25 Auto Insurance Claims Statistics on Frequency, Cost, and Repairs
How often drivers file auto insurance claims, what each coverage pays per claim, why repair bills keep rising, the growing role of attorneys in injury claims, and how a claim affects your premium, in 25 cited statistics.
Your premium is a forecast of the claims you and drivers like you are expected to file. To understand why auto insurance costs what it does, look at the claims themselves: how often each coverage pays out, how large the average check is, and what is pushing those checks higher. This report collects 25 cited statistics on claim frequency and severity by coverage, repair and parts costs, glass and theft losses, attorney involvement in injury claims, and how a claim changes your rate. It goes deeper than our auto insurance cost statistics, using the latest regulator, industry, and government data.
Key Takeaways
- Collision is the most common claim - 4.16 of every 100 insured vehicles with collision coverage had a claim in 2024, more than any other coverage.
- Injury claims keep getting bigger - the average bodily injury liability claim reached $28,278 in 2024, up from $17,014 in 2015.
- Repairs cost far more than before 2020 - the average price of vehicle repairs has risen more than 40% since 2020, much faster than inflation.
- Lawyers are in nearly half of claims - attorney representation rose from 40% to nearly 50% of claimants between 2017 and 2022.
- Glass and theft are a slice of comprehensive - of $233 in average annual comprehensive losses per newer vehicle, glass accounts for $41 and theft for $29.
- One at-fault crash can raise your rate sharply - in North Carolina, a minor at-fault accident adds 40% to the rate, and a serious one adds 70%.
How often drivers file claims
1. Collision claims are the most frequent, at 4.16 per 100 vehicles
In 2024, 4.16% of collision policyholders had a claim, measured as claims per 100 insured car years. That is the highest frequency of any major coverage, but it has fallen from 6.01 in 2015. Fewer collision claims has not meant lower collision costs, because the average repair has grown much more expensive over the same decade. For drivers, collision is the coverage most likely to be used in any given year.
2. Comprehensive claim frequency rose by half in a decade
Comprehensive covers theft, glass, animal strikes, fire, and vandalism. Its claim frequency rose from 2.62 per 100 car years in 2015 to 3.95 in 2024, and these figures exclude wind and water losses but include glass. The average comprehensive claim was $2,306 in 2024. Comprehensive is now nearly as common as collision, which is worth weighing before dropping it on a newer car.
3. Liability claims: 2.50 property and 0.80 injury per 100 vehicles
Liability claims are less frequent but carry the largest dollar amounts. In 2024, 2.50 per 100 insured car years produced a property damage liability claim and 0.80 produced a bodily injury liability claim. Injury claim frequency has climbed back from a low of 0.68 in 2021. Every liability claim is paid on behalf of an at-fault driver to someone else, which is why liability limits are the core of any policy.
4. About one in seven policyholders filed a claim in a year
Survey data shows how often households actually use their coverage. In a 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia survey, just over 14% of auto policyholders reported filing a claim in the prior 12 months. About 30% of those who filed attributed the claim to a natural disaster or weather event. Weather is no longer a side issue in auto insurance; it drives a meaningful share of claims.
5. Police recorded 6.18 million crashes in 2024
The raw volume of crashes sets the floor for claims. NHTSA estimates 6.18 million police-reported traffic crashes in 2024, up slightly from 6.14 million in 2023, with 2.42 million people injured and 39,254 killed. The fatality rate fell to 1.19 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Each injury in that total is a potential bodily injury, medical payments, or personal injury protection claim.
What the average claim costs
6. The average bodily injury claim reached $28,278
Injury claims are the most expensive claims insurers pay. The average bodily injury liability claim was $28,278 in 2024, up from $26,178 in 2023 and $17,014 in 2015. That is a 66% increase in nine years. ISO’s figure includes claim-handling expenses, but it now tops the $25,000 per-person minimum still used in many states.
Data
| 2015 | $17,014 |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $16,082 |
| 2017 | $16,234 |
| 2018 | $18,213 |
| 2019 | $19,151 |
| 2020 | $20,769 |
| 2021 | $23,592 |
| 2022 | $24,681 |
| 2023 | $26,178 |
| 2024 | $28,278 |
7. Property damage liability claims nearly doubled to $6,770
When you damage someone else’s car, your insurer pays the repair bill. The average property damage liability claim was $6,770 in 2024, compared with $3,628 in 2015. That near doubling tracks the rising cost of fixing modern vehicles. It also shows why a $5,000 or $10,000 property damage minimum can leave an at-fault driver personally exposed after a single crash with a newer car.
8. The average collision claim dipped to $5,489
Collision severity finally paused. The average collision claim was $5,489 in 2024, slightly below $5,521 in 2023, the only year-over-year decline in the 2015 to 2024 series. It is still well above the $3,854 average of 2020. These figures are based on coverage with a $500 deductible, so your own out-of-pocket share comes on top.
