Half of Personal Auto Policies Were Shopped in Past Year

• By: AnneMarie McPherson Spears
• May 26, 2026

Personal auto policy shopping reached historic highs in the fourth quarter of 2025, with almost half (47%) of policies shopped at least once in the previous 12 months, according to the 2026 “LexisNexis U.S. Auto Insurance Trends Report.”

Policies with a deductible of $1,000 or higher increased from 23% in 2022 to 33% in 2025.

The report depicts a personal auto market under pressure, driven by record shopping, price sensitivity and distracted driving. It also highlights how consumers are managing premium costs with higher deductibles, while rising bodily injury costs continue to reshape claims.

From 2022 to 2025, total shopping volume grew 35.7%, with LexisNexis finding that shopping behavior increasingly expanded into historically stable consumer segments. As a result, retention dropped 4.7 points from the first quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2025, with the majority of the drop occurring from 2022 to 2024.

However, retention did stabilize in 2025 even as shopping stayed high, suggesting that while consumers compared options, fewer ultimately switched.

Insurance also plays a more noticeable role in the total cost of vehicle ownership, LexisNexis found, with insurance payments ranking as the second-highest consideration in the purchase of a new vehicle, behind only the monthly car payment, beating out fuel costs, estimated maintenance costs and estimated repair costs.

With years of rising auto insurance rate increases, consumers are much more likely to adjust their coverage to manage their premiums. Policies with a deductible of $1,000 or higher increased from 23% in 2022 to 33% in 2025.

LexisNexis also found that driving behavior has shifted—for the worse. While traffic violations have increased by 13% from 2022 to 2025, reaching pre-pandemic levels, miles driven have increased by only 2%.

Minor moving violations have seen the most growth, up 15% since 2022. “This suggests risk is no longer concentrated among the highest-risk violations and underscores the need for more consistent, disciplined risk assessment and pricing,” the report said.  

Distracted driving violations are up 57% from 2022 to 2025. While all age groups saw an increase, older demographics were the worst culprits. Drivers ages 36-45 exhibited a 70% increase in distracted driving violations and drivers 66 years and older saw a 73% increase.

Modern vehicle touchscreens introduce a new element of distraction, with adjusting screen controls requiring 5.5 seconds of attention—more than 3 times that required for analog interfaces, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau Tech Transportation Institute.

When it comes to claims, bodily injury costs now account for more than 26% of claim costs, up from 20% in 2022. While bodily injury claim severity has seen a 7.5% increase, frequency has also risen by 2.5%.

However, higher deductibles are resulting in a drop in collision and property damage claims. Collision paid frequency is down 16.4% from 2022, and property damage paid frequency is down 3.5%. Material damage severity continues to increase, with more expensive vehicle parts and heavier vehicles.

“Auto insurers continue to navigate a market that is becoming more complex across nearly every dimension,” said Jeff Batiste, senior vice president and general manager, U.S. auto and home insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “Driving behavior continues to evolve, consumers are more price sensitive and increasingly willing to shop policies, and claims outcomes are being reshaped by bodily injury severity trends.”

“Insurers must remain agile as market conditions evolve,” Batiste continues. “They should apply more precise segmentation and pricing using richer data, such as comprehensive violations data, holistic insurance scores as well as industry benchmarking and shopping data, to be better positioned to manage risk and identify growth opportunities.”

AnneMarie McPherson Spears is IA news editor.