New Jersey Auto Insurance

A year after New Jersey enacted auto insurance regulation changes meant to reduce rates, state residents are still paying through the nose.

The high auto insurance rates came a year after changes to the market touted by then-Governor McGreevey, who claimed that less regulation would mean lower rates.

Average premiums in New Jersey, at $1,221 per vehicle per year, were 46 percent higher than the national average of 838 dollars in 2004.

But officials note that premiums were only two-point-three percent higher than the previous year, about two-thirds less than the six percent jump in premiums seen in 2003.