Who are the most accident-prone drivers in America?
Auto insurance is big business in America, and a key to that business is knowing who’s getting into accidents. YouGov analyzes the demographic particularities of Americans who are making car insurance claims.
The demographics of car insurance claims
According to data from YouGov Profiles, half (50%) of all American drivers have claimed against one type of car insurance or another. More men (55%) than women (45%) have made insurance claims. Men are also a lot more likely to claim collision coverage (damage sustained to your vehicle when it’s your fault) (34% vs. 25%), but only a little more likely (18% vs. 16%) to claim liability (when you damage someone else and their property).
Older drivers are also more likely to have made an insurance claim, though this is not necessarily because they’re worse drivers; they’ve also been driving for longer. Of those aged 19-29, 23% have made an insurance claim. This compares to more than half of those aged 45 and older.
Where Americans live also has an effect. American drivers who live in cities make significantly fewer car insurance claims (42%) than those who live in the suburbs (53%), in towns (54%) or in rural areas (54%).
Frequent driving causes more accidents than fast driving
One might expect a taste for speed to lead to more collisions, but the data doesn’t show a strong effect. Those who agree with the statement “I like driving fast” are not much more likely to make an insurance claim than those who don’t (53% vs. 49%). Those who neither disagree nor agree make fewer claims at only 43%.
However, people who say “I enjoy driving” are more likely (52%) than those who don’t enjoy it (44%) or who are indifferent (42%). Perhaps this is because those who enjoy driving spend more time doing it, giving themselves more opportunities to get into an accident.
YouGov data confirms that the more someone drives, the more likely they are to make an insurance claim. Among those who drive less than once a week, only 35% have ever made a car insurance claim. This jumps to 48% among weekly drivers.
Those who drive three or more days per week make claims at above-average rates of 54-56%.
SUVs, pickups and EVs are responsible for more insurance claims
Vehicle type also matters. SUV (56%) and pick-up (59%) drivers are more likely than average (53%) to file a claim. The danger posed by larger vehicles has already been noticed by Americans and documented by YouGov earlier this year. By contrast, the least likely to have filed a claim are those who drive sports coupés 43% and large sedans 44%.
EV owners also make more claims (57%) than those who own gas-powered vehicles or hybrids (52%). Diesel owners, at 46%, are the least likely to have filed an insurance claim.
Which insurance companies’ customers make the most claims?
Of the auto insurers tracked by YouGov, it’s customers of Travelers who make the most claims at 66%. The table below shows the top five auto-insurers by how many of their current customers have made an auto insurance claim.
About half of American drivers have made some kind of car insurance claim in their lives, though some groups make more than others. Men make more claims than women, suburbanites more than city-dwellers, EV-drivers more than diesel-drivers, and SUVs and pickups more than other car-types. However, the least accident-prone drivers are still those who drive the least.
Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.