There’s finally some good news for consumers this month. After a period of soaring car rate hikes, car insurance has started to shift to a buyer’s market, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Auto Insurance Study. That’s because rising rates and declining customer satisfaction have triggered a shift in the market, causing even the “stickier” customers who were traditionally least likely to jump ship, to consider switching car insurance.
Now, car insurance rates look to be stabilizing, climbing just 2% by the end of last year, compared to an average 13% hike at the beginning of 2024. And the increased willingness of customers to switch providers has forced insurers to shift their focus toward retention strategies, which means customers could see meaningful improvements in service, claims processing and other key features that motivate customers to renew with their current provider.
That’s great news for drivers, who may now enjoy a break from skyrocketing car insurance rates and a boost in service quality. It also demonstrates the power of shopping around. The more customers who seek additional quotes before renewing, the more pressure insurers face to compete on both rates and service.
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Companies focus on retention as more and more customers switch car insurance
This year’s J.D. Power U.S. Auto Insurance Study gathered responses from over 48,000 auto insurance customers between May 2024 and April 2025. The biggest takeaway: Even though overall customer satisfaction held steady, dropping just two points compared to J.D. Power’s 2024 study, the number of customers who have switched or are considering switching has surged to record highs.
Even more alarming for car insurers, the study found that nearly half of high value lifetime customers – those who typically stick with the same insurer for longer, have a multi-policy bundle and pay higher premiums – are unlikely to renew with their current insurer.
While those high-value customers were the least likely to renew, retention rates didn’t look much better across medium-value and low-value customers, either, which were only one or two percentage points more likely to stick with their current provider compared to the high-value segment.
These findings come just weeks after another J.D. Power report found that 57% of customers had actively shopped for new car insurance in the last year – the highest percentage ever recorded in the 19 years that J.D. Power has been tracking this data. That record high number of customers reshopping car insurance came even as rate hikes began to slow.
Shopping around for car insurance pays off
In a similar survey by LendingTree published in March, 92% of the customers who reported switching car insurance saved by doing so. Of those who switched, 63% saved $100 or more per year by doing so. That may not sound like much, but it adds up over the years. And with online tools making it easier than ever to compare multiple quotes and switch, the chance to save $100 or more is well worth the hour or so of your time it takes to switch.
It might be worth sticking around if you’ve had a positive claims experience with them in the past and your rates haven’t climbed too much. But if you aren’t happy with the service or the claims process, now is a great time to get a couple of other quotes. You could end up not only cutting your car insurance bill, but also getting better service at the same time.
That’s especially true for baby boomers or anyone earning a six-figure income, as those two demographics were the most likely to see higher rates at renewal, according to the LendingTree survey.
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