State lawmakers looking for ways to rein in auto insurance rates

By Michael Lyle, Nevada Current

State lawmakers are eying solutions to address Nevada’s high auto insurance rates, which are among the 10 most expensive in the country.

Insurance rates rose 13% in the state in 2025 and are expected to keep rising this year, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The drastic increase has been felt nationwide but has been “amplified locally, particularly in Southern Nevada,” said Ned Gaines, insurance commissioner for the state.

Contributing factors range from higher car accidents from “riskier driving behavior” in Southern Nevada to “ongoing economic volatility” including supply chain disruptions that began during Covid and continue “amid geopolitical instability,” he said.

The latter has made auto parts and car repairs even more expensive, in turn driving up premiums.

Gaines, along with a representative from the National Council of Insurance Legislators, addressed lawmakers at an Interim Committee on Commerce and Labor meeting last week.

The rising costs are making many drivers fear nothing can be done to drive down costs, said Democratic State Sen. Edgar Flores

“I feel that the sentiment from constituents and from different folk has been that … insurance rates are going up no matter what.” he said. “It’s happening across the board in our nation.”

Lawmakers said they’ve heard from constituents who can no longer afford high costs of auto insurance either becoming under insured or lacking insurance altogether.

As if to underscore what Flores says he’s hearing from constituents, no specific policy solution was discussed at length during the hearing, but lawmakers are hoping to continue analyzing potential policy initiatives between now and early next year when lawmakers next convene in a regulator legislative session.

In the meantime, Gaines said people could explore making changes to their individual policies in an effort to low costs.

Democratic Assemblymember Elaine Marzola, who chairs the interim committee, questioned why insurance companies need to raise rates so much while their profits are soaring.

“I’m a little confused as to why prices are going up,” she said. “Nevadans are struggling while folks are making billions of dollars.”

Multiple states have looked at options to bring down auto insurance rates, including changing laws around insurance claims, improving road designs to mitigate accidents, reducing the number of uninsured motorists, and addressing increased rates of theft and DUIs, said Christa Rapoport, the general counsel for the National Council of Insurance.

Other options could be strengthening enforcement of the mandatory insurance laws or implementing laws around “rate transparency and competition,” she said.

“The Nevada Division Insurance could perhaps streamline the rate filing process and make it easier for new solvent carriers to enter the marketplace and compete,”  Rapoport said. “More insurance competition often keeps prices in check.”

Many states have taken a “piecemeal approach” in attempting to lower insurance costs and success just depends on the state, she said.

Florida, for example, passed tort reforms laws limiting the amount of damages a driver can seek and lessening the statute for seeking damages in car accidents.

While a similar approach worked in New Jersey to lower insurance costs. Florida “still considered to have one of the highest car insurance premiums,” Rapoport said.

“I guess tort reform doesn’t necessarily work,” Marzola said.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected].