Record Number of Drivers Comparison Shopped for Car Insurance in 2024

Rising rates pushed nearly half of policyholders to shop for a better deal, new report found.

Evelyn Pimplaskar
Evelyn PimplaskarEditor-in-Chief, Director of Content
  • 10+ years in insurance and personal finance content

  • 30+ years in media, PR, and content creation

Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.

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Chris Schafer
Edited byChris Schafer
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

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John Leach
Reviewed byJohn Leach
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John LeachSenior Insurance Copy Editor
  • Licensed property and casualty insurance agent

  • 8+ years editing experience

  • NPN: 20461358

John leads Insurify’s copy desk, helping ensure the accuracy and readability of Insurify’s content. He’s a licensed agent specializing in home and car insurance topics.

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High car insurance rates across the country are pushing more drivers to shop for affordable coverage than ever before, a new LexisNexis study indicates.

In 2024, more than 45% of policyholders comparison shopped for new auto insurance at least once, according to the report. It was the highest shopping rate ever, LexisNexis noted.

Auto and home insurance rate increases in most states and more marketing by insurance companies drove the record-setting comparison shopping, the report said.

By the end of 2025, the average cost of full-coverage car insurance will rise by 7%, according to a report by Insurify. Likewise, Insurify data scientists predict the average cost of home insurance will climb by 8% in the same time frame.

Long-term customers did the most shopping

On average, drivers stay with the same insurer for about 5.5 years, seven years if they bundle their auto insurance with another policy type, like homeowners or renters, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study. But LexisNexis found those longer-term customers did the most shopping in 2024.

Policyholders who’d been with the same company for more than five years represented 24% of all shoppers, the risk solutions company reported. They also switched insurers more than other shoppers. Switching by long-standing customers accounted for 16% of new business in the first quarter of 2024 and reached 40% by the end of the year.

What’s next: Will shopping and switching hit insurers’ wallets?

In many industries, keeping customers is more profitable than acquiring new ones. The insurance industry is no different, said Matt Brannon, a data journalist with Insurify.

“The property and casualty industry has seen customer retention rates drop dramatically in the past few years due in large part to significant rate increases,” Brannon said. “It’s a potentially self-perpetuating cycle. Higher rates push more consumers to shop and switch, which can undermine profitability, which could inspire insurers to raise rates further.”

Insurance companies may need to be proactive if they want to keep customers, LexisNexis suggested in its report. “Against a backdrop of heightened levels of shopping and switching activity, insurers may want to focus on their retention strategies, especially when long-tenured customers are hitting the market,” the report said.

Evelyn Pimplaskar
Evelyn PimplaskarEditor-in-Chief, Director of Content

Evelyn Pimplaskar is Insurify’s director of content. With 30-plus years in content creation – including 10 years specializing in personal finance – Evelyn’s done everything from covering volatile local elections as a beat reporter to building fintech content libraries from the ground up.

Before joining Insurify, she was editor-in-chief at Credible, where she launched and developed the lending marketplace’s media partnership’s content initiative and managed the restructuring of the editorial team to enhance content production efficiency. Formerly, as tax editor for Credit Karma, Evelyn built a library of more than 300 educational articles on federal and state taxes, achieving triple-digit year-over-year growth in e-files from organic search.

Her early career included work as a content marketer, vice president and managing officer of a boutique public relations agency, chief copy editor for 14 weekly Forbes publications, reporting for large and mid-sized daily newspapers, and freelancing for the Associated Press.

Evelyn is passionate about creating personal finance content that distills complex topics into relatable, easy-to-understand stories. She believes great content helps empower readers with the information they need to make important personal finance decisions.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

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John Leach
Reviewed byJohn LeachSenior Insurance Copy Editor
Photo of an Insurify author
John LeachSenior Insurance Copy Editor
  • Licensed property and casualty insurance agent

  • 8+ years editing experience

  • NPN: 20461358

John leads Insurify’s copy desk, helping ensure the accuracy and readability of Insurify’s content. He’s a licensed agent specializing in home and car insurance topics.

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