An article in the Chicago Tribune states that the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) had said it would step up efforts to study car insurance affordability, as nearly every state requires drivers to have car insurance and about 15 percent of drivers remain uninsured.
FIO Director Michael McRaith said on Aug. 1, "The Federal Insurance Office is evaluating that public input and looking to identify areas of consensus as we move to define affordability … in a reasonable manner."
The FIO’s call for feedback on the issue in April only resulted in 20 comments.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says that average annual car insurance expenses vary from state to state, with the national average spent on car insurance at $797 or about $66 monthly. However, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey has shown that low-income households spend more than twice as much on gasoline as they do on car insurance.
Paul Newsome, an insurance industry analyst for investment bank Sandler O’Neill & Partners in Chicago, said he does not believe the federal office will be that active on the affordability front because the states already are "aggressive when it comes to the affordability of auto insurance."
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