Jefferson City, Mo– According to a newly released report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Missourians paid less than $1,000 per year for full coverage for automobile insurance. These coverages include liability (insurance against injury or property damage caused to others), collision (insurance coverage for automobile damage from a crash), comprehensive (insurance coverage for non-crash damage to a car or damage from animal strikes), and uninsured motorist (coverage to injuries caused by an uninsured driver). Of these, liability plus uninsured motorist insurance is required for all drivers by Missouri statute.

Nationally, Missouri ranked 29 among U.S. states and the District of Columbia, meaning that 28 states had higher insurance costs. The annual cost in Missouri for full coverage per year for one vehicle was $926. The highest cost state in the study was Louisiana, with an annual cost of $1,496. The lowest cost state was Idaho, with an annual cost of $711. The cost for Missourians who purchase only the mandatory liability and uninsured motorist coverage amounted to $445 annually.

Missouri is below the national average of $1,062 in combined auto insurance premiums at $926. Missouri ranks second among our bordering states in combined premiums, following Tennessee ($899) and ahead of Arkansas ($950), Mississippi ($1,036), Oklahoma ($1,040), Texas ($1,194), and Louisiana ($1,496).

“Missouri has a very competitive automobile insurance market and Missouri consumers should shop around to make sure they are getting the best deal possible,” said Chlora Lindley-Myers, Director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration.

In addition to the annual automobile insurance costs, the report also includes information about liability insurance payouts. According to this data, about 1 percent of insured vehicles incurred a liability payout for bodily injury in 2015 (the most recent year of available data), with an average payout of $16,169 per claim. Just under 3.9 percent of insured vehicles incurred a liability payout due to property damage, at an average claim amount of $3,480.