Most drivers want to manage essential recurring costs, such as car insurance, to save money. Registering and driving an automobile requires the owner to present proof of financial responsibility. Auto insurance protects the driver and the automobile she owns. Auto insurance, as a kind of property and casualty insurance, also protects other drivers on the road.

Many factors affect the costs of auto insurance. According to the AAA Exchange, a mature, good driver (with no record of moving violations or auto insurance claims in the past three to five years) pays slightly less than $1,000 in auto insurance a year (about $83 a month) in 2011.

Other resources, such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, place the average annual cost of auto insurance closer to $1,400 (about $117 a month). Statistical information collected by the NAIC’s “Auto Insurance Database” show that many drivers have saved money on auto insurance in recent years (an average 3%) because of a highly competitive auto insurance sales environment.

This article explores some of the information used by auto insurance underwriters to determine your auto insurance costs. If you’re shopping for new auto insurance coverage, keep reading to learn some of the tried-and-true ways to save money on your monthly and total costs of auto insurance. One simple way to compare multiple rates is by entering your ZIP code into our FREE auto insurance comparison tool!

According to the Massachusetts auto insurance cost comparisons site:

Drivers in Vermont pay an average of $1,250 a year (about $104 a month) for auto insurance, according to Vermont’s Department of Banking,

Insurance, Securities and Healthcare.Drivers in New Hampshire pay approximately $1,000 a year ($83 a month) for auto insurance, according to New Hampshire’s Insurance Department.

If you live in New Hampshire can add several hundred dollars to your premium: compare auto insurance rates in Hanover (about $900 a year, or $75 a month) and Manchester (about $1,400 a year, or $117 a month)!Drivers in Minnesota pay about $1,200 a year (about $100 a month) for auto insurance, according to Minnesota’s Department of Commerce.

Comparatively, drivers in New York, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma pay the highest average premium rates for auto insurance.New York drivers pay an average $2,700 per year ($225 per month) for auto insurance premiums, reports New York’s Department of Financial Services.Washington, D.C. drivers pay about $2,200 per year (approximately $183 a month) for auto insurance, according to the District of Columbia’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

Louisiana drivers pay about $2,000 each year (about $167 every month) for auto insurance, says the Louisiana Department of Insurance.Mississippi drivers pay an average $1,450 per year for auto insurance (about $121 a month) according to the Mississippi Insurance Department.Oklahoma drivers pay about $1,900 each year for auto insurance premiums (about $158 each month), reports the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Some great ways to save big bucks on auto insurance  include:

Small investments in safe driver programs can net impressive savings to good drivers (15% or more, according to AAA). Other strategies to reduce your auto insurance costs include:Buy at least six months of auto insurance coverage at once, rather than paying your auto insurance premium each month. Auto insurance companies may offer a discount for prepayments.Combine at least two insurance policies for discounted auto insurance  rates.Consider your vehicle’s safety record. According to author Voorhees, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave just two vehicles a five-star safety rating in 2010: BMW 5 Series and Hyundai’s Sonata excelled in crash tests performed by the NHTSA. Four-star vehicles included almost every other make/model, with the exception of the Toyota Camry (which received three-stars). The Nissan Versa received a concerning two-star rating in NHTSA tests.

Now that you’ve got more information about how to compare the auto insurance average for monthly costs, save money by requesting free auto insurance quotes. Provide us with your ZIP code now to get money-saving auto insurance information! Compare auto insurance quotes to pay even lower auto insurance rates. Believe me, just two minutes to compare auto insurance quotes and you would save for the whole year. How about this. Click above and get your quote.

Stephen Pierce : Massachusetts : I live in Massachusetts and would like to know what is happening because of the deregulation of the auto insurance here? How would it affect the customers and get low auto insurance.

Response : Getting low auto insurance quotes would require you to review auto insurance coverage and shop online. Please see the low auto insurance quotes on compareautoinsurancequote411.com and review your quotes, since I am sure you will find a really good deal and low auto insurance quote.

“The deregulation of the Massachusetts auto insurance market has driven up prices, boosted insurer profits, reduced consumer protections and generally created confusion in the marketplace, according to a new report by the state’s attorney general.

The report, which comes roughly two years after the creation of managed competition, provides an accounting of how the market is operating, and includes a number of recommendations to improve consumers’ interests.

“When the Division of Insurance introduced the new deregulated auto insurance system nearly two years ago, they contended that this system would result in better rates for consumers,” said Attorney General Martha Coakley in a statement. “While the long-term results of this new system remain to be seen, our office is concerned that consumers may not, in fact, be getting the best rates and the protections they deserve.”

The report notes that most consumers haven’t shopped around for insurance — and therefore, not driving rates down — while are now increasing. Coakley’s office said it is particularly concerned companies are now rating customers on several new factors more closely linked to socio-economic status, rather than to consumers’ driving records.

Among the observations included in the reports:

•Many consumers whose rates decreased paid more than they should have after the market was deregulated. Had the regulatory rate-setting process occurred in 2008, rates would have been reduced for essentially all consumers, with average rate reductions much greater than those seen under deregulation.
•Once ‘managed competition’ began, insurers instantly began seeking higher profit. In 2008, the Division of Insurance accepted target returns in the insurer rate filings that were over 150 percent of the 2007 regulated value for some insurers..
•There is currently no easy way for consumers to determine what the market prices for insurance are, what each company will charge a particular individual, and what discounts and special coverage options are available. The website provided by the Division of Insurance does not solve these problems.
•Some consumers have not been offered all discounts to which they are entitled, have had difficulty obtaining quotes from agents, and have received different quotes from different agents for the same insurers.
•Most Massachusetts consumers purchase insurance through an independent agent, yet most agents typically cannot or do not provide price quotes for more than a couple of carriers.

Thegood news is that the report recommends several moves to help improve the auto insurance market for consumers. These included improved rate proposals, the creation of an insurance Web site to provide side-by-side quotes for all insurers, elimination of penalties for leaving an insurance company early, prohibition of the collection of personal information not needed for rating and the introduction of legislation to ban the use of credit score in insurance ratemaking.

Thus you will get the information first hand but need to shop and compare and review auto insurance coverage to get your much wanted low auto insurance quote.