620 Mercury Torrance 90504 619 449 USAA Walnut 91789 463 319 Wawanesa W. Hollywood 90069 1,072 811 USAA
ORANGE COUNTY
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY Anaheim 92801 443 390 Wawanesa Huntgtn. Beach 92648 436 357 CNA Ins. Mission Viejo 92691 378 336 Kemper Santa Ana 92709 391 336 Kemper
SAN DIEGO / IMPERIAL COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY El Centro 92243 306 238 Transamerica Carlsbad 92008 305 264 Wawanesa Escondido 92026 314 277 20th Cent. Julian 92036 312 264 Kemper San Diego 92103 320 268 Kemper San Diego 92123 317 264 Wawanesa
RIVERSIDE / SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY Riverside 92506 346 310 Kemper Ontario 91761 353 313 Transamerica San Bernardino 92408 355 313 Transamerica
VENTURA / SANTA BARBARA / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY San Luis Obispo 93401 260 176 Kemper Santa Barbara 93101 278 198 Kemper Santa Maria 93454 268 198 Kemper Thousand Oaks 91360 410 323 Transamerica Oxnard 93030 339 292 Kemper
SAN FRANCISCO / HUMBOLT COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 1 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY San Francisco 94108 538 489 Wawanesa Eureka 95501 245 206 Wawanesa
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW Canoga Park 91303 $1,454 $1,157 Wawanesa $4,261 $2,824 Compton 90220 1,672 1,281 USAA 4,780 3,596 Culver City 90230 1,546 1,058 20th Cent. 4,686 3,026 Glendale 91206 1,072 778 Wawanesa 3,156 2,337 Highland Park 90042 1,272 946 Kemper 3,628 2,337 La Verne 91750 976 769 Wawanesa 2,702 1,957 Long Beach 90806 1,235 991 USAA 3,512 2,541 Long Beach 90815 1,087 835 Allstate 2,986 2,281 Los Angeles 90001 2,064 1,012 Kemper 5,731 3,402 Montebello 90640 1,152 778 Wawanesa 3,260 2,467 Pomona 91767 997 670 Wawanesa 2,859 2,151 San Gabriel 91776 1,064 778 Wawanesa 3,103 2,452 Santa Monica 90401 1,452 946 Kemper 4,192 2,743 Sherman Oaks 91423 1,529 1,141 Wawanesa 4,453 3,044 Torrance 90504 1,281 927 Mercury 3,683 2,226 Walnut 91789 981 670 Wawanesa 2,802 2,151 W. Hollywood 90069 2,143 1,679 USAA 6,034 4,046
3 CITY COMPANY Canoga Park Mercury Compton USAA Culver City Mercury Glendale Mercury Highland Park Mercury La Verne Mercury Long Beach Mercury Long Beach Mercury Los Angeles Kemper Montebello Wawanesa Pomona Wawanesa San Gabriel Mercury Santa Monica Mercury Sherman Oaks Mercury Torrance Mercury Walnut Wawanesa W. Hollywood Mercury
ORANGE COUNTY
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE 3 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW COMPANY Anaheim 92801 968 714 Wawanesa 2,816 2,121 Mercury Huntgtn. Beach 92648 938 714 Wawanesa 2,737 2,014 Mercury Mission Viejo 92691 814 629 Wawanesa 2,408 1,770 Mercury Santa Ana 92709 827 629 Wawanesa 2,472 1,850 Mercury
SAN DIEGO / IMPERIAL COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE 3 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW COMPANY El Centro 92243 802 577 Wawanesa 2,207 1,833 Wawanesa Carlsbad 92008 677 528 Wawanesa 1,985 1,628 Mercury Escondido 92026 694 541 20th Cent. 2,028 1,628 Mercury Julian 92036 707 541 20th Cent. 2,024 1,628 Mercury San Diego 92103 740 582 20th Cent. 2,124 1,889 Wawanesa San Diego 92123 699 528 Wawanesa 2,025 1,690 Wawanesa
RIVERSIDE / SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE 3 CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW COMPANY Riverside 92506 791 645 Wawanesa 2,257 1,931 Mercury Ontario 91761 817 643 Wawanesa 2,362 2,026 Mercury San Bernardino 92408 817 643 Wawanesa 2,344 2,026 Mercury
VENTURA / SANTA BARBARA / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW San Luis Obispo 93401 623 517 Mercury 1,847 1,299 Santa Barbara 93101 643 525 Mercury 1,821 1,327 Santa Maria 93454 623 479 Mercury 1,792 1,206 Thousand Oaks 91360 852 746 Wawanesa 2,641 2,087 Oxnard 93030 761 601 Wawanesa 2,227 1,908
3 CITY COMPANY San Luis Obispo Mercury Santa Barbara Mercury Santa Maria Mercury Thousand Oaks Mercury Oxnard Wawanesa
SAN FRANCISCO / HUMBOLT COUNTIES
EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE CITY ZIP CODE AVERAGE LOW COMPANY AVERAGE LOW San Francisco 94108 1,296 1,030 20th Cent. 3,809 3,368 Eureka 95501 638 495 Wawanesa 1,886 1,617
3 CITY COMPANY San Francisco USAA Eureka Wawanesa
