North Dakota Insurance

With gasoline prices above $ 2 per gallon this summer, there is a little less good news for drivers: the cost of auto insurance began to decline.

State Farm, the nation’s largest insurers and the two other major auto insurers, USAA and Farmers Insurance Group, cut prices in many countries and dozens of other insurers across the country, following their lead, Industry experts say.

”Millions of drivers to see the cost of auto insurance fall this year,’’said Robert P. Hartwig, chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute, a trade organization in New York. Instead captain announcement on the rate decreases, including giants such as insurer Allstate, Progressive and Geico are more aggressive offer lower prices for customers with good grades and conduct clearly higher prices for those who have breakdowns or have received tickets for speeding and other injuries. Given that most motorists are in favour grouped into categories, the result is expected to lower costs for millions of drivers.

”Most national players are strategically reducing rates,’’said Anthony Diodato, a senior analyst at AM Best, a source of data on insurance.

About all, the average cost of insurance is still rising, albeit at a much lower rate: instead of the latest average increase of 7.8 percent, prices for the collection automatic inside the country should increase by 3.5 per cent, according to Information Institute of insurance.

The rate reduction is expected to apply to all categories of small cars compress on the monster SUV’s, and should be felt throughout the country in the next 12 months.

”You are on a tipping point,’’said Hartwig. ”It takes a year or changes in rates ripple industry.”

How painful and frustrating, because the high cost of petrol for drivers, it is without doubt help to propel the downward trend on auto insurance rates.

If consumers”with their cars unless the tendency to result in fewer accidents,’’said Steven A. George, Senior Vice President subscription to USAA.

After nearly 25 years of auto insurance price increases, prices nivellierter in the years 1997 and 1998, then plunged to an average price of $ 680 per car across the country in the years 1999 and 2000. But the costs of insurers said in front of them, it began again and she began rising prices averaged $ 842 per car in the last year.

The price of auto insurance are now covered by the price, as in many other forms of insurance, including damage to businesses are also decreasing.

Although many different factors ranging in price from the insurance industry in general has reached high profit margins, after several years of rising prices and is now a relaxation of customers.

It is the result levels - and the desire to avoid the wrath of government regulation of insurance - just as others are responsible for reducing auto insurance rates. After four years of increase, the insurer clearly overshot its goal in the last year and earn extraordinary profits that can attract the attention of regulators, the Authority control prices.

Ira Zuckerman, an analyst with nutmeg Securities in Fairfield, Connecticut, believes that the outcome of auto insurance has jumped more than 25 per cent in 2003, more than two times higher than normal growth in profits.

The cost for insurers have failed to weaker than expected, given that the proportion of car accidents continues to decline with aging baby boomers, as a driver before them, are becoming more cautious as they get older. The investment result has improved as well.

Some insurers hope to win new customers with lower prices, said analysts. But for others, is to avoid the loss Business-to-competitors, aligned with, are now able, even lower prices. J. Paul Newsome, an analyst at AG Edwards, said while he knew that printing not regulatory authorities so far,”you can not maintain the higher prices, finally, the authorities regulation will force you to fall.”

Because the state regulates insurance and the conditions are very different, diagrams in auto prices resemble a patchwork. For example, even if the cup is the firm of State in 28 countries, which are often of 4% or 5%, it increases in 11 countries, as much as 7.5 per cent in North America Dakota. USAA said it cut prices an average of 7 percent to 44 states and the District of Columbia and raising an average of 3 percent in one state, Massachusetts.

Compared to the other two companies Farmers prices seem to be less in a tilt down. He cut in 7 countries and rehabilitation of 19 to less than 1 percent in many cases, to 12.1 percent in Mississippi. Yet it is an improvement for customers on prices in 2003, when farmers from price increases in 27 countries. In New York, the model price this year is still mixed. Farmers have increased rates of 10.3 per cent and prices in USAA up to three-tenths of a percent. But the state firm, to say the cost of claims fraud and theft of vehicles has declined sharply in New York, the price fell by more than 12 percent of its deepest gashes in the country.

Mr. Hartwig said that the driver in Florida and Massachusetts should not expect to see much improvement in self-insurance, because prices above the average price of fraudulent claims in those countries. New York was also infested with fraudulent claims, but more stringent laws, which entered into force this year, began a reduction of costs for insurers, “said Hartwig.

State Farm is an example of how fortunes have improved for insurance companies. He reported in 2003 net profit of $ 2.8 billion of premiums for $ 48.9 billion, a face of the previous year, if a loss of $ 2.8 billion premium income of 44.4 billion. For farmers, jumped net income of $ 88.9 million in 2003, $ 17 million the previous year. On USAA tripled net profit in 2003 to 1.5 billion dollars.

During 2000, self-insurance has been losing money, paying $ 1.10 on claims and other expenses for every dollar they made, “said Hartwig. But since last year, he said, it makes the payment of an average of 97 cents for every dollar in the