9. Collision claims on newer vehicles average $10,267
Newer cars cost far more to fix. For 2022 to 2024 model year vehicles, HLDI data shows an average collision claim of $10,267 and a claim frequency of 5.9 per 100 insured vehicle years. Together that works out to $604 in collision losses per insured vehicle per year. Overall collision losses were highest for very large luxury cars, at more than four times those of midsize station wagons. Small sports cars had the highest claim severity, at more than two and a half times the average for all passenger vehicles.
10. Five percent of collision claims account for nearly a quarter of the dollars
Most collision claims are modest, but a few are enormous. In 2024, about 30% of collision claims cost less than $3,000, and about half cost less than $5,000. Yet the 5.2% of claims at $25,000 or more made up 23.8% of all collision dollars paid. The $1,000 to $1,999 range was the single most common claim size, at roughly 12% of claims.
11. Insurers incurred $132 billion in auto liability losses
Add up every claim and the scale is enormous. Private passenger auto insurers incurred $132.0 billion in liability losses and $89.5 billion in physical damage losses in 2024. Liability losses rose every year from 2020, while physical damage losses fell from $95.4 billion in 2023. Those totals are what premiums must cover before a single dollar of overhead. The physical damage business swung to a combined ratio of 87.9 in 2024, a solid profit, while liability coverage still ran at 101.2, meaning losses and expenses exceeded premiums on that coverage.
Why repair bills keep rising
12. Vehicle repair prices are up more than 40% since 2020
Repair inflation is a major driver of physical damage costs. Citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, IIHS reports that the average price of vehicle repairs has risen more than 40% since 2020, much faster than inflation. The vehicle mix is part of the reason: nearly two-thirds of new vehicles now have all-wheel or four-wheel drive, and more than half have turbocharged or hybrid engines or are fully electric. Bigger, more complex vehicles cost more to fix.
13. Repair prices rose 15.0% in the year through August 2025
The repair surge has not fully faded. The federal price index for motor vehicle repair rose 15.0% in the 12 months through August 2025, before slowing to 2.6% in the 12 months through August 2026. The broader maintenance and repair index was still up 5.2% over the same span. Over the longer run, the index for motor vehicle body work rose 50.5% from 2016 to 2025.
14. Crash avoidance sensors raise the cost of each claim
Driver assistance technology makes each repair more expensive. In an HLDI comparison of otherwise identical 2017 to 2022 model year vehicles, collision claim severity was about 10% higher for vehicles with a bundle of crash avoidance features, and property damage liability severity was 15% higher. The sensors are expensive and often need calibration after replacement. That is the part of the story drivers notice on the repair bill.
15. The same sensors cut claim frequency and total losses
The other half of the story is fewer crashes. The equipped vehicles had about 10% fewer collision claims and almost 40% fewer property damage liability claims. As a result, overall losses were about 5% lower for collision and almost 30% lower for property damage liability. Higher per-claim costs are more than offset by the crashes that never happen.
Comprehensive, glass, and theft claims
16. Glass and theft make up less than a third of comprehensive losses
For 2022 to 2024 model year vehicles, comprehensive losses averaged $233 per insured vehicle per year. Glass damage from rocks and other objects accounted for $41 and theft for $29. The remaining $163 came from other causes, including animal collisions, weather, fire, and vandalism. In other words, about 70% of comprehensive losses come from causes other than glass and theft.
- Other causes (animals, weather, fire, vandalism) 70%
- Glass 18%
- Theft 12%
17. Luxury and sports cars carry the highest comprehensive losses
What you drive shapes your comprehensive claims. Very large luxury cars had the highest comprehensive losses at $903 per insured vehicle year, while mini station wagons were lowest at $160. Very large luxury cars also had glass losses more than three times the average. Large sports cars, a class that includes the Chevrolet Camaro, had theft losses nearly 10 times the average for all passenger vehicles.
Injury claims and attorney involvement
18. Average injury claim payments grew 7.8% a year
The Insurance Research Council’s new claim database shows how quickly injury costs are compounding. Average bodily injury claim payments rose 7.8% annualized, from about $14,000 in 2017 to more than $20,000 in 2022, more than double medical care inflation. Claimants received $2.00 in total settlement for every dollar of medical bills paid, and that ratio rose from $1.80 in mid-2017 to more than $2.30 by mid-2022. The database covers more than 7.4 million claims from insurers writing about 43% of the market.
