New York State insurers' losses due to personal-injury auto accidents increased by 79 percent from 1995 to 2000, a significantly steeper increase than other states with no-fault insurance, a new study has found.
During that period, the average increase in other no-fault states studied was only 25 percent, according to Elizabeth Sprinkel, senior vice president of the Insurance Research Council (IRC), which produced the report. The study measured total amount of losses paid out per insured vehicle.
"The growth in losses in New York's no-fault auto insurance system has been staggering in recent years," Sprinkel said.
The increase in losses in New York was fueled by growth in the number of claims and in the average amount paid per claim. During the period of the study, New York's number of personal-injury claims per 100 insured cars increased by 9 percent, and the average amount paid per claim rose 65 percent, including a 20 percent jump in 2000.
New York's statistics were notably different from those in other states, Sprinkel said. For example:
- New York's 79 percent increase in losses compares to 33 percent in Florida, the state with the next highest losses.
- With a 9 percent increase in the number of personal-injury claims, New York is the only state to show any increase at all, Sprinkel said. All no-fault states average an 8 percent decrease in these claims, and the next worst-performing state, Florida, showed a 1 percent decrease in these claims.
- New York's 65 percent increase in average amount per claim is higher than both the average of all no-fault states in the study (36 percent) and the next worst state, Florida (34 percent).
There are 13 no-fault states. The IRC analysis excluded one, Michigan, because no-fault insurance there is radically different from no-fault insurance in all other states.