One in eight drivers on the road in 2019 was driving without insurance, according to a new report from the Insurance Research Council (IRC).
In 2019, the estimated countrywide uninsured motorist rate was 12.6%. Insured drivers paid, on average, approximately $78 per insured vehicle in 2016 for insurance protection against at-fault drivers who are uninsured or who have inadequate insurance to cover the medical costs and property damage incurred by others. Across the U.S., insured drivers in 2016 paid more than $13 billion for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Uninsured motorist rates varied substantially across states, ranging from 3.1% in New Jersey to 29.4% in Mississippi. Although the countrywide uninsured motorist rate increased only 1.2 percentage points from 2015-2019, several states experienced more significant increases, including Washington (6.9 percentage points), Rhode Island (6.8 percentage points) and Mississippi (6.4 percentage points). Other states experienced decreases in uninsured motorist rates, including Michigan (10.1 percentage points) and Delaware (2.9 percentage points).
“Uninsured drivers increase the cost of insurance for those who comply with their state’s insurance
requirements, and that’s not fair,” said David Corum, vice president of the IRC. “Keeping auto
insurance affordable is more difficult when a significant number of drivers refuse to carry their fair share
of the costs.”
The IRC report, Uninsured Motorists, 2021 Edition, examines data collected from 11 insurers
representing 60% of the private passenger auto insurance market in 2019.
For more information about the report, visit insurance-research.org.
