r/Insurance • u/Tough_Exam1946 • 27m ago
Auto Insurance US auto insurance is down 5% year over year. Are those cuts reaching renewals?
I've been looking through US auto-insurance data, and two numbers seem useful together:
BLS reports that the motor vehicle insurance CPI was down 5.0% in September 2026 compared with September 2025. That's a national index, not a prediction for any particular driver's renewal.
CCC's 2026 mid-year report puts the average repair cost at about $4,821 in the first half of 2026, versus about $3,331 in 2020. Repair-cost growth was only 0.6% compared with the first half of 2025, but the cost level is still much higher than it used to be.
So slowing repair inflation and cheaper repairs aren't the same thing. That distinction helped me understand why a clean driving record alone doesn't settle what a renewal should cost.
For agents and underwriters here: are you seeing lower prices on comparable renewals, or are the reductions mainly showing up in quotes for new customers? By comparable, I mean the same coverage, limits and deductibles.
Sources:
BLS September 2026 CPI, motor vehicle insurance: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_10142026.htm
CCC Crash Course 2026 Mid-Year Update: https://www.cccis.com/news-and-insights/posts/crash-course-2026-mid-year-update