Why insurance rates will increase in 2023

Like it or not (and we don’t much care for it ourselves!), rising household costs seem here to stay. Gas, groceries, rent, you name it — they’re all up, and in some cases, way up. And now insurance prices are on the rise, too.  

But unlike other headline-making costs, it seems like these insurance premium hikes may catch a lot of people by surprise. And here at Marble, we don’t believe that anything about insurance should be surprising. We want it to be easy (dare we even say delightful!) for our members to be in control of their insurance. 

But let’s back it up for a second! “Why,” you may be asking yourself, “are insurance companies increasing their rates right now?” 

Why are insurance rates going up?

Sadly, it’s the same ol’ tune we’ve been singing a lot lately: supply chain issues and inflation are affecting both claims and replacement costs. And then of course there’s accident frequency, which has gone way up, and back-to-back catastrophic weather events are wreaking havoc. So…that’s a lot to deal with. 

Part of being an insurance provider involves monitoring these events and costs. Unfortunately for us, that can mean underwriting teams have to adjust pricing in response to what’s going on. All of which is to say: Insurance rates, like everything else, are never entirely fixed, but instead move as a reaction to what’s happening in the world.   

And here’s where it gets even more interesting (or at least we think so!): In the US, any time an insurance company changes something about its policies — be that an adjustment in pricing or terms, for example — they have to file this change with the state, and in every single state where they do business. Each filing then becomes a matter of public record. That’s good news for insurance customers, since these public filings will tell you whether you should be anticipating any rate hikes.  

That said, insurance companies don’t make these public filings that easy to locate *or* that easy to read. If you do happen to get your hands on these documents, we commend you on your resourcefulness! But if you don't want to spend your time hunting down records à la Indiana Jones, don’t worry: Marble has your back!  

How Marble helps you track your insurance rates

We're rolling out our Rate Watch program to automatically track any rate filing changes by major insurance companies. So if your provider files for a rate change in your state, you’ll receive a notification from Marble giving you the heads up. In other words, any time your insurance provider moves to change its policies pricing, we’ll let you know. This type of notification isn’t something that you’ll find anywhere else — it’s just another way that Marble gives you control over your insurance.

And that’s exactly why we built these notifications: Because we know that Marble members have a lot going on, which means that they probably don’t have time to monitor their local Department of Insurance webpage for rate filing changes. So if you, like most sane people, are not hitting refresh on that page every 5 seconds, rate hikes can take you by surprise — and surprises are hard to budget for. 

In fact, we surveyed our members in October 2022, and nearly 50% of respondents do not anticipate an increase in their insurance rates in the coming year — but we know that rate hikes are coming, and fast.

How do we know this? Providers can increase premiums anytime they want, and as we went over earlier, they have to file those changes with the states. There can be a lag when it comes to reporting, but some of the most recent filings show pretty serious rate increases are on the way. 

So whether you’re looking for lower premiums or just want a better handle on your policies, Marble is here to help! To stay in the loop on all things insurance, sign up for Marble, where you can take advantage of Rate Watch and organize your policies — all while earning rewards just for having insurance.