IRC Examines States’ Uninsured Motorists Rates

A new report this month from the Insurance Research Council (IRC) showed a downward trend for the estimated percentage of uninsured motorists (UM) across the U.S. in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

In the new study, “Uninsured Motorists, 2014 Edition,” the IRC estimated the percentage of uninsured drivers nationally and in individual jurisdictions using a ratio of insurance claims made by individuals who were injured by uninsured drivers to claims made by those who were injured by insured drivers. Data is from 2012, the latest year for which information is available.

In the East region, Rhode Island had the highest estimated UM rate, at 17.0 percent. Massachusetts had the lowest estimated rate in the East region as well as nationally, at 3.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Virginia, at over 671,000, had the highest estimated number of UM in the East region, and Vermont had the lowest estimated number of UM in the East region, with less than 25,000.

Nationally, the study said 12.6 percent of motorists were estimated to be uninsured in the U.S. in 2012. That percentage represents a downward trend when compared to 13.8 percent in 2009, 14.3 percent in 2006 and 14.9 percent in 2003, according to IRC estimates.

About 29.7 million motorists in the U.S. were driving uninsured in 2012, a slight dip from 29.9 million in 2009, said the IRC report.However, IRC said it saw an upward trend in the estimated number of UM over the past decade. In general, there’s been a steady rise in the amount of motorists on the roadways over the past several decades and the number of UM nationally is up some 34 percent over the past decade, the IRC estimates.

The IRC study also estimated the total claim payments to the uninsured. Discounting fatalities and total permanent disability claims, the IRC estimates that $2.6 billion was paid in the U.S. on 2012 uninsured motorists claims. That total claim payment amount is up 75 percent over the past decade and translated to $14 per insured individual in 2012.