Surging auto insurance rates squeeze drivers, fuel inflation
Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022. (AP Video: Thomas Peipert)
FILE - Heavy traffic is seen at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Monday, April 15, 2024. Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Heavy traffic is seen at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Monday, April 15, 2024. Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the consumer level steadily cooled from its 9.1% peak in the middle of that year. Consumers have had some relief as the rate of cost increases for food and energy, two key components of most budgets, has eased greatly.
