Not at fault for an accident? Insurance premium still goes up in Kansas City

Say it ain’t so, Flo.

A car crash often leads to higher auto insurance premiums in Kansas City even for the driver who wasn’t at fault for the accident, a consumer group said Monday.

The Consumer Federation of America cited Progressive Insurance, whose commercials star an apron-wearing cashier named Flo, as raising rates the most among five large insurers it tested for a not-at-fault event in 10 cities.

Geico and Farmers Insurance also fared poorly in the consumer group’s claims. Allstate and State Farm fared best.

“You’re being punished for something that didn’t cost your insurance company a dime,” said Doug Heller, a consumer researcher working with the Consumer Federation for the tests.

Average insurance premiums increased by $123 a year in Kansas City in the tests, a release from the federation said. The increase was highest in a test in Queens, New York, at $401, and lowest in Atlanta at $60.

Tests in two cities showed no increase — Oklahoma City and Los Angeles — because they are in states that prohibit basing premiums on not-at-fault accidents, the release said.

Progressive increased premiums by 16.6 percent on average in the eight cities where increases were legal, the release said. Geico’s average increase was 14.1 percent, and Farmers Insurance’s was 11.1 percent.

The release said Allstate increased premiums 4.8 percent on average and that State Farm did not increase premiums based on not-at-fault accidents.

A request for comment from Progressive did not yield a reply. A Farmers spokeswoman referred questions to the Insurance Information Institute.

Steven Weisbart, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute, acknowledged that some insurers factor not-at-fault accidents into premium calculations. He said the decision to raise premiums would reflect data showing those drivers are more likely to also have an at-fault accident that would produce a claim.

Weisbart said he didn’t have data on the issue.

He also said that auto accidents are relatively rare events and that consumers may help their premiums more by focusing on their credit scores, or enjoy better results by considering claims experience ratings and reputation.

“You shouldn’t make this the centerpiece of your buying decision,” Weisbart said of the Consumer Federation’s findings.

Heller, however, said the pricing practice was unfair and that consumers “shouldn’t have to shop around for fairness.”

Consumers must buy minimum liability coverage for vehicles under state laws. Heller said those policies were the ones priced in the tests that relied on premiums offered on companies’ websites for a fictitious buyer.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Not at fault for an accident? Insurance premium still goes up in Kansas City."