Car Premiums Fell 8.6% in 1999

A recent survey reports that California auto insurance premiums fell below the national average in 1999--something that hadn’t happened in more than a decade--although recent events indicate the trend of falling prices may be ending.

The average expenditure for auto insurance fell 8.6% to $659 in 1999, according to the survey by the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners. That compares to an average decline of 3% nationally, to $683.

In fact, Californians’ auto premiums declined 17% between 1993 and 1999, while the average national expenditure for auto insurance rose 7.2% in those same years.

California auto insurance rates have exceeded the national average at least since the mid-1980s, when voter outrage over spiking premiums led to passage of Proposition 103, said insurance analyst Brian Sullivan, editor of Auto Insurance Report newsletter.

Proposition 103 imposed controls on auto insurance rates.

But the long decline in premiums has since reversed, as claim costs have risen and insurer profits evaporated, insurance analysts said.