New York households paid an estimated $1,935 on average for person
al auto insurance in 2024, according to a report by the industry’s Insurance Information Institute (Triple I). This was an increase from $1,753 in 2023.
Triple I further estimates that New Yorkers spent 2.23% of the state’s median household income on personal auto insurance in 2
024, up from 2.15% in 2023. Nationwide, households spent an average of 1.59%. New York ranked fourth highest in 2023, after Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi.
The Triple I report, New York Personal Auto Insurance Premium and Cost Drivers, comes after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vow
ed that making auto insurance more affordable would be a legislative priority for her administration in 2026.
Triple I identified what it says are the main costs that should be tackled to make auto insurance in the state more affordable: ele
vated repair costs, severe injury claims, high claims-handling expenses, and accident frequency.
“By tackling these cost drivers, New Yorkers could see meaningful steps toward improving long-term insurance affordability,” sai
d Michel Léonard, chief economist and data scientist at the Triple I.
In her 2026 State of the State address, Hochul vowed to crack down on fraud including staged accidents that are behind “sky high” auto insurance premiums averaging $4,00
0 a year — $1,500 more than the national average. She advocated reforming the serious injury threshold under the state’s no-faul
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t insurance law, to reduce litigation, capping non-economic damages for drivers engaged in criminal behavior at the tim
e of the accident, giving insurers more time to investigate claims where fraud is suspected, and other measures.
The Democratic governor said New Yorkers “should not pay more for the same coverage” and vowed this is the year, the state does “something about it.”
Trial Lawyers
Hochul’s proposals could face a tough legislative battle as the state’s politically influential trial lawyers have criticized them, as reported by Spectrum News. The New York State Trial
Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) called Hochul’s proposals a “victim tax” and a “disaster for crash victims’ rights.” The la
wyers maintain that the changes would make it more difficult for injured residents to obtain claim payments and that if they were
to lead to lower costs, insurers would not pass those savings along to insureds.