19. Attorneys now represent nearly half of claimants
Legal involvement in auto claims has grown quickly. The share of claimants represented by attorneys rose from 40% in 2017 to nearly 50% in 2022 across all coverages, with bodily injury claimants up 11 percentage points. Litigation rates nearly doubled over the same period, from 10% to 18% of claimants. Represented and litigated claims cost more to settle, and those costs flow into everyone’s premium.
20. Represented injury claimants waited about 440 days
Hiring a lawyer did not speed things up. Represented bodily injury claimants waited a median of nearly 440 days for their claim to close, more than double the time for unrepresented claimants. After medical costs and legal fees, they netted $1.40 per dollar of medical bills, compared with $1.80 for claimants without an attorney. Representation was associated with both longer waits and lower net compensation for the injured person.
21. Nearly half of claimants who hired a lawyer did so within days
Attorney contact often starts almost immediately. In a 2026 national survey, nearly half of claimants who engaged an attorney did so within a few days of the accident, and 80% had contact within weeks. Nearly one in four households had a recent claim. About seven in 10 of those claimants consulted or hired an attorney, and about eight in 10 who did were referred to a medical provider. More than nine in 10 respondents had seen or heard attorney advertising in the past year.
22. Excess auto litigation cost $42.8 billion over a decade
Rising litigation has a measurable price tag. A study of court data estimated the excess value of private passenger and commercial motor vehicle tort filings at $42.8 billion from 2014 to 2023. Federal motor vehicle tort filings grew 4.9% annualized over that period, even as accident and claim frequency continued to decline. That gap between fewer crashes and more lawsuits is what the industry calls legal system abuse.
How claims affect your premium
23. A minor at-fault accident adds 40% to a North Carolina rate
North Carolina publishes exactly how claims affect premiums. Under its Safe Driver Incentive Plan, an at-fault accident with total property damage of $2,300 or less carries one point and a 40% rate increase. Damage above $2,300 but under $3,850 brings two points and 55%, and an accident with $3,850 or more in property damage or more than $1,800 in injuries brings three points and 70%. Accident surcharges apply for three policy years, and for serious convictions of four or more points occurring on or after July 1, 2025, the surcharge period is now five years. See local details on our North Carolina auto insurance page.
24. In California, a not-at-fault accident does not raise your premium
Fault matters as much as the claim itself. California’s insurance department states that if an accident is not your fault, your insurer does not charge you more, while being at least 51% at fault can trigger a surcharge at renewal. Drivers who qualify as Good Drivers must receive rates at least 20% lower than non-Good Drivers at the same company. Read more on our California auto insurance page.
25. Auto insurance prices fell 5.1% in the year through August 2026
After years of steep increases, prices have turned. The consumer price index for motor vehicle insurance was down 5.1% in the 12 months through August 2026. Repair prices, by contrast, were still rising 2.6% over the same period. For drivers, falling prices are a reason to re-shop a renewal rather than simply accept it.
How to keep claims from costing you more
The data suggests a few practical moves for any driver:
- Carry liability limits above the average claim. With bodily injury claims averaging $28,278, a $25,000 per-person limit is often not enough.
- Weigh small claims against the surcharge. A minor at-fault claim can raise a North Carolina rate by 40% for three years, which can cost more than paying a small repair yourself.
- Keep comprehensive on newer vehicles. Comprehensive frequency reached 3.95 per 100 vehicles in 2024, nearly matching collision.
- Compare carriers while prices soften. Claims handling and pricing vary by insurer, so review our carrier comparison and compare quotes for the same limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common type of auto insurance claim?
Collision is the most frequent, with 4.16 claims per 100 insured vehicles in 2024, followed closely by comprehensive at 3.95. Property damage liability came next at 2.50, and bodily injury liability at 0.80.
How much is the average auto insurance claim?
It depends on the coverage. In 2024, the average bodily injury liability claim was $28,278, property damage liability was $6,770, collision was $5,489, and comprehensive was $2,306. For 2022 to 2024 model year vehicles, collision claims averaged $10,267.
Why are car repairs so expensive now?
Repair prices have climbed more than 40% since 2020 as vehicles grew larger and more complex, with sensors that need replacement and calibration after a crash. The motor vehicle repair price index rose 15.0% in the year through August 2025 before cooling.
How much will my premium go up after a claim?
It depends on your state, your insurer, and fault. North Carolina publishes fixed surcharges of 40% to 70% for at-fault accidents, while California bars a surcharge when the accident was not your fault. For context, the average comprehensive premium was $238.24 in 2023, so a single average comprehensive claim equals nearly 10 years of that coverage’s premium.
Do lawyers make auto injury claims more expensive?
Research points that way. Attorney representation rose to nearly 50% of claimants by 2022, and represented injury claimants waited a median of nearly 440 days while netting less per dollar of medical bills. Excess motor vehicle litigation added an estimated $42.8 billion in costs from 2014 to 2023.