Virginia auto insurance rates

Virginians who grumble about fuel costs, take heart: At least you’re getting a break on your car insurance.



The state is one of the least-expensive in the nation for vehicle premiums, according to a new study, averaging almost one-fifth below the overall figure for the country.



The report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows that Virginia ranks eighth-cheapest in combined average premiums among the 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

State residents paid about $712.69 for full coverage in 2002, the year covered by the report.

That was up 3.5 percent from 2001.

Nationwide, vehicle owners averaged $879.99, a 7.5 percent gain.

New Jersey was the costliest state in which to insure a vehicle, with an average combined premium of $1,283.87. The cheapest insurance was in Iowa, where premiums averaged $638.56.

Those extremes illustrate the main factor in the cost of coverage, according to experts: The volume of people and traffic in an area.

Low population density, such as in rural states like Iowa, makes it easier to avoid accidents.

“Norfolk, Northern Virginia and Richmond are urban areas, but Virginia is a big state with a lot of wide-open spaces,” said Carolyn Gorman, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group based in New York.

The insurance association’s statistics seem to bear that out.

In 2000, the latest year for which comparable density figures are available, Virginia had 179 people per square mile, well above the national average of 80.

But only about 73 percent of Virginia’s residents were in urban areas, where traffic congestion is worst. That compares to 79 percent nationwide.

“People are less likely to hit each other,” Gorman said.

And Virginia crashes tend to be less severe than overall.

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that in 2000, Virginians paid $735 per capita for motor vehicle crashes vs. $819 nationwide.

And the state has a fatality rate of 12.77 per 100,000 population, compared to 14.66 nationally, NHTSA said.

Virginia’s modest crime rates also undercut the expense of insurance, which typically has to pay off a customer if his or her vehicle gets stolen or vandalized.

Statewide, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime statistics say there were 18,478 motor vehicle thefts reported in 2002, a rate of 253.3 per 100,000 residents. Nationally, that rate was 432.1.

Consumers who have lived elsewhere say they can feel the lower rates in their wallets.

Michael Shaw, an employee of Ford Motor Co.’s Norfolk Assembly plant, relocated to Chesapeake from Edison, N.J., in 2002.

He pays about $1,600 a year for full coverage on his 2003 Ford Focus SVT. That compares to about $2,400 a year on his ’01 Ford Contour SVT – which had the same sticker price – back in Jersey.

“You definitely save a lot of money living down here,” Shaw said. “It’s nice.”