Rutherford's auto insurance rates soar above neighbors'( Part 2 )

Philip Bogle, president of Bogle Agency Insurance in Lyndhurst, said that although the state's rating territory update was an admirable move, it's not nearly the only factor that determines an insurance rate. More needs to be done about the criteria that insurance companies use to determine an individual's rate, he said.

"It's a tiger by the tail, we really don't know where this thing's going," said Bogle. "The state had good intentions when they redid the map based on updated populations, but what the insurance companies are doing now is they are just adding a list of other factors. Progressive for instance, I want a quote; there are 141 different factors to put in."

Bogle said shopping around is the best bet for a consumer if he or she sees his or her rates go up unexpectedly, whether it be because of territorial factors or individual factors.

"You can have someone in Rutherford paying $1,000 more than someone in Hudson County," said Bogle. "My mom's insurance, the company that she was with raised her to $1,600 from $1,000 because she went over 65. I found a new company and she's back down to $1,000."

As an example of a company that does not use the state's territory map, but instead uses its own, an estimated quote given on the Allstate Web site for the same individual, a male renter with good credit driving a small compact sedan, differed greatly amongst local towns. The quotes showed that in Carlstadt, that individual would pay $1,440 for a basic standard auto policy. In neighboring East Rutherford, however, the policy holder would pay a slightly higher annual fee of $1,540. In Rutherford, the individual would pay nearly $800 more than Carlstadt, having to fork over $2,210 a year for a basic standard policy. However, in Lyndhurst and North Arlington, the two other most populous South Bergenite coverage area towns, the basic coverage would be the same as the smallest town, Carlstadt.

Allstate was able to prove to the state earlier this month, after seeking a 15.4-percent increase on all New Jersey territories, that its financial status was dire enough to get granted an 8.9-percent increase, the largest any insurer doing business in the state has been granted in six years.

GMAC Insurance said it should not be a baffling notion to think many insurance companies are in need of raising rates because safety doesn't seem to be a top priority in the state. It attributed an annual study it conducts to see if drivers could pass a standardized written driving test. Overall findings from the study, conducted in 2008, showed that over 16 percent or 33 million licensed U.S. drivers would fail a written driver's exam if it were given today. GMAC ranked New Jersey drivers as the worst, even though results were better than previous years.

"It's encouraging to see that the scores are beginning to get better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement," said Wade Bontrager, vice president of marketing for GMAC.

For some residents, they chalk it up to just being a resident of New Jersey and know along with high property taxes, high home values and the high cost of living that seems to never stop escalating, high insurance is just something they have to live with.

"I have New Jersey Manufacturers, which luckily hasn't raised our rate, but it's probably a moment in time," said Lyndhurst resident Jean Simmon about her and her husband's two vehicles. "As long as we are as packed into this state like sardines, we will always have to pay more to drive."

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