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Drivers Feel Auto Insurers ‘Judge’ Them Unfairly, Survey Shows

Rates based on ‘broad assumptions’ don’t reflect actual driving habits, respondents told data analytics company.

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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Published | Reading time: 2 minutes

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This holiday season, it may not just be your family members who make you feel judged. You might be feeling unfairly judged by your car insurance company — and you’re not alone.

A recent survey of 1,000 American drivers found that 70% feel an insurance company has judged them unfairly or stereotyped them when setting their car insurance rates.

Mobility data and analytics company Arity polled drivers with problematic driving profiles, including those with coverage lapses, traffic violations, and low credit scores. The survey found that many drivers feel “the rates they see while shopping for coverage are often based on broad assumptions,” according to Arity. Rates “can feel disconnected from their actual driving habits.”

In fact, 54% of respondents feel they pay more because of non-driving factors like poor credit. And 28% believe their age, gender, or other personal traits have unfairly affected their car insurance costs.

Overall, respondents were deeply skeptical about auto insurance, with 82% saying car insurance rating is designed to favor insurers, not drivers.

What drivers think insurers get wrong

Auto insurance rating models are complex and often look at non-driving factors to help insurers estimate a driver’s risk of filing a claim. But those factors don’t always reflect how people actually behave behind the wheel, survey respondents felt.

Arity found that:

  • 54% felt they’ve paid more for insurance because of non-driving factors, like a low credit score.

  • 32% felt insurers assumed they weren’t financially reliable and would struggle to pay their premiums.

  • 28% believe they were treated differently due to their age, gender, or other personal characteristics.

  • 24% said they were classified as bad drivers despite having clean driving records.

  • 21% felt insurers assumed they’d be more likely to file claims.

Moreover, 71% said their policies don’t reflect how they actually drive.

What’s next? Drivers want more transparent and equitable pricing

High premiums frustrated 67% of surveyed drivers who felt the costs didn’t accurately reflect their driving habits. And, although many expressed concerns over how insurers use, share, and protect their personal data, the majority said they would be willing to share their data if they knew it would help them save money, get behavior-based pricing, or earn rewards.

Arity’s survey asked drivers how they’d like to see insurers use driving behavior data. More than half (53%) said insurers should provide rewards and discounts for safe driving, and 51% felt insurers should lean on data to more accurately align premiums with individual driving behavior.

“This moment is about more than pricing,” Gary Hallren, president of Arity, told insurance industry publication Carrier Management. “It’s a chance to strengthen the relationship between insurers and drivers. Drivers want to feel in control. They want clarity instead of guesswork. And they want to know their everyday behavior behind the wheel plays a greater role than things like past incidents or credit scores.”

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
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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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