MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cars are being stolen and broken into around Memphis more frequently than ever and, as property crime in the Bluff City continues to skyrocket, so does the price to insure those vehicles.
In Raleigh, a driver FOX13 spoke with now pays more than $600 a month on a two-vehicle policy that used to cost her around $200 while in Whitehaven driver Wynile Walls pays $20 more a month than he used to and, over in Binghampton, Memphis driver Crystal Harper’s bill has increased by $85.
“I have an excellent driving record. So, I don’t understand,” Harper told FOX13’s Your Money Investigator Kate Bieri.
It it seems like you’re insurance rate has risen drastically. Well, it has, according to insurance veteran Jay Green with over 25 years in the business.
“You’re going to see an increase. There’s really nothing we can do about it,” Green told FOX13.
Those rise in prices correlate directly to a rise in crime in and around Memphis.
FOX13 dug through crime data comparing 2015 to the start of 2023 and found that criminals are stealing about six times as many more cars now than they did then. These days in Memphis, about 43 cars are stolen every day. That’s twice the rate of 2022 and, in 2015, less than 1,400 cars were stolen.
With 8,000 vehicles being stolen just in the first half of 2023, insurance companies are adjusting their rates accordingly.
“The increase in thefts is going to affect the rates,” Green said. “And, it’s not just in Memphis where the majority of the thefts are occurring, but it will be the entire Memphis metro area.
COMING UP AT 10 P.M. ON FOX13 NEWS – FOX13’s Your Money Investigator Kate Bieri breaks down the ways you can save money on your insurance, the questions you should be asking your insurance company and the device you can use to help some of your money stay in your pockets.
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