Report: More driving doesn’t mean more expensive auto insurance in R.I., unlike California

RHODE ISLAND, according to insurancequotes.com, has the third-lowest auto insurance rate increase in the nation when mileage increases. When mileages increases from 5,000 to 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000, insurance costs climb only 1.28 percent in the Ocean State. / COURTESY INSURANCEQUOTES.COM
RHODE ISLAND, according to insurancequotes.com, has the third-lowest auto insurance rate increase in the nation when mileage increases. When mileages increases from 5,000 to 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000, insurance costs climb only 1.28 percent in the Ocean State. / COURTESY INSURANCEQUOTES.COM

PROVIDENCE – In some states, the more one drives, the more auto insurance costs. But in Rhode Island, the change in cost is negligible.
Insurancequotes.com released a report Thursday showing that a policyholder who drives 15,000 miles a year pays a national average of 8.61 percent more for car insurance than an insured driver who drives 5,000 miles.
California leads the pack with a 26.1 percent insurance increase for someone who drives 15,000 miles versus 5,000, followed by Alaska, where drivers see a 10.45 percent increase; Washington, D.C., a 10.2 percent increase; and Alabama and Massachusetts, with 9.8 percent increases.
“Drivers in the most expensive mileage states have the most to gain from reducing mileage. But if you can’t, be proactive and seek potential discounts at least once a year,” Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst for insuranceQuotes, said in a statement.
North Carolina was the only state where drivers do not see any rate changes when annual mileage increases.
And several states — such as Utah, Rhode Island, Texas and Connecticut — show negligible changes. In fact, Rhode Island drivers experience only a 1.28 percent increase when 15,000 miles are driven compared with 5,000, which is the third-lowest rate in the nation, the report said. That increase stays the same when the number of miles driven grows to 20,000 miles from 5,000 in the Ocean State.
“In most states, mileage just isn’t that big a factor since insurers, on the whole, don’t love using it because it’s difficult to track,” Eli Lehrer, president of the R Street Institute, a public policy research organization based in Washington, D.C., said. “But with outliers like North Carolina and California, regulations play a big role.”

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