QUOTE TOOLS
Renewal increase analyzer
Your renewal total went up, but a total never explains itself. Enter the premium for each coverage line from your old and new declarations pages, and this tool shows which lines drove the increase, in dollars and in percent, ranked largest first, with what to check on each of the biggest drivers. Every figure is one you type in from your own policy. This site publishes no premium for this tool and estimates nothing.
Read each line off your old and new declarations pages. Both policies must cover the same term and the same car and drivers, or the comparison mixes a price change with a coverage change.
Worked example loaded. The figures below are sample declarations-page lines for one 6-month term, shown so you can see how the result reads. They are not a real policy and not an average. Type over any figure to use your own; your entries are saved in this browser only.
Leave a line blank on both sides if your policy does not have it. Enter 0 on one side if a line was added at renewal or removed at renewal, so the totals still reconcile.
Your result
Old total
$1,308
per 6-month term, lines entered on both sides
New total
$1,481
about $2,962 a year at this term price
Total change
+$173 (+13.2%)
more than the old policy for the same term
How these numbers are built: total change = new total − old total. Percent change = total change ÷ old total × 100. Each line’s share = that line’s change ÷ total change × 100, so the shares of the lines that rose add to 100%. The percent change is shown when the old total is above zero. Totals add up only the lines filled in on both sides, so they reconcile exactly with the lines below.
What drove the change, largest first
1. Collision: +$75 (+21.1% on that line), which is 43.4% of the total increase.
What to check: Check the deductible: a lower collision deductible on the new policy raises this line even if the rate did not move. Then check the car itself: repair costs for your model and a higher vehicle value both feed collision pricing, so a newer or costlier-to-repair car lifts this line.
2. Bodily injury liability: +$56 (+11.5% on that line), which is 32.4% of the total increase.
What to check: Check the limits first: if the new declarations page shows higher bodily injury limits than the old one, part of this increase bought more coverage rather than a higher price for the same coverage. If the limits match, ask the insurer in writing which rating factors changed at renewal. Your record, your territory and the claim frequency of your rating group all feed this line.
Read next: How much car insurance do I need: reading liability limits
3. Comprehensive: +$14 (+8.5% on that line), which is 8.1% of the total increase.
What to check: Comprehensive follows theft, weather and glass claims where the car is garaged, and the value of the car. Check the deductible matches the old policy, and confirm the garaging address on the new declarations page is where the car actually sits now.
Read next: Why is my car insurance so high: where the car is garaged
4. Property damage liability: +$11 (+9.3% on that line), which is 6.4% of the total increase.
5. PIP / medical payments: +$7 (+8.3% on that line), which is 4.0% of the total increase.
6. Fees and taxes: +$6 (+15.8% on that line), which is 3.5% of the total increase.
7. Uninsured / underinsured motorist: +$4 (+6.5% on that line), which is 2.3% of the total increase.
Every line, old against new
| Coverage line | Old ($) | New ($) | Change ($) | Change (%) | Share of the increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $486 | $542 | +$56 | +11.5% | 32.4% |
| Property damage liability | $118 | $129 | +$11 | +9.3% | 6.4% |
| Collision | $356 | $431 | +$75 | +21.1% | 43.4% |
| Comprehensive | $164 | $178 | +$14 | +8.5% | 8.1% |
| Uninsured / underinsured motorist | $62 | $66 | +$4 | +6.5% | 2.3% |
| PIP / medical payments | $84 | $91 | +$7 | +8.3% | 4.0% |
| Fees and taxes | $38 | $44 | +$6 | +15.8% | 3.5% |
| Total, lines entered on both sides | $1,308 | $1,481 | +$173 | +13.2% |
Take this specification shopping
You now know which lines moved. The next step in the same task is to price this exact specification, same limits and deductibles, at other insurers. Enter the quotes you gather in the quote comparison worksheet, which lines them up on one annual basis against your state NAIC benchmark, and prepare with the quote shopping checklist so each quote is taken on identical coverage.
Everything you type stays in your browser and is saved only on this device, so you can return to it. Nothing is sent or shared. Every figure here is your own declarations page read back to you; this site supplies no premium figures for this tool. The result is arithmetic on your entries, not insurance advice: ask your insurer, in writing, which rating factors changed at renewal before you act on a driver listed above.
How to read the result
Start with the share column, not the percent column. A line can jump a large percent from a small base and still be a minor part of your bill, while a modest percent on your largest line can be most of the increase. The ranked list puts the dollars first for that reason. Then separate the two kinds of increase. A price increase is the same coverage costing more, driven by the rating factors insurers apply: your record, where the car is garaged, the car itself, and the claims experience of your rating group and state, the factors worked through in why is my car insurance so high. A coverage increase is a higher limit, a lower deductible or an added line costing more because it covers more. The check written under each large driver tells you which of the two you are looking at, by pointing at the exact entry to compare on the two declarations pages.
If a limit rose at renewal and you did not ask for the change, that is a finding, not a footnote. Ask the insurer, in writing, why the limit changed and what the premium would be at your previous limit. If the limits and deductibles match on both pages and a line still rose sharply, ask which rating factors changed at renewal, in writing, and keep the answer with your policy papers. How much car insurance do I need works through whether the coverage you are now paying for is the coverage you would choose.
Where this fits
Run this analyzer when a renewal lands higher than expected, before you shop. It tells you what you are shopping against: the same specification, priced by other insurers. Then prepare with the quote shopping checklist, build your list from the insurance companies directory, and line the quotes up in the quote comparison worksheet on one annual basis against your state benchmark. The tools page lists the full sequence.
Your entries stay in your browser and are saved only on this device. Published averages and benchmarks elsewhere on this site are not a quote, and this analysis is arithmetic on your own figures, not insurance advice.