A new listing of the most expensive states in which to insure a vehicle has again placed Louisiana at the top. Insure.com’s annual ranking is just the latest to rank Louisiana No. 1 for high auto insurance rates. The website says the average motorist in the state pays an annual premium of $2,699 to insure one vehicle, compared to a national average of $1,510. A number of other websites and industry associations annually rank Louisiana at or near the top of similar rankings. “Louisiana can’t catch a break,” says Amy Danise, editorial director for the website. “It is consistently at the top of our rankings. One way to mitigate the rate pain is to buy the cheapest car to insure in the state.” That would be the Jeep Patriot Sport, Danise says. The most expensive car to insure in Louisiana is the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG sedan, she says. As for why the state has such high auto insurance premiums, Insure.com says, “A high portion of Louisiana drivers who are in accidents file bodily injury claims.” Also, “Car accident lawsuits for less than $50,000 go before elected judges rather than juries, and the elected judges are seen as siding with consumers more than the insurance companies.” You can check out the complete rankings, released this morning, here; and check out a Business Report story from July 2012 on the state’s high auto insurance rates here.
Today’s poll question: How much do you pay annually, per vehicle, for auto insurance in Louisiana?
