by Joseph Knoop
It appears Carmel residents have another point to brag about. They’ve long been proud of having the lowest tax rates in central Indiana. Now it appears they have some of the lowest car insurance rates as well.
Carmel’s average annual car insurance premium comes in at $718, the eighth lowest premium in Indiana’s 50 largest cities. The data comes from a study conducted by ValuePenguin, a consumer finance website.
Indianapolis stands near the top of the list at $931 annually, just short of Hammond, East Chicago and Gary – all three of which report premiums higher than $1000.
Carmel’s lower premiums are the result of the city’s low crime rate – particularly auto theft – said Brian Quinn, co-founder of ValuePenguin.
Quinn also said that Carmel’s roundabouts likely have an effect.
“The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has done studies on this and found that there is a reduction in ‘injury crashes’ between 70 to 80 percent with intersections that utilize roundabouts,” Quinn said in a statement.
The study sampled a typical 30-year-old unmarried male, with no accidents or driving violations in the past five years, driving a 2010 Toyota Camry. The study used quotes from five top-tier car insurance companies in Indiana, including GEICO, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Indiana Farmers Mutual and Allstate.
