Millions of drivers hit by car insurance price hike - and the state that's copped it the worst
Millions of motorists have been slugged with higher car insurance with drivers forced to pay an extra $225 in one state.
Car insurance premiums are rising at more than double the rate of inflation in a worrying sign the cost of living crisis is still a problem.
Overall headline inflation moderated to 2.4 per cent in April, but a Canstar comparison of 67,000 quotes across 43 providers found average premiums have this year increased by 5.8 per cent.
The typical motorist has seen a $122 increase this year, taking average annual car insurance premiums to $2,226, up from $2,104.
But Victorians were the worst off, with their premiums rising by a whopping 8.3 per cent or $225 to $2,940.
NSW motorists paid the second highest premiums of $2,570, following a 5.8 per cent or $140 increase.
The Northern Territory was in third place for expensive car insurance ($2,283) followed by Western Australia ($2,032), Queensland ($2,010), South Australia ($1,970) and Tasmania ($1,785).
Drivers over 50, who are less likely to take risks on the road, suffered a 6.5 per cent increase, equating to a $77 jump to $1,260.
But men under 25 paid the highest average premium of $3,020, following an annual increase of $162 or 5.7 per cent.
Women under 25 also had an above-average increase of 6.1 per cent, amounting to $156 a year to a typical premium of $2,706.
Canstar's data insights director Sally Tindall said car insurance increases were a big drain on household budgets, even if the latest increases were much more moderate than the 30.5 per cent increases of 2024.
'A lot lower but there are still rises on top of rises which makes it incredibly difficult for people who are cash strapped to pay their premiums when those notices come through,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
Natural disasters, like the recent flooding on the NSW mid-north coast, are also putting pressure on car insurance premiums.
'You can see some big claim events - they always can add to the cost of insurances,' Ms Tindall said.
Ms Tindall noted ROLLiN Insurance offered discounts of 15 per cent to younger drivers if they were prepared to install an app on their smartphone to monitor their behaviour on the road.
'They have a what's called "telematics insurance" where you download - you can opt to do this - a black box, which is basically your mobile phone,' she said.
'You download their app and you have that app running every time that you drive and they can measure things like braking speed and acceleration power and the number of times you touch your phone and then they can give you a monthly score as to how safe a driver you are.
'If you're in a high-risk category but you know that you're an incredibly safe driver, options like this might be worth exploring.'
The best way to get a better deal is to switch with Canstar research showing drivers taking out a new policy can save $692 by switching to one of the cheapest products, from either ROLLiN Insurance, Bingle, Budget Direct, ING or Virgin Money.
'That's an average saving – those who have copped price hikes from their insurer for years could stand to save even more,' Ms Tindall said.
'When shopping around for insurance, price is important, however, it's not necessarily about getting the lowest price policy in town.
'You want to be looking for value for money, that is, a decent level of cover at a competitive price.'
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