ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Getting behind the wheel is costing New Mexicans a lot more this year. A recent report by Insurify showed auto insurance rates spiked an average of 16 percent in the first half of 2024.

“I have been in the industry for over 20 years, and I just have never seen rate increases like this,” said Christian Myers, the Chief Actuary for the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance. “I cannot imagine this is going to persist indefinitely. I think it’s going to slow down probably in 2025.”

Myers added this is sadly not surprising based on the last few years.

“Auto inflation and auto premiums CPI have increased more than 50 percent over the past five years,” he said.

Experts attributed the increase to the costs of crashes going up, labor costs and repairs going up, and supply chain issues coming out of the pandemic.

“We talk a lot about inflation but actually auto insurance inflation has significantly outpaced regular inflation,” Myers said.

KOB reached out to a independent insurance agency to get more perspective on what is contributing to increasing rates in New Mexico.

“Albuquerque has the second highest stolen car rates per capita in the country, we have a lot of DWIs, we have a lot of uninsured motorists and a lot of accidents,” said Barry Herrero, who is the CEO and Insurance Agent for Sunset Insurance in Albuquerque.

Herrero said his agency has been busy helping New Mexicans adjust their rates.

“We are spending a lot of our time requoting current customers because their rates are going up,” he said. “One of our advantages being independent agency is we have several different carriers, so we usually can flip them into another company at a lower rate.”

While this is happening across the country, reps with the New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance Office said they are helping where they can by making sure big companies are backing up the rates with data.

“Companies can use whatever rates they think is appropriate they just need to file them with us,” Myers said. “So we don’t have the authority to say, ‘No, you have to come in and decrease rates by 10 percent,’ but what we can do is ask questions, make sure they are providing all of the documentation necessary.”