2023 J.D. Power Insurance Intelligence Report shows more uninsured drivers

The J.D. Power Insurance Intelligence Report is here with additional unwelcome news for drivers. According to the research firm, more vehicle owners are choosing to forgo auto insurance due to rising premiums. August's Consumer Price Index report put the increase in auto insurance premiums at 19% year-over-year. As if in response, J.D. Power data shows that nationwide, over the first six months of 2023, the percentage of households that possess at least one vehicle and declare having no insurance on it rose 0.4% to 5.7%. The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau counts 123.6 million households in the U.S., 92% of them, 113.7 million, owning at least one vehicle. The J.D. Power figure means that uninsured household numbers have risen by 460,000 households, from 6.03 million to 6.49 million. That increase is akin to every household in Detroit, Michigan and Nashville, Tennessee canceling their auto insurance plans.

As one might have guessed, regional differences in uninsured rates make quite the difference, just not where you'd expect. J.D. Power didn't provide information on which state has the overall highest number of uninsured, but survey responses tabbed South Dakota as having the greatest statewide increase in uninsured. At the end of 2022, 3.3% of the state's drivers hit the roads without coverage. Come the middle of this year, that number was 6.8%, a rise of 106%. Based on a population of 895,376 residents, J.D. Power asserts there are more than 30,000 additional uninsured drivers on South Dakota roads — about the entire city of Aberdeen, SD. Behind South Dakota, New Hampshire showed the greatest increase of uninsured motorists at 84%. Among the list of states with the highest increases in the uninsured, New Hampshire — the "Live Free or Die" state — also showed the highest overall rate of uninsured at 7.9%. Indiana's overall rate of those without auto policies followed at 7.5%, that number having climbed 36% from the end of 2022 to the middle of 2